Thistimeshedidnottakehimtoasplendidpalace，buttoadeepcaveinarock，wheretherewerechainshangingfromthewall。Themaidennowchainedtheyoungman’shandsandfeetsothathecouldnotescape；thenshesaidinanangryvoice，’Hereyoushallremainchainedupuntilyoudie。Iwillbringyoueverydayenoughfoodtopreventyoudyingofhunger，butyouneedneverhopeforfreedomanymore。’Withthesewordsshelefthim。
TheoldKingandhisdaughterwaitedanxiouslyformanyweeksforthePrince’sreturn，butnonewsofhimarrived。TheKing’sdaughteroftendreamedthatherhusbandwasgoingthroughsomegreatsuffering:shethereforebeggedherfathertosummonalltheenchantersandmagicians，thattheymighttrytofindoutwherethePrincewasandhowhecouldbesetfree。Butthemagicians，withalltheirarts，couldfindoutnothing，exceptthathewasstilllivingandundergoinggreatsuffering；butnonecouldtellwherehewastobefound。AtlastacelebratedmagicianfromFinlandwasbroughtbeforetheKing，whohadfoundoutthattheKing’sson-in-lawwasimprisonedintheEast，notbymen，butbysomemorepowerfulbeing。TheKingnowsentmessengerstotheEasttolookforhisson-in-law，andtheybygoodluckmetwiththeoldmagicianwhohadinterpretedthesignsonKingSolomon’sring，andthuswaspossessedofmorewisdomthananyoneelseintheworld。Themagiciansoonfoundoutwhathewishedtoknow，andpointedouttheplacewherethePrincewasimprisoned，butsaid:’Heiskepttherebyenchantment，andcannotbesetfreewithoutmyhelp。Iwillthereforegowithyoumyself。’
Sotheyallsetout，guidedbybirds，andaftersomedayscametothecavewheretheunfortunatePrincehadbeenchainedupfornearlysevenyears。Herecognisedthemagicianimmediately，buttheoldmandidnotknowhim，hehadgrownsothin。However，heundidthechainsbythehelpofmagic，andtookcareofthePrinceuntilherecoveredandbecamestrongenoughtotravel。
WhenhereachedhomehefoundthattheoldKinghaddiedthatmorning，sothathewasnowraisedtothethrone。Andnowafterhislongsufferingcameprosperity，whichlastedtotheendofhislife；buthenevergotbackthemagicring，norhasiteveragainbeenseenbymortaleyes。
Now，ifYOUhadbeenthePrince，wouldyounotratherhavestayedwiththeprettywitch-maiden？