I had rather be the unhappy Princess Cabbage-Stalk all my life than inflict the sight of my ugliness on anyone else . ' But the King would not listen to her , and sent her away with the ambassadors . In the meantime the Prince was kept safely locked up in his tower , and , that he might be as dull as possible , King Grumpy ordered that no one should speak to him , and that they should give him next to nothing to eat . But all the Princess guards were so fond of him that they did everything they dared , in spite of the King , to make the time pass pleasantly . One day , as the Prince was walking up and down the great gallery , thinking how miserable it was to be so ugly , and to be forced to marry an equally frightful Princess , he looked up suddenly and noticed that the painted windows were particularly bright and beautiful , and for the sake of doing something that would change his sad thoughts he began to examine them attentively . He found that the pictures seemed to be scenes from the life of a man who appeared in every window , and the Prince , fancying that he saw in this man some resemblance to himself , began to be deeply interested . In the first window there was a picture of him in one of the turrets of the tower , farther on he was seeking something in a chink in the wall , in the next picture he was opening an old cabinet with a golden key , and so it went on through numbers of scenes , and presently the Prince noticed that another figure occupied the most important place in each scene , and this time it was a tall handsome young man : poor Prince Curlicue found it a pleasure to look at him , he was so straight and strong . By this time it had grown dark , and the Prince had to go back to his own room , and to amuse himself he took up a quaint old book and began to look at the pictures . But his surprise was great to find that they represented the same scenes as the windows of the gallery , and what was more , that they seemed to be alive . In looking at pictures of musicians he saw their hands move and heard sweet sounds ; there was a picture of a ball , and the Prince could watch the little dancing people come and go . He turned a page , and there was an excellent smell of a savoury dinner , and one of the figures who sat at the feast looked at him and said : ` We drink your health , Curlicue . Try to give us our Queen again , for if you do you will be rewarded ; if not , it will be the worse for you . ' At these words the Prince , who had been growing more and more astonished , was fairly terrified , and dropping the book with a crash he sank back insensible . The noise he made brought his guards to his aid , and as soon as he revived they asked him what was the matter . He answered that he was so faint and giddy with hunger that he had imagined he saw and heard all sorts of strange things . Thereupon , in spite of the King 's orders , the guards gave him an excellent supper , and when he had eaten it he again opened his book , but could see none of the wonderful pictures , which convinced him that he must have been dreaming before . However , when he went into he gallery next day and looked at the painted windows again , he found that they moved , and the figures came and went as if they had been alive , and after watching the one who was like himself find the key in the crack of the turret wall and open the old cabinet , he determined to go and examine the place himself , and try to find out what the mystery was . So he went up into the turret and began to search about and tap upon the walls , and all at once he came upon a place that sounded hollow . Taking a hammer he broke away a bit of the stone , and found behind it a little golden key . The next thing to do was to find the cabinet , and the Prince soon came to it , hidden away in a dark corner , though indeed it was so old and battered-looking that he would never have noticed it of his own accord .
XXXXX first he could not see any keyhole , but after a careful search he found one hidden in the carving , and the golden key just fitted it ; so the Prince gave it a vigorous turn and the doors flew open .
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