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Then the king made it known to all the land, that if any person

could discover the secret, and find out where it was that the

princesses danced in the night, he should have the one he liked

best for his wife, and should be king after his death; but

whoever tried and did not succeed, after three days and nights,

should be put to death.

A king's son soon came. He was well entertained, and in the

evening was taken to the chamber next to the one where the

princesses lay in their twelve beds. There he was to sit and

watch where they went to dance; and, in order that nothing might

pass without his hearing it, the door of his chamber was left

open. But the king's son soon fell asleep; and when he awoke in

the morning he found that the princesses had all been dancing,

for the soles of their shoes were full of holes. The same thing

happened the second and third night: so the king ordered his head

to be cut off. After him came several others; but they had all

the same luck, and all lost their lives in the same manner.