Nay,
even his eyes, which squinted terribly, seemed always looking on all
sides for her, in token of his violent love, and his great red nose
gave him an air very martial and heroic.
However this may be, it is certain that the princess married him; that
either she retained her good sense, or he never felt the want of it;
and he never again became ugly--or, at least, not in his wife's eyes;
so they both lived very happy until they died.
HOUSE ISLAND.
There lived in Norway, not far from the city of Drontheim, a rich and
prosperous gentleman. He had an only daughter, called Aslog, the fame
of whose beauty spread far and wide. The greatest men of the country
sought her, but all were alike unsuccessful in their suit. Her father,
who thought his daughter delayed her choice only that she might choose
the better, forbore to interfere, and exulted in her prudence. But
when, at length, the richest and noblest had tried their fortune with
as little success as the rest, he grew angry, called his daughter, and
said to her:--
"Hitherto I have left you to your free choice, but since I see that
you reject all without any distinction, and the very best of your
suitors seem not good enough for you, I will keep measures no longer
with you. What! shall my family become extinct, and my inheritance
pass away into the hands of strangers? I will break your stubborn
spirit.
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