Lovely Ilonka There was once a king 's son who told his father that he wished to marry . ` No , no ! ' said the king ; ` you must not be in such a hurry . Wait till you have done some great deed . My father did not let me marry till I had won the golden sword you see me wear . ' The prince was much disappointed , but he never dreamed of disobeying his father , and he began to think with all his might what he could do . It was no use staying at home , so one day he wandered out into the world to try his luck , and as he walked along he came to a little hut in which he found an old woman crouching over the fire . ` Good evening , mother . I see you have lived long in this world ; do you know anything about the three bulrushes ? ' ` Yes , indeed , I 've lived long and been much about in the world , but I have never seen or heard anything of what you ask . Still , if you will wait till to-morrow I may be able to tell you something . ' Well , he waited till the morning , and quite early the old woman appeared and took out a little pipe and blew in it , and in a moment all the crows in the world were flying about her . Not one was missing . Then she asked if they knew anything about the three bulrushes , but not one of them did . The prince went on his way , and a little further on he found another hut in which lived an old man . On being questioned the old man said he knew nothing , but begged the prince to stay overnight , and the next morning the old man called all the ravens together , but they too had nothing to tell . The prince bade him farewell and set out . He wandered so far that he crossed seven kingdoms , and at last , one evening , he came to a little house in which was an old woman . ` Good evening , dear mother , ' said he politely . ` Good evening to you , my dear son , ' answered the old woman .
` It is lucky for you that you spoke XXXXX me or you would have met with a horrible death .
about along at in into of on that till to