His curiosity was instantly roused , and he advanced cautiously till he saw two huge dragons guarding the gate of a wood . They were terrible indeed to look upon . Their bodies were covered with glittering scales ; their curly tails extended far over the land ; flames darted from their mouths and noses , and their eyes would have made the bravest shudder ; but as the Prince was invisible and they did not see him , he slipped past them into the wood . He found himself at once in a labyrinth , and wandered about for a long time without meeting anyone ; in fact , the only sight he saw was a circle of human hands , sticking out of the ground above the wrist , each with a bracelet of gold , on which a name was written . The farther he advanced in the labyrinth the more curious he became , till he was stopped by two corpses lying in the midst of a cypress alley , each with a scarlet cord round his neck and a bracelet on his arm on which were engraved their own names , and those of two Princesses . The invisible Prince recognised these dead men as Kings of two large islands near his own home , but the names of the Princesses were unknown to him . He grieved for their unhappy fate , and at once proceeded to bury them ; but no sooner had he laid them in their graves , than their hands started up through the earth and remained sticking up like those of their fellows . The Prince went on his way , thinking about this strange adventure , when suddenly at the turn of the walk he perceived a tall man whose face was the picture of misery , holding in his hands a silken cord of the exact colour of those round the necks of the dead men . A few steps further this man came up with another as miserable to the full as he himself ; they silently embraced , and then without a word passed the cords round their throats , and fell dead side by side . In vain the Prince rushed to their assistance and strove to undo the cord . He could not loosen it ; so he buried them like the others and continued his path . He felt , however , that great prudence was necessary , or he himself might become the victim of some enchantment ; and he was thankful to slip past the dragons , and enter a beautiful park , with clear streams and sweet flowers , and a crowd of men and maidens . But he could not forget the terrible things he had seen , and hoped eagerly for a clue to the mystery . Noticing two young people talking together , he drew near thinking that he might get some explanation of what puzzled him . And so he did . ` You swear , ' said the Prince , ` that you will love me till you die , but I fear your faithless heart , and I feel that I shall soon have to seek the Fairy Despair , ruler of half this island . She carries off the lovers who have been cast away by their mistresses , and wish to have done with life . She places them in a labyrinth where they are condemned to walk for ever , with a bracelet on their arms and a cord round their necks , unless they meet another as miserable as themselves . Then the cord is pulled and they lie where they fall , till they are buried by the first passer by . Terrible as this death would be , ' added the Prince , ` it would be sweeter than life if I had lost your love . '
The sight of all these happy lovers only made the Prince grieve the more , and he wandered along the seashore spending his days ; but one day he was sitting on a rock bewailing his fate , and the impossibility XXXXX leaving the island , when all in a moment the sea appeared to raise itself nearly to the skies , and the caves echoed with hideous screams .
at by in into like of than that through without