King ordered him to fetch it out from the depths of the sea, and added—
‘If you come to land without it, you will be thrown back every time till you perish in the waves.’
Every one pitied the handsome Youth, but they had to go and leave him standing solitary on the seashore.
He was pondering over what he should do, when, all at once, he saw three Fishes swimming towards him. They were no others than the very ones whose lives he had saved.
The middle one carried a mussel-shell in its mouth, which it laid on the sand at the feet of the Youth. When he picked it up, and opened it, there lay the ring.
Full of joy, he took it to the King, expecting that he would give him the promised reward.
The proud Princess, however, when she heard that he was not her equal, despised him, and demanded that he should perform yet another task.
So she went into the garden herself, and strewed ten sacks of millet seeds among the grass.
‘He must pick up every one of those before the sun rises to-morrow morning,’ said she. ‘Not a grain must be missing.’
The Youth sat miserably in the garden, wondering how it could possibly be done. But as he could not think of a plan, he remained sadly waiting for the dawn which would bring death to him.
But when the first sunbeams fell on the garden, he saw the ten sacks full to the top, and not a grain was missing. The Ant-King had come in the night with thousands and thousands of his Ants, and the grateful creatures had picked up the millet and filled the sacks.
The Princess came into the garden herself, and saw with amazement that the Youth had completed the task.
But still she could not control her proud heart, and she said: ‘Even if he has accomplished these two tasks, he shall not become my husband till he brings me an apple from the tree of life.’
