She walked about amongst the flowers , played with her little dog , and at night returned to sleep in the cave . In this way the princess passed several months , and as her first terrors died away she gradually became more resigned to her fate . The little dog , too , was a great comfort , and her constant companion . One day she noticed that he seemed very sad and did not even caress her as usual . Fearing he might be ill she carried him to a spot where she had seen him eat some particular herbs , hoping they might do him good , but he would not touch them . He spent all the night , too , sighing and groaning as if in great pain . At last the princess fell asleep , and when she awoke her first thought was for her little pet , but not finding him at her feet as usual , she ran out of the cave to look for him . As she stepped out of the cave she caught sight of an old man , who hurried away so fast that she had barely time to see him before he disappeared . This was a fresh surprise and almost as great a shock as the loss of her little dog , who had been so faithful to her ever since the first day she had seen him . She wondered if he had strayed away or if the old man had stolen him . Tormented by all kinds of thoughts and fears she wandered on , when suddenly she felt herself wrapped in a thick cloud and carried through the air . She made no resistance and before very long found herself , to her great surprise , in an avenue leading to the palace in which she had been born . No sign of the cloud anywhere . As the princess approached the palace she perceived that everyone was dressed in black , and she was filled with fear as to the cause of this mourning . She hastened on and was soon recognised and welcomed with shouts of joy . Her sister hearing the cheers ran out and embraced the wanderer , with tears of happiness , telling her that the shock of her disappearance had been so terrible that their mother had only survived it a few days . Since then the younger princess had worn the crown , which she now resigned to her sister to whom it by right belonged . But the elder wished to refuse it , and would only accept the crown on condition that her sister should share in all the power . The first acts of the new queen were to do honour to the memory of her dear mother and to shower every mark of generous affection on her sister . Then , being still very grieved at the loss of her little dog , she had a careful search made for him in every country , and when nothing could be heard of him she was so grieved that she offered half her kingdom to whoever should restore him to her .
Many gentlemen of the court , tempted by the thought XXXXX such a reward , set off in all directions in search of the dog ; but all returned empty-handed to the queen , who , in despair , announced that since life was unbearable without her little dog , she would give her hand in marriage to the man who brought him back .
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