FullReads

The prince was now beside himself with remorse and misery, and when the dumb nobleman made signs that they should pursue their search for the magician, he only cried, “Too late! too late!”

But after a while he said, “I will return to the hermit, and pass the rest of my miserable life in solitude and penance. And you, dear friend, go back to my father.”

But the dumb nobleman shook his head, and could not be persuaded to leave the prince. Then they took the glass coffin on their shoulders, and on foot, and weeping as they went, they retraced their steps to the forest.

For some time the prince remained with the hermit, and submitted himself to his direction. Then the hermit bade him return to his father, and he obeyed.

Every day the prince stood by the glass coffin, and beat his breast and cried, “Behold, murderer, the fruits of anger!” And he tried hard to overcome the violence of his temper. When he lost heart he remembered a saying of the hermit: “Patience had far to go, but she was crowned at last.” And after a while the prince became as gentle as he had before been violent. And the king and all the court rejoiced at the change; but the prince remained sad at heart, thinking of the princess.

One day he was sitting alone, when a man approached him, dressed in a long black robe.

“Good-day, godson,” said he.

“Who calls me godson?” said the prince.

“The magician you have so long sought,” said the godfather. “I have come to reclaim my gift.”

“What cruelty led you to bestow it upon me?” asked the prince.

“The king, your father, would have been dissatisfied with any ordinary present from me,” said the magician, “forgetting that the responsibilities of common gifts, and very limited power, are more than enough for most men to deal with. But I have not neglected you. I was the wise woman who brought you up. Again, I was the hermit, as your dog was sage enough to discover. I am come now to reclaim what has caused you such suffering.”

“Alas!” cried the prince, “why is your kindness so tardy? If you have not forgotten me, why have you withheld this benefit till it is too late for my happiness? My friend is dumb, my wife is dead, my dog is hanged. When wishes cannot reach these, do you think it matters to me what I may command?”

“Softly, prince,” said the magician; “I had a reason for the delay. But for these bitter lessons you would still be the slave of the violent temper which you have conquered, and which, as it was no gift of mine, I could not remove. Moreover, when the spell which made all things bend to your wish is taken away, its effects also are undone. Godson! I recall my gift.”

As the magician spoke the glass sides of the coffin melted into the air, and the princess sprang up, and threw herself into her husband’s arms. The dog also rose, stretched himself, and wagged his tail. The dumb nobleman ran to tell the good news to the king, and all the counsellors came back in a long train from the bottom of the sea, and set about the affairs of state as if nothing had happened.

The old king welcomed his children with open arms, and they all lived happily to the end of their days.