nerous, well-bred, and well-behaved youth, as
all princes are.

In his wanderings he had come across some reports about our princess;
but as everybody said she was bewitched, he never dreamed that she could
bewitch him. For what indeed could a prince do with a princess that had
lost her gravity? Who could tell what she might not lose next? She might
lose her visibility, or her tangibility; or, in short, the power of
making impressions upon the radical sensorium; so that he should never
be able to tell whether she was dead or alive. Of course he made no
further inquiries about her.

One day he lost sight of his retinue in a great forest. These forests
are very useful in delivering princes from their courtiers, like a sieve
that keeps back the bran. Then the princes get away to follow their
fortunes. In this way they have the advantage of the princesses, who are
forced to marry before they have had a bit of fun. I wish our princesses
got lost in a forest sometimes.

One lovely evening, after wandering about for many days, he found that
he was approaching the outskirts of this forest; for the trees had got
so thin that he could see the sunset through them; and he soon came upon
a kind of heath. Next he came upon signs of human neighbourhood; but by
this time it was getting late, and there was nobody in the fields to
direct him.

After travelling for another hour, his horse, quite worn out with long
labour and lack of food, fell, and was unable to rise again. So he
continued his journey on foot. A length he entered another wood--not a
wild forest, but a civilised wood, through which a footpath led him to
the side of a lake. Along this path the prince pursued his way through
the gathering darkness. Suddenly he paused, and listened. Strange sounds
came across the water. It was, in fact, the princess laughing. Now there
was something odd in her laugh, as I have already hinted; for the
hatching of a real hearty laugh requires the incubation of gravity; and
perhaps this was how the prince mistook the laughter for screaming.
Looking over the lake, he saw something white in the water; and, in an
instant, he had torn off his tunic, kicked off his sandals, and plunged
in. He soon reached the white object, and found that it was a woman.
There was not light enough to show that she was a princess, but quite
enough to show that she was a lady, for it does not want much light to
see that.

Now I cannot tell how it came about--wheth