By that time he hoped he would have so many things to think about that he would have forgotten to trouble about the little son who never came . The country the king reigned over was very large , and full of high , stony mountains and sandy deserts , so that it was not at all easy to go from one place to another . One day the king had wandered out alone , meaning to go only a little distance , but everything looked so alike he could not make out the path by which he had come . He walked on and on for hours , the sun beating hotly on his head , and his legs trembling under him , and he might have died of thirst if he had not suddenly stumbled on a little well , which looked as if it had been newly dug . On the surface floated a silver cup with a golden handle , but as it bobbed about whenever the king tried to seize it , he was too thirsty to wait any longer and knelt down and drank his fill . When he had finished he began to rise from his knees , but somehow his beard seemed to have stuck fast in the water , and with all his efforts he could not pull it out . After two or three jerks to his head , which only hurt him without doing any good , he called out angrily , ` Let go at once ! Who is holding me ? ' ` It is I , the King Kostieï , ' said a voice from the well , and looking up through the water was a little man with green eyes and a big head . ` You have drunk from my spring , and I shall not let you go until you promise to give me the most precious thing your palace contains , which was not there when you left it . ' Now the only thing that the king much cared for in his palace was the queen herself , and as she was weeping bitterly on a pile of cushions in the great hall when he had ridden away , he knew that Kostieï 's words could not apply to her . So he cheerfully gave the promise asked for by the ugly little man , and in the twinkling of an eye , man , spring , and cup had disappeared , and the king was left kneeling on the dry sand , wondering if it was all a dream . But as he felt much stronger and better he made up his mind that this strange adventure must really have happened , and he sprang on his horse and rode off with a light heart to look for his companions . In a few weeks they began to set out on their return home , which they reached one hot day , eight months after they had all left . The king was greatly beloved by his people , and crowds lined the roads , shouting and waving their hats as the procession passed along . On the steps of the palace stood the queen , with a splendid golden cushion in her arms , and on the cushion the most beautiful boy that ever was seen , wrapped about in a cloud of lace . In a moment Kostieï 's words rushed into the king 's mind , and he began to weep bitterly , to the surprise of everybody , who had expected him nearly to die of joy at the sight of his son . But try as he would and work as hard as he might he could never forget his promise , and every time he let the baby out of his sight he thought that he had seen it for the last time . However , years passed on and the prince grew first into a big boy , and then into a fine young man . Kostieï made no sign , and gradually even the anxious king thought less and less about him , and in the end forgot him altogether .
There was no family XXXXX the whole kingdom happier than the king and queen and prince , until one day when the youth met a little old man as he was hunting in a lonely part of the woods .
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