Which three important events in the story should be included in its summary? adapted from The Glass Axe
by Andrew Lang
There was once upon a time a King and Queen who had everything they could possibly wish for in this world except a child. At last, after
twelve years, the Queen gave birth to a son; but she did not live long to enjoy her happiness, for on the following day she died. But before her
death she called her husband to her and said, "Never let the child put his feet on the ground, for as soon he does so he will fall into the power
of a wicked Fairy, who will do him much harm." And these were the last words the poor Queen spoke.
The boy throve and grew big, and when he was too heavy for his nurse to carry, a chair was made for him on little wheels, in which he could
wander through the palace gardens without help; at other times he was carried about on a litter, and he was always carefully watched and
guarded for fear he should time put his teetto
at any
s feet to the ground.
But as this sort of life was bad for his health, the doctors ordered him horse exercise, and he soon became a first-rate rider, and used to go
out for long excursions on horseback, accompanied always by his father's stud-groom and a numerous retinue.
Every day he rode through the neighboring fields and woods, and always returned home in the evening safe and well. In this way many years
passed, and the Prince grew to manhood, and hardly anyone remembered the Queen's warning, though precautions were still taken, more from
use and wont than for any other reason. One day the Prince and his suite went out for a ride in a wood where his father sometimes held a hunt.
Their way ked through a stream whose banks were overgrown with thick brushwood. Just as the horsemen were about to ford the river, a hare,
startled by the sound of the horses' hoofs, started up from the grass and ran towards the thicket. The young Prince pursued the little creature,
and had almost overtaken it, when the girth of his saddle suddenly broke in two and he fell heavily to the ground. No sooner had his foot
touched the earth than he disappeared before the eyes of the horrified courtiers. They sought for him far and near, but all in vain, and they were
forced to recognize the power of the evil Fairy.
Hardly had the Prince touched the ground than he felt himself violently seized by an unseen power, and hurried away he knew not whither. A
whole new world stretched out before him, quite unlike the one he had left. A splendid castle surrounded by a huge lake was the abode of the
Fairy, and the only approach to it was over a bridge of clouds.
s. On the other side of the lake high mountains rose up, and dark woods stretched
along the banks, over all hung a thick mist, and deep silence reigned everywhere. No sooner had the Fairy reached her own domain than she
made herself visible, and turning to the Prince she told him that unless he obeyed all her commands down to the minutest detail he would be
severely punished. Then she gave him an axe made of glass, and bade him cross the bridge of clouds and go into the wood beyond and cut
down all the trees there before sunset. At the same time she cautioned him with many angry words against speaking to a girl he would most
likely meet in the wood. The Prince listened to her words meekly, and when she had finished took up the glass axe and set out for the forest. At
every step he seemed to sink into the clouds, but fear gave wings to his feet, and he crossed the lake in safety and set to work at once.