But if he fails to execute this my royal command , then , as a just but mild monarch , I shall give orders that you and he are taken , and first dipped in tar and then in feathers , and you shall be executed in the market-place for the entertainment of my courtiers . ' And a smile played round the King 's lips as he finished speaking , and his courtiers and counsellors shook with laughter when they thought of the old woman 's folly , and praised the King 's wise device , and said to each other , ` What a joke it will be when we see the pair of them tarred and feathered ! The son is just as able to grow a beard on the palm of his hand as to execute such a task in twenty-four hours . ' Now the poor old woman was mortally afraid and , in a trembling voice she asked : ` Is that really your royal will , O King ? Must I take this order to my poor son ? ' ` Yes , old dame ; such is my command . If your son carries out my order , he shall be rewarded with my daughter ; but if he fails , away to the tar-barrel and the stake with you both ! ' On her way home the poor old woman shed bitter tears , and when she saw Martin she told him what the King had said , and sobbed out : ` Did n't I tell you , my son , that you should marry someone of your own rank ? It would have been better for us this day if you had . As I told you , my going to Court has been as much as our lives are worth , and now we will both be tarred and feathered , and burnt in the public market-place . It is terrible ! ' and she moaned and cried . ` Never fear , little mother , ' answered Martin ; ` trust me , and you will see all will be well . You may go to sleep with a quiet mind . ' And , stepping to the front of the hut , Martin threw his ring from the palm of one hand into the other , upon which twelve youths instantly appeared , and demanded what he wanted them to do . Then he told them the King 's commands , and they answered that by next morning all should be accomplished exactly as the King had ordered . Next morning when the King awoke , and looked out of his window , to his amazement he beheld a magnificent castle , just opposite his own palace , and joined to it a bridge of pure crystal . At each side of the bridge trees were growing , from whose branches hung golden and silver apples , among which birds of Paradise perched . At the right , gleaming in the sun , were the five golden cupolas of a splendid church , whose bells rang out , as if they would summon people from all corners of the earth to come and behold the wonder . Now , though the King would much rather have seen his future son-in-law tarred , feathered , and burnt at the stake , he remembered his royal oath , and had to make the best of a bad business .
So he took heart XXXXX grace , and made Martin a Duke , and gave his daughter a rich dowry , and prepared the grandest wedding-feast that had ever been seen , so that to this day the old people in the country still talk of it .
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