But he might as well have spoken to the winds : when the horn was sounded at daybreak the queen was there with the rest . All that day they rode , for game was plentiful , but towards evening the mother and son found themselves alone in a part of the country that was strange to them . They wandered on for some time , without knowing where they were going , till they met with a man whom they begged to give them shelter . ` Come with me , ' said the man gladly , for he was an ogre , and fed on human flesh ; and the king and his mother went with him , and he led them to his house . When they got there they found to what a dreadful place they had come , and , falling on their knees , they offered him great sums of money , if he would only spare their lives . The ogre 's heart was moved at the sight of the queen 's beauty , and he promised that he would do her no harm ; but he stabbed the boy at once , and binding his body on a horse , turned him loose in the forest . The ogre had happened to choose a horse which he had bought only the day before , and he did not know it was a magician , or he would not have been so foolish as to fix upon it on this occasion . The horse no sooner had been driven off with the prince 's body on its back than it galloped straight to the home of the fairies , and knocked at the door with its hoof . The fairies heard the knock , but were afraid to open till they had peeped from an upper window to see that it was no giant or ogre who could do them harm . ` Oh , look , sister ! ' cried the first to reach the window , ` it is a horse that has knocked , and on its back there is bound a dead boy , the most beautiful boy in all the world ! ' Then the fairies ran to open the door , and let in the horse and unbound the ropes which fastened the young king on its back . And they gathered round to admire his beauty , and whispered one to the other : ` We will make him alive again , and will keep him for our brother . ' And so they did , and for many years they all lived together as brothers and sisters . By-and-by the boy grew into a man , as boys will , and then the oldest of the fairies said to her sisters : ` Now I will marry him , and he shall be really your brother . ' So the young king married the fairy , and they lived happily together in the castle ; but though he loved his wife he still longed to see the world . At length this longing grew so strong on him that he could bear it no more ; and , calling the fairies together , he said to them : ` Dear wife and sisters , I must leave you for a time , and go out and see the world . But I shall think of you often , and one day I shall come back to you . ' The fairies wept and begged him to stay , but he would not listen , and at last the eldest , who was his wife , said to him : ` If you really will abandon us , take this lock of my hair with you ; you will find it useful in time of need . ' So she cut off a long curl , and handed it to him .
The prince mounted his horse , and rode XXXXX all day without stopping once .
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