they said at last . ` And whose son are you ? ' But the young prince had reasons for keeping his own secret , and he answered : ` My father was master of the horse to the king of my country , and after my mother died he married another wife . At first all went well , but as soon as she had babies of her own she hated me , and I fled , lest she should do me harm . ' The hearts of the other young men were touched as soon as they heard this story , and they did everything they could think of to make him forget his past sorrows . ` What are you doing here ? ' said the youth , one day . ` We spend our whole time climbing up the walls of the palace , trying to reach the windows of the princess , ' answered the young men ; ` but , as yet , no one has reached within ten feet of them . ' ` Oh , let me try too , ' cried the prince ; ` but to-morrow I will wait and see what you do before I begin . So the next day he stood where he could watch the young men go up , and he noted the places on the wall that seemed most difficult , and made up his mind that when his turn came he would go up some other way . Day after day he was to be seen watching the wooers , till , one morning , he felt that he knew the plan of the walls by heart , and took his place by the side of the others . Thanks to what he had learned from the failure of the rest , he managed to grasp one little rough projection after another , till at last , to the envy of his friends , he stood on the sill of the princess 's window . Looking up from below , they saw a white hand stretched forth to draw him in . Then one of the young men ran straight to the king 's palace , and said : ` The wall has been climbed , and the prize is won ! ' ` By whom ? ' cried the king , starting up from his throne ; ` which of the princes may I claim as my son-in-law ? ' ` The youth who succeeded in climbing to the princess 's window is not a prince at all , ' answered the young man . ` He is the son of the master of the horse to the great king who dwells across the river , and he fled from his own country to escape from the hatred of his stepmother . ' At this news the king was very angry , for it had never entered his head that anyone BUT a prince would seek to woo his daughter . ` Let him go back to the land whence he came , ' he shouted in wrath ; ` does he expect me to give my daughter to an exile ? '
And he began XXXXX smash the drinking vessels in his fury ; indeed , he quite frightened the young man , who ran hastily home to his friends , and told the youth what the king had said .
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