They greatly feared she must be out of her mind,
for though every good-looking young man in the kingdom had been shown
to her, she declared she would only marry one who was the son of seven
mothers, and who had ever heard of such a thing? The King, in despair,
had ordered every man who entered the city gates to be led before the
Princess; so, much to the lad's impatience, for he was in an
immense hurry to find his mothers' eyes, he was dragged into the
presence-chamber.
No sooner did the Princess catch sight of him than she blushed, and,
turning to the King, said, "Dear father, this is my choice!"
Never were such rejoicings as these few words produced. The
inhabitants nearly went wild with joy, but the son of seven Queens
said he would not marry the Princess unless they first let him recover
his mothers' eyes. When the beautiful bride heard his story, she asked
to see the potsherd, for she was very learned and clever. Seeing the
treacherous words, she said nothing, but taking another similar-shaped
bit of potsherd, she wrote on it these words, "Take care of this
lad, giving him all he desires," and returned it to the son of seven
Queens, who, none the wiser, set off on his quest.
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