ly continued his
song. And the louder the elder called him, 'Brother, little brother,
come to me,' the swifter he fled after his brothers the wolves, and
the heavier grew his skin, till, with a long howl, he vanished into the
depths of the forest.

So, with shame and anguish in his soul, the elder brother went back to
his village, and, with his sister, mourned the little boy and the broken
promise till the end of his life.

THE GLASS AXE(19)

(19) From the Hungarian. Kletke.

There was once upon a time a King and Queen who had everything they
could possibly wish for in this world except a child. At last, after
twelve years, the Queen gave birth to a son; but she did not live long
to enjoy her happiness, for on the following day she died. But before
her death she called her husband to her and said, 'Never let the child
put his feet on the ground, for as soon as he does so he will fall into
the power of a wicked Fairy, who will do him much harm.' And these were
the last words the poor Queen spoke.

The boy throve and grew big, and when he was too heavy for his nurse
to carry, a chair was made for him on little wheels, in which he could
wander through the palace gardens without help; at other times he was
carried about on a litter, and he was always carefully watched and
guarded for fear he should at any time put his feet to the ground.

But as this sort of life was bad for his health, the doctors ordered him
horse exercise, and he soon became a first-rate rider, and used to go
out for long excursions on horseback, accompanied always by his father's
stud-groom and a numerous retinue.

Every day he rode through the neighbouring fields and woods, and always
returned home in the evening safe and well. In this way many years
passed, and the Prince grew to manhood, and hardly anyone remembered the
Queen's warning, though precautions were still taken, more from use and
wont than for any other reason.

One day the Prince and his suite went out for a ride in a wood where his
father sometimes held a hunt. Their way led through a stream whose banks
were overgrown with thick brushwood. Just as the horsemen were about
to ford the river, a hare, startled by the sound of the horses' hoofs,
started up from the grass and ran towards the thicket. The young Prince
pursued the little creature, and had almost overtaken it, when the girth
of his saddle suddenly broke in two and he fell heavily to the ground.
No sooner had his