Still his heart was heavy , and he felt uneasy , though he could not have told why ; and the night before he was to start he went to the children 's palace to take leave of his son and daughter . He had not seen them for some time , and they gave him a warm welcome , for they loved him dearly and he had always been kind to them . They had much to tell him , but after a while he checked their merry talk and said : ` If I should never come back from this journey I fear that it may not be safe for you to stay here ; so directly there are no more hopes of my return go instantly and take the road eastwards till you reach a high mountain , which you must cross . Once over the mountain keep along by the side of a little bay till you come to two trees , one green and the other red , standing in a thicket , and so far back from the road that without looking for them you would never see them . Hide each in the trunk of one of the trees and there you will be safe from all your enemies . ' With these words the king bade them farewell and entered sadly into his ship . For a few days the wind was fair , and everything seemed going smoothly ; then , suddenly , a gale sprang up , and a fearful storm of thunder and lightning , such as had never happened within the memory of man . In spite of the efforts of the frightened sailors the vessel was driven on the rocks , and not a man on board was saved . That very night Prince Sigurd had a dream , in which he thought his father appeared to him in dripping clothes , and , taking the crown from his head , laid it at his son 's feet , leaving the room as silently as he had entered it . Hastily the prince awoke his sister Lineik , and they agreed that their father must be dead , and that they must lose no time in obeying his orders and putting themselves in safety . So they collected their jewels and a few clothes and left the house without being observed by anyone . They hurried on till they arrived at the mountain without once looking back . Then Sigurd glanced round and saw that their stepmother was following them , with an expression on her face which made her uglier than the ugliest old witch . Between her and them lay a thick wood , and Sigurd stopped for a moment to set it on fire ; then he and his sister hastened on more swiftly than before , till they reached the grove with the red and green trees , into which they jumped , and felt that at last they were safe . Now , at that time there reigned over Greece a king who was very rich and powerful , although his name has somehow been forgotten . He had two children , a son and a daughter , who were more beautiful and accomplished than any Greeks had been before , and they were the pride of their father 's heart . The prince had no sooner grown out of boyhood than he prevailed on his father to make war during the summer months on a neighbouring nation , so as to give him a chance of making himself famous . In winter , however , when it was difficult to get food and horses in that wild country , the army was dispersed , and the prince returned home . During one of these wars he had heard reports of the Princess Lineik 's beauty , and he resolved to seek her out , and to ask for her hand in marriage . All this Blauvor , the queen , found out by means of her black arts , and when the prince drew near the capital she put a splendid dress on her own daughter and then went to meet her guest .
She bade him welcome to her palace , and when they had finished supper she told him of the loss XXXXX her husband , and how there was no one left to govern the kingdom but herself .
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