"Heavens!" the king suddenly cried. "I forgot to give my daughter the key to the tower! That puts a stop to everything. We won't be able to have any wedding. The only hope," he went on, knocking out his pipe on his thumbnail, "is if you or one of your men can catch up with her on foot, just as you are, and get back here at exactly the same time she does."

The lad nodded to Long-Legs, who set off with great strides. In no time he caught up with the king's daughter, gave her the key, and went with her to the tower. She took out the wedding jewels, then turned her horse's head around and galloped rather fast toward home.

She was a bit proud, as you can tell. She had her father's tendency toward swiftness and secrecy. As far as she was concerned, why not marry a village boy. But she still hadn't even glanced at this lad. That's why she was driving her white horse so hard. It was running like the wind.

That was nothing for Long-Legs. He'd have been constantly passing her if he hadn't held himself back. When the king's daughter saw this, she thought of a trick. She pretended to be tired, stopped her horse, sat down on a bit of green grass under a tree, and said she was going to take a nap.

Folktales

Text copyright©1989 Random House, from the Pantheon book French Folktales