o many
lovely damsels in Castille, and yet I must fall in love with the king's
only daughter."

The princess, hearing him speak, said in a disguised voice--

"Woe is the king's daughter! There are so many gallants in Spain, and
yet she must fall in love with her father's barber!"

The barber was much surprised to hear this apt rejoinder; but he could
not find out from whence the voice came. He looked about everywhere, and
at last, feeling sleepy, he lay down under the oak-tree where the
princess was hidden.

In a very short time the barber was fast asleep; and the princess,
hearing him breathe heavily, got out of her hiding-place, mounted the
barber's horse, which the king had given him, and rode away with the
barber's bundle of clothes, leaving her own in its place.

When she had ridden at full speed for some hours she dismounted, and
opening the barber's bundle, she then disrobed herself and put on male
attire.

Next day she had arrived in the kingdom of Leon, and she rode up to the
king's palace and offered her services to the king as barber.

The king, being much struck by the stately bearing of the stranger,
willingly accepted the proffered services.

When the real barber awoke and found his horse and clothes gone he was
much alarmed; but seeing a bundle close to him he opened it, and was
delighted to find his lover's dresses in it.

Being a beardless youth, and very handsome, he bethought him of putting
on the princess's finest dress; and as his hair was very long and curly,
according to the fashion of the day, he made a very pretty woman.

Foot-sore and weary, he at last arrived at the palace of the King of
Leon, and was admitted to the king's presence as the daughter of the
neighbouring King of Castille.

The King of Leon was so charmed with the beauty of the new arrival that
he could not sleep, and so he sent for the barber, to whom he confided
his love.

The real princess was much astonished to hear that her lover was in the
palace, for she guessed it was he in female attire; but she kept quiet
until her lover was asleep in bed, and then she stole into his room, put
back his clothes, and took her own away.

Next morning when the real barber awoke and found his magnificent
dresses gone and his male attire restored to him he was indeed
surprised; but there was no help for it--he must again become a man and
a barber.

The princess put on her own clothes, and hid in a cupboard of the room.
When