d his palace the Queen met him on the threshold;
beside her stood the Prime Minister, holding a little cradle in his
hands, in which lay a new-born child as beautiful as the day. Then the
whole thing dawned on the King, and groaning deeply he muttered to
himself, 'So this is what I did not know about,' and the tears rolled
down his cheeks. All the courtiers standing round were much amazed at
the King's grief, but no one dared to ask him the cause of it. He took
the child in his arms and kissed it tenderly; then laying it in its
cradle, he determined to control his emotion and began to reign again as
before.

The secret of the King remained a secret, though his grave, careworn
expression escaped no one's notice. In the constant dread that his child
would be taken from him, poor Kojata knew no rest night or day. However,
time went on and nothing happened. Days and months and years passed, and
the Prince grew up into a beautiful youth, and at last the King himself
forgot all about the incident that had happened so long ago.

One day the Prince went out hunting, and going in pursuit of a wild boar
he soon lost the other huntsmen, and found himself quite alone in the
middle of a dark wood. The trees grew so thick and near together that it
was almost impossible to see through them, only straight in front of him
lay a little patch of meadowland, overgrown with thistles and rank
weeds, in the centre of which a leafy lime tree reared itself. Suddenly
a rustling sound was heard in the hollow of the tree, and an
extraordinary old man with green eyes and chin crept out of it.

'A fine day, Prince Milan,' he said; 'you've kept me waiting a good
number of years; it was high time for you to come and pay me a visit.'

'Who are you, in the name of wonder?' demanded the astonished Prince.

'You'll find out soon enough, but in the meantime do as I bid you. Greet
your father King Kojata from me, and don't forget to remind him of his
debt; the time has long passed since it was due, but now he will have to
pay it. Farewell for the present; we shall meet again.'

With these words the old man disappeared into the tree, and the Prince
returned home rather startled, and told his father all that he had seen
and heard.

The King grew as white as a sheet when he heard the Prince's story, and
said, 'Woe is me, my son! The time has come when we must part,' and with
a heavy heart he told the Prince what had happened at the time of his
birth.