often kept birds in
cages, though she was sure she should never do so again even if she had
the opportunity.

'As I have found you all in such distress,' said the prince presently,
'I shall of course not stay so long as I intended. I think I shall ask
you to let me depart to-morrow.'

The king offered no objection to this, for to tell you the truth, he
felt pleased to get rid of the prince now he had lost Fantosina; it was
not a time for visitors. After breakfast the next morning, the prince
ordered a large parcel to be carried in, and when it had been unfastened
he took out the costly presents he had brought from his father's
kingdom. These consisted of embroideries and jewels and swords and
various other things which the king and queen and Abdullah admired
exceedingly. Then the king said--

'I do not know what to offer you in return for all these treasures,
because I had intended to give you the most valuable of all my
possessions, and that was my poor Fantosina. Now, alas! I have no
daughter, and I do not know what to offer you.'

'There is one thing I should like, if you will graciously present it to
me,' said the prince.

'I beg you will do me the honour to choose whatever in my kingdom
pleases you the best,' answered the king.

'Then,' said the prince, 'I choose this beautiful bird.'

As the prince spoke Fantosina began to sing, for although she had made
up her mind she could never be other than a bird as long as she lived,
she had already grown to love the prince so dearly that she felt pleased
at the idea of going away with him. The prince was to set forth at four
o'clock the same afternoon, and from the window where her cage hung
Fantosina could see the people making ready for his departure. When the
four white horses were put into his carriage, she began to fear lest she
should be forgotten, and to remind the prince, she began to sing her
loudest. Presently Abdullah came to the room and climbed on to a chair
to take down the cage, which he carried outside the palace. The king and
queen and several courtiers stood around the prince to bid him farewell,
and when Abdullah joined the group with the cage in his hand, the king
felt ashamed of the smallness of his gift.

'I fear,' he said, as Abdullah handed the cage to the prince, 'you will
find the bird troublesome on your journey.'

'No,' answered the prince, 'I shall not find it in the least
troublesome, because I do not intend to take it on my journey