All was lonely , empty , sorrowful ; and the forsaken gnome resolved that he would have no more dealings with such false creatures as he had found men to be . Thereupon he stamped three times upon the earth , and the magic palace , with all its treasures , vanished away into the nothingness out of which he had called it ; and the gnome fled once more to the depths of his underground kingdom . While all this was happening , Prince Ratibor was hurrying away with his prize to a place of safety . With great pomp and triumph he restored the lovely princess to her father , and was then and there married to her , and took her back with him to his own castle . But long after she was dead , and her children too , the villagers would tell the tale of her imprisonment underground , as they sat carving wood in the winter nights . -LSB- Volksmahrchen der Deutschen . -RSB- Story Of The King Who Would Be Stronger Than Fate Once upon a time , far away in the east country , there lived a king who loved hunting so much that , when once there was a deer in sight , he was careless of his own safety . Indeed , he often became quite separated from his nobles and attendants , and in fact was particularly fond of lonely adventures . Another of his favourite amusements was to give out that he was not well , and could not be seen ; and then , with the knowledge only of his faithful Grand Wazeer , to disguise himself as a pedlar , load a donkey with cheap wares , and travel about . In this way he found out what the common people said about him , and how his judges and governors fulfilled their duties . One day his queen presented him with a baby daughter as beautiful as the dawn , and the king himself was so happy and delighted that , for a whole week , he forgot to hunt , and spent the time in public and private rejoicing . Not long afterwards , however , he went out after some deer which were to be found in a far corner of his forests . In the course of the beat his dogs disturbed a beautiful snow-white stag , and directly he saw it the king determined that he would have it at any cost . So he put the spurs to his horse , and followed it as hard as he could gallop . Of course all his attendants followed at the best speed that they could manage ; but the king was so splendidly mounted , and the stag was so swift , that , at the end of an hour , the king found that only his favourite hound and himself were in the chase ; all the rest were far , far behind and out of sight . Nothing daunted , however , he went on and on , till he perceived that he was entering a valley with great rocky mountains on all sides , and that his horse was getting very tired and trembled at every stride . Worse than all evening was already drawing on , and the sun would soon set . In vain had he sent arrow after arrow at the beautiful stag . Every shot fell short , or went wide of the mark ; and at last , just as darkness was setting in , he lost sight altogether of the beast . By this time his horse could hardly move from fatigue , his hound staggered panting along beside him , he was far away amongst mountains where he had never been before , and had quite missed his way , and not a human creature or dwelling was in sight .
All this was very discouraging , but the king would not have minded if he had not XXXXX that beautiful stag .
called disguise give lost loved manage mounted separated set stamped