white beard. And he said to the young king,
"My son, I will gladly help you, as I helped your father; and I will give
you that seventh statue of diamond which you desire. But I must ask for a
gift in return. You must bring to me here a young girl of about sixteen
years old; and she must be very intelligent; and she must be a true
maiden, not only as to her body, but as to her soul, and heart, and all
her thoughts." The young king thought that was a very easy thing to find,
but the king of the Spirits assured him that it was not, and further told
him this, "My son, no mortal man is wise enough to know by his own wisdom
the purity that is in the heart of a young girl. Only by the help of this
magical mirror, which I now lend you, will you be able to know. Look at
the reflection of any maiden in this mirror, and then, if her heart is
perfectly good and pure, the mirror will remain bright. But if there be
any fault in her, the mirror will grow dim. Go now, and do my bidding."

You can imagine, of course, what happened next. Returning to his kingdom,
the young king had brought before him many beautiful girls, the daughters
of the noblest and highest in all the cities of the land. But in no case
did the mirror remain perfectly clear when the ghostly test was applied.
For three years in vain the king sought; then in despair he for the first
time turned his attention to the common people. And there came before him
on the very first day a rude man of the desert, who said, "I know of just
such a girl as you want." Then he went forth and presently returned with a
simple girl from the desert, who had been brought up in the care of her
father only, and had lived with no other companion than the members of her
own family and the camels and horses of the encampment. And as she stood
in her poor dress before the king, he saw that she was much more beautiful
than any one whom he had seen before; and he questioned her, only to find
that she was very intelligent; and she was not at all afraid or ashamed of
standing before the king, but looked about her with large wondering eyes,
like the eyes of a child; and whoever met that innocent gaze, felt a great
joy in his heart, and could not tell why. And when the king had the mirror
brought, and the reflection of the girl was thrown upon it, the mirror
became much brighter than before, and shone like a great moon.

There was the maid whom the Spirit-king wished for. The king easily
obtained her