only daughter from
destruction?"

"Yes, it was I, mighty Emperor," replied the Prince. Here-upon the
Emperor married his daughter to the young Prince and raised him to the
highest office in the kingdom.

Then the Emperor said to the two elder brothers, "If it please you to
remain in my empire, I will give you each a wife and will permit you
to build strongholds for yourselves."

But they told him they were already married, and explained that they
had undertaken this journey merely to seek out their sisters. When the
Emperor heard this he detained only the youngest brother, his
son-in-law, and to the two other brothers he gave two mules laden with
gold. So the two brothers returned home to their own kingdom.

Still the youngest brother thought continually of his sisters, and
kept always in mind the hope of yet seeking them out But on the other
hand he was pained at the thought of parting from his young wife, and
besides he knew that the Emperor would never consent to his leaving
him. So he was continually racked with anxiety about his sisters.

One day the Emperor went hunting, and before setting out he said to
his son-in-law, "Do you remain in the castle during my absence. I give
to you nine keys which you must keep carefully by you. I give you
free leave to open three or four rooms. You will find in them silver
and gold in abundance; there is also no lack of weapons, or of any
kind of treasure. You may even, if you feel inclined, open eight of
the rooms. But beware of unlocking the ninth. Leave that one alone;
for," he added, "if you do not it will be the worse for you." Upon
this the Emperor departed, leaving his son-in-law at home alone.

Hardly was the Emperor gone when the Prince began to open one door
after another, until he had examined eight rooms in succession. His
eyes beheld in them treasures of all kinds. When at last he came to
the door of the ninth room he said to himself, "I have seen and done
so many wonderful things, and shall it be forbidden me to enter a
certain room?"

So he unlocked the door and went in. What a sight! There was a man
whose legs up to his knees and whose arms up to the elbows were
incased in iron; from his neck hung heavy iron chains, the ends of
which were fastened to stakes driven into the floor on all sides,
holding him so securely that he could not stir. Before him a stream of
water gushed from a golden vessel and flowed into a golden basin which
stood near; beside it w