"
"Then we must fly, for I love you dearly," said Hyacinthia, when the
Prince had told her of this new task. She breathed on the window-pane,
and straightway it was covered with frost; then, leading Prince Milan
from the chamber, she locked the door, and they fled through the
passage by which they had entered the Underworld. Beside the smooth
lake his horse was still grazing, and mounting it, they were borne
swiftly away.
When the magician sent for the Prince to come to him, the frozen
breath replied to the messengers, and so delayed the discovery of his
escape. At last the magician lost patience and ordered the door burst
open. The frozen breath mocked at him, and he hastened in pursuit of
the fugitives.
"I hear the sound of horses' feet behind us," said Hyacinthia. The
Prince dismounted, and putting his ear to the ground, answered, "Yes,
they are near." Hyacinthia thereupon changed herself into a river, and
the Prince became a bridge, and his horse a blackbird. Their pursuers,
no longer finding their footprints, were obliged to return to the
magician, who cursed them, and again sent them forth.
"I hear the sound of horses' feet behind us," again said Hyacinthia.
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