reached a seaport. Here he found a
boat sailing for the coast which he desired to reach, and, having just
enough money to pay his passage, he went on board and they started. But
after some days a fearful storm came on, which completely wrecked the
little ship, and the Prince only saved his life by swimming a long, long
way to the only land that was in sight, and which proved to be a desert
island. Here he lived by fishing and hunting, always hoping that the
good Fairy would presently rescue him. One day, as he was looking sadly
out to sea, he became aware of a curious-looking boat which was drifting
slowly towards the shore, and which presently ran into a little creek
and there stuck fast in the sand. Prince Mannikin rushed down eagerly to
examine it, and saw with amazement that the masts and spars were all
branched, and covered thickly with leaves until it looked like a little
wood. Thinking from the stillness that there could be no one on board,
the Prince pushed aside the branches and sprang over the side, and found
himself surrounded by the crew, who lay motionless as dead men and in a
most deplorable condition. They, too, had become almost like trees, and
were growing to the deck, or to the masts, or to the sides of the
vessel, or to whatever they had happened to be touching when the
enchantment fell upon them. Mannikin was struck with pity for their
miserable plight, and set to work with might and main to release them.
With the sharp point of one of his arrows he gently detached their hands
and feet from the wood which held them fast, and carried them on shore,
one after another, where he rubbed their rigid limbs, and bathed them
with infusions of various herbs with such success, that, after a few
days, they recovered perfectly and were as fit to manage a boat as ever.
You may be sure that the good Fairy Genesta had something to do with
this marvellous cure, and she also put it into the Prince's head to rub
the boat itself with the same magic herbs, which cleared it entirely,
and not before it was time, for, at the rate at which it was growing
before, it would very soon have become a forest! The gratitude of the
sailors was extreme, and they willingly promised to land the Prince upon
any coast he pleased; but, when he questioned them about the
extraordinary thing that had happened to them and to their ship, they
could in no way explain it, except that they said that, as they were
passing along a thickly wooded coast