When she had completed her fifteenth winter, she had an innumerable host of suitors, whose number was constantly increasing; so that the king at length knew not what answer to give them. He one day, therefore, went up to his daughter in her bower, and desired her to make a choice, but she would not. In his anger at her refusal he said: "As you will not yourself make a choice, I will make one for you, although it may happen not to be altogether to your liking." He was then going away, but his daughter held him back, and said: "I believe that it must be as you wish; but, you must not imagine that I will accept the first that is offered, as he alone shall possess me, who is able to ride to the top of the high glass mountain fully armed." This the king thought a good idea, and, yielding to his daughter's resolution, he sent a proclamation over the whole kingdom, that whosoever should ride fully armed to the top of the glass mountain, should win the princess for his wife.

When the day appointed by the king had arrived, the princess was taken to the glass mountain with great pomp and splendor. There she sat, the highest of all, on the top of the mountain, with a golden crown on her head and a golden apple in her hand. At the mountain's foot were assembled all the suitors on noble horses and with splendid arms, which shone like fire in the sunshine; and from every quarter the people flocked in great crowds to see the spectacle. When all was ready, a signal was given with horns and trumpets, and in the same instant the suitors galloped up the hill one after another. But the mountain was high, and slippery as ice, and was, moreover, exceedingly steep; so that each suitor had ascended only a small way when he fell headlong to the bottom. You may well imagine that there was no lack of broken legs and arms. There arose a such a noise from the neighing of horses, the outcry of people and the crash of armor that it was heard at a considerable distance.

While all this was passing, the young prince was occupied in tending his cattle. On hearing the tumult and the rattling of arms, he sat on a stone, rested his head on his hand, and wept; for he thought of the beautiful princess, and it passed in his mind how gladly he would have been one of the riders. In the same moment he heard the sound of a footstep, and, on looking up, saw the wild man standing before him. Thanks for the past," said he. "Why do you sit here lonely and sad?"

"I may well be sad," answered the prince. "For thy sake I am a fugitive from my native land, and have now not even a horse and arms, with which I might ride to the glass mountain, and contend for the princess."
关键字:公主和玻璃山
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