noble in search of adventures.
They had left the city many miles behind them, when the king suddenly
discovered that he had forgotten his sword, and though all his
attendants instantly offered theirs, he declared that he could fight
with none but his own.

'The first man who brings it to me from my daughter's room,' cried he,
'shall not only have her to wife, but after my death shall reign in my
stead.'

At this the Red Knight, the young prince, and several more turned their
horses to ride as fast as the wind back to the palace. But suddenly a
better plan entered the prince's head, and, letting the others pass him,
he took his precious parcel from his breast and wished himself a lion.
Then on he bounded, uttering such dreadful roars that the horses were
frightened and grew unmanageable, and he easily outstripped them, and
soon reached the gates of the palace. Here he hastily changed himself
into a bee, and flew straight into the princess's room, where he became
a man again. She showed him where the sword hung concealed behind a
curtain, and he took it down, saying as he did so: 'Be sure not to
forget what you have promised to do.'

The princess made no reply, but smiled sweetly, and slipping a golden
ring from her finger she broke it in two and held half out silently to
the prince, while the other half she put in her own pocket. He kissed
it, and ran down the stairs bearing the sword with him. Some way off he
met the Red Knight and the rest, and the Red Knight at first tried to
take the sword from him by force. But as the youth proved too strong for
him, he gave it up, and resolved to wait for a better opportunity.

This soon came, for the day was hot and the prince was thirsty.
Perceiving a little stream that ran into the sea, he turned aside, and,
unbuckling the sword, flung himself on the ground for a long drink.
Unluckily, the mermaid happened at that moment to be floating on the
water not very far off, and knew he was the boy who had been given her
before he was born. So she floated gently in to where he was lying, she
seized him by the arm, and the waves closed over them both. Hardly had
they disappeared, when the Red Knight stole cautiously up, and could
hardly believe his eyes when he saw the king's sword on the bank. He
wondered what had become of the youth, who an hour before had guarded
his treasure so fiercely; but, after all, that was no affair of his! So,
fastening the sword to his belt, he carried it