[Illustration: They found the Princess still on the rock, but the Dragon was asleep with his head on her lap.] The King was overjoyed when he saw his daughter again, and he said to the four Brothers: 'One of you shall marry her, but which one, you must decide among yourselves.' An excited discussion then took place among them, for each one made a claim. The Star-gazer said: 'Had I not discovered the Princess, all your arts would have been in vain, therefore she is mine!' The Thief said: 'What would have been the good of discovering her if I had not taken her from under the Dragon? So she is mine.' The Sportsman said: 'You, as well as the Princess, would have been destroyed by the monster if my shot had not hit him. So she is mine.' The Tailor said: 'And if I had not sewn the ship together with my skill, you would all have been drowned miserably. Therefore she is mine.' The King said: 'Each of you has an equal right; but, as you can't all have her, none of you shall have her. I will give every one of you half a kingdom as a reward.' The Brothers were quite satisfied with this decision, and they said: 'It is better so than that we should quarrel over it.' So each of them received half a kingdom, and they lived happily with their Father for the rest of their days. The Lady and the Lion There was once a Man who had to take a long journey, and when he was saying good-bye to his daughters he asked what he should bring back to them. The eldest wanted pearls, the second diamonds, but the third said, 'Dear father, I should like a singing, soaring lark.' The father said, 'Very well, if I can manage it, you shall have it'; and he kissed all three and set off. He bought pearls and diamonds for the two eldest, but he had searched everywhere in vain for the singing, soaring lark, and this worried him, for his youngest daughter was his favourite child. Once his way led through a wood, in the midst of which was a splendid castle; near it stood a tree, and right up at the top he saw a lark singing and soaring. 'Ah,' he said, 'I have come across you in the nick of time'; and he called to his Servant to dismount and catch the little creature. But as he approached the tree a Lion sprang out from underneath, and shook himself, and roared so that the leaves on the tree trembled. 'Who dares to steal my lark?' said he. 'I will eat up the thief!' Then the Man said, 'I didn't know that the bird was yours. I will make up for my fault by paying a heavy ransom. Only spare my life.' But the Lion said, 'Nothing can save you, unless you promise to give me whatever first meets you when you get home. If you consent, I will give you your life and the bird into the bargain.' But the Man hesitated, and said, 'Suppose my youngest and favourite daughter were to come running to meet me when I go home!' But the Servant was afraid, and said, 'Your daughter will not necessarily be the first to come to meet you; it might just as well be a cat or a dog.'