she could not pass the Golden Fountain. Speechless and invisible
they clung together on the brink, trembling at the frightful
tempest the Prince of the Air had raised in his fury. The storm
had already lasted many days when tremendous heat began to make
itself felt. The lightning flashed, the thunder rattled, fire
bolts fell from heaven, burning up the forests and even the
fields of corn. In one instant the very streams were dried up,
and the Prince, seizing his opportunity, carried the Princess
over the Golden Fountain.

It took them a long time still to reach the Golden Isle, but at
last they got there, and we may be quite sure they never wanted
to leave it any more.



THE CROW[13]

[13] From the Polish. Kletke.

Once upon a time there were three Princesses who were all three
young and beautiful; but the youngest, although she was not
fairer than the other two, was the most loveable of them all.

About half a mile from the palace in which they lived there stood
a castle, which was uninhabited and almost a ruin, but the garden
which surrounded it was a mass of blooming flowers, and in this
garden the youngest Princess used often to walk.

One day when she was pacing to and fro under the lime trees, a