“Give me a cup of water to drink,” demanded the Princess; but the Prince was so busy staring at her that he did not move, and in a moment the Princess vanished from before him, and where she went he could not tell. He was filled with grief over the loss of her, but she was gone, and that was all of it.
Then the Prince took out the second citron. “This time I will be ready for her,” he thought. He took his knife and cut the second citron. At once the second Princess appeared before him.
“Give me a cup of water to drink,” she demanded. But again the Prince was so overcome by her beauty that he could no more move than if he had been rooted to the ground, and the next moment she too disappeared from before his eyes.
The Prince was in despair. He ran this way and that way, calling aloud and trying to find her, but she had vanished like the fading of a breath.
And now there was only one other citron left, and the Prince trembled at the thought of opening it, for he was afraid he would lose this third Princess as he had the others. At last he drew it from his bosom and prepared to cut it, but first he filled the golden cup and set it ready to his hand. Then he seized the knife and with one stroke divided the citron in two.
At once the third Princess stood before him, and though the others had been beautiful she exceeded them in beauty as the full moon exceeds the stars in splendor.
“Give me a cup of water,” said she; and this time the Prince was ready. Almost before she could speak he had caught up the golden cup and presented it to her.
The Princess took the cup and drank, and then she smiled upon him so brightly that he was dazzled.
“Now I am yours, and you are mine,” said she, “and where you go I will follow, for I have no one in all the wide world but you.”
The Prince was almost wild with happiness. He kissed her hands and looked with joy upon her face.