of catching princesses off desert islands

Cook and Wedderburn conjecture that this remark is:

Perhaps a reference to Grimm's German Popular Stories; see e.g. those entitled 'The Lady and the Lion' and 'The Salad' -- the former, a story of an enchanted castle, the latter, of the cloud ministry in question. ( Works, 5.375n)

However it seems more likely that Ruskin alludes to the Italian Opera.

WN

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