oungest sister. At their wedding
permission was granted to him to go wherever he liked in the
neighborhood; they only begged him not to enter one valley, which they
pointed out, otherwise some misfortune would befall him; it was
called, they said, the Valley of Lamentation.

The prince spent a very long time at the palace without being aware
of it, for he always remained just as young as he was when he arrived.
He wandered about the woods without ever having a headache. He amused
himself in the golden palace, lived in peace and quiet with his wife
and her sisters, enjoyed the beauty of the flowers, and the sweet,
pure air. He often went hunting; but one day, while pursuing a hare,
he shot two arrows at it without hitting the animal. Angrily chasing
it he discharged a third arrow, which struck it, but in his haste the
luckless man had not noticed that he had passed through the Valley of
Lamentation while following the game.

He picked it up and turned toward home, but was suddenly seized with a
longing for his father and mother. He did not venture to speak of this
wish to his wife, yet by his grief and restlessness both she and her
sisters instantly perceived his condition.

"Oh! luckless prince, you have passed through the Valley of
Lamentation," they said in terror.

"I did so, my dear ones, without meaning to be so imprudent, but now
the longing to see my parents is killing me! Yet I can not forsake
you. I have already spent several days with you and have no cause to
complain. So I'll go and see my parents once more, and then come back
to you, never to leave you again."

"Do not quit us, beloved prince! Your parents died two or three
hundred years ago, and if you go, we fear you yourself will never
return; stay with us, for a presentiment of evil tells us that you
will perish!"

All the entreaties of the three ladies, as well as those of the horse,
were unable to quiet the young hero's longing for his parents, which
was fairly consuming him alive.

At last the horse said: "If you don't listen to me, master, whatever
happens to you will be your own fault. I'll tell you something, and if
you accept my condition, I'll take you back."

"I'll accept it with many thanks," replied the prince; "let me hear
it."

"As soon as you reach your father's palace you will dismount, but I am
to return alone in case you stay even an hour."

"Be it so," the prince agreed.

They made their preparations for the journey, the