ay
they stayed at the court of a king, and it happened that he was
holding games, and giving prizes to the best runners, boxers, and
quoit-throwers. Then the boy would try his strength with the rest, but
he threw the quoit so far that it went beyond what had ever been thrown
before, and fell in the crowd, striking a man so that he died. Now this
man was no other than the father of the boy's mother, who had fled away
from his own kingdom for fear his grandson should find him and kill him
after all. Thus he was destroyed by his own cowardice and by chance, and
thus the prophecy was fulfilled. But the boy and his wife and his mother
went back to the kingdom that was theirs, and lived long and happily
after all their troubles.

THE STORY OF PRETTY GOLDILOCKS

Once upon a time there was a princess who was the prettiest creature in
the world. And because she was so beautiful, and because her hair was
like the finest gold, and waved and rippled nearly to the ground, she
was called Pretty Goldilocks. She always wore a crown of flowers, and
her dresses were embroidered with diamonds and pearls, and everybody who
saw her fell in love with her.

Now one of her neighbors was a young king who was not married. He was
very rich and handsome, and when he heard all that was said about Pretty
Goldilocks, though he had never seen her, he fell so deeply in love
with her that he could neither eat nor drink. So he resolved to send an
ambassador to ask her in marriage. He had a splendid carriage made for
his ambassador, and gave him more than a hundred horses and a hundred
servants, and told him to be sure and bring the Princess back with him.
After he had started nothing else was talked of at Court, and the King
felt so sure that the Princess would consent that he set his people to
work at pretty dresses and splendid furniture, that they might be
ready by the time she came. Meanwhile, the ambassador arrived at the
Princess's palace and delivered his little message, but whether she
happened to be cross that day, or whether the compliment did not please
her, is not known. She only answered that she was very much obliged
to the King, but she had no wish to be married. The ambassador set off
sadly on his homeward way, bringing all the King's presents back with
him, for the Princess was too well brought up to accept the pearls
and diamonds when she would not accept the King, so she had only kept
twenty-five English pins that he might n