He passed through many superb rooms and saw with admiration the riches they contained. At length he came to one larger than the rest, the walls of which were covered with plates of gold and silver. In the middle of this room was the tree on which shone the magic apples, and near it, rippling over precious stones, with a marvellous sound, ran a clear and luminous stream of water--the water of which the bold traveller had come so far in search. He filled a phial with the water of youthfulness, but, after doing that, forgot the whale's advice, and plucked as many golden apples as he could get into his wallet. Having got all he wanted, he wished to quit the enchanted castle, but he could not find the way by which he had entered. He wandered from room to room, searching in vain for the outer door. At length he entered a room yet more splendid than any he had before seen. It contained a bed of blue silk, on which was reposing a young girl of incomparable beauty. Carl stood before her motionless and speechless in an ecstasy of delight. At the same time the young girl saw, in a dream, the image of this charming Prince so distinctly that, thenceforth, she could not forget him, and in her ear a mysterious voice murmured: "This is he whom you must marry." Carl at length tore himself from the contemplation of the beautiful sleeper, wrote his name, and the name of his country, on the wall near her, and went out. Hardly had he crossed the threshold of the door ere everything in the castle awoke and all there became movement. He sprang upon the back of the whale, which was impatiently awaiting him. [Illustration: "THIS IS HE WHOM YOU MUST MARRY."] On reaching the middle of the sea, the gigantic animal suddenly plunged into the depths of the waters, then, remounting, said to the Prince:-- "Did that plunge frighten you?" "Yes; I confess it greatly frightened me." "Well, I was quite as much alarmed when you filled your wallet with apples." When he had gone a little further, the whale again plunged, only deeper than the first time, and then said to the Prince:-- "Were you afraid?" "More than ever I have been before." "Well, I was quite as much frightened when you stopped to look at the Princess." A little further on, the whale once more plunged and remained longer under the water, saying to the Prince on rising again to the surface:-- "Were you afraid?" "Yes, terribly." "Well, I was quite as much terrified when you wrote your name on the wall." In the evening Carl arrived at the cottage of the Queen of the Fishes. As a return for the service she had rendered him, he gave her a golden apple and some drops from the marvellous spring.