es.

9. Put Me in Again.

It must have been about this time that the son of a king, who lived a
thousand miles from Lagobel set out to look for the daughter of a
queen. He travelled far and wide, but as sure as he found a princess,
he found some fault in her. Of course he could not marry a mere woman,
however beautiful; and there was no princess to be found worthy of him.
Whether the prince was so near perfection that he had a right to demand
perfection itself, I cannot pretend to say. All I know is, that he was
a fine, handsome, brave, generous, well-bred, and well-behaved youth,
as all princes are.

In his wanderings he had come across some reports about our princess;
but as everybody said she was bewitched, he never dreamed that she
could bewitch him. For what indeed could a prince do with a princess
that had lost her gravity? Who could tell what she might not lose
next? She might lose her visibility, or her tangibility; or, in short,
the power of making impressions upon the radical sensorium; so that he
should never be able to tell whether she was dead or alive. Of course
he made no further inquiries about her. One day he lost sight of his
retinue in a great forest. These forests are very useful in delivering
princes from their courtiers, like a sieve that keeps back the bran.
Then the princes get away to follow their fortunes. In this way they
have the advantage of the princesses, who are forced to marry before
they have had a bit of fun. I wish our princesses got lost in a forest
sometimes.

One lovely evening, after wandering about for many days, he found that
he was approaching the outskirts of this forest; for the trees had got
so thin that he could see the sunset through them; and he soon came
upon a kind of heath. Next he came upon signs of human neighbourhood;
but by this time it was getting late, and there was nobody in the
fields to direct him.

After travelling for another hour, his horse, quite worn out with long
labour and lack of food, fell, and was unable to rise again. So he
continued his journey on foot. At length he entered another wood--not
a wild forest, but a civilized wood, through which a footpath led him
to the side of a lake. Along this path the prince pursued his way
through the gathering darkness. Suddenly he paused, and listened.
Strange sounds came across the water. It was, in fact, the princess
laughing. Now there was something odd in her laugh, as I have al