full of water, my spell will be broken. If not death will come
to you speedily. I give you this one chance. Now go.'

The young man walked sadly away, and when he reached the palace he
shut himself into his room, and for the rest of the day refused to see
anyone, not even his wife. At sunset, however, as no sound could be
heard through the door, the princess grew quite frightened, and made
such a noise that the prince was forced to draw back the bolt and let
her come in. 'How pale you look,' she cried, 'has anything hurt you?
Tell me, I pray you, what is the matter, for perhaps I can help!'

So the prince told her the whole story, and of the impossible task
given him by the crocodile.

'How can a sand hole remain full of water?' asked he. 'Of course it
will all run through. The crocodile called it a "chance"; but he might
as well have dragged me into the river at once. He said truly that I
cannot escape him.'

'Oh, if _that_ is all,' cried the princess, 'I can set you free
myself, for my fairy godmother taught me to know the use of plants and
in the desert not far from here there grows a little four-leaved herb
which will keep the water in the pit for a whole year. I will go in
search of it at dawn, and you can begin to dig the hole as soon as you
like.'

To comfort her husband, the princess had spoken lightly and gaily; but
she knew very well she had no light task before her. Still, she was
full of courage and energy, and determined that, one way or another,
her husband should be saved.

It was still starlight when she left the palace on a snow-white
donkey, and rode away from the river straight to the west. For some
time she could see nothing before her but a flat waste of sand, which
became hotter and hotter as the sun rose higher and higher. Then a
dreadful thirst seized her and the donkey, but there was no stream to
quench it, and if there had been she would hardly have had time to
stop, for she still had far to go, and must be back before evening, or
else the crocodile might declare that the prince had not fulfilled his
conditions. So she spoke cheering words to her donkey, who brayed in
reply, and the two pushed steadily on.

Oh! how glad they both were when they caught sight of a tall rock in
the distance. They forgot that they were thirsty, and that the sun was
hot; and the ground seemed to fly under their feet, till the donkey
stopped of its own accord in the cool shadow. But though the donkey
might r