` Your Majesty , ' they said , ` we think it our duty to tell you that your new companion has boasted to us that if he were only your steward he would not lose a single grain of corn out of the storehouses . Now , if your Majesty would give orders that a sack of wheat should be mixed with one of barley , and would send for the youth , and command him to separate the grains one from another , in two hours ' time , you would soon see what his talk was worth . ' The king , who was weak , listened to what these wicked men had told him , and desired the prince to have the contents of the sack piled into two heaps by the time that he returned from his council . ` If you succeed , ' he added , ` you shall be my steward , but if you fail , I will put you to death on the spot . ' The unfortunate prince declared that he had never made any such boast as was reported ; but it was all in vain . The king did not believe him , and turning him into an empty room , bade his servants carry in the huge sack filled with wheat and barley , and scatter them in a heap on the floor . The prince hardly knew where to begin , and indeed if he had had a thousand people to help him , and a week to do it in , he could never have finished his task . So he flung himself on the ground in despair , and covered his face with his hands . While he lay thus , a wood-pigeon flew in through the window . ` Why are you weeping , noble prince ? ' asked the wood-pigeon . ` How can I help weeping at the task set me by the king . For he says , if I fail to do it , I shall die a horrible death . ' ` Oh , there is really nothing to cry about , ' answered the wood-pigeon soothingly . ' I am the king of the wood-pigeons , whose life you spared when you were hungry . And now I will repay my debt , as I promised . ' So saying he flew out of the window , leaving the prince with some hope in his heart . In a few minutes he returned , followed by a cloud of wood-pigeons , so dense that it seemed to fill the room . Their king showed them what they had to do , and they set to work so hard that the grain was sorted into two heaps long before the council was over . When the king came back he could not believe his eyes ; but search as he might through the two heaps , he could not find any barley among the wheat , or any wheat amongst the barley .
So he praised the prince for his industry and cleverness , and XXXXX him his steward at once .
declared finished flew lose made mixed put returned says think