When he was leaving next morning the miller asked him : ` My gracious lord , where are you going all alone ? ' And the prince told him . ` Then I beg your Highness to ask Lucky Luck this question : Why is it that though I have an excellent mill , with all its machinery complete , and get plenty of grain to grind , I am so poor that I hardly know how to live from one day to another ? ' The prince promised to inquire , and went on his way . He wandered about for three days more , and at the end of the third day saw a little town . It was quite late when he reached it , but he could discover no light anywhere , and walked almost right through it without finding a house where he could turn in . But far away at the end of the town he saw a light in a window . He went straight to it and in the house were three girls playing a game together . The prince asked for a night 's lodging and they took him in , gave him some supper and got a room ready for him , where he slept . Next morning when he was leaving they asked where he was going and he told them his story . ` Gracious prince , ' said the maidens , ` do ask Lucky Luck how it happens that here we are over thirty years old and no lover has come to woo us , though we are good , pretty , and very industrious . ' The prince promised to inquire , and went on his way . Then he came to a great forest and wandered about in it from morning to night and from night to morning before he got near the other end . Here he found a pretty stream which was different from other streams as , instead of flowing , it stood still and began to talk : ` Sir prince , tell me what brings you into these wilds ? I must have been flowing here a hundred years and more and no one has ever yet come by . ' ' I will tell you , ' answered the prince , ` if you will divide yourself so that I may walk through . ' The stream parted at once , and the prince walked through without wetting his feet ; and directly he got to the other side he told his story as he had promised . ` Oh , do ask Lucky Luck , ' cried the brook , ` why , though I am such a clear , bright , rapid stream I never have a fish or any other living creature in my waters . ' The prince said he would do so , and continued his journey . When he got quite clear of the forest he walked on through a lovely valley till he reached a little house thatched with rushes , and he went in to rest for he was very tired .
Everything in the house was beautifully clean and tidy , and a cheerful honest-looking old woman was sitting XXXXX the fire .
as by from in into of on over that through