Page:Researches respecting the Book of Sindibad and Portuguese Folk-Tales.djvu/28

6 to her, to consent to marry the prince, as otherwise he would most certainly die. The maiden was willing and acceded to the request of the queen, and the marriage was celebrated with great pomp, and they all lived very happily.

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There was once a maiden who was imprisoned in a tower. She was very much attached to a prince, who used to come every afternoon to speak to her. This girl would let down her hair from the tower, and by this means the prince was enabled to come up and hold a conversation with her. One day, just as a witch happened to be passing that way, she saw the prince ascend. What should she do? She came next day to the place, earlier than the prince was in the habit of doing, and, imitating the prince's voice and speech, she called out to the girl. The girl threw down her hair as usual, and the witch caught hold of the long tress and ascended. She then commenced to tell the maiden not to care for the prince, and to discard him, and in fact gave her much bad advice; and when she found that it was near the hour when the prince would arrive as usual at the tower, she again laid hold of the girl's hair and slipped down to the ground. As soon as the maiden saw the prince she recounted to him all the witch had said to her, and how she had deceived her in order to ascend the tower. When the prince heard this he at once ordered a carriage in order to run away with the maiden. Before the girl left the tower she took leave of everything in it, but she forgot to take leave of the besom and the broomstick. She took away with her a glass with water, a little bag with stones, and another with sand, and she ran away. A little while after the witch came again to the foot of the tower, and began calling out to the girl as she had done the day before. To this the table and