nap. Then, between twelve and one
o'clock, he bathed his eyes with the dew that was falling there, and
found he could see again as well as ever.

'I can see you!' he said to the princess, gazing at her as if he had
never seen anything before.

'I don't believe it,' she answered.

'Well, go and hang your handkerchief on a bush, and if I find it at
once you _must_ believe me,' he said.

And so she did, and he went straight up to the handkerchief.

'Yes, indeed, you can see,' cried the princess. 'To think that my
mother's bed has really given back your sight!' and she went to the
bank and sat down again; and by-and-by, as the day was hot, the
princess fell asleep. As the prince watched her he suddenly saw
something shining on her neck. It was a little golden lamp that gave
out a bright light, and it hung from a golden chain. The prince
thought he would like to examine it more closely, so he unfastened the
chain, but as he did so the lamp fell to the ground. Before he could
pick it up a hawk flew in, snatched up the little lamp and flew away
again with it. The prince set off in pursuit, and ran on and on
without being able to catch the bird, until at length he had lost his
way. Trying to find it, he wandered on, up and down, until he came to
the forest where he had found the princess.

Meantime, the princess woke up, and finding herself alone she set out
to look for him. In the end she also lost her way, and as she was
walking about, not knowing what to do, the robbers captured her and
took her back to the cave from which the prince had rescued her. So
there they were after all their trouble--no better off than before!

[Illustration: THE HAWK FLIES AWAY WITH THE LAMP]

The prince wandered on, trying to find his way back to Arabia, until
he chanced one day to meet twelve youths, walking gaily through the
forest, singing and laughing. 'Where are you going?' he asked. And
they told him they were looking for work.

'I'll join you, if I may,' said the prince. And they answered: 'The
more the merrier.'

Then the prince went with them, and they all journeyed on until they
met an old troll.

'Where are you going, my masters?' asked the troll.

'To seek service,' they told him.

'Then come and serve me,' he said; 'there will be plenty to eat and
drink, and not much work to do, and if, at the end of a year, you can
answer three questions, I'll give you each a sack of gold. Otherwise
you must be turned into beasts