I fall again into heavy sleep, and do not awake until
sunrise, when I find her by my side again. It is all such a mystery,
that the secret lies heavy on my soul. Despite all my wealth, and my
strong castle, with feasting and music by night and hunting by day, I
am the most miserable man in Cymric land. No beggar is more wretched
than I."
Wyland, the monk, listened and his eyes glittered. There came into his
head the idea of enriching the monastery. He saw his chance, and
improved it at once. He could make money by solving the secret for a
troubled soul.
"Prince Benlli," said he, "if you will bestow upon the monks of the
White Minster, one tenth of all the flocks that feed within your
domain, and one tenth of all that flows into the vaults of your
palace, and hand over the Maiden of the Green Forest to me, I shall
warrant that your soul will be at peace and your troubles end."
To all this, Prince Benlli agreed, making solemn promise. Then the
monk Wyland took his book, leather bound, and kept shut by means of
metal clasps, and hid himself in the cranny of a rock near the Giant's
Cave, from which there was entrance down into Fairyland.
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