d on his brow. His
hands were long and sinewy, with terrible sharp claws upon them; and
his feet were so large and heavy that they seemed as if they would
crush anything they would set upon to pieces.

The poor Prince, though he was a very brave young man, stopped and
hesitated at the sight of this giant; but the monster, without ever
turning his head, cried out again: "Come in! Why do you pause? All men
must obey me, and I am the only one that all men do obey."

"You must be a mighty monarch, then," said the young Prince, taking
courage, "Pray, what is your name?"

"My name is Necessity," answered the other in his thundering voice;
"and some people give me bad names, and call me 'Hard Necessity' and
'Dire Necessity;' but, nevertheless, I often lead men to great things
and teach them useful arts if they do but struggle with me valiantly."

"Then I wish you would lead me to where I can get some rest," said the
Prince, "and teach me how I can procure food for myself and my poor
famishing horse."

The monster rose up almost as tall as a steeple and suddenly laid his
great clutches upon the Prince's shoulders, saying: "I will do both,
if you do but wrestle with me courageously. You must do it, for there
is no other way of escaping from my hands."

The Prince had never been handled so roughly before, and as he was
brave, strong, and active, he made a great effort to free himself, and
tried a thousand ways, but to no purpose. The giant did not hurt him,
however, though he pressed him very hard, and at length he cried out:
"Ho, ho! you are a brave young man! Leave off struggling, and you
shall have some food and drink, such as you would never have tasted
had you not come to me."

Thereupon he led him to his own coarse wooden table, and set before
him half of a hard brown loaf and a pitcher of water; but so hungry
and thirsty was the Prince that the bread seemed to him the best he
had ever eaten, and the water sweeter than any in the world.

"Unfasten your horse's bridle," said Necessity, when the Prince had
done, "and I will soon teach him where to find something to feed
upon."

The Prince did as the giant told him at once, and then his
stern-looking companion pointed to a wooden bedstead in a dark corner
of the cave, which looked as hard as his own face, saying: "There, lie
down and sleep."

"I can never sleep on that thing," said the Prince.

"Ho, ho!" cried the other; "Necessity can make any bed soft," and
ta