"Wait, comrades! wait only a little and I'll help you," said Broad, and
swelled himself out as far as his paunch would stretch; he then lay down
on the shore and drank. In a very short time the water fell so low that
Long easily reached the bottom and took the shell out of the sea. Out of
it he extracted the ring, took his comrades on his shoulders and
hastened back. But on the way he found it a little difficult to run with
Broad, who had half a sea of water inside him, so he cast him from his
shoulder on to the ground in a wide valley. Thump he went like a sack
let fall from a tower, and in a moment the whole valley was under water
like a vast lake. Broad himself barely crawled out of it.
Meanwhile the prince was in great trouble in the castle. The dawn began
to display itself over the mountains, and his servants had not returned;
the more brilliantly the rays ascended, the greater was his anxiety; a
deadly perspiration came out upon his forehead. Soon the sun showed
itself in the east like a thin slip of flame--and then with a loud crash
the door flew open, and on the threshold stood the wizard. He looked
round the room, and seeing the princess was not there, laughed a hateful
laugh and entered the room. But just at that moment, pop! the window
flew in pieces, the gold ring fell on the floor, and in an instant there
stood the princess again.
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