Page:Researches respecting the Book of Sindibad and Portuguese Folk-Tales.djvu/39

 Rh by a young man." The hermit gave the same answer as before—

The father, weary and annoyed, turned back home, and when he arrived he related to the witch what had taken place. "Lo! Catch her, for the hermit is no other than Guiomar! And since you are not clever and discriminating enough for the purpose I shall myself go there." When the girl had nearly come to the end of her journey she looked back and said, breathless and in great trepidation, "Oh! there comes my mother! I have saved myself from my father, but now I do not know how to escape from my mother!" But, after a short pause, she said, "My lad, be transformed into a river, and I into an eel!" When the mother arrived she at once found her daughter out; she came close to the edge of the river and called out three times, "Guiomar, come here!" whilst the eel replied significantly every time with her tail that she would not come. The witch then said, "The curse which I invoke to fall upon you is, that when the prince arrives at his own palace, the first person that shall give him a kiss shall make him forget you." And saying ^this she went away. They now returned to their original form and continued to walk on. The girl said to the prince, "Be on your guard that no one gives you a kiss, for my mother's imprecations never fail to take effect." The prince on entering the palace was on his guard that neither his mother or his sisters should give him a kiss. As he arrived very tired he laid down to sleep. One of the sisters who was passing through his room, seeing that he was quietly asleep, gave him a kiss. When the prince awoke and Guiomar spoke to him he