So the next day he stood where he could watch the young men go up , and he noted the places on the wall that seemed most difficult , and made up his mind that when his turn came he would go up some other way . Day after day he was to be seen watching the wooers , till , one morning , he felt that he knew the plan of the walls by heart , and took his place by the side of the others . Thanks to what he had learned from the failure of the rest , he managed to grasp one little rough projection after another , till at last , to the envy of his friends , he stood on the sill of the princess 's window . Looking up from below , they saw a white hand stretched forth to draw him in . Then one of the young men ran straight to the king 's palace , and said : ` The wall has been climbed , and the prize is won ! ' ` By whom ? ' cried the king , starting up from his throne ; ` which of the princes may I claim as my son-in-law ? ' ` The youth who succeeded in climbing to the princess 's window is not a prince at all , ' answered the young man . ` He is the son of the master of the horse to the great king who dwells across the river , and he fled from his own country to escape from the hatred of his stepmother . ' At this news the king was very angry , for it had never entered his head that anyone BUT a prince would seek to woo his daughter . ` Let him go back to the land whence he came , ' he shouted in wrath ; ` does he expect me to give my daughter to an exile ? ' And he began to smash the drinking vessels in his fury ; indeed , he quite frightened the young man , who ran hastily home to his friends , and told the youth what the king had said . Now the princess , who was leaning from her window , heard his words and bade the messenger go back to the king her father and tell him that she had sworn a vow never to eat or drink again if the youth was taken from her . The king was more angry than ever when he received this message , and ordered his guards to go at once to the palace and put the successful wooer to death ; but the princess threw herself between him and his murderers . ` Lay a finger on him , and I shall be dead before sunset , ' said she ; and as they saw that she meant it , they left the palace , and carried the tale to her father . By this time the king 's anger was dying away , and he began to consider what his people would think of him if he broke the promise he had publicly given . So he ordered the princess to be brought before him , and the young man also , and when they entered the throne room he was so pleased with the noble air of the victor that his wrath quite melted away , and he ran to him and embraced him . ` Tell me who you are ? ' he asked , when he had recovered himself a little , ` for I will never believe that you have not royal blood in your veins . ' But the prince still had his reasons for being silent , and only told the same story .
However , the king had taken such a fancy to the youth that he XXXXX no more , and the marriage took place the following day , and great herds of cattle and a large estate were given to the young couple .
Let climbed cried draw leaning made said saw stood taken