r's curse o'ertaken,
Here I lie in slumber sunken;
Here the youthful maid must languish
On the bosom of the waters,
And the bed is cold and oozy
Where the tender maid is resting."

The prince dismounted, and hobbled his horse to prevent him from
straying too far from the bridge. Then he took off his clothes, and
smeared himself over and over with mud, so that no spot remained white.
After this, he caught hold of the end of his nose, and jumped into the
water, exclaiming, "Let the man become a crayfish." There was a splash
in the water, and then everything became as still as before.

The prince, now transformed into a crayfish, immediately began to
disentangle the roots of the water-lily from the bed of the river, but
it took him a long time. The roots were firmly fixed in the sand and
mud, so that the crayfish had to work for seven whole days before he
could complete his task. Then he seized one of the rootlets with his
pincers, and the water buoyed him up to the surface with the flower.
They drifted along slowly with the current, but although there were
plenty of trees and bushes on the banks, it was some time before the
prince caught sight of the rowan-tree and the rock. At last, however, he
spied the tree with its leaves and clusters of red berries on the left
bank, and a little farther on stood the rock, which was as high as a
small bath-house. Upon this he cried out, "Let the water-lily become a
maiden and the crayfish a man." Then the youth and the maiden swam with
their heads above the water. The water bore them to the bank, but they
were both mother-naked, as God had created them.

Then said the shame-faced maiden, "Dear youth, I have no clothes to put
on, and cannot come out of the water." But the prince answered, "Go
ashore near the rowan-tree, and I will shut my eyes while you climb up
and hide yourself under the tree. Then I will hurry to the bridge where
I left my horse and my clothes when I plunged into the river." So the
maiden hid herself under the tree, while the prince hurried to the spot
where he had left his horse and his clothes, but he could find neither
one nor the other. He did not know that he had passed so many days in
the form of a crayfish, and supposed that he had only spent a few hours
in the water. Presently he saw a magnificent chariot with six horses
coming slowly along the bank to meet him. In the chariot he found
everything needful both for himself and for the m