The cobbler did not know what to make of these strange words ; but he was wiser than many people , and when he did not understand , he thought it was well to obey . His children wanted to eat all the fish themselves , and begged their father to tell them what to do with the pieces he had put aside ; but the cobbler only laughed , and told them it was no business of theirs . And when they were safe in bed he stole out and buried the two pieces in the garden . By and by two babies , exactly alike , lay in a cradle , and in the garden were two tall plants , with two brilliant shields on the top . Years passed away , and the babies were almost men . They were tired of living quietly at home , being mistaken for each other by everybody they saw , and determined to set off in different directions , to seek adventures . So , one fine morning , the two brothers left the hut , and walked together to the place where the great road divided . There they embraced and parted , promising that if anything remarkable had happened to either , he would return to the cross roads and wait till his brother came . The youth who took the path that ran eastwards arrived presently at a large city , where he found everybody standing at the doors , wringing their hands and weeping bitterly . ` What is the matter ? ' asked he , pausing and looking round . And a man replied , in a faltering voice , that each year a beautiful girl was chosen by lot to be offered up to a dreadful fiery dragon , who had a mother even worse than himself , and this year the lot had fallen on their peerless princess . ` But where IS the princess ? ' said the young man once more , and again the man answered him : ` She is standing under a tree , a mile away , waiting for the dragon . ' This time the Knight of the Fish did not stop to hear more , but ran off as fast as he could , and found the princess bathed in tears , and trembling from head to foot . She turned as she heard the sound of his sword , and removed her handkerchief from his eyes . ` Fly , ' she cried ; ` fly while you have yet time , before that monster sees you . ' She said it , and she mean it ; yet , when he had turned his back , she felt more forsaken than before . But in reality it was not more than a few minutes before he came back , galloping furiously on a horse he had borrowed , and carrying a huge mirror across its neck . ' I am in time , then , ' he cried , dismounting very carefully , and placing the mirror against the trunk of a tree .
` Give me your veil , ' he said hastily XXXXX the princess .
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