ose together that there was not room for a single needle more.

'Prince,' she said, turning to him, 'you see these needles? Well, know
that neither I nor any of my family can die till I have worn out these
needles in sewing. It will take at least a thousand years for that. Stay
here, and share my throne; a thousand years is long enough to live!'

'Certainly,' answered he; 'still, at the end of the thousand years I
should have to die! No, I must find the land where there is no death.'

The queen did all she could to persuade him to stay, but as her words
proved useless, at length she gave it up. Then she said to him: 'As you
will not stay, take this little golden rod as a remembrance of me. It
has the power to become anything you wish it to be, when you are in
need.'

So the prince thanked her, and putting the rod in his pocket, went his
way.

Scarcely had he left the town behind him when he came to a broad river
which no man might pass, for he was standing at the end of the world,
and this was the river which flowed round it. Not knowing what to do
next, he walked a little distance up the bank, and there, over his head,
a beautiful city was floating in the air. He longed to get to it, but
how? neither road nor bridge was anywhere to be seen, yet the city drew
him upwards, and he felt that here at last was the country which he
sought. Suddenly he remembered the golden rod which the mist-veiled
queen had given him. With a beating heart he flung it to the ground,
wishing with all his might that it should turn into a bridge, and
fearing that, after all, this might prove beyond its power. But no,
instead of the rod, there stood a golden ladder, leading straight up to
the city of the air. He was about to enter the golden gates, when there
sprang at him a wondrous beast, whose like he had never seen. 'Out sword
from the sheath,' cried the prince, springing back with a cry. And the
sword leapt from the scabbard and cut off some of the monster's heads,
but others grew again directly, so that the prince, pale with terror,
stood where he was, calling for help, and put his sword back in the
sheath again.

The queen of the city heard the noise and looked from her window to see
what was happening. Summoning one of her servants, she bade him go and
rescue the stranger, and bring him to her. The prince thankfully obeyed
her orders, and entered her presence.

The moment she looked at him, the queen also felt that he was no
ordin