Now the prince never talked about his feelings -- for the matter of that he scarcely talked at all ; and the father knew that if he was to come to the bottom of the prince 's dismal face , he would have to begin . So one day , after dinner , he took his son by the arm and led him into another room , hung entirely with the pictures of beautiful maidens , each one more lovely than the other . ` My dear boy , ' he said , ` you are very sad ; perhaps after all your wanderings it is dull for you here all alone with me . It would be much better if you would marry , and I have collected here the portraits of the most beautiful women in the world of a rank equal to your own . Choose which among them you would like for a wife , and I will send an embassy to her father to ask for her hand . ' ` Alas ! your Majesty , ' answered the prince , ` it is not love or marriage that makes me so gloomy ; but the thought , which haunts me day and night , that all men , even kings , must die . Never shall I be happy again till I have found a kingdom where death is unknown . And I have determined to give myself no rest till I have discovered the Land of Immortality . The old king heard him with dismay ; things were worse than he thought . He tried to reason with his son , and told him that during all these years he had been looking forward to his return , in order to resign his throne and its cares , which pressed so heavily upon him . But it was in vain that he talked ; the prince would listen to nothing , and the following morning buckled on his sword and set forth on his journey . He had been travelling for many days , and had left his fatherland behind him , when close to the road he came upon a huge tree , and on its topmost bough an eagle was sitting shaking the branches with all his might . This seemed so strange and so unlike an eagle , that the prince stood still with surprise , and the bird saw him and flew to the ground . The moment its feet touched the ground he changed into a king . ` Why do you look so astonished ? ' he asked . ' I was wondering why you shook the boughs so fiercely , ' answered the prince . ' I am condemned to do this , for neither I nor any of my kindred can die till I have rooted up this great tree , ' replied the king of the eagles . ` But it is now evening , and I need work no more to-day .
Come XXXXX my house with me , and be my guest for the night . '
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