The second said, 'If she is in Heaven I will tear open the sky and
bring her to you.'
But the third laughed, saying, 'Pooh! if you tear open the sky I will
put a patch in it, so that none will be able to tell the new piece
from the old.'
The King, considering the last wise woman had proved herself to be the
cleverest, engaged her to seek for the beautiful owner of the
glistening golden hair.
Now as the hairs had been found in the river, the wise woman guessed
they must have floated down stream from some place higher up, so she
set off in a grand royal boat, and the boatmen rowed and rowed until
at last they came in sight of the Jinn's magical marble palace.
Then the cunning wise woman went alone to the steps of the palace, and
began to weep and to wail. It so happened that as Prince Lionheart
had that day gone out hunting, the Princess was all alone, and having
a tender heart, she no sooner heard the old woman weeping than she
came out to see what was the matter.
'Mother,' said she kindly, 'why do you weep?'
'My daughter,' cried the wise woman, 'I weep to think what will become
of you if the handsome Prince is slain by any mischance, and you are
left here in the wilderness alone.' For the witch knew by her arts
all about the Prince.
'Very true!' replied the Princess, wringing her hands; 'what a
dreadful thing it would be! I never thought of it before!'
All day long she wept over the idea, and at night, when the Prince
returned, she told him of her fears; but he laughed at them, saying
his life lay in safety, and it was very unlikely any mischance should
befall him.
Then the Princess was comforted; only she begged him to tell her
wherein it lay, so that she might help to preserve it.
'It lies,' returned the Prince, 'in my sharp sword, which never
fails. If harm were to come to it I should die; nevertheless, by fair
means naught can prevail against it, so do not fret, sweetheart!'
'It would be wiser to leave it safe at home when you go hunting,'
pleaded the Princess, and though Prince Lionheart told her again there
was no cause to be alarmed, she made up her mind to have her own way,
and the very next morning, when the Prince went a-hunting, she hid his
strong sharp sword, and put another in the scabbard, so that he was
none the wiser.
Thus when the wise woman came once more and wept on the marble stairs,
the Princess called to her joyfully, 'Don't cry, mother!--the Prince's
life is safe to-day. It lies in his sword, and that is hidden away in
my cupboard.'
Then the wicked old hag waited until the Princess took her noonday
sleep, and when everything was quiet she stole to the cupboard, took
the sword, made a fierce fire, and placed the sharp shining blade in
the glowing embers. As it grew hotter and hotter, Prince Lionheart
felt a burning fever creep over his body, and knowing the magical
property of his sword, drew it out to see if aught had befallen it,
and lo! it was not his own sword but a changeling! He cried aloud, 'I
am undone! I am undone!' and galloped homewards. But the wise woman
blew up the fire so quickly that the sword became red-hot ere Prince
Lionheart could arrive, and just as he appeared on the other side of
the stream, a rivet came out of the sword hilt, which rolled off, and
so did the Prince's head.
Then the wise woman, going to the Princess, said, 'Daughter! see how
tangled your beautiful hair is after your sleep! Let me wash and
dress it against your husband's return.' So they went down the marble
steps to the river; but the wise woman said, 'Step into my boat,
sweetheart; the water is clearer on the farther side.'
And then, whilst the Princess's long golden hair was all over her eyes
like a veil, so that she could not see, the wicked old hag loosed the
boat, which went drifting down stream.
In vain the Princess wept and wailed; all she could do was to make a
great vow, saying, 'O you shameless old thing! You are taking me away
to some king's palace, I know; but no matter who he may be, I swear
not to look on his face for twelve years!'
At last they arrived at the royal city, greatly to the King's delight;
but when he found how solemn an oath the Princess had taken, he built
her a high tower, where she lived all alone. No one save the hewers
of wood and drawers of water were allowed even to enter the courtyard
surrounding it, so there she lived and wept over her lost Lionheart.
Now when the Prince's head had rolled off in that shocking manner, the
barley plant he had given to the Knifegrinder king suddenly snapped
right in two, so that the ear fell to the ground.
This greatly troubled the faithful Knifegrinder, who immediately
guessed some terrible disaster had overtaken his dear Prince. He
gathered an army without delay, and set off in aid, meeting on the way
with the Blacksmith and the Carpenter kings, who were both on the same
errand. When it became evident that the three barley plants had
fallen at the selfsame moment, the three friends feared the worst, and
were not surprised when, after long journeying, they found the
Prince's body, all burnt and blistered, lying by the river-side, and
his head close to it. Knowing the magical properties of the sword,
they looked for it at once, and when they found a changeling in its
place their hearts sank indeed! They lifted the body, and carried it
to the palace, intending to weep and wail over it, when, lo! they
found the real sword, all blistered and burnt, in a heap of ashes, the
rivet gone, the hilt lying beside it.
'That is soon mended!' cried the Blacksmith king; so he blew up the
fire, forged a rivet, and fastened the hilt to the blade. No sooner
had he done so than the Prince's head grew to his shoulders as firm as
ever.
'My turn now!' quoth the Knifegrindcr king; and he spun his wheel so
deftly that the blisters and stains disappeared like magic, and the
sword was soon as bright as ever. And as he spun his wheel, the burns
and scars disappeared likewise from Prince Lionheart's body, until at
last the Prince sat up alive, as handsome as before.
'Where is my Princess?' he cried, the very first thing, and then told
his friends of all that had passed.
'It is my turn now!' quoth the Carpenter king gleefully; 'give me your
sword, and I will fetch the Princess back in no time.'
So he set off with the bright strong sword in his hand to find the
lost Princess. Ere long he came to the royal city, and noticing a
tall new-built tower, inquired who dwelt within. When the townspeople
told him it was a strange Princess, who was kept in such close
imprisonment that no one but hewers of wood and drawers of water were
allowed even to enter the courtyard, he was certain it must be she
whom he sought. However, to make sure, he disguised himself as a
woodman, and going beneath the windows, cried, 'Wood! wood! Fifteen
gold pieces for this bundle of wood!'
The Princess, who was sitting on the roof, taking the air, bade her
servant ask what sort of wood it was to make it so expensive.
'It is only firewood,' answered the disguised Carpenter,' but it was
cut with this sharp bright sword!'
Hearing these words, the Princess, with a beating heart, peered
through the parapet, and recognised Prince Lionheart's sword. So she
bade her servant inquire if the woodman had anything else to sell, and
he replied that he had a wonderful flying palanquin, which he would
show to the Princess, if she wished it, when she walked in the garden
at evening.
She agreed to the proposal, and the Carpenter spent all the day in
fashioning a marvellous palanquin. This he took with him to the tower
garden, saying, 'Seat yourself in it, my Princess, and try how well it
flies.'
But the King's sister, who was there, said the Princess must not go
alone, so she got in also, and so did the wicked wise woman. Then the
Carpenter king jumped up outside, and immediately the palanquin began
to fly higher and higher, like a bird.
'I have had enough!--let us go down,' said the King's sister after a
time.
Whereupon the Carpenter seized her by the waist, and threw her
overboard, just as they were sailing above the river, so that she was
drowned; but he waited until they were just above the high tower
before he threw down the wicked wise woman, so that she got finely
smashed on the stones.
Then the palanquin flew straight to the Jinn's magical marble palace,
where Prince Lionheart, who had been awaiting the Carpenter king's
arrival with the greatest impatience, was overjoyed to see his
Princess once more, and set off, escorted by his three companion
kings, to his father's dominions. But when the poor old King, who had
very much aged since his son's departure, saw the three armies coming,
he made sure they were an invading force, so he went out to meet them,
and said, 'Take all my riches, but leave my poor people in peace, for
I am old, and cannot fight. Had my dear brave son Lionheart been with
me, it would have been a different affair, but he left us years ago,
and no one has heard aught of him since.'
On this, the Prince flung himself on his father's neck, and told him
all that had occurred, and how these were his three old friends--the
Knifegrinder, the Blacksmith, and the Carpenter. This greatly
delighted the old man; but when he saw the golden-haired bride his son
had brought home, his joy knew no bounds.
So everybody was pleased, and lived happily ever after.