At last he sent word into every city and town and country place,
offering a prize to any one who should tell him an endless tale. He
said,--
"To the man that will tell me a story which shall last forever, I will
give my fairest daugh-ter for his wife; and I will make him my heir,
and he shall be king after me."
But this was not all. He added a very hard con-di-tion. "If any man
shall try to tell such a story and then fail, he shall have his head
cut off."
The king's daughter was very pretty, and there were many young men in
that country who were willing to do anything to win her. But none of
them wanted to lose their heads, and so only a few tried for the
prize.
One young man invented a story that lasted three months; but at the
end of that time, he could think of nothing more. His fate was a
warning to others, and it was a long time before another story-teller
was so rash as to try the king's patience.
But one day a stran-ger from the South came into the palace.
"Great king," he said, "is it true that you offer a prize to the man
who can tell a story that has no end?"
"It is true," said the king.
"And shall this man have your fairest daughter for his wife, and shall
he be your heir?"
"Yes, if he suc-ceeds," said the king.
Pages:
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109