“The young man secretly determined he would not accept her invitation, for he had already learned to love her, and feared the usual fate of her suitors. However, when the hour approached the next day he could not resist the temptation to see once more the lovely Princess; after that he found many excuses to call, and managed each day to see her. “But the wonderful part of it all was, that Kuldah took as much pleasure in his company as he did in hers. So later, when he asked her to marry him she said yes, right on the spot, fearing to delay, lest he might go off and become as indifferent as he was at first, and never come back again. “He was very happy when she said yes, and thus far everything had gone very smoothly for them both; but when they went in to see the old King their troubles began. Kuldah was wreathed in smiles, and Prince Minio looked very happy and proud. The old King, who had never supposed for one minute that his daughter would accept any man,—having refused so many,—had one day rashly promised all the suitors that, if she ever made a choice, they should each have a fair chance to win her. This, of course, was the cause of the lovers’ trouble now. The Princess was indignant that her father should have made such a promise about her. She considered herself free to choose for herself. So she stormed and wept about it as only a Sun Princess could do, and declared she would never, never marry any man but the man she loved. “But her old father, who was so indulgent and yielding with her usually, remained firm in his decision, and said he could not break a promise once made, for that would not be honorable. Therefore, the very next day he announced to everybody that a contest in skill and science should take place between the suitors for her hand. The Princess was very unhappy, of course, during the days that followed, but Prince Minio cheered her by saying he felt equal to winning her in a fair contest. His love was far greater than that of the others, and therefore he felt assured he would learn a way to win her for his bride in spite of them all.