The king was terribly angry . ` So this is why you have refused to marry all the kings and princes who have sought your hand ? ' he cried . And , without waiting for her to speak , he commanded that his daughter should be walled up in the summer-house and starved to death with her lover . That evening the poor princess , still wearing her ring , was put into the summer-house with enough food to last for three days , and the door was bricked up . But at the end of a week or two the king thought it was time to give her a grand funeral , in spite of her bad behaviour , and he had the summer-house opened . He could hardly believe his eyes when he found that the princess was not there , nor Hans either . Instead , there lay at his feet a large hole , big enough for two people to pass through . Now what had happened was this . When the princess and Hans had given up hope , and cast themselves down on the ground to die , they fell down this hole , and right through the earth as well , and at last they tumbled into a castle built of pure gold at the other side of the world , and there they lived happily . But of this , of course , the king knew nothing . ` Will anyone go down and see where the passage leads to ? ' he asked , turning to his guards and courtiers . ' I will reward splendidly the man who is brave enough to explore it . ' For a long time nobody answered . The hole was dark and deep , and if it had a bottom no one could see it . At length a soldier , who was a careless sort of fellow , offered himself for the service , and cautiously lowered himself into the darkness . But in a moment he , too , fell down , down , down . Was he going to fall for ever , he wondered ! Oh , how thankful he was in the end to reach the castle , and to meet the princess and Hans , looking quite well and not at all as if they had been starved .
They began to talk , and the soldier told them XXXXX the king was very sorry for the way he had treated his daughter , and wished day and night that he could have her back again .
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