Page:Researches respecting the Book of Sindibad and Portuguese Folk-Tales.djvu/107

 Rh to his majesty the whole history of the little maid, and reminded him at the same time that lie it was who had given the sentence. He married the little maid, and the princess went to another kingdom.

XXI.—.

There lived once together a king and a queen, and a princess who was their daughter. The princess had worn out every evening seven pairs of slippers made of iron; and the king could not make out how that could be, though he was always trying to find out. The king at last issued a decree, that whosoever should be able to find out how the princess managed to wear out seven slippers made of iron in the short space of time between morning and evening, he would give the princess in marriage if he were a man, and if a woman he would marry her to a prince.

It happened that a soldier was walking along an open country road carrying on his back a sack of oranges, and he saw two men fighting and giving each other great blows. The soldier went up to them and asked them, "Oh, men, why are you giving each other such blows?" "Why indeed should it be!" they replied, "because our father is dead, and he has left us this cap, and we both wish to possess it." "Is it possible that for the sake of a cap you should be fighting?" inquired the soldier. The men then said, "The reason is that this cap has a charm, and if any one puts it on and says, "Cap, cover me so that no one shall see me! no one can see us." The soldier upon hearing this said to them, "I'll tell you what I can-do for you; you let me remain here with the cap whilst I throw this orange to a great distance, and you run after it, and the one that shall pick it up first shall