“Come， come，” continued that thrilling voice， and the prince followed the call. At everystep his cheeks glowed， and the blood rushed wildly through his veins. “I must follow，” hecried; “it is not a sin， it cannot be， to follow beauty and joy. I only want to see her sleep，and nothing will happen unless I kiss her， and that I will not do， for I have strength toresist， and a determined will.”
the fairy threw off her dazzling attire， bent back the boughs， and in another momentwas hidden among them.
“I have not sinned yet，” said the prince， “and I will not;” and then he pushed aside theboughs to follow the princess. She was lying already asleep， beautiful as only a fairy in thegarden of paradise could be. She smiled as he bent over her， and he saw tears trembling outof her beautiful eyelashes. “Do you weep for me?” he whispered. “Oh weep not， thou loveliestof women. Now do I begin to understand the happiness of paradise; I feel it to my inmostsoul， in every thought. A new life is born within me. One moment of such happiness is worthan eternity of darkness and woe.” He stooped and kissed the tears from her eyes， andtouched her lips with his.
A clap of thunder， loud and awful， resounded through the trembling air. All around himfell into ruin. The lovely fairy， the beautiful garden， sunk deeper and deeper. The prince sawit sinking down in the dark night till it shone only like a star in the distance beneath him. Thenhe felt a coldness， like death， creeping over him; his eyes closed， and he becameinsensible.
When he recovered， a chilling rain was beating upon him， and a sharp wind blew on hishead. “Alas! what have I done?” he sighed; “I have sinned like Adam， and the garden ofparadise has sunk into the earth.” He opened his eyes， and saw the star in the distance， butit was the morning star in heaven which glittered in the darkness.
Presently he stood up and found himself in the depths of the forest， close to the cavernof the Winds， and the mother of the Winds sat by his side. She looked angry， and raised herarm in the air as she spoke. “The very first evening!” she said. “Well， I expected it! If youwere my son， you should go into the sack.”
“And there he will have to go at last，” said a strong old man， with large black wings， anda scythe in his hand， whose name was Death. “He shall be laid in his coffin， but not yet. I willallow him to wander about the world for a while， to atone for his sin， and to give him time tobecome better. But I shall return when he least expects me. I shall lay him in a black coffin，place it on my head， and fly away with it beyond the stars. There also blooms a garden ofparadise， and if he is good and pious he will be admitted; but if his thoughts are bad， andhis heart is full of sin， he will sink with his coffin deeper than the garden of paradise has sunk.Once in every thousand years I shall go and fetch him， when he will either be condemned tosink still deeper， or be raised to a happier life in the world beyond the stars.”