Author's Note: This fairy tale was inspired by the one told by Princess Polly in one of Amy Brooks' stories for young girls: of which, perhaps, more later. In it we discover how the prince broke the enchanted spell and won the hand of the beautiful maiden, Cymbrel.

nce upon a time there lived a king who had three sons. Two of them were grown men but the third was only a boy although he was very handsome. Now, as inevitably happens to all mortals at some time in their life, the king fell ill. Being a wise man he knew his days were numbered and called his sons to him.

"My sons," he said in a weak voice, "I am dying."

"Father, you cannot die," cried the youngest.

The older sons, being more knowledgeable, said nothing but their expressions were grave.

"I'm afraid it comes to us all, one day," the old king smiled. "Be assured that I love you very much."

The young man wept and held his father's frail hand.

"We live in a small kingdom," the king continued. "I'm afraid there is not enough wealth to support all three of you. However there is enough to support two of you, so I have decided that you, my first-born sons, will have one half each. Whereas you," he ruffled his youngest son's hair, "will have one third of all my wealth."

"Father, I want nothing but for you to live for ever."

"That cannot be so you will have one third of my wealth. But as you are only a child your brothers will look after it until you are eighteen. Upon your eighteenth birthday, you will receive your inheritance and may set out to seek your fame and fortune. Is this understood? Do you all agree?"

With tears in their eyes, the sons agreed to carry out their father's wishes.

Shortly thereafter the king died and was buried with all due pomp and circumstance amid much mourning throughout the kingdom, for the king was truly loved by his people.

In due course, the older sons retired to their new lands; one to the west and one to the east. The youngest remained at the castle to complete his education.

Now the older brothers were not wicked men and they really did care for their handsome little brother. On the other hand they were not very clever men and had very definite ideas about how kings should behave.

The first brother thought that kings should be fine and grand and live in splendid castles and eat wonderful food and drink fine wine. It wasn't long before he had spent all his inheritance. He needed more money to pay for the feasts and the hunts and the castles. So he borrowed some money from his youngest brother. As the youngster was only young and unconcerned with financial matters, he didn't bother to mention that he'd borrowed some money - and anyway it wasn't very much.

The second brother thought his older sibling was very foolish with his fine clothes and grand airs. He thought that a king should improve things for his people. He built roads and bridges so his people could get from place to place more quickly. And he believed that the farmers should grow more food and the shepherds keep more sheep so he built dams and canals and walls. It wasn't long before he, too, had spent all his inheritance. He needed more money to pay for the walls and roads. So he borrowed some money from his youngest brother. As he was only young and unconcerned with financial matters, he didn't bother to mention that he'd borrowed some money - and anyway it was all for a very good cause.

The result was that when the youngest brother reached his eighteenth birthday and went to his brothers for his inheritance, there wasn't any left. His brothers were very sorry. They had only borrowed a little - just to tide them over, you understand. But, over the years, the little had becomes a lot and so the youngest brother got nothing.

At first he was very angry and went around slamming doors and shouting at people. After a while he realised this wasn't helping to get his wealth back and, besides, he was by nature a cheerful person. His brothers had spent all his inheritance and there was nothing he, or anyone else, could do to get it back. So, one fine morning, he saddled up his favourite horse, and set out to seek his fortune.

His heart was heavy as he paused to look back at the castle surrounded by its fields and villages. It had been his home for eighteen happy years and he was loath to leave it. But there was nothing left for him there, so he hardened his heart and pointed his face to the north.

He rode for many days. He rode over heath and heather, field and meadow, up hill and down dale, through lands alien to his eyes. And everywhere he went he asked the people he met if they knew where he could find fame and fortune. But the people just shook their heads and muttered that there wasn't much call for fame and fortune in these parts. They were peaceful people and not much given to such high and mighty things.

On and on he rode until, topping a hill one day, he saw stretched before him a vast and dark forest. He was a brave prince as well as handsome, so he was not afraid. With barely a shudder, he rode right into the sombre woods, the trees closing in around him and dimming the sunlight. After a while he came upon a pool set in a small glade. There he stopped to let his horse drink.

While his horse slaked his thirst in the limpid waters, a mist arose and covered the pool, and out of the mist appeared a beautiful witch.

"I see you are a brave young man in search of your fame and fortune," the witch said with a smile. "I can help you if you want. But you must pay me."

The prince looked at her sadly. "Then I'm afraid I must refuse your help," he said. "For I have nothing to pay you with."

The witch smiled even more. "Oh, it's not money I want but something you have in abundance, I think. Take the path to the right and keep to the right, no matter how thick the forest, and you'll come to a small cottage. If you behave properly, the owner will tell you what to do next."

"For this advice, I thank you," said the prince. "I will do as you suggest."

"And now you must pay me," said the witch.

"If the path leads to fame and fortune I will think any payment well spent," cried the prince.

"Well said," said the witch. "You must give some of your seed to the enchanted pool."

"My seed?" exclaimed the prince in surprise.

"Your seed," cried the witch. "Send it arcing high over the water."

The prince suddenly realised what the witch wanted and blushed bright red for he was a modest boy as well as brave and handsome."

The prince unfastened his breeches and reached inside. But he was all soft and not at all hard as he needed to be to make his seed fly out over the water.

"What can I do?" he cried to the witch.

"I will help," she said.

Very slowly she unfastened her gown and revealed herself to the prince. She was very, very beautiful with long black hair and milky white skin and ruby-red lips. She cupped her full breasts, offering the pointed red tips to the young prince. She smoothed carmine-tipped fingers down silken flanks and drew them up over her abundant black bush. The prince looked and looked and soon he was very hard indeed and soon after that he sent great jets of his seed high into the air and arching out over the enchanted pool. The witch was delighted. "You are indeed a true prince and you have repaid me many times over," she cried and sank back into the mist.

The Prince mounted his horse and just then he noticed the little path at the right of the pool that he had not seen before. He turned his horse onto the path, and the horse acting as if he knew the way, trotted along at a fine pace.

Well he rode on for a long time. It was very quiet in the dark forest, even the birds seemed strangely hushed. The sound of his horse's hoofs and the jingling of his harness sounded unnaturally loud. It was almost dark when he came upon a woman walking along the path. She was dressed all in black with a long black dress and a black shawl over her head and she was bent over nearly double by the large bundle of wood she was carrying.

The prince immediately stopped is horse and got off. "That's a very large bundle of wood you're carrying, mother," he said. "Do you have far to go?"

"Only another mile," the woman replied.

"Then let me carry the wood and you ride on my horse," the prince exclaimed.

"You can take my wood if you think you can carry it," the woman said. "but I shall walk for your horse is very big and I am afraid I might fall off."

"Then you shall lead my horse while I carry your wood," said the prince.

He took the wood from the woman and handed her the reins. But as he did so, the wood seemed to suddenly become very heavy indeed and the prince staggered under its weight.

"This is indeed a heavy load," he said.

But the woman had taken the reins of his horse and was walking briskly up the track. The prince hefted his load and set off after her. He did not want to lose her in the darkening forest. As they went along the wood seemed to get heavier and heavier and the woman seemed to walk faster and faster. The prince was very puzzled at this because he was a strong young man as well as being modest and brave and handsome but he struggled along after the woman as best he could.

At last they came to a small cottage set at the side of the track and the prince gratefully dropped the wood where the woman indicated.

"Whew," he gasped. "Is there any other way I can help you, mother?" he asked.

"You can draw some water from the well while I make supper," she said.

The prince went to the well and lowered the bucket which was attached to a long rope. The well seemed to have plenty of water in it but, try as he might, he could only get a thimbleful at a time into the bucket. It was very tiring, raising and lowering the bucket again and again but, at last, he managed to get a bucketful.

Just then the woman came to the door of the cottage. "Have you got the water, yet, for supper is ready."

The prince brought the bucket of water and went to get his supper. He was very hungry for he had done much that day and had not eaten since breakfast.

The cottage was very small. It only had one room with a fire with a rocking chair in front of it, a bed in one corner, a table and two chairs under the window and a closet opposite the fire. But it was clean and tidy and the prince sat down to supper with a will.

After the meal the prince sat back with a contented sigh. "That was a meal fit for a king, mother - or a prince at least," he jested. He looked out of the window and saw it had grown quite dark. "May I sleep here tonight on your floor?"

"I will do better than that if you will give me a kiss," the woman responded.

Now the prince imagined her to be an old woman, all gnarled and wrinkled, but he was a prince and, besides, she had fed him a magnificent supper.

"I will kiss you and gladly," he said with as much enthusiasm as he could muster.

He gathered the woman into his arms and bent to kiss her wrinkled lips. As he did, the woman threw back the shawl from her face. To his astonishment, he saw she was not old and wrinkled at all and, if not young, she was not old and she was very beautiful. Now he bent to his task with enthusiasm and kissed her long and deep.

"Goodness me," said the woman in a rather shaky voice when he had finished. "That was some kiss. You must certainly share my bed rather than sleep on the hard floor."

The prince was overjoyed and soon they were both naked and in bed together. There the prince proved that the giving of his seed was not confined to beautiful witches and enchanted ponds.

In the morning the prince awoke to find he was alone. The woman had disappeared but she had left him some bread and cheese and a note. The note said he should keep on going along the track and stray to neither left nor right. After a while he would come to a fountain. He was to walk around it seven times backwards calling out in a loud voice, "Cymbrel, Cymbrel, where art thou, for I have come to take the vow." The note did not say who or what Cymbrel was or what vow he was to take.

"So far this has been a grand adventure," he said to himself as he set off. "And, although I've not found fame and fortune yet, I'll do as I'm bid."

He rode for many miles along the track straying to neither right nor left and, at last, he came upon a clearing in the middle of the forest. In the middle of the clearing stood a fountain, just as the woman had foretold. There was no water in the fountain but in the middle was a statue of the most beautiful young girl he had ever seen. It looked so life-like that he half-expected it to speak. The maiden had a large ewer perched on her shoulder and it was from this that the water was supposed to flow to fill the fountain.

"This is very mysterious," the prince said to himself.

He got down from his horse and went over the woman's instructions in his mind. Feeling more than a little foolish, he started walking backwards around the fountain crying in a loud voice, "Cymbrel, Cymbrel, where art thou, for I have come to take the vow."

After the third time round, something very strange happened. There was a loud gurgling sound and water began to pour from the ewer. The prince was very startled and almost stopped. But he took himself in hand and continued to walk backwards round the fountain calling out for Cymbrel. He did not dare look at the fountain in case any more strange things had happened.

When, at last, he had walked round the fountain seven times and was hoarse with shouting, he stopped. The sound of the water splashing in the fountain was very loud in the quiet glade.

"What is supposed to happen now?" he wondered aloud.

Nothing happened so he risked a look at the fountain. Imagine his surprise when he saw that, instead of a statue in the middle, was the most beautiful and lovely young girl he had ever seen in his life. Her hair sparkled with pearls and diamonds, and her robe was of rainbow coloured mist.

As he gazed upon this vision of loveliness, she seemed to smile at him rather sadly.

"There never was anyone so lovely as you," said the prince, and he was just wild to win her, but he did not know how and he was afraid that the mist would melt and she would disappear. "Who are you?" he asked in a trembling voice.

"I am Cymbrel," she said and her voice sounded like the most delicate music played on harps and viols. "You were calling for me."

"Yes, I was," said the prince, his heart beating very fast.

"I am enchanted," she said. "You promised to take the vow."

The prince dropped to his knee and placed a hand upon his heart and said, "I vow I shall love you from this day onward."

The maiden laughed gently and her laugh was like the tinkling of small bells. "That's a very nice vow but it won't do you or me any good if I'm enchanted."

The prince looked up and saw that the lovely girl was smiling at him. It made him feel so strong and brave. "Then I vow I will break the enchantment that binds you and make you mine."

"If you break the enchantment, then I will be yours for ever," she said softly.

"Then I'll start at once," cried the prince, springing to his feet. "Oh, but I don't know what to do."

The maiden laughed again. "You must find the ogre who dwells in this forest and kill him," she said. "But before you do you must force him to tell you how to break the enchantment. It was he who enchanted me and only he knows how to break it."

The prince drew his sword. "With this sword I will free you, and you shall be mine," he cried, and mounting his horse he galloped off into the forest, looking this way and that, in search of the ogre.

He searched for many days without success. No matter where he looked, he could not find the ogre. Every evening he rode back to the fountain, and there he wearily told the maiden that he had not yet found the ogre. She always told him to be brave and continue the search but even she began to despair that the ogre would not be found and she would stay enchanted forever.

The prince met with many dangers. One day a lion sprang out from behind a tree and frightened his horse. The horse reared up unseating the prince. The lion sprang at him with a great roar. The prince managed to draw his sword and swung it at the lion just as it was about to pounce. The blade struck the lion across the face, blinding it in one eye. It reared back roaring in pain. Taking his courage and his sword firmly in both hands, the prince gave a mighty thrust right into the lion's mouth. The blade went straight down the lion's throat, killing it instantly.

On another day, the prince met three robbers. They were big, evil-looking men with squints and raggedy clothes.

"Well, young master," said the roughest. "Why don't you climb down from that fine horse of yours and give us all your money and jewels."

"But I haven't any money or jewels, I'm only a wandering knight," said the prince. He was very frightened for they were very big and looked very evil.

The ruffians thought this a grand joke and roared with laughter.

"He rides a fine horse and carries a fine sword and has no money or jewels?" they roared. "A truly wondrous tale."

"Let's have no more fairy stories, young master," said the first robber. "Give us your money and jewels now or it'll be the worse for you."

Now the prince was truly frightened for he knew that when the robbers found out he really didn't have any money or jewels they would kill him for sure.

He summoned up all his courage and drew his sword. "I may have no money or jewels but I do have this," he cried, waving his sword and spurring his horse.

The robbers were taken by surprise. Many people spurred their horses or ran when the met the robbers. But they always ran away. Never before had anyone actually charged towards them. They were so taken aback they did not know what to do. In an instant, the prince was upon them. With one mighty sweep of his sword he struck the head of one robber clean from his shoulders. The second robber just stood in the road with his mouth open in astonishment. The prince's horse charged into him, knocked him over and trampled him to death. The third robber took to his heels and didn't stop running until he was many miles away.

Day after fruitless day, the prince searched and had many more adventures on the way but he could not find the ogre. He was very sad that he had taken a vow to free the maiden and could not fulfil it. The maiden was becoming very tired at having to stand in the middle of the fountain day and night with water pouring out of the ewer on her shoulder and splash her feet. She wished the prince would hurry up. In her heart she worried that the ogre might have moved away to some other country or even died. But she always smiled brightly at him when he came back from another unsuccessful day's hunting and told him to be brave and keep his hopes up. And she was so beautiful and sad that the prince would cheer up and set out the next morning knowing for sure this would be the day he met and killed the ogre.

Then, one day the prince spotted a track he hadn't seen before so he set off down it. Now it had been very windy the night before and there were broken branches and leaves and bits of twigs everywhere. There were even places where whole trees had been uprooted and fallen over.

In the distance the prince heard a loud noise. He made his way cautiously along the track and, after a while, he realised that the noise was of someone roaring. The roaring got louder and louder as he rode along. Whoever it was seemed to be dreadfully angry for they were making the most fearful din.

He rounded a bend in the track and, in front of him, was a small hill. In the hill was a cave and in front of the cave was the ogre. It was he who was making the terrible roaring. He was very angry because the wind had blown a tree down right in front of his cave. He was trying to drag the tree away and roaring with anger because, although he was an ogre and very strong, the tree was very large and refused to move.

Now, it's one thing thinking about ogres and imagining yourself killing one but it's quite another thing to come face to face with one, so to speak. Especially an angry one. The prince looked at the ogre and his heart failed. The ogre was twice the size he was and at least ten times as strong. But then he thought of the maiden stuck in the middle of the fountain and about how beautiful she was and how much he wanted her.

He drew his sword and, when the ogre wasn't looking, charged at him and struck a mighty blow with his sword. Ogres are not only very strong but their skins are very tough and the prince's stroke, hard enough to slice a man in two, only made a cut in the ogre's arm and made it bleed.

The blow did not kill the ogre but it was very sore and that made him even more angry. He turned round to see what had hurt him and spied the prince. With an ear-splitting shout he ran at the prince intending to tear him into little pieces.

The prince was very, very frightened and nearly turned his horse round and ran away. But an image of the maiden came into his mind again and he stood his ground.

He pulled his horse's head and the horse danced away out of the ogre's path. Every time the ogre charged, the prince would nimbly dodge and, all the while, he was thinking desperately about how he could kill the ogre.

Well the ogre was becoming even more furious, if that was possible. Why would this miserable human not stay still and let himself be torn limb from limb? In his rage he grabbed a tree-trunk and shook it. He shook it fiercely and little showers of rock and dirt tumbled from around the roots. Quite overcome by rage he gave a mighty roar and a mighty heave and pulled the tree right out of the ground. What the ogre did not know was that the tree's roots, which were growing into the side of the hill, were holding part of the hill up. When the tree came out of the ground, there was nothing support the hill any more and a great mass of rocks and boulders and mud came tumbling down.

The ogre fell down. The tree fell on the ogre. And the mass of rocks and boulders fell on the tree. When the dust had settled, the prince saw that the ogre was trapped under all this with only his head and one foot sticking out.

Not even ogres, strong as they are, are capable of having trees and rocks and boulders piled on top of them without being seriously hurt - and the ogre was very badly hurt indeed. He roared even louder than before but this time in terrible pain.

Summoning up all his courage, the prince approached the ogre. The ogre looked up him. "Well, little human, it looks like you've won this time," he said in a voice that was so deep and hoarse that the prince could barely understand him. "You'd better kill me because I'm trapped under all these rocks and I'll die anyway."

The prince was a kind-hearted young man and now he felt just a little bit sorry for the ogre, fearsome though he was. "I will kill you," he said. "But before I do you must tell me how to break the enchantment you put on the maiden of the fountain."

"Ho, ho," rumbled the ogre. "So that's what this is all about. And if I choose not to tell you?"

"Then I will leave you here for the crows to come and peck your eyes out and the lions to chew your ears off and the eagle to eat your nose," cried the prince with feeling.

"That would not be a nice way to die," said the ogre with a shudder. "I will tell you how to break the enchantment if you promise to kill me quickly."

"I promise."

"Then I will tell you. You must kiss the maiden very firmly on the lips. If you do that right, she will be freed."

The prince was astonished. "Is that all?"

"Yes. Kiss her on her lips. A proper kiss, mind. On her lips." And despite his great pain, the ogre gave a deep, rumbling chuckle.

The ogre had kept his side of the bargain so now the prince kept his. Raising his sword, he drove it, point downwards, straight through the ogre's eye and into his brain. The ogre gave one might heave that set small rocks tumbling and fell back, dead.

The prince immediately leapt on his horse and dashed back to the fountain as fast as he could ride. "Cymbrel, Cymbrel, I've killed the ogre," he cried.

Cymbrel cried out in excitement. "And did he tell you how to break the enchantment?"

"Yes. I have to kiss you then you will be free."

"Is that all?"

"Yes," said the prince, removing his clothes as fast as he could.

As soon as he was naked the prince clambered into the fountain, ignoring the cold water that cascaded down upon him. Cymbrel watched with mounting excitement for he was a very handsome young man. With some difficulty, for the stones of the fountain were very slippery, he climbed up until his head was level with hers. This was the first time he had seen her close up and she was even more beautiful than he had believed. Eagerly he brought his lips to hers and gave her a deep, soul kiss.

Now although the maiden was no longer made of stone, she was still enchanted and could not easily kiss him back. The prince did his best to make up for this and kissed her so ardently, so passionately that she felt a slow heat spread through her body. But she remained enchanted.

The prince tried again, using all the wiles taught to him by the village girls back home for, being very handsome, he had not wanted for teachers in the arts of love. But the maiden remained obstinately enchanted.

He tried a third time using all the skills taught to him by the courtesans in the big city in which he had stayed for a while when he was sixteen. But the maiden remained enchanted.

Baffled and frustrated he climbed back down again.

"Why isn't it working," he complained. "I'm doing what the ogre said."

Cymbrel was equally baffled and frustrated. The touch of this handsome prince's skin and his ardent kisses had aroused a fire inside her. "What exactly did the ogre say?" she asked.

"He said I was to kiss you firmly on the lips. He said it twice," said the prince, pacing up and down thinking desperately. "He said to kiss you properly. Mind you," he added, "he did sort of chuckle the second time he said it."

"I don't see what that's got to do with it."

Suddenly the prince stopped dead. "Kiss you on the lips," he exclaimed and a broad smile spread across his face. "Of course! That's it!"

He strode back to the fountain and grinned up at the maiden's anxious face.

"Do you know what to do?" she asked.

"I believe I do," he smiled and clambered into the fountain.

He did not attempt to climb up beside her. By standing on tiptoe in the bed of the fountain his face was level with her hips. He ran his hands slowly up her smooth but cold thighs then bent forward and placed his mouth on the smooth junction between her thighs.

"What are you doing?" the maiden cried anxiously.

The prince did not reply because his lips and tongue were busy kissing the maiden's lips. At first nothing happened but the prince persisted, licking with his tongue, sucking with his lips and nibbling with his teeth. "Kiss her properly," the ogre had said and he was very glad he had paid such close attention to the lessons the village girls and city courtesans had given him.

A strange, humming silence descended upon the glade and a strange warm feeling began to spread through the maiden from the point the prince was so assiduously kissing. She felt as if she was somehow becoming detached from her body and, at the same time, totally aware of it. She felt dreamy and wide awake all at the same time.

The prince sensed something was happening and redoubled his effort. He clasped the maiden's small bottom, which, he was sure, felt a bit warmer than it had, and pulled her closer, working his tongue between her lips. Her stiff flesh began to soften and her skin began to warm up. He was able to get his tongue further between her lips and find her little hard bud.

He fastened his hungry lips upon it and things really did begin to happen. There was a great rushing sound as of a great wind. The maiden gave a loud cry of ecstasy. Then, all of a sudden, the ewer tumbled to the ground and broke into a thousand pieces and there was a live, warm human girl tumbling off her perch in the fountain.

He grabbed at her to prevent her falling and they stumbled out of the fountain onto the soft grass.

"You did it! You did it," the maiden cried, covering his face with kisses.

"Yes, I did, didn't I?" the prince replied, laughing.

They gazed into each other's eyes for a long instant and they both knew what they needed to do. He pushed her legs apart and entered her forcefully. She accepted him eagerly, the small pain his entry caused overwhelmed by her need to feel him inside her. They moved together, rolling around the clearing in blind lust until, all too soon, although in reality some twenty minutes had passed, he gave a great cry and emptied his seed inside her.

They lay bathed in sweat and mutual bliss for a long time.

"I will love you forever," the prince said, gazing into Cymbrel's deep, blue eyes.

"And I am yours forever," Cymbrel smiled back into his brown ones.

Hand in hand, they gathered up the prince's belongings. Then he swung her up into his saddle before him and they rode slowly back to his castle.

While he had been away, things had changed in the little kingdom. The prince's brothers, having spent all his inheritance, now had no ready source of income with which to fund their lifestyles. They had turned to the only other source they had - taxes. The people of the kingdom, not being particularly rich were very cross about having to pay heavy taxes, especially when they got nothing in return. As I have said, the brothers were not wicked men and they were very upset and surprised that the people could not see how necessary the taxes were. When the young prince returned with his beautiful companion, everybody turned to him to suggest a solution. At first, the prince was reluctant to get involved but, one night after he and Cymbrel were lying in relaxed bliss, she whispered the answer in his ear.

And so it was that the prince married his Cymbrel and was crowned king and they made such a beautiful couple that even his older brothers had a tear in their eye even though they could no longer rule the kingdom. The prince and Cymbrel ruled the little kingdom well and wisely and even well into middle age, whenever the mood took them, she would become again the beautiful, enchanted maiden and he the handsome prince kissing away the enchantment.