They, however, became quite mild and
meek when they received their proper food, and the Prince without any
difficulty climbed the tree, seized the starling, and began to twist
its neck. At this moment the Jinn, awakening from sleep, became aware
of what was passing, and flew through the air to do battle for his
life. The Prince, however, seeing him approach, hastily cut open the
bird's crop, seized the bumble bee, and just as the Jinn was alighting
on the tree, tore off the insect's wings. The Jinn instantly fell to
the ground with a crash, but, determined to kill his enemy, began to
climb. Then the Prince twisted off the bee's legs, and lo! the Jinn
became legless also; and when the bee's head was torn off, the Jinn's
life went out entirely.
So Prince Lionheart returned in triumph to the Princess, who was
overjoyed to hear of her tyrant's death. He would have started at
once with her to his father's kingdom, but she begged for a little
rest, so they stayed in the palace, examining all the riches it
contained.
Now one day the Princess went down to the river to bathe, and wash her
beautiful golden hair, and as she combed it, one or two long strands
came out in the comb, shining and glittering like burnished gold. She
was proud of her beautiful hair, and said to herself, 'I will not
throw these hairs into the river, to sink in the nasty dirty mud,' so
she made a green cup out of a _p?®pal_ leaf, coiled the golden
hairs inside, and set it afloat on the stream.
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