When morning came they wept and felt very sad; for the princess was weaker and they had not broken the charm.
The princess’s old nurse was very angry.
“Foolish ones,” she cried. “You have idled and slept and my darling is not yet well. I will watch to-night, for she grows weaker each day.”
But alas! the old nurse was no more fortunate than the maidens, for the spell was woven about her also and she slept; and when she awoke, she, too, wept bitterly.
Then all manner of people tried to withstand the charm and watch with the sick maiden, and even the little princess’s father and mother, but to no avail. And daily she grew weaker and weaker.
At last there came to the palace a young warrior, Ito San, who begged to be allowed to watch one night.
“I love the princess,” he said. “Rather than sleep I shall die.” Then he took his sword, keen and sharp, and placing the point beneath his chin, rested the handle upon the floor. Each time his head drooped in sleep, the point would bite and sting, and, struggling with the drowsiness which overtook him, he would sit upright again. In this way he conquered sleep.
When the princess opened her eyes she seemed less weak, and Ito gazed upon her with love in his eyes. Then sleepily, she smiled upon him, and at last she slept.
He sat beside her until morning not daring to move.
As the sunrise swept over the land, turning all to glowing beauty, he heard a strange, weird chant; and the words of it were stranger still, for the voice sang,