The moment that he struck the root the iron door flew open , and from the cellar a countless multitude of men and women streamed forth . He bade them go one by one wheresoever they would , while he himself waited by the door till his brothers passed through . How delighted they were to meet again , and to hear all that the prince had done to deliver them from their enchantment . And they went home with him and served him all the days of their lives , for they said that he only who had proved himself brave and faithful was fit to be king . -LSB- From Volksmarehen der Serben . -RSB- Little Wildrose Once upon a time the things in this story happened , and if they had not happened then the story would never have been told . But that was the time when wolves and lambs lay peacefully together in one stall , and shepherds dined on grassy banks with kings and queens . Once upon a time , then , my dear good children , there lived a man . Now this man was really a hundred years old , if not fully twenty years more . And his wife was very old too -- how old I do not know ; but some said she was as old as the goddess Venus herself . They had been very happy all these years , but they would have been happier still if they had had any children ; but old though they were they had never made up their minds to do without them , and often they would sit over the fire and talk of how they would have brought up their children if only some had come to their house . One day the old man seemed sadder and more thoughtful than was common with him , and at last he said to his wife : ` Listen to me , old woman ! ' ` What do you want ? ' asked she . ` Get me some money out of the chest , for I am going a long journey -- all through the world -- to see if I can not find a child , for my heart aches to think that after I am dead my house will fall into the hands of a stranger . And this let me tell you : that if I never find a child I shall not come home again . ' Then the old man took a bag and filled it with food and money , and throwing it over his shoulders , bade his wife farewell . For long he wandered , and wandered , and wandered , but no child did he see ; and one morning his wanderings led him to a forest which was so thick with trees that no light could pass through the branches . The old man stopped when he saw this dreadful place , and at first was afraid to go in ; but he remembered that , after all , as the proverb says : ` It is the unexpected that happens , ' and perhaps in the midst of this black spot he might find the child he was seeking . So summoning up all his courage he plunged boldly in .
How long he might have been walking there he never could have told you , when at last he reached the mouth of a cave where the darkness seemed a hundred times darker XXXXX the wood itself .
For as from if in over than though through upon