n, and will keep him for our brother.' And so they did, and for many
years they all lived together as brothers and sisters.

By-and-by the boy grew into a man, as boys will, and then the oldest of
the fairies said to her sisters: 'Now I will marry him, and he shall
be really your brother.' So the young king married the fairy, and they
lived happily together in the castle; but though he loved his wife he
still longed to see the world.

At length this longing grew so strong on him that he could bear it no
more; and, calling the fairies together, he said to them: 'Dear wife and
sisters, I must leave you for a time, and go out and see the world. But
I shall think of you often, and one day I shall come back to you.'

The fairies wept and begged him to stay, but he would not listen, and
at last the eldest, who was his wife, said to him: 'If you really will
abandon us, take this lock of my hair with you; you will find it useful
in time of need.' So she cut off a long curl, and handed it to him.

The prince mounted his horse, and rode on all day without stopping once.
Towards evening he found himself in a desert, and, look where he would,
there was no such thing as a house or a man to be seen. 'What am I to do
now?' he thought. 'If I go to sleep here wild beasts will come and eat
me! Yet both I and my horse are worn out, and can go no further.' Then
suddenly he remembered the fairy's gift, and taking out the curl he said
to it: 'I want a castle here, and servants, and dinner, and everything
to make me comfortable tonight; and besides that, I must have a stable
and fodder for my horse.' And in a moment the castle was before him just
as he had wished.

In this way he travelled through many countries, till at last he came
to a land that was ruled over by a great king. Leaving his horse outside
the walls, he clad himself in the dress of a poor man, and went up
to the palace. The queen, who was looking out of the window, saw him
approaching, and filled with pity sent a servant to ask who he was and
what he wanted. 'I am a stranger here,' answered the young king, 'and
very poor. I have come to beg for some work.' 'We have everybody we
want,' said the queen, when the servant told her the young man's reply.
'We have a gate-keeper, and a hall porter, and servants of all sorts
in the palace; the only person we have not got is a goose-boy. Tell him
that he can be our goose-boy if he likes.' The youth answered that he
was quite content