Chapter III: Part 3

There were also many other fish, as the balance-fish, which comes up to the top of the water equally balanced, having at each end of its body expansions like the pans of scales. These are its mouths, and if one puts a crumb into one of them without having put one into the other, it turns right over, and sinks to the bottom. So, when this fish is properly fed, it always gets two crumbs at a time. Then there was the gelatine fish, that has no mouth at all, but is very soft and pulpy, and all that is necessary is to drop some crumbs upon his back, and they immediately soak in. Also the great flob was there, who came clattering and clanking up from the bottom of the basin, with his hard shells and heavy claws, as if he was the greatest fish alive. But for all that he opened his mouth so wide, and shut it upon a little crumb with a snap loud enough for a loaf of bread, his throat was so small that that little crumb nearly choked him. All these fishes the Prince fed from golden baskets filled with crumbs, and placed around the basin for the convenience of those who wished to amuse themselves by feeding the fish. When he was tired of this sport, he rose and entered the palace again by another door. He had not walked far along an alabaster corridor, before he saw a door open, and an old woman come out. She had in her hand a silver waiter, on which was the remains of a delicious little supper, the scent of which seemed so charming to the Prince that it made him feel as hungry as a bear in the springtime. The old woman, who was busy munching some of the pieces of cake, and sucking the bones of the little birds that were left, did not notice him; and, hoping to find some more good things where these came from, he slipped in at the door, before the old woman shut it, and entered a large and beautiful room, lighted by a single lamp that hung from the ceiling. At the upper end of this apartment, he was surprised to see a beautiful young Princess, who was sitting in an arm-chair, fast asleep, with a guitar on the floor at her feet. Around the room were placed musical instruments of all kinds; but there was no one there to play on them but the Princess, and she was fast asleep.

There was a breeze in the room, that seemed to come and go like the waves of the sea; and the Prince could not imagine what occasioned it, for all the doors and windows were closed. However, looking upwards, he saw, behind the Princess's chair, the reason of the wind and the lady's slumber. Standing behind her, with his feet on the floor and his head high up in the obscurity of the ceiling, was a great Nimshee, or evil spirit of the ocean, who was fanning her with his wings, and had put her to sleep with their slow and dreamy motion. With his great eyes glowing like meteors in the dimness of the upper part of the room, the Nimshee glared at the Prince, and waved his wings faster and stronger. But our young friend was not afraid of him--not a bit. He walked softly round the room once or twice, and then, returning to the Princess, spoke to her. She did not awake, and the Prince called her louder and louder, and at last, putting his hand on her shoulder, he shook her; but still she slept. He felt that he must awaken her, and seizing the guitar that lay at her feet, he held it close to her ear, and struck the strings loudly. The Princess opened her eyes with a start; and as she awoke, the Nimshee, beating his breast with his wings, gave a great roar like the waves beating in a storm against a rocky coast, and flew away. The Princess blushed a little when she first saw the Prince, but he was so polite that she soon recovered herself, and they conversed quite pleasantly.

She explained the meaning of the musical instruments in the room, by stating that she had a great passion for music, and the good people of the palace brought her a new instrument nearly every day; but she never sat down to play any of them but she went almost immediately to sleep. She could not imagine the reason for this; but the Prince knew very well that the Nimshee had put her to sleep to-day at any rate, and he had no doubt but that he was always at the bottom of it. He said nothing to her, however, of what he had seen, as he perceived that she did not know it, and he did not wish to frighten her.

She said she had taken her guitar that evening, as soon as she had finished her supper, but had fallen asleep as usual. She asked the Prince, "Do you play?" and he said, "Only a little;" and then they walked around the room, and looked at all the instruments, to see if there were any that the Prince could play on better than the rest. He wished her to perform, but she urged him, and he soon saw a hand-organ, and said he was pretty sure that he could play on that. So he tried, and, sure enough, he could play very well, and the Princess sat down on the floor by him, and he played for almost an hour and three quarters, and they were both very much pleased. Then the Prince's arm got tired, and he stopped and asked the Princess to tell him her history. She said she was a little ashamed to tell him her story, because he might think that she was not of as good descent as himself; but the Prince insisting, she told him that her mother was a water-woman.

"A mermaid, I suppose?" said the Prince.

"O no!" she cried, "none of those low things with fish-tails, but a real princess of the ocean. She lived in a splendid palace at the bottom of the sea, and fell in love with a prince of the earth, who left his father's kingdom, and went down there and married her.

"I remember my father very well," continued the beautiful Princess. "He was a fine, handsome man, but our climate never seemed to agree with him. He could not smoke under the water, and he often used to have aches which helped to make him unhappy. Before he died, he said that he would give all the treasures of the ocean for a pipe and a piece of dry flannel. When he left her, mother pined away, and soon died too, when I was only about twelve years old. I was very lonely, but, as I was the daughter of a water-princess and a land-prince, I could go where I pleased, either on shore or in the water."

"Amphibious like?" said the Prince.

"I don't know anything about that," she replied; "but I used to like to walk about on the sea-shore, for everything was so different from what I had been accustomed to,--birds, you know, and all that sort of thing."

"O yes," said the Prince, "it must have been very different to you indeed; but I was going to say to you, a little while ago, that you need not think me above you, for I am half-brother to a gnome."

"O, I am glad to hear that," she said; "I was afraid you would make fun of me."

"As if I could!" said the Prince, reproachfully.

So she went on with her story.

"One day, about a year ago, when I was quite grown up, I met some ladies who lived here at the palace, and they wanted me to come home with them, and I did; and I have lived here ever since, and like it very much. They are all very kind, and if I didn't sleep so much, I should be very happy."

The Prince now proposed to the Princess, and she accepted him, and then she sat down to a harp to give him a little music. The Prince's presence, in some way (perhaps because he was half-brother to a gnome), prevented the appearance of the Nimshee; and for the first time since she had been in the palace, she played without hindrance, and her music was perfectly charming; and with tears of joy in his eyes, the Prince sat wishing she would play forever. After a while, however, she got tired and stopped; and when they turned around, they saw the room was filled by the people of the palace, who had come to hear this delicious music. They were nearly all wiping their eyes with their handkerchiefs,--they were so much affected--and they could not find words good enough with which to praise the playing of the Princess. Such music they had never heard before.

Directly she declared that she was going to bed; but she desired the Grand Chamberlain to take that young Prince and give him a handsome room until morning, when she would like to see him again, and make arrangements for their wedding.

So she went away with her ladies, and the Chamberlain took the Prince out into the alabaster hall again.

"Prince indeed!" said the Chamberlain to himself; "O yes! I'll take care of him, certainly. A good room,--O yes, indeed!" and, taking the Prince by the arm, he hurried him along, until he came to the aviary, where all sorts of wonderful and costly birds were kept, and he pushed him in there, and locked him up. The Prince was so taken by surprise at this hasty treatment, that he had no time to get angry, or he would certainly have drawn his sword, and made short work of the Grand Chamberlain. As it was, he passed the night in the aviary as well as he could; but as he had no place to lie but the floor, and as the ostriches walked about a good deal, he was very much afraid they might tread upon him, and this made him feel uneasy all night. The great owls, too, made it very unpleasant for him, by forming a circle around him, and steadfastly gazing at him with their great eyes, which looked like enormous cat-eyes, stuck into the darkness. As to the night-hawks and the other birds which fly in the dark, they swooped around and over him the whole livelong night; and when he began to get a little sleep, about daybreak, every bird in the place began to sing, or twitter, or scream, or crow, or gobble, or chatter, and the Prince might as well have tried to fly as sleep. About eight o'clock, a man came to feed the birds, and seeing the Prince in the aviary, he put him out instantly. The Prince was very angry, and tried to find out what this all meant; but the man told him he had better not let him catch him in there again, and slammed the door in his face. As the Prince wandered about the palace, he met a number of people, all of whom he asked to conduct him to the Princess. Some laughed at him, and others told him that he had better be careful how he talked about the beautiful Princess, but no one conducted him to her.

At last a man who seemed to have some authority, came up to the Prince, and, having heard his story, requested him to follow him. He led the way to a small door, and, motioning to the Prince to pass through it, shut and fastened it after him. The Prince found himself out in the street.

Enraged and hungry, he hurried back to his lodgings, where he had left Trumkard. On the way, he heard a great many people talking of the beautiful music that, it was reported, the Princess had played at the palace the evening previous. In fact, this matter seemed to be the town talk; but the Prince did not stay to listen to much of it, for he was extremely anxious to get something to eat, and to relate his troubles.

Trumkard did not encourage him much, and proposed that they should continue their journey; but the Prince would not listen to such advice, and as soon as he had finished his breakfast, he went back to the palace in order to try and see his Princess. But all the doors were fastened, and it was evident that there was no admission for the public that day. A great crowd stood around the gates, and they were very much excited about something.

The Prince learned from their discourse that it was thought that the Princess who played so splendidly, could certainly sing as well, and there was a suspicion that the Prime Minister, who had governed the people so long, was afraid of her powers, and had sent her away. Indeed, a certain Habbed-il-Gabbed, who kept a goat's-cheese shop, and who had a cousin who was one of the royal-black-eunuch-guards, had heard from him that the Princess had certainly disappeared, and that the public suspicions were very likely to be correct.

At this news the Prince smote his breast, and became very sad; and all that day and night, and the next day until sundown, he hung around the palace, hoping to get in. Trumkard was with him a great part of the time, and brought him cakes and things to keep him from starving. In the early evening of the second day, the Prince, while walking round the palace, saw a boy come out of a back-alley gate, to empty some ashes. Rushing at him, he seized him, and demanded of him news of the Princess. The boy, however, was deaf and dumb, and could not answer him; and the Prince perceiving this, and being very expert in making signs, asked him in that way what had become of his lady-love. The boy then replied by a sign representing a heavy door, with four locks, a big bar, and a chain; and a black eunuch with a drawn sword, asleep before it.

Then the Prince tore his hair, and groaned, and went home to Trumkard. But he could not sleep; and when the moon arose, he got up and wandered far away beyond the walls of the city, until he came to the borders of the sea. There he saw, roaming about upon the sands, numbers of water-women, who every now and then blew upon conch-shells, looking about them in every direction, as if they expected some one to answer them. When the Prince perceived them, he slipped softly from rock to rock, keeping himself well concealed, until he came near one of them, when he made a sudden rush and caught her, while all the others, with loud cries, dashed into the sea. The one he had captured, struggled and cried piteously; but, in as few words as possible, he entreated her to be quiet, and to understand that if she was looking for a Princess, he could tell her where she was, or at least where she had been. The water-woman then became quiet, and the Prince told her all he knew, and how anxious he was to find the beautiful Princess. The good woman of the sea then told him that she and her companions had come up on the shore every night for a year, hoping that the Princess would stray that way, and be induced by them to return to her ocean home. Then she told him who the Princess really was, and thus her story ran.

When the late mighty King, Barradin, was quite young, he married a daughter of the ocean, at which his father, much incensed, drove him from the court. He retired far from men, and a little son was born to him. In a few years his wife died, and he was left alone with his son. When this boy grew up, he also married a water-woman, and, having so much of their blood in his veins, he went down to live with his wife's relations, leaving his father to do as well as he could by himself, until he ascended the throne. When Barradin became king, he did not marry a queen, or cut off people's heads, or go to war, or build palaces; but he took his chief delight in music, and encouraged the love of it among his people. So it was in the hope that one of his descendants might some day sit upon the throne, that he composed the magical music; for he knew that no one but a descendant of the ocean-folk could sing that music, and none but those of his blood could read it, for there was magic in his family.

When the music was finished, the King died. His mother was a sorceress, and a very wicked old woman, who, when her son was dead, gave it out that she herself was dying; for she had now lived so long that people had begun to suspect something, and to think that she had too much to do with magic. So she pretended to die, and was buried in the royal vault; and at night she came out and went far away from the city to a great cave in a lonely country where dwelt the demons and evil spirits who were her servants. She now spent her life in wickedness. She it was who put it into the heads of so many sensible people to contend for the crown, and it was with joy that she saw them carried out to the asylum. Many other evil thoughts she put into the hearts of the people, and she was forever imagining and doing mischief.

When this young Princess, her great-grandchild, was born, Mahbracca (that was the name of the old sorceress) was very much troubled, and used all available means to destroy the infant; but her efforts were vain, for the people of the ocean protected her from all enchantments.

As the Princess grew up, she loved to ramble on the white sands, and she was once perceived there by a party of ladies from the palace, who had persuaded her to come with them to their royal home, where she had now been for a year. She knew not who she was, nor did her friends at the palace; and her relations of the ocean had always hoped that some day she would return to them. Now the sorceress feared that some day she would happen to sing the magical music, and be made queen; and she hated the poor girl so much, that she would not have had this happen for all the world. Therefore it was, no doubt, that she had sent the Nimshee, in order to prevent the Princess from ever exercising the wonderful gift she had inherited.

This much the water-woman told the Prince, but as to what had now become of the Princess, she did not know; but there were others of her people who knew more than she did, and she would inquire of them. Taking the Prince by the hand, she led him out upon a headland that projected some distance out into the sea, and blew four times loudly upon her conch-shell. A great heaving and swelling of the waters was presently seen, and in a few moments an elderly personage emerged from the waves, and walked carefully up to the rock on which they stood. He was a curious-looking individual, and, as the water-woman informed the Prince, a powerful lord of the ocean.

He was wrapped in an old-fashioned cloak, made of the finest quality of sea-weed, and drawing this closely around him, he requested his fair cousin of the sea to be as quick as possible in her business with him, as it was not prudent for him to be in the air much at his age. So the water-woman briefly related to him what the Prince had told her.

When he heard this, the old sea-gentleman folded his arms and looked very grave. "Mahbracca is at the bottom of this," said he. "The Prime Minister would never have thought of imprisoning the Princess, if that wretched sorceress had not put it into his head. I have no doubt that she now has the Princess in her power, and very likely shut up in her retreat."

"What!" cried the Prince, "where is it? Where is her cave? I will go instantly and rescue my beloved Princess!" and he drew his sword of adamant and waved it over his head.

"Ah my friend!" said the old man of the water, "you could do little against the powerful Mahbracca and her minions. But you might go there to be sure, and find out if she really has possession of the Princess. But then you may lose your life."

"I care not!" cried the Prince. "Dead or alive, I will be with my Princess."

The two citizens of the ocean talked together a few moments, and then the old man asked him if he was really determined to undertake this perilous enterprise, and the Prince emphatically declared that he was.

"The distance by the sea is much the shortest; would you be willing to go in that way?" asked the old man.

"Certainly," said the Prince, "provided I have to go over, and not under the water."

The old gentleman made no reply to this, but putting his two forefingers in his mouth he whistled loudly.

In a few moments a sea-boy came up out of the water, and stood beside him. The old man made a few remarks to him in the ocean dialect, when the boy jumped off the rock and disappeared beneath the waves.

"Now, sir," said the sea-gentleman to the Prince, "you must cheer up and be lively, or you cannot hope to succeed in this matter. My boy will take you to the sea-side entrance of the cave of Mahbracca. There I hope you will have no difficulty in entering, but I can say nothing positive upon the subject."

At this moment the sea-boy reappeared, driving a pair of dolphins, which were harnessed to a large and commodious sea-shell, somewhat resembling in shape the boat of the nautilus.

When the equipage was drawn up at the foot of the rock, the Prince took leave of his friends, and quickly stepped in and took his seat.

"I wish you all success," said the elderly personage, and, reminding the boy to be sure to keep their heads up, he walked down into the sea.

The water-woman said nothing, but stood on the rock, gazing sadly after the Prince, as the dolphins drew him rapidly from the shore. The fishes made excellent time, and the motion of the great shell over the waves would have been exceedingly pleasant to the Prince, if his mind had not been filled with anxiety and impatience. He shifted his position so often, and rolled the vehicle about so much, that once or twice the sea-boy turned round and asked him if he did not wish to get out, to which the Prince did not reply, but only urged him to make greater speed. The journey lasted until the morning of the next day, and was marked by no greater occurrence than the annoyance caused by the wild dolphins occasionally coming up around them, endeavoring to play with their brothers in harness. But the boy, with his whip of shark's skin, and the Prince with his sword, soon drove them down again.

At last they dashed into shore, and the sea-boy, pulling up his steeds, jumped out, followed immediately by the Prince.

"Take the road in front of you," said the boy, "and you cannot miss your way."

The Prince then threw a piece of platinum to the boy, who tucked it in between two of his scales, and jumping into his shell, drove rapidly away.

The shore where the Prince now found himself was very peculiar. A high rocky wall, seemingly inaccessible, stood up solemnly in front of him, and extended out, on each side, far into the sea. Directly before him was a great cleft or tunnel in the rock, which extended so far back that its other extremity was not visible from where he stood. This rocky avenue was the only passage, in any direction, that the Prince could perceive, and consequently, without delay or fear, he drew his sword, and entered it. The way for a while was easy, but afterward became very rough and uneven. Here and there were openings in the walls above him, through which came a misty light; and by it the Prince perceived that the walls were filled with precious stones, which glistened and sparkled brightly, while great veins of gold and silver were streaked about in all directions. Under his feet were thousands of jewels, and bits of precious minerals without number. His way was now very difficult, for the avenue was narrow and rough. Pearls and sapphires got into his shoes, and he cut his legs and scratched his hands against the sharp diamonds and rubies that stuck out from the walls. But he pressed bravely on until the ground became more even and the walls wider apart, and at length he entered quite an open space, inclosed by a wall in which he saw before him an immense gate of copper. He went up and tried to push it open, but finding it immovable, he knocked loudly upon it with the hilt of his sword. Directly, a small window at one side of the gate was opened, and a ghoul put his head out. Seeing that it was a Prince who knocked, he drew in his head, and opened the gate. The Prince quickly entered. "I wish," said he, in an imperious voice, "to see the Princess whom the wicked Mahbracca has doubtless imprisoned in this cavern."

"O!" said the ghoul, grinning horribly, "certainly! Pass on, great Prince! The Princess and my mistress will both be glad to see you. Pass on freely. You cannot miss your way." Opening then his wide mouth, he gave a great laugh, and reëntered the porter's lodge, through the open door of which the Prince saw, upon a table, an empty coffin and a jug.

The Prince now found himself in a long and wide passage, dimly lighted and very damp. The place smelt like a burial vault, and against the walls on each side, rows of ghouls sat on the floor, their knees drawn up to their chins. As the Prince passed, some of them jumped up and gibed at him, leering, sticking out their tongues, and smacking their lips as they danced around him. Walking on rapidly, he soon left these gibbering wretches, and found that the passage became much drier, although darker, and wound and turned in various directions. Against the walls, transfixed by great iron pins, were enormous glow-worms, which gave the only light in this dismal place. These worms turned their heads to look at the Prince, and flashed a brighter light from their tails, that they might see him the better. Presently he noticed a small door in the wall, which was not quite closed. Pushing it open, he entered a room, the floor of which was not very spacious, but which was very high. Against one of the walls, chained by his arms and his wings and his legs, was the Nimshee who had fanned the Princess with his sleep-giving wings.

When this evil spirit saw the Prince, his eyes glowed so brightly that they lighted up the room as if they had been torches; and, putting down his horrid head as low as his bonds would allow, he opened wide his nostrils and his mouth, and bellowed with fury, like an immense bull,--at the same time tugging and struggling at his chains, until the very walls shook with his raging strength.

This spectacle caused the Prince to step out of the room with alacrity, and quickly shutting the door behind him, he walked rapidly along the gloomy passage. On his way he met numerous demons and evil spirits of various kinds, but they only scowled at him as he passed, and he spoke to none of them. He soon descended a stone stairway which led down to a large circular hall, with various doors and passages leading from it. On the side opposite to the stairs was a great door of green marble, sculptured with mysterious devices. Stepping up to it, and finding that it opened easily, he entered an octagonal room, the walls of which were hung with the skins of spotted cats, and on the floor was spread a skin of the sacred white elephant of India. The Prince perceived that this was merely an anteroom, for to the left of him was a door, before which sat a fierce and black Afrite, with a great javelin in his hand. With his hands upon his knees, the Afrite bent down his head, and looked steadfastly at the Prince with glaring eyes.

Advancing towards this formidable sentinel, the Prince inquired of him where he should find the Princess, if she were shut up here, or where he could see the sorceress Mahbracca. The Afrite arose, and, pushing aside the block of porphyry on which he had been sitting, took down a brazen bar by which the door was fastened, and throwing it open, told the Prince, in a harsh and brazen voice, to enter.

The room in which the Prince now found himself, was the private apartment of the sorceress, where had been concocted all the wickedness with which she had cursed the subjects of her son.

At first, the Prince could scarcely distinguish the objects in the room, as it was lighted only by a small brazier which burnt dimly on a table; but the Afrite thrust his javelin into the brazier, and the flames, all green and red, burst forth luridly, lighting up the apartment with unearthly colors. The Afrite, after informing the Prince that the great Mahbracca would soon attend him, left him, and returned to his station on the other side of the door. Somewhat fearful that all this willingness to admit him boded no good, the Prince still determined to push boldly on in his adventure (that being, indeed, the only course possible for him), and to take things as coolly as possible.

Looking around him, he saw, by the bright light which now filled the room, that against each of the walls was a row of cages, containing snakes of various grades of venom, placed in order, according to their deadly properties. Standing on their heads, in various places against the wall, were many of those dreadful green lizards which poison the air of the deep valleys of Sumatra, and whose bite causes their victim, together with all his blood relations, to gangrene in an instant. These, although standing so stiffly against the wall, were all alive, and some of them, perceiving the Prince was looking at them, winked at him. But he paid them no further attention, and proceeded with his inspection of the room.

There were great numbers of horrid-looking furnaces, and cages, and grotesque lamps, with the flames out, but with wicks still smouldering, and smelling vilely. Upon a shelf near the ceiling was a row of great jars, and out of one of them was continually popping the head of an excessively shining and black little demon, who had evidently, for some offense, been put there in pickle. From the other jars came groans, but no heads. These had been in longer. While the Prince stood, scarcely able to refrain from laughing at the comical countenance of the young demon in the jar, he heard the opening of a door, and, turning, saw the sorceress Mahbracca enter the apartment. This worthy dame presented a remarkable appearance. Short, with a large head partly covered with stubbly white hair, she had a face of the color and smoothness of an Irish potato, which has been lying in the sun for about eighteen months. Her eyes opened in the middle of the pupil, with a slit, like those of a cat, and she had three long hairs, or whiskers, on each side of her upper lip. She advanced with a smile, which did not make her look any more lovely, and extended her hand to the Prince. Being a man of politeness, of course he took it, but her touch was ten times more clammy and deadly than that of a snake.

"I am glad to see you," said Mahbracca. "Will you take some rest and refreshment? You must be tired, for you have surely travelled a long way."

"No," said the Prince, "I desire neither rest nor refreshment. All I require is, that you conduct me to the Princess, if you have her here confined, and then that you deliver her up to me."

"Ah!" said the sorceress, "that is certainly not much to ask. You shall be gratified. Allow me to conduct you to her; she will be delighted, I am sure."

Then taking in her hand a staff, and opening the door by which she had entered, she requested the Prince to follow her. Passing quickly through several apartments, they entered a wide, long, and dim avenue.

"Come," said the sorceress, "give me your hand; we will lose no time."

But the Prince, remembering his former experience of her touch, drew back from the bony hand which she extended to him.

"Ah!" cried she, with a hideous grin, "you are able to get along by yourself, are you, my dear? I dare say your young legs are very strong and nimble. _You_ don't need any old woman's help. Ha, ha! Well, come on! The Princess awaits you!"

With these remarks, the aged hag set off at a pace, which, considering her years, was truly wonderful, putting the Prince to his best endeavors to keep up with her. The underground avenue in which they ran seemed of great length; and very shortly the old lady varied the exercise by introducing certain gymnastics. Sometimes, as she stretched out her staff, the ground would suddenly open before her, and she sprang over the wide chasm with the greatest ease; while the poor Prince, all unprepared, would have to strain every muscle in his body to clear, in the midst of his rapid career, the yawning gulf. Then she would wave her staff upwards, and the ground rise in front of her, like a steep and rocky hill, up which she would lightly run, while the Prince could scarcely restrain himself from dashing violently against its stony face. Then, while heated and breathless with the ascent of one of these, he would see her wave her staff downward, and plunge down a steep declivity, into the darkness of which he followed her pell-mell, not knowing whether he was going to descend a few yards or a mile. Very soon, however, he began to get his blood up, and, kicking out his legs like a wild goat of Cashmere, he prepared to show her that it would have to be a very smart old woman who could beat him in a race. So away they went, like a cat and a dog, the Prince clearing the great gaps as fast as Mahbracca could make them. At last he actually gained on her, and kept ahead of her for a few minutes, during which time he had level running. But with a great effort, she passed him, and, violently throwing up the end of her staff, caused a great rock to rise with such promptness, that the Prince came within an inch of braining himself against it. But over it they went, and for half a mile kept neck and neck; but the old woman soon put an end to this, for, whirling her staff round her head, the Prince instantly found himself wading in sand up to his armpits.

"That's mean!" he cried, with tears of indignation in his eyes. But Mahbracca jumped up and down on top of the sand, waving her arms, and laughing and screaming like a hyena.

"Ah ha! my vigorous Prince," cried she, "why do you stop? Hasten, hasten! Swiftest of youths, the Princess awaits us!"

Incensed by her mockery, he gave a mighty plunge into the sand before him, and surged along like a ship in the ocean, while Mahbracca skipped gayly by him, playfully kicking the sand into his eyes.

"You see the advantage of lightness, my dear," cried she. "I pass easily over the top of this sand, while you--O, how you do wallow! Ha, ha, ha! I never saw anything like it."

With such remarks, she beguiled his way, until relenting, she at last waved her staff again above her head, and the Prince found himself by her side, on solid ground.

She complimented him on his remarkable agility and strength, but he made her no answer, and, wiping his face with his handkerchief, walked on without a word. At length they reached the end of the avenue, and, passing through a circular aperture with which it terminated, the Prince found himself in the cavity of an immense hollow mountain, the floor of which was a great plain, and into which the light of day was admitted through an opening in the top, more than two miles above him.

Scattered about over the blackish sward were many groups of ghouls and variously colored demons, some playing pitch-penny with ancient coins, and others lying asleep on the ground. At a distance, grazing on the exuberant and oily foliage, were herds of the prong-horned Yabouks,--those sanguinary monsters which impale their victims on the great horn upon their noses, holding back their heads and opening their mouths to let the blood slowly trickle down their throats.

Many other dreadful cattle were scattered about the plain, drinking at the greenish streams which meandered about in various directions, or standing ruminating, knee-deep in the oily water. But these things claimed not the attention of the Prince.

In the centre of this great plain stood a tower.

"Behold!" cried Mahbracca, springing in front of him, and waving her arms--"behold the dwelling of your Princess! Come! let us run, let us bound!"

Seizing him by the hand with a strength that was not to be resisted, she led him, at great speed, to the foot of the tower. Then at the top of her voice she called out,--

"Princess! appear at your window quickly! Your love has come from afar unto you. Show yourself to him!"

At these words, the Princess put her head out of the highest window, and when the Prince saw her lovely face, he fell down on his knees, trembling with happiness, and protesting in broken sentences his love for her; while she, bending out over the window-sill, wept silently tears of joy, which came down pitter, patter, on the Prince's head.

Starting presently to his feet, the Prince ran around the tower to find the front door, and, seeing it, he endeavored to push it open, but it was securely fastened. He then turned to look for Mahbracca, and perceived her standing at some distance, surrounded by a crowd of ghouls and demons, who seemed to be greatly enjoying the scene. The Prince shouted loudly to her to send him the keys, at which the whole crowd set up a shout of laughter, and Mahbracca hysterically screamed to him,--

"Enter! Enter, great Prince! Why wait so long outside? You grieve your lovely Princess!"

The Prince, enraged, drew his sword of adamant, and at one blow thrust it through the lock, but the door did not open, and the sword was fixed immovably. In vain did he tug and struggle at it. He could not move it an inch. Hearing greater and wilder cries of derision, he turned towards the crowd and shook his fist at them, and then went back under the window of the Princess, but she was not visible. He called her again and again, at the top of his voice, but she did not answer him nor make her appearance. The night was fast coming on, and overcome with sorrow and despair, and weak with hunger, the Prince fell upon the ground.

When he had lain thus for an hour or two, hearing nothing of the Princess or his enemies, he began to reflect that if he intended to serve his lady-love, he must do something, and that speedily. He himself, he plainly saw, had no power against this sorceress, and perhaps even now she was within the tower, preventing the Princess from answering or appearing to him. He would go for assistance, and, come what would, the Princess should be delivered from that horrid tower. He therefore arose, and, without reflecting how he was to leave this abode of wickedness, he prepared to return to his friend and adviser Trumkard. When he reached the aperture by which he had entered the hollow mountain (which he did without meeting any one), he found it closed by a gate of brass. But he was not to be thus deterred. He ran around the sides of the mountain, rousing in his course several herds of Yabouks and dreadful cattle that gazed, half awake, at his rapid movements, and examined, as well as he could by the dim light, the wall of this great cavern. He soon became convinced, by the knowledge he had gained in a few visits to his step-mother's dominions, that these walls were not very thick. His resolution was quickly formed. Taking off his handsome and richly embroidered clothes, which would only impede him in his labors, he stood dressed only in his under-vest and trousers. Then, springing upon a projecting rock and over another, he entered a great crack, pushed through some loose earth, and made his way through the various crevices of the ground, as he had seen the gnomes do. After about an hour's work, he emerged into the open air very tired and very dirty. After resting awhile, he arose, and, taking his way across a great plain, found himself by daybreak, worn out and footsore, near the gates of a great city. Entering, he inquired of one of the few people who were up so early, what city this was, and was informed that it was the city of the Queen Altabec, and a long distance from the city of the mighty King.

The Prince thanked his informant, and proceeded to look for a tailor's shop, where he might provide himself with clothes; for he perceived that people eyed him with suspicion, and well they might. Having found a shop, he entered, and desired to be immediately fitted with a prince's suit. The master tailor, knowing by his proud air that he was a Prince, and supposing he had been on some youthful adventure, and had thus lost his clothes, was delighted to serve him, and, running to the shelves and drawers, pulled out all the princes' suits, and spread them before his customer. The Prince selected some very handsome clothes, and, having washed himself, put them on, and found they fitted him exactly. He declared his satisfaction with them, and putting his hand in his pocket for his purse, found nothing of the kind there, the tailor not furnishing his clothes in that way. He now remembered that all his money was in the clothes he had left behind him in the mountain, and explained his condition to the tailor. The latter, however, had no wish to deal with princes who had no money, and ordered him to instantly take off the suit. The Prince, who was strictly honest, was about obeying, when one of his feet (which were very tender with his much walking) giving him a sudden pain, he stooped down to see what was in his shoe, and taking it off, out rolled a magnificent pearl and two sapphires.

"There," said the Prince, picking them up, and handing them to the tailor, "if these will be of any use to you, you can have them for the clothes."

The tailor, filled with admiration at the sight of these jewels, and with the most profound respect for a prince who carried such wealth in his shoes, accepted them instantly, and the Prince left the shop. But the good tailor, gazing joyfully at his new-found treasures, was so conscientious and grateful, that he ran out after the Prince, and gave him back one of the sapphires as change.

It may as well be here related that the tailor sold the pearl to a jeweler, who gave him one third of its value, with which he retired into the country, bought great possessions, and lived in much dignity for many years. Some time afterward, the Queen Altabec happening to pass the jeweler's shop, and seeing the pearl in the window, immediately ordered the execution of the jeweler and the seizure of the pearl, which she placed above all the other jewels in the tip-top of her crown, where it still remains. As for the sapphire, the tailor's wife put that away for a rainy day; but as the rainy day never came, and she never went to look for it in its hiding-place, it made no earthly difference to her that her youngest child had found it, and had swapped it off for half of a little stale apple-pie.

After leaving the tailor's shop, the Prince made all haste to an inn, where, having eaten about four meals in one, he bought from an Arab, who was highly recommended to him, a swift dromedary of the desert, for which he gave one sapphire, and requested the landlord of the khan to see that the Arab paid to him, out of its value, what would suffice for the price of his breakfast. This the landlord promised faithfully to do, and it is said that the descendants of that landlord are still drawing on the descendants of that Arab for installments of the price of that wonderful breakfast.

Mounting his dromedary, the Prince would have started, but was detained by the Arab, who embraced the animal, and begged the Prince, out of charity to a poor man, to add a little to the meagre price he had paid for it. Upon which the Prince, knowing the habits of these Arabs, drew his sword, which he had got with his suit, and threatened to split the affectionate man in halves, if he did not immediately take his hands off the beast, which the man instantly did. When he started off, the humpbacked courser might have gone much faster if he had felt inclined, and at last the Prince became so enraged at the exceedingly leisurely style of his trot, that he lifted his sword to serve the animal as he had threatened to serve his old master; but the intelligent dromedary, casting back its only eye, perceived the danger, and set off at such a terrific speed, that the people in the villages through which it passed knew not what it was that had trodden down their children, and upset the old women at their pomegranate stalls.

Before night, the Prince pulled up in the great city before the door of the inn in which Trumkard and himself had lodged. Trumkard was sitting on the front step, with a melon on his lap and a skin bottle between his knees. Hastily dismounting, the Prince threw himself upon the neck of his old friend with such force that he upset the old gentleman and his supper into a great pile together. Jumping up, and wiping the wine out of his eyes and the melon-juice out of his hair, Trumkard welcomed his young master, and assured him that he had several times wondered where he was. The Prince then led him in-doors, and related his adventures, and besought his advice.

Thereupon, Trumkard, throwing his right leg over his left, rested his elbow on his knee, and, reposing his chin in his hand, cogitated. At last he spoke.

"We cannot do better," said he, "than to apply to the Giant Tur-il-i-ra."

This Giant, it will be remembered, was our old acquaintance, and the friend of Ting-a-ling.

The Prince having readily consented to this proposition, it was agreed that they should go to the Giant the next day, and implore his assistance. The Prince would have started that night, but Trumkard had great objections to night travelling, and he, being the best at an argument, gained his point.

Early the next morning, the travellers set forth upon their journey, well mounted upon two good horses. (It may be as well to state that during the night, the Prince's dromedary had returned to its original owner.)

As it will take two days of hard riding for our friends to reach their destination, we will leave them, and return for a time to the gentle Mahbracca, who, when she had left the Prince, had gone to her private room to prepare an ingenious wire arrangement, which she called a "prince-trap," in which he was to be inclosed and hung up before the window of the Princess, for the amusement of this lively sorceress.

But what was her dismay when, on returning to the tower, the first Yabouk she met told her of the escape of the Prince! Speechless with apprehension, she ran to the place where he had passed through the side of the mountain, and seeing his clothes upon the ground and the indubitable signs of his egress, she became perfectly furious, and, rushing back to the tower, commanded the dreadful Afrite who guarded her door, and who now accompanied her, to enter and to bring down the Princess, but on no account to injure her until she should be placed alive in the cage that had been prepared for the Prince. The faithful Afrite bowed his head in obedience, and having at one bound entered one of the lower windows, he hurried up the stairs to the door of the Princess's room. Bursting it open, he saw the Princess lying on the floor in a swoon (into which she had fallen when she perceived that Mahbracca was acting treacherously towards the Prince), and, supposing her to be dead, he hastily plunged down the stairs to inform his mistress, and rushing violently against the front door to burst it open (as was his habit when doors were in his way), he immediately spitted himself upon the Prince's sword of adamant, which was sticking through the lock.

After waiting some time, and becoming alarmed at the long absence of the Afrite, the sorceress sent for the key of the tower, and opened the door. But when it slowly swung open, and the body of her favorite swung with it,--the point of the sword emerging from the middle of his back,--she fainted away. Coming to her senses in a few minutes, she ordered him to be drawn off and carried to her room, where, after again locking the tower door, she followed, in the hopes of reviving, by means of proper magical remedies, whatever vitality might be left in the unfortunate and indispensable Afrite.

Trumkard and the Prince journeyed so rapidly that their horses fell, utterly exhausted, at the end of the first day's journey; and, not being able to procure others, they were obliged to go the rest of the way on foot. You may be sure that the Prince did not lag by the way, and poor Trumkard was obliged to do his very best to keep up with him at all. Therefore, when, near the end of the second day, they arrived at the Giant's castle, they were tired and warm enough. Entering the great gate (to the hinge of which little Ting-a-ling once tied his butterfly), they approached the castle, and perceived the Giant sitting in his front porch, with his feet in immense slippers, comfortably resting against one of the great pillars before the door. The Prince, who had never seen him before, was struck with astonishment at his great size; but Trumkard assured him that a nobler or more true-hearted being never breathed, for all he was so big.

When Tur-il-i-ra perceived them, he arose and welcomed them heartily, remembering Trumkard as an old friend. He caused them to be seated on the porch, and ordered water to be brought that they might free themselves from the dust of the journey. Then he called to his attendants to spread a table, and to bring some cold meat and some game, some curries and hashes, some minced meat, some pepper-pot, some mutton-chops, omelettes, bacon and eggs; some broiled steaks, some spare-ribs, toast, butter, cheese, pickles, and salad; some macaroni, vermicelli, chowder, mullagatawny, lobsters, clams, oysters, mussels, and shrimps; also some tripe, kidneys, liver, and sausages, and calves'-foot-jelly, and stewed cranberries; also frangipanni tarts and a Charlotte-Russe, with bottles of orgeat, sherbet, and iced wines, together with mead and mineral water.

When his guests had partaken of these, their hunger was fully satisfied, and they related to him the reason of their coming. When the Giant learned how the Princess was kept from her lover, and in all probability from a throne, by this wicked sorceress, his anger knew no bounds.