Never was any present in the world as useful as that little box , and many times did he bless the kind thought of the princess . One evening it had carried him to the top of a high mountain , where he saw a man with a bald head , busily engaged in digging up spadefuls of earth and throwing them in a basket . When the basket was full he took it away and returned with an empty one , which he likewise filled . The prince stood and watched him for a little , till the bald-headed man looked up and said to him : ` Dear brother , what surprises you so much ? ' ' I was wondering why you were filling the basket , ' replied the prince . ` Oh ! ' replied the man , ' I am condemned to do this , for neither I nor any of my family can die till I have dug away the whole of this mountain and made it level with the plain . But , come , it is almost dark , and I shall work no longer . ' And he plucked a leaf from a tree close by , and from a rough digger he was changed into a stately bald-headed king . ` Come home with me , ' he added ; ` you must be tired and hungry , and my daughter will have supper ready for us . ' The prince accepted gladly , and they went back to the palace , where the bald-headed king 's daughter , who was still more beautiful than the other princess , welcomed them at the door and led the way into a large hall and to a table covered with silver dishes . While they were eating , the bald-headed king asked the prince how he had happened to wander so far , and the young man told him all about it , and how he was seeking the Land of Immortality . ` You have found it already , ' answered the king , ` for , as I said , neither I nor my family can die till I have levelled this great mountain ; and that will take full eight hundred years longer . Stay here with us and marry my daughter . Eight hundred years is surely long enough to live . ' ` Oh , certainly , ' answered the prince ; ` but , all the same , I would rather go and seek the land where there is no death at all . ' So next morning he bade them farewell , though the princess begged him to stay with all her might ; and when she found that she could not persuade him she gave him as a remembrance a gold ring . This ring was still more useful than the box , because when one wished oneself at any place one was there directly , without even the trouble of flying to it through the air . The prince put it on his finger , and thanking her heartily , went his way . He walked on for some distance , and then he recollected the ring and thought he would try if the princess had spoken truly as to its powers . '
I wish I was at the end of the world , ' he said , shutting his eyes , and when he opened them he was standing in a street full XXXXX marble palaces .
While about as because in into of though to with