To him the princess was as a little child, and his old wise heart went out to her.
And, as I have said, his heart understood the minstrel too.
Therefore he said to the princess: "I know the hearts of poets. In seven days I will bring you back your mirror."
And the old man went, and at length found the poet eating wild berries in the middle of the wood.
"That is a beautiful mirror you have by your side," said the old man.
"This mirror," answered the poet, "holds in its deeps the most beautiful face in the world."
"It is true," said the wise old man. "I have seen the beautiful face ... but I too possess a mirror. Will you look into it?"
And the poet took the mirror from the old man and looked; and, as he looked, the mirror of the princess fell neglected in the grass....
"Why," said the wise old man, "do you let fall the princess's mirror?"
But the poet made no answer—for his eyes were lost in the strange mirror which the wise old man had brought him.