After the ball we will fly away together . ' On the third day the Prince led the mare to the meadow again ; but once more she vanished before his eyes . Then the Prince took out his little bell and rang it three times . In a moment the King of the Fishes appeared , and said to him : ' I know quite well what you want me to do , and I will summon all the fishes of the sea together , and tell them to bring you back the mare , who is hiding herself in a river . ' Towards evening the mare was returned to him , and when he led her home to the Mother Dragon she said to him : ` You are a brave youth , and I will make you my body-servant . But what shall I give you as a reward to begin with ? ' The Prince begged for a foal of the mare , which the Mother Dragon at once gave him , and over and above , a cloak made of gold , for she had fallen in love with him because he had praised her beauty . So in the evening he appeared at the ball in his golden cloak ; but before the entertainment was over he slipped away , and went straight to the stables , where he mounted his foal and rode out into the meadow to wait for the Flower Queen 's daughter . Towards midnight the beautiful girl appeared , and placing her in front of him on his horse , the Prince and she flew like the wind till they reached the Flower Queen 's dwelling . But the dragons had noticed their flight , and woke their brother out of his year 's sleep . He flew into a terrible rage when he heard what had happened , and determined to lay siege to the Flower Queen 's palace ; but the Queen caused a forest of flowers as high as the sky to grow up round her dwelling , through which no one could force a way . When the Flower Queen heard that her daughter wanted to marry the Prince , she said to him : ' I will give my consent to your marriage gladly , but my daughter can only stay with you in summer . In winter , when everything is dead and the ground covered with snow , she must come and live with me in my palace underground . ' The Prince consented to this , and led his beautiful bride home , where the wedding was held with great pomp and magnificence . The young couple lived happily together till winter came , when the Flower Queen 's daughter departed and went home to her mother . In summer she returned to her husband , and their life of joy and happiness began again , and lasted till the approach of winter , when the Flower Queen 's daughter went back again to her mother . This coming and going continued all her life long , and in spite of it they always lived happily together . THE FLYING SHIP -LRB- 24 -RRB- -LRB- 24 -RRB- From the Russian . Once upon a time there lived an old couple who had three sons ; the two elder were clever , but the third was a regular dunce . The clever sons were very fond of their mother , gave her good clothes , and always spoke pleasantly to her ; but the youngest was always getting in her way , and she had no patience with him .
Now , one day it was announced in the village that the King had issued a decree , offering his daughter , the Princess , in marriage to whoever should build a ship that could XXXXX .
began brave departed flew fly getting heard slipped wait went