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Timtom went at once to the room where Princess Pattycake was moodily sitting, and said, boldly: "I should like to marry you." "What!" screamed the Princess, in a great rage; "marry me! Go away this instant, you impudent boy, or I shall throw my shoe at your head!" Timtom was both surprised and shocked at this outburst, but he realized that the Princess had a remarkably bad temper.
"I am resolved to try, nevertheless," replied Timtom, "and, if I succeed, you must give me the Princess in marriage." "I will, and my blessing into the bargain," answered the King, heartily. Then Timtom left the court, and went back to his father's house, where he thought on the problem for a week and a day.
At the other end of the passage was a door studded with costly gems. Timtom walked up to this door and knocked on it. Immediately it swung open, and the youth found himself in a chamber entirely covered with diamonds.
His mother gave him her sympathy, and after some thought, said to him: "You must go to the sorceress Maetta and ask her assistance. She is a good lady, and a friend to all the King's family. I am quite sure she will aid you, if only you can find your way to the castle in which she lives." "Where is this castle?" asked Timtom, brightening up.
Timtom gladly would have turned back had such a thing been possible, for his heart was full of fear. But he remembered that without the bird's song and the spider's eye he could never reach home again. He also thought of the pretty face of Princess Pattycake, and this gave him courage.
It was smooth as glass, and Timtom saw no way of climbing over it. While he stood wondering how he might overcome this new obstacle a gray rabbit hopped out from the bushes and asked: "Where do you wish to go, stranger?" "To the castle of the sorceress Maetta," answered Timtom. "Well, perhaps I can assist you," said the rabbit.
Having passed over the glittering needles in safety Timtom pushed forward on his way, being urged to haste by the delays he had suffered. When he reached the place where he had encountered the snow-storm, he found the birds had eaten all the pop-corn, so he was able to proceed without interruption. At last he reached the Monarch of Mo's palace and demanded an audience with the Princess Pattycake.
"It sounds something like a comic opera," said the bird, "but, after all, it will serve my purpose very nicely." A minute later Timtom rejoiced to find himself on the other side of the gulf, and so much nearer home.
Poor Timtom was at his wits' end to know what to do; so he sat down near the brink of the gulf and twirled his thumbs and tried to keep up his courage and think of some plan, while the white bird strutted around in a cold and stately manner. Now it seems that just about this time the Sly Fox reached his den and opened the little red box to see what was in it.
"So, try as I may, I can not sing a single note. If you will agree to bring me a new song from the sorceress I will take you over the gulf, and bring you back when you return. But unless you bring the song I shall not carry you over again." Timtom joyfully agreed to this bargain, and then, sitting on the bird's neck, he was borne safely across the deep gulf.
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