No sooner had the prince entered the palace than he hastened to the princess 's apartments , where he found her lying on the sofa apparently in great pain . ` My dearest wife , what is the matter with you ? ' he cried , kneeling down beside her , and trying to take her hand ; but she snatched it away , and pointing to her cheek murmured something he could not catch . ` What is it ? tell me ! Is the pain bad ? When did it begin ? Shall I send for your ladies to bath the place ? ' asked the prince , pouring out these and a dozen other questions , to which the girl only shook her head . ` But I ca n't leave you like this , ' he continued , starting up , ' I must summon all the court physicians to apply soothing balsams to the sore place ! And as he spoke he sprang to his feet to go in search of them once came near her the trick would at once be discovered , that she forgot her mother 's counsel not to speak , and forgot even the spell that had been laid upon her , and catching hold of the prince 's tunic , she cried in tones of entreaty : ` Dirty creatures ! ' The young man stopped , not able to believe his ears , but supposed that pain had made the princess cross , as it sometimes does . However , he guessed somehow that she wised to be left alone , so he only said : ` Well , I dare say a little sleep will do you good , if you can manage to get it , and that you will wake up better to-morrow . ' Now , that night happened to be very hot and airless , and the prince , after vainly trying to rest , at length got up and went to the window . Suddenly he beheld in the moonlight a form with a wreath of roses on her head rise out of the sea below him and step on to the sands , holding out her arms as she did so towards the palace . ` That maiden is strangely like my wife , ' thought he ; ' I must see her closer ! And he hastened down to the water . But when he got there , the princess , for she indeed it was , had disappeared completely , and he began to wonder if his eyes had deceived him . The next morning he went to the false bride 's room , but her ladies told him she would neither speak nor get up , though she ate everything they set before her . The prince was sorely perplexed as to what could be the matter with her , for naturally he could not guess that she was expecting her mother to return every moment , and to remove the spell the doves had laid upon her , and meanwhile was afraid to speak lest she should betray herself .
At length he made up his mind XXXXX summon all the court physicians ; he did not tell her what he was going to do , lest it should make her worse , but he went himself and begged the four learned leeches attached to the king 's person to follow him to the princess 's apartments .
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