The king thought and thought , frowned hard and rubbed his ear . At last he gave consent , and ordered out his royal yacht , with 100 cross-bows , 100 knights , and 1,000 soldiers , to escort the Princess Helena . Off sailed the yacht with the princess and her escort . The brothers Simon came on board to conduct the princess to their ship , and , led by the brothers and followed by her nurse and other women , she crossed the crystal plank from one vessel to another . The seventh Simon spread out his goods , and had so many curious and interesting tales to tell about them , that the princess forgot everything else in looking and listening , so that she did not know that the fourth Simon had seized the prow of the ship , and that all of a sudden it had vanished from sight , and was racing along in the depths of the sea . The crew of the royal yacht shouted aloud , the knights stood still with terror , the soldiers were struck dumb and hung their heads . There was nothing to be done but to sail back and tell the king of his loss . How he wept and stormed ! ` Oh , light of my eyes , ' he sobbed ; ' I am indeed punished for my pride . I thought no one good enough to be your husband , and now you are lost in the depths of the sea , and have left me alone ! As for all of you who saw this thing -- away with you ! Let them be put in irons and lock them up in prison , whilst I think how I can best put them to death ! ' Whilst the King of Busan was raging and lamenting in this fashion , Simon 's ship was swimming like any fish under the sea , and when the island was well out of sight he brought it up to the surface again . At that moment the princess recollected herself . ` Nurse , ' said she , ` we have been gazing at these wonders only too long . I hope my father wo n't be vexed at our delay . ' She tore herself away and stepped on deck . Neither the yacht nor the island was in sight ! Helena wrung her hands and beat her breast . Then she changed herself into a white swan and flew off .
But the fifth Simon seized his bow and shot the swan , and the sixth Simon did not let it fall into the water but caught it XXXXX the ship , and the swan turned into a silver fish , but Simon lost no time and caught the fish , when , quick as thought , the fish turned into a black mouse and ran about the ship .
Off Whilst for in into like of on under with