when the quarrel was fiercest the bronze ring fell into the sea . `` How are we to face our queen , '' said the three mice `` when by our folly we have lost the talisman and condemned our people to be utterly exterminated ? We can not go back to our country ; let us land on this desert island and there end our miserable lives . '' No sooner said than done . The boat reached the island , and the mice landed . The blind mouse was speedily deserted by her two sisters , who went off to hunt flies , but as she wandered sadly along the shore she found a dead fish , and was eating it , when she felt something very hard . At her cries the other two mice ran up . `` It is the bronze ring ! It is the talisman ! '' they cried joyfully , and , getting into their boat again , they soon reached the mouse island . It was time they did , for the captain was just going to land his cargo of cats , when a deputation of mice brought him the precious bronze ring . `` Bronze ring , '' commanded the young man , `` obey thy master . Let my ship appear as it was before . '' Immediately the genii of the ring set to work , and the old black vessel became once more the wonderful golden ship with sails of brocade ; the handsome sailors ran to the silver masts and the silken ropes , and very soon they set sail for the capital . Ah ! how merrily the sailors sang as they flew over the glassy sea ! At last the port was reached . The captain landed and ran to the palace , where he found the wicked old man asleep . The Princess clasped her husband in a long embrace . The magician tried to escape , but he was seized and bound with strong cords .
The next day the sorcerer , tied to the tail of a savage mule loaded with nuts , was broken into XXXXX many pieces as there were nuts upon the mule 's back .
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