"But, father," the Golden Maiden said—she called him father now and it pleased him mightily; "father, I should rather marry Janko!"
"Marry Janko!" the farmer cried. "Why, my dear, Janko is a stupid lad, not nearly so clever as his two brothers!"
"I don't care if he is stupid. He's got a good heart and that's more than the other two have. And besides that he's got a brave heart for he rescued me from the dark cavern and he faced the awful ghost that stood over my Golden Cradle. Why, father, I'd rather marry Janko than any prince in the world!"
You can imagine Janko's feelings when he heard this!
"I'd feel like a prince if you did marry me, dear Golden One!" he cried.
Well, she did marry him, and sure enough he did feel like a prince. What prince, I'd like to know, had a lovelier bride? None! And was there any prince in the world whose bride brought him greater riches than the Golden Apple-Tree, the Golden Horse, and Golden Cradle? No, not one! And furthermore the farmer promised that, when he died, he would leave him the Magic Grape-Vine.
So Janko lived happy and prosperous. And it all came about through his having a good honest heart.
