THE BLUE CASTLE Once upon a time in a far-off country there lived a witch on top of a high mountain, and every year she came down into the country about and appeared at the palace of the King and asked for a bag of gold. O One night when the King and his Queen were making merry and having a big feast in honor of the birth of their little daughter, the Princess Lily, the old witch came to the palace and asked for her bag of gold. “Tell her to begone,” said the King to his servant. “I have used all the gold in the vaults for the feast; she will have to come next year.” Now the old witch was very angry when she heard this message, and she hid in the grounds of the palace until all were asleep that night,[Pg 38] and then she entered the palace and carried off the baby Princess. [Pg 38] The Queen and the King were beside themselves with grief when they discovered their loss, and they offered big rewards for the return of their daughter, but she could not be found. “Find the old witch who came here the night of the feast,” said one of the King’s wise men, “and you will find the Princess.” They hunted far and near, but the witch could not be found, for when any one attempted to climb the mountain where the old witch lived the insects would become as thick as mist and clouds and they could not see where to go. One after another gave up the attempt, and so after a while the King and Queen mourned their daughter as dead and the old witch never came to the palace again. The Queen and King never had any more children, and every day they grieved because there would be no one to reign after they were gone. One day one of the King’s wise men said to him: “In a cave in the forest lives an ogre who has a wonderful horse; it is kept in a[Pg 39] stable made of marble, and its stall is of gold, and it is fed on corn grown in a field of pearls. [Pg 39] “If we could get this horse we might be able to climb the mountain where the old witch lives, and perhaps the Princess is still alive.” “But how can we get this
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