Page:Researches respecting the Book of Sindibad and Portuguese Folk-Tales.djvu/143

This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.
THE HIND OF THE GOLDEN APPLE.
121

diately had him put in prison, and he placed the queen and his sister in a tower; and when the princess had quite recovered from the effects of the illtreatment she had undergone the prince and the princess each mounted a horse and rode to her father's house. On arriving at the palace the king and queen could not contain their delight, and seemed perfectly mad with ioy to see their long-lost darling daughter again. There were great rejoicings, and at the end of a fortnight the prince married the princess. And as the king had no other child he asked them to remain in the palace, where they lived very happily.




XXX.—The Hind of the Golden Apple.

There once lived a woman who had a son, and they were so poor that the boy went every day for wood to burn in the pine forest. One day when he was in the forest he saw a hind, which was very small and most beautiful, come towards him with a golden apple hanging from its neck. The pretty hind commenced to speak to the boy to know what he was doing there, and after a while she asked him: "Would you like to come with me to see my lair? If you do I will give you so much money!" The youth then heard a voice say: "Do not accept anything from her!" And he therefore replied to the hind that he did not want anything. The hind again said to him: "Come to my lair, oh youth, and I will give you much money, and I can make you very happy indeed!" The voice again said: "Do not on any account accept anything, but tell her you would like to have the golden apple that hangs from her