"I told him that I was soon to marry the Princess Fortunata, to which he replied: 'No, that will never do. She is too young, too poor. You need a wife who is rich, beautiful, wise. Such a maid is my daughter. Marry her, and you shall be the richest and most powerful king in this land.' He smiled a smile that made me shiver with fear.
"'I cannot!' I cried. 'I love the Princess Fortunata!'
"He smiled again and said no more.
"But the next day, and every day for a week, he asked me to marry his daughter. I told him each time that it was quite impossible.
"At last he said: 'I return now to my home. You shall marry my daughter in the end whether you like it or not. Farewell!' He was gone before I could say a word in reply.
"Now on the very day on which the Princess and I were to be married there arose a great storm, and darkness fell over the whole city. When the sky grew clear again the Princess had vanished. Although we searched high and low, nobody could find her.
"I returned at last to my home, miserable and heart-broken. There I found a letter from Xystipos. No one knew how it had come. In it was written: 'If you would win back your Princess, you must seek and find her.' That was all."
While the King paused for a moment the trumpeters played: