The Crimson Fairy Book, part 18 · page 21 2101And he plucked a leaf from a tree close by, and from a rough digger he was changed into a stately bald-headed king.102“Come home with me,” he added; “you must be tired and hungry, and my daughter will have supper ready for us.”103The prince accepted gladly, and they went back to the palace, where the bald-headed king’s daughter, who was still more beautiful than the other princess, welcomed them at the door and led the way into a large hall and to a table covered with silver dishes.104While they were eating, the bald-headed king asked the prince how he had happened to wander so far, and the young man told him all about it, and how he was seeking the Land of Immortality.105“You have found it already,” answered the king, “for, as I said, neither I nor my family can die till I have levelled this great mountain; and that will take full eight hundred years longer.106Stay here with us and marry my daughter.107Eight hundred years is surely long enough to live.”108“Oh, certainly,” answered the prince; “but, all the same, I would rather go and seek the land where there is no death at all.”109So next morning he bade them farewell, though the princess begged him to stay with all her might; and when she found that she could not persuade him she gave him as a remembrance a gold ring.110This ring was still more useful than the box, because when one wished oneself at any place one was there directly, without even the trouble of flying to it through the air.111The prince put it on his finger, and thanking her heartily, went his way.1 2← previousThe Crimson Fairy Book, part 17next →The Crimson Fairy Book, part 19↑ back to The Crimson Fairy BookThis page in Markdown → https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg2435/18/page/2/