However , by good luck , she stopped quite close to her rope bridge and was soon across it . The donkey brayed joyfully at the sight of her , and set off home at his best speed , never seeming to know that the earth under his feet was nearly as hot as the sun above him . On the bank of the great river he halted , and the princess rushed up to where the prince was standing by the pit he had digged in the dry sand , with a huge water pot beside it . A little way off the crocodile lay blinking in the sun , with his sharp teeth and whity-yellow jaws wide open . At a signal from the princess the prince poured the water in the hole , and the moment it reached the brim the princess flung in the four-leaved plant . Would the charm work , or would the water trickle away slowly through the sand , and the prince fall a victim to that horrible monster ? For half an hour they stood with their eyes rooted to the spot , but the hole remained as full as at the beginning , with the little green leaf floating on the top . Then the prince turned with a shout of triumph , and the crocodile sulkily plunged into the river . The prince had escape for ever the second of his three fates ! He stood there looking after the crocodile , and rejoicing that he was free , when he was startled by a wild duck which flew past them , seeking shelter among the rushes that bordered the edge of the stream . In another instant his dog dashed by in hot pursuit , and knocked heavily against his master 's legs . The prince staggered , lost his balance and fell backwards into the river , where the mud and the rushes caught him and held him fast . He shrieked for help to his wife , who came running ; and luckily brought her rope with her . The poor old dog was drowned , but the prince was pulled to shore . ` My wife , ' he said , ` has been stronger than my fate . ' -LSB- Adapted from Les Contes Populaires de l'Egypte Ancienne . -RSB- The Fox and the Lapp Once upon a time a fox lay peeping out of his hole , watching the road that ran by at a little distance , and hoping to see something that might amuse him , for he was feeling very dull and rather cross . For a long while he watched in vain ; everything seemed asleep , and not even a bird stirred overhead . The fox grew crosser than ever , and he was just turning away in disgust from his place when he heard the sound of feet coming over the snow . He crouched eagerly down at the edge of the road and said to himself : ' I wonder what would happen if I were to pretend to be dead !
This is a man driving a reindeer sledge , I know the tinkling XXXXX the harness .
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