e a statue,
unable to move. Then hearing steps approaching I got frightened, and
called to you, as you know.'

'You are no better than the rest,' cried the ogre, and turned away in a
rage.

When he was out of sight the young man took the stone from his turban
and looked at it. 'I want the finest camel that can be found, and the
most splendid garments,' said he.

'Shut your eyes then,' replied the stone. And he shut them; and when he
opened them again the camel that he had wished for was standing before
him, while the festal robes of a desert prince hung from his shoulders.
Mounting the camel, he whistled the falcon to his wrist, and, followed
by his greyhound and his cat, he started homewards.

His mother was sewing at her door when this magnificent stranger rode
up, and, filled with surprise, she bowed low before him.

'Don't you know me, mother?' he said with a laugh. And on hearing his
voice the good woman nearly fell to the ground with astonishment.

'How have you got that camel and those clothes?' asked she. 'Can a son
of mine have committed murder in order to possess them?'

'Do not be afraid; they are quite honestly come by,' answered the youth.
'I will explain all by-and-by; but now you must go to the palace and
tell the king I wish to marry his daughter.'

At these words the mother thought her son had certainly gone mad, and
stared blankly at him. The young man guessed what was in her heart, and
replied with a smile:

'Fear nothing. Promise all that he asks; it will be fulfilled somehow.'

So she went to the palace, where she found the king sitting in the Hall
of Justice listening to the petitions of his people. The woman waited
until all had been heard and the hall was empty, and then went up and
knelt before the throne.

'My son has sent me to ask for the hand of the princess,' said she.

The king looked at her and thought that she was mad; but, instead of
ordering his guards to turn her out, he answered gravely:

'Before he can marry the princess he must build me a palace of ice,
which can be warmed with fires, and wherein the rarest singing-birds can
live!'

'It shall be done, your Majesty,' said she, and got up and left the
hall.

Her son was anxiously awaiting her outside the palace gates, dressed in
the clothes that he wore every day.

'Well, what have I got to do?' he asked impatiently, drawing his mother
aside so that no one could overhear them.

'Oh, something quite impossible; a