United States or Luxembourg ? Vote for the TOP Country of the Week !
In great haste the old man sprang from his bed, and covered the flower with the cloth the old witch had given him, and in a moment the beautiful Princess Hyacinthia stood before him. 'What have you done? she cried. 'Why have you called me back to life? For I have no desire to live since my bridegroom, the beautiful Prince Milan, has deserted me.
If I can't do it, I lose my head. 'And what do you mean to do? asked Hyacinthia. 'Well, what is there to be done? What he demands I can't and won't do, so he must just make an end of me. 'Not so, dearest. I love you dearly, and you shall marry me, and I'll either save your life or die with you. We must fly now as quickly as we can, for there is no other way of escape.
The Ephors, on hearing this, pretended to pass the rest of the day in feasting and idleness, for it was the festival of the Hyacinthia; but at nightfall they chose five thousand Spartans, each attended by seven Helots, and sent them off without the knowledge of the Athenian embassy. To this Aristeides answered that it was a sorry jest to have deceived their friends instead of their enemies.
The horse no sooner recognized his master, than it neighed loudly with joy, and springing towards him, it stood as if rooted to the ground, while Prince Milan and Hyacinthia jumped on its back. Then it sped onwards like an arrow from a bow. In the meantime the Magician was waiting impatiently for the Prince. Enraged by the delay, he sent his servants to fetch him, for the appointed time was past.
Prince Milan at once proceeded to cut it open, when to his surprise two white doves sprang out of it, and one of them said to the other: 'My dear mate, do not fly away and leave me, and forget me as Prince Milan forgot his beloved Hyacinthia. Milan sighed deeply when he heard what the little dove said.
He flew into a dreadful rage when he saw them, and screamed out, 'Oh, you fools! the river and bridge were they! Go back and bring them to me at once, or it will be the worse for you. Then the pursuit began afresh. 'I hear horses' hoofs, sighed Hyacinthia. The Prince dismounted and put his ear to the ground.
The busy cook was just going to refuse her demand and order her out of the kitchen, but the words died on his lips when he turned and beheld the beautiful Hyacinthia, and he answered politely, 'You have just come in the nick of time, fair maiden. Bake your cake, and I myself will lay it before Prince Milan. The cake was soon made.
'They are hurrying after us, and are already quite near. In a moment the Princess Hyacinthia had changed herself, the Prince, and his charger into a thick wood where a thousand paths and roads crossed each other. Their pursuers entered the forest, but searched in vain for Prince Milan and his bride.
Milan sprang from the saddle, put his ear to the ground and listened. 'Yes, he answered, 'they are pursuing us, and are quite close. 'Then no time must be lost, said Hyacinthia, and she immediately turned herself into a river, Prince Milan into an iron bridge, and the charger into a blackbird. Behind the bridge the road branched off into three ways.
Prince Milan loosened from his neck the little gold cross his mother had given him, and as soon as Hyacinthia grasped it, she had changed herself into a church, Milan into a monk, and the horse into a belfry. They had hardly done this when the magician and his servants rode up. 'Did you see no one pass by on horseback, reverend father? he asked the monk.
Word Of The Day