the princess appear at his
side. But when the sun peeped for the first time over the mountains, the
door burst open as before, and the wizard entered with a loud laugh.
Suddenly he caught sight of the princess; his face darkened, he uttered
a low growl, and one of the iron circlets gave way with a crash. He
seized the young girl by the hand and bore her away with him.

All that day the prince wandered about the castle, studying the curious
treasures it contained, but everything looked as if life had suddenly
come to a standstill. In one place he saw a prince who had been turned
into stone in the act of brandishing a sword round which his two hands
were clasped. In another, the same doom had fallen upon a knight in the
act of running away. In a third, a serving man was standing eternally
trying to convey a piece of beef to his mouth, and all around them were
others, still preserving for evermore the attitudes they were in when
the wizard had commanded 'From henceforth be turned into marble.' In the
castle, and round the castle, all was dismal and desolate. Trees there
were, but without leaves; fields there were, but no grass grew on them.
There was one river, but it never flowed and no fish lived in it. No
flowers blossomed, and no birds sang.

Three times during the day food appeared, as if by magic, for the prince
and his servants. And it was not until supper was ended that the wizard
appeared, as on the previous evening, and delivered the princess into
the care of the prince.

All four determined that this time they would keep awake at any cost.
But it was no use. Off they went as they had done before, and when the
prince awoke the next morning the room was again empty.

With a pang of shame, he rushed to find Quickeye. 'Awake! Awake!
Quickeye! Do you know what has become of the princess?'

Quickeye rubbed his eyes and answered: 'Yes, I see her. Two hundred
miles from here there is a mountain. In this mountain is a rock. In the
rock, a precious stone. This stone is the princess. Long shall take me
there, and we will be back before you can turn round.'

So Long took him on his shoulders and they set out. At every stride they
covered twenty miles, and as they drew near Quickeye fixed his burning
eyes on the mountain; in an instant it split into a thousand pieces, and
in one of these sparkled the precious stone. They picked it up and
brought it to the prince, who flung it hastily down, and as the stone
touched the