the castle.
Giving him a wooden axe and a wooden saw, the Princess bade him cut
down all the trees ere morning.

When she had left him Charles called upon the King of the Lions.
Instantly a number of lions bounded upon the scene, and with teeth and
claws soon performed the task.

In the morning the Princess, finding Charles asleep and all the trees
cut down, was more astonished than ever.

The third task was the most difficult of all. A high mountain had to
be levelled to the plain in a single night. Without the help of the
sparrow-hawks, Charles would certainly have failed, but these faithful
creatures worked with a will, and soon had the great mountain carried
away piece by piece and dropped into the sea.

When the Princess came for the third time and found the hero asleep by
the finished task she fell in love with him straightway, and kissed
him softly on the brow.

There was now nothing further to hinder his return, and he begged the
Princess to accompany him to Paris. In due time they arrived in that
city, to be welcomed with great warmth by the people. The beauty of
the lady won all hearts. But great was the general astonishment when
she declared that she would marry, not the King, but the youth who had
brought her to Paris! Charles thereupon declared himself the true
godson of the King, and the monarch, far from being angry, gave the
couple his blessing and great estates; and when in course of time he
died they reigned in his stead.

As for the thief, he was ordered to execution forthwith, and was
roasted to death in a large oven.

_The Princess Starbright_

This is another tale which introduces the search for the sun-princess
in a peculiar setting.

In the long ago there lived near the Lake of Leguer a jolly miller who
found recreation after his work in shooting the wild swans and ducks
which frequented that stretch of water. One December day, when it was
freezing hard and the earth was covered with snow, he observed a
solitary duck near the edge of the lake. He shot at it, and went
forward to pick it up, when he saw to his amazement that it had
changed into a beautiful princess. He was ready to drop into the snow
with fright, but the lady came graciously forward to him, saying:

"Fear not, my brave fellow, for know that I have been enchanted these
many years under the form of a wild duck, because of the enmity of
three malicious demons. You can restore me permanently to my human
shape if you cho