Oh, just looking round, he answered; but though I searched everywhere I could find nothing to eat.
I am very much afraid that it is a robbers den, said the queen. We had better go on, hungry though we are.
No, it isnt; but still, we had better not stay here, replied the prince, especially as there is nothing to eat. Perhaps we shall find another house.
They went on for some time, until, sure enough, they came to another house, which also had a light in the window.
Well go in here, said the prince.
No, no; I am afraid! cried the queen. We shall be attacked and killed! It is a robbers den: I am sure it is!
Yes, it looks like it; but we cant help that, said her son. We have had nothing to eat for hours, and Im nearly as tired as you.
The poor queen was, indeed, quite worn out; she could hardly stand for fatigue, and in spite of her terror was half anxious to be persuaded.
And theres going to be a storm, added the prince; who feared nothing now that he had the sword.
So they went into the house, where they found nobody. In the first room stood a table laid for a meal, with all sorts of good things to eat and drink, though some of the dishes were empty.
Well, this looks nice, said the prince, sitting down and helping himself to some delicious strawberries piled on a golden dish, and some iced lemonade. Never had anything tasted so nice; but, all the same, it was a robbers den they had come to, and the robbers, who had only just dined, had gone out into the forest to see whom they could rob.
When the queen and the prince could eat no more they remembered that they were very tired, and the prince looked about till he discovered a comfortable bed, with silken sheets, standing in the next room.
You get into bed, mother, he said, and Ill lie down by the side. Dont be alarmed; you can sleep quite safely till the morning. And he lay down with his sword in his hand, and kept watch until the day began to break; then the queen woke up and said she was quite rested and ready to start again.
First Ill go out into the forest and see if I can find our road, said the prince. And while Im gone you light the fire and make some coffee. We must eat a good breakfast before we start.
And he ran off into the wood.
After he had gone the queen lit the fire, and then thought she would like to see what was in the other rooms; so she went from one to another, and presently came to one that was very prettily furnished, with lovely pictures on the walls, and pale blue curtains and soft yellow cushions and comfortable easy chairs. As she was looking at all these things, suddenly a trap-door opened in the floor, and the robber-chief came out of the hole and seized her ankles. The queen almost died of fright, and shrieked loudly, then fell on her knees and begged him to spare her life.
Yes, if you will promise me two things, he replied; first that you will take me home to your country and let me be crowned king instead of your son; and secondly, that you will kill him in case he should try to take the throne from me-if you will not agree to this I shall kill you.
Kill my own son! gasped the queen, staring at him in horror.
You need not do that exactly, said the robber. When he returns, just lie on the bed and say that you have been taken ill, and add that you have dreamed that in a forest, a mile away, there are some beautiful apples. If you could only get some of these you would be well again, but if not you will die.
The queen shuddered as she listened. She was fond of her son, but she was a terrible coward; and so in the end she agreed, hoping that something would occur to save the prince. She had hardly given her promise when a step was heard, and the robber hastily hid himself.
Well, mother, cried the prince as he entered, I have been through the forest and found the road, so we will start directly we have had some breakfast.
Oh, I feel so ill! said the queen. I could not walk a single step; and there is only one thing that will cure me.
What is that? asked the prince.
I dreamed, answered the queen, in a faint voice, that, a mile away, there is a forest where the most beautiful apples grow, and if I could have some of them I should soon be well again.
Oh! but dreams dont mean anything, said the prince. There is a magician who lives near here. Ill go to him and ask for a spell to cure you.
My dreams always mean something, said the queen, shaking her head. If I dont get any apples I shall die. She did not know why the robber wanted to send the prince to this particular forest, but as a matter of fact it was full of wild animals who would tear to pieces any traveller who entered it.
Well, Ill go, answered the prince. But I really must have some breakfast first; I shall walk all the faster.
If you do not hurry you will find me dead when you come back, murmured the queen fretfully. She thought her son was not nearly anxious enough about her, and by this time she had begun to believe that she really was as ill as she had said.
When the prince had eaten and drunk, he set off, and soon came to a forest, and sure enough it was full of lions and tigers, and bears and wolves, who came rushing towards him; but instead of springing on him and tearing him to pieces, they lay down on the ground and licked his hands. He speedily found the tree with the apples which his mother wanted, but the branches were so high he could not reach them, and there was no way of climbing up the smooth trunk.
It is no use after all, I cant get up there, he said to himself. What am I to do now?
But, as he turned away, his sword chanced to touch the tree, and immediately two apples fell down. He picked them up joyfully, and was going away when a little dog came out of a hill close by, and running up to him, began tugging at his clothes and whining.
What do you want, little dog? asked the prince, stooping down to pat his soft black head.
The dog ran to a hole that was in the hill and sat there looking out, as much as to say: Come along in with me.
I may as well go and see what is in there, thought the prince, and he went over to the hill. But the hole was so small that he could not get through it, so he thrust his sword into it, and immediately it became larger.
Ha, ha! he chuckled; its worth something to have a sword like that. And he bent down and crept through the hole.
The first thing he beheld, when he entered a room at the very end of a dark passage, was a beautiful princess, who was bound by an iron chain to an iron pillar.
What evil fate brought you here? he asked in surprise: and the lady answered:
It isnt much use for me to tell you lest my lot becomes yours.
I am not afraid of that. Tell me who you are and what has brought you here, begged the prince.
My story is not long, she said, smiling sadly. I am a princess from Arabia, and twelve robbers who dwell in this place are fighting among themselves as to which shall have me to wife.
Shall I save you? asked the prince. And she answered:
Yes; but you cant do it. To begin with, how could you break the chain I am bound with?
Oh, thats easy enough, said he, taking out his sword; and directly it touched the chain the links fell apart and the princess was free.
Come! said the prince, taking her hand. But she drew back.
No, I dare not! she cried. If we should meet the robbers in the passage they would kill us both.
Not they! said the prince, brandishing his sword. But how long have you been here? he added quickly.
About twenty years, I think, said the princess, reckoning with her fingers.
Twenty years! exclaimed the prince. Then you had better shut your eyes, for when you have been sitting there so long it might hurt you to go too suddenly into the daylight. So you are the Princess of Arabia, whose beauty is famous throughout all the world! I, too, am a prince.