Then the robber put out his eyes, gave him a stick, and some food and drink, and drove him into the forest, hoping that the wild beasts would kill him, as he no longer had the sword and shirt to protect him.
"Now," he said to the queen, "we will return to your country."
The next day they set sail, and as soon as they reached home, they were married, and the robber became king.
Meanwhile the poor prince was wandering about in the forest, hoping to find someone who would help him, and perhaps take him into service, for now he had no money and no home. It so happened that there had been a great hunt in the forest, and the wild beasts had all fled before the hunters and were hiding, so nothing did him any harm. At last one day, just when his food was all gone and he had made up his mind that he must surely die of hunger, he came to the port whence the ships sailed for Arabia. One vessel was just ready to start, and the captain was going on board when he saw the prince.
"Why, here is a poor blind fellow!" he said. "No doubt that is the work of the robbers. Let us take him to Arabia with us. Would you like to come, my good man?" he asked the prince.
Oh, how glad he was to hear someone speak kindly to him again! And he answered that he would, and the sailors helped him to climb up the side of the ship. When they got to Arabia the captain took him to the public baths, and ordered one of the slaves to wash him. Whilst he was being washed the princess"s ring slipped off his finger and was afterwards found by the slave who cleaned out the bath. The man showed it to a friend of his who lived at the palace.
"Why, it is the princess"s ring!" he said. "Where did it come from?"
"It fell off a blind man"s finger," said the slave. "He must have stolen it; but I dare say you will be able to return it to the princess."
So that evening the man took the ring to the palace and gave it to his daughter, who was the princess"s favourite slave, and the girl gave it to her mistress. When the princess saw it she uttered a cry of joy.
"It is the ring I gave my betrothed!" she said. "Take me to him at once."
The bath-keeper thought it strange that the princess should be betrothed to a blind beggar, but he did as she bade him, and when she saw the prince she cried:
"At last you have come! The year is over, and I thought you were dead.
Now we will be married immediately." And she went home and told the king that he was to send an escort to bring her betrothed to the palace. Naturally the king was rather surprised at the sudden arrival of the prince; but when he heard that he was blind he was very much annoyed.
"I cannot have a blind person to succeed me," he said. "It is perfectly absurd!"
But the princess had had her own way all her life, and in the end the king gave way as he had always done. The prince was taken to the palace with much ceremony and splendour; but in spite of this the king was not contented. Still, it could not be helped, and really it was time the princess was married, though she looked as young as ever.
There had been hundreds of knights and princes who had begged her to bestow her hand upon them, but she would have nothing to do with anyone; and now she had taken it into her head to marry this blind prince, and n.o.body else would she have.
One evening, as it was fine, the prince and princess went into the garden, and sat down under a tree.
Two ravens were perched on a bush near by, and the prince, who could understand bird language, heard one of them say: "Do you know that it is Midsummer-eve to-night?"
"Yes," said the other.
"And do you know that part of the garden which is known as the Queen"s Bed?"
"Yes."
"Well, perhaps you don"t know this, that whoever has bad eyes, or no eyes at all, should bathe his eye-sockets in the dew that falls there to-night, because then he will get his sight back. Only he must do it between twelve and one o"clock."
That was good news for the prince and princess to hear, and the young man begged the princess to lead him to the place called the Queen"s Bed, which was the little plot of gra.s.s where the queen used often to lie down and take her midday 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, s.n.a.t.c.hed 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!
[Ill.u.s.tration: 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."
The youths thought this sounded easy enough, so they went home with the troll to his castle.
"You will find all that you want here," he said; "and all you need do is to take care of the house, for I am going away, and shall only return when the year is over."
Then he went away, and the young men, left to themselves, had a fine time of it; for they did no work, and only amused themselves with singing and drinking. Every day they found the table laid with good things to eat and drink, and when they had finished, the plates and dishes were cleared away by invisible hands. Only the prince, who was sad for his lost princess, ate and drank sparingly, and worked hard keeping the house in order.
One day, as he sat in his own room, he heard the voice of the old troll beneath his window talking to another troll.
"To-morrow," said he, "the year is up."
"And what questions will you ask?" inquired the other.
"First I shall ask how long they have been here--they don"t know, the young fools! Secondly I shall ask what shines on the roof of the castle."
"And what is that?"
"The lamp that was stolen by me from the princess as she slept in the garden."
"And what is the third question?"
"I shall ask where the food and drink they consume every day come from. I steal it from the king"s table; but they don"t know that."
The day after, the troll entered.
"Now I shall ask my questions," said he. "To begin with: How long have you been here?"