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Then he strengthened the King with wine, until he came to himself. The first words that he said were,
"Oh, the beautiful picture! whose portrait is it?"
"It is the portrait of the Princess of the Golden Palace," answered Faithful John. Then the King said,
"My love for her is so great that if all the leaves of the forest were tongues they could not utter it! I stake my life on the chance of obtaining her, and you, my Faithful John, must stand by me."
The faithful servant considered for a long time how the business should be begun; it seemed to him that it would be a difficult mat-ter to come only at a sight of the Princess. At last he thought out a way, and said to the King,
"All that she has about her is of gold--tables, chairs, dishes, drinking-cups, bowls, and all the household furniture; in your treasury are five tons of gold, let the goldsmiths of your kingdom work it up into all kinds of vessels and implements, into all kinds of birds, and wild creatures, and wonderful beasts, such as may please her; then we will carry them off with us, and go and seek our fortune."
The King had all the goldsmiths fetched, and they worked day and night, until at last some splendid things were got ready. When a ship had been loaded with them, Faithful John put on the garb of a merchant, and so did the King, so as the more completely to disguise themselves. Then they journeyed over the sea, and went so far that at last they came to the city where the Princess of the Golden Palace dwelt.
Faithful John told the King to stay in the ship, and to wait for him.
"Perhaps," said he, "I shall bring the Princess back with me, so take care that everything is in order; let the golden vessels be placed about, and the whole ship be adorned."
Then he gathered together in his apron some of the gold things, one of each kind, landed, and went up to the royal castle. And when he reached the courtyard of the castle there stood by the well a pretty maiden, who had two golden pails in her hand, and she was drawing water with them; and as she turned round to carry them away she saw the strange man, and asked him who he was. He answered,
"I am a merchant," and opened his apron, and let her look within it.
"Ah, what beautiful things!" cried she, and setting down her pails, she turned the golden toys over, and looked at them one after another: then she said,
"The Princess must see these; she takes so much pleasure in gold things that she will buy them all from you." Then she took him by the hand and led him in, for she was the chamber-maid.
When the Princess saw the golden wares she was very pleased, and said, "All these are so finely worked that I should like to buy them of you." But the faithful John said,
"I am only the servant of a rich merchant, and what I have here is nothing to what my master has in the ship--the cunningest and costliest things that ever were made of gold."
The Princess then wanted it all to be brought to her; but he said,
"That would take up many days; so great is the number of them, and so much space would they occupy that there would not be enough room for them in your house."
But the Princess's curiosity and fancy grew so much that at last she said, "Lead me to the ship; I will myself go and see your master's treasures."
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Then Faithful John led her to the ship joyfully, and the King, when he saw that her beauty was even greater than the picture had set forth, felt his heart leap at the sight. Then she climbed up into the ship, and the King received her. Faithful John stayed by the steers-man, and gave orders for the ship to push off, saying, "Spread all sail, that she may fly like a bird in the air."
So the King showed her all the golden things, each separately--the dishes, the bowls, the birds, the wild creatures, and the wonderful beasts. Many hours were passed in looking at them all, and in her pleasure the Princess never noticed that the ship was moving onwards. When she had examined the last, she thanked the merchant, and prepared to return home; but when she came to the ship's side, she saw that they were on the high seas, far from land, and speeding on under full sail.
"Ah!" cried she, full of terror, "I am betrayed and carried off by this merchant. Oh that I had died rather than have fallen into his power!"
But the King took hold of her hand, and said,
"No merchant am I, but a King, and no baser of birth than thyself; it is because of my over-mastering love for thee that I have car-
ried thee off by cunning. The first time I saw thy picture I fell fainting to the earth."
When the Princess of the Golden Palace heard this she became more trustful, and her heart inclined favourably towards him, so that she willingly consented to become his wife.
It happened, however, as they were still journeying on the open sea, that Faithful John, as he sat in the forepart of the ship and made music, caught sight of three ravens in the air flying overhead. Then he stopped playing, and listened to what they said one to another, for he understood them quite well. The first one cried,
"Ay, there goes the Princess of the Golden Palace."
"Yes," answered the second; "but he has not got her safe yet." And the third said, "He has her, though; she sits beside him in the ship."
Then the first one spoke again,
"What does that avail him? When they come on land a fox-red horse will spring towards them; then will the King try to mount him;
and if he does, the horse will rise with him into the air, so that he will never see his bride again." The second raven asked, "Is there no remedy?"
"Oh yes; if another man mounts quickly, and takes the pistol out of the holster and shoots the horse dead with it, he will save the young King. But who knows that? and he that knows it and does it will become stone from toe to knee." Then said the second,
"I know further, that if the horse should be killed, the young King will not even then be sure of his bride. When they arrive at the castle there will lie a wrought bride-shirt in a dish, and it will seem all woven of gold and silver, but it is really of sulphur and pitch, and if he puts it on it will burn him to the marrow of his bones." The third raven said,
"Is there no remedy?"
"Oh yes," answered the second; "if another man with gloves on picks up the shirt, and throws it into the fire, so that it is consumed, then is the young King delivered. But what avails that? He who knows it and does it will be turned into stone from his heart to his knee." Then spoke the third,
"I know yet more, that even when the bride-shirt is burnt up the King is not sure of his bride; when at the wedding the dance be-gins, and the young Queen dances, she will suddenly grow pale and fall to the earth as if she were dead, and unless some one lifts her up and takes three drops of blood from her right breast, she will die. But he that knows this and does this will become stone from
the crown of his head to the sole of his foot."
When the ravens had spoken thus among themselves they flew away. Faithful John had understood it all, and from that time he remained quiet and sad, for he thought to himself that were he to conceal what he had heard from his master, misfortune would befall;
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and were he to discover it his own life would be sacrificed. At last, however, he said within himself,
"I will save my master, though I myself should perish!"
So when they came on land, it happened just as the ravens had foretold, there sprang forward a splendid fox-red horse.
"Come on!" said the King, "he shall carry me to the castle," and was going to mount, when Faithful John passed before him and mounted quickly, drew the pistol out of the holster, and