ABSTRACT
There was once a wicked Prince. His aim and object was to conquer all the countries in the world, and to inspire all men with fear; he went about with fire and sword, and his soldiers trampled down the corn in the fields, and set fire to the peasants’ houses, so that the red flames licked the leaves from the trees, and the fruit hung burnt on the black charred branches. With her naked baby in her arms, many a poor mother took refuge behind the still smoking walls of her burnt house; but here even the soldiers sought for their victims, and if they found them, it was new food for their demoniac fury; evil spirits could not have raged worse than did these soldiers; but the Prince thought their deeds were right, and that it must be so. Every day his power increased; his name was feared by all, and fortune accompanied him in all his actions. From conquered countries he brought vast treasures home; in his capital an amount of wealth was heaped, unequalled in any other
place. And he caused gorgeous palaces, churches, and halls to be built, and every one who saw those great buildings and these vast treasures cried out respectfully, “What a great Prince!” They thought not of the misery he had brought upon other lands and cities; they heard not all the sighs and all the mournings that arose from among the ruins of demolished towns.
