` Awake ! Awake ! Quickeye ! Do you know what has become of the princess ? ' Quickeye rubbed his eyes and answered : ` Yes , I see her . Two hundred miles from here there is a mountain . In this mountain is a rock . In the rock , a precious stone . This stone is the princess . Long shall take me there , and we will be back before you can turn round . ' So Long took him on his shoulders and they set out . At every stride they covered twenty miles , and as they drew near Quickeye fixed his burning eyes on the mountain ; in an instant it split into a thousand pieces , and in one of these sparkled the precious stone . They picked it up and brought it to the prince , who flung it hastily down , and as the stone touched the floor the princess stood before him . When the wizard came , his eyes shot forth flames of fury . Cric-crac was heard , and another of his iron bands broke and fell . He seized the princess by the hand and led her off , growling louder than ever . All that day things went on exactly as they had done the day before . After supper the wizard brought back the princess , and looking him straight in the eyes he said , ` We shall see which of us two will gain the prize after all ! ' That night they struggled their very hardest to keep awake , and even walked about instead of sitting down . But it was quite useless .
One XXXXX another they had to give in , and for the third time the princess slipped through their fingers .
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