The king of Bozrah had only one son, who was very precious to him. For this reason he did not permit him to travel outside the city, for fear that something might happen to him. But the prince had a strong desire to go hunting, so he pleaded with the king's minister to take him. The minister sought permission from the king, who agreed that the prince could go hunting with him, but he warned the minister to take care that no accident befell him.
So it was that the prince accompanied the minister to the forest, and they spied a stag and pursued it. Then the minister said to the other hunters: Let the prince go after the stag by himself, for that is how he will best learn to hunt. So the prince pursued the stag on his horse, and rode deep into the forest before he realized that he had lost his way and did not know where he was, nor how to return to the others. He rode on and on, trying to find his way out, but he only became more confused.
Meanwhile the minister and the others began to worry about him, and searched for him in the forest, but did not find him. At last, as it was growing dark, they returned to the king, and the minister told him that a lion had sprung upon the prince and devoured him, for he did not want to confess that he had left him on his own during the hunt. Then the king was crushed to think that he had lost his only son, and he rent his clothes and mourned for many days.
Meanwhile it came to pass that as the prince was wandering in the forest, he chanced upon a beautiful maiden there. He asked her: Who are you? And she replied: I am a princess. I was riding on an elephant, and I grew drowsy and fell asleep, and shortly after that I fell off. And the soldiers and servants of my father, the king, knew nothing of it. For the past week I have not seen another human being, and I have eaten only the fruits and nuts that grow in this forest. Then the prince told the princess who he was, and how it had happened that he too had become lost there, and they were both happy to find each other.
Then the princess said: I think I can find the way out of the forest. Let me ride behind you on your horse, and we will search for the road together. She mounted behind him on his horse, and they rode together until they came to a ruin in the forest.
The princess said: If you please, I would like to go into the ruin to see if anything of value is to be found there. I will be back shortly. And the prince said: Go, if you wish. Then the princess dismounted and entered the ruin.
But when it seemed to the prince that she had tarried there for a long time, he dismounted and came up to the ruin, for he wanted to be certain that she had not come to any harm. When he reached the ruin he peered into a hole in the wall, and there he saw that the appearance of the princess had changed, and that she no longer appeared to be a person, but was instead a demon.
And she was saying to the other demons in the ruin: Lo, this time I have brought you a prince, and you can work your will upon him in any way that you please. And afterwards you can make him into a rock that you can place in the wall of this ruin— for every rock represents another fool who has crossed my path. Then the other demons said to her: If you will bring him into the ruin, we will begin to sport with him, and then we will be happy to change him into a rock. For if we do not find more such rocks, this will always be a ruin, and will never serve as a palace. Now when the prince saw what he saw and heard what he heard, he grew very frightened. He quickly mounted his horse and was about to ride away, when lo, the demon emerged from the ruin, and once more she had the appearance of a beautiful woman. But when she looked at the prince, she saw that he looked very anxious, and was reluctant to come with her into the ruin. Therefore she did not insist that he join her there, but sought to allay his fears, and said: Help me to mount the horse, and we will be off. Then the prince did not know what to do, so he let her mount behind him on the horse, and they rode off.
When they had traveled a short distance, the girl said to him:
What caused you to become so frightened? The prince replied:
I have an enemy, and I am afraid that he may try to harm me when we reach the road. That is why I am so upset. To this the princess replied: But you are a prince. Why should you fear him? The prince said: He is stronger than I am. Perhaps, said the girl, you could pay him to leave you alone. No, said the prince, he doesn't want money. In that case, the girl replied, you had better call upon your God to rescue you from your evil enemy. Then the prince cried out: I pray to you, O Lord, O great, mighty, and just God! Rescue me from this demon, and take from her the power to do rne harm! Now the demon was confused and frightened when she heard this, for she realized that the prince had discovered her true identity, and she knew as well that her power flourished only in the absence of good, and that the power of the Lord could protect the prince and destroy her. And in her fright she threw herself from the horse, and when she struck the ground she disappeared in a puff of smoke, and all that remained was a pile of ashes, which were soon dispersed in the wind.
Greatly relieved, the prince rode on through the forest, seeking a way out of it. By then he had become very thirsty, and thus he was delighted when he spied a fountain flowing there. He did not know that this was an enchanted fountain, and that any male who drank from it became a female, and any female who drank there became a male. He drank from the fountain, and suddenly discovered that he had been transformed into a woman, and his heart sank. Then he said to himself: I, too, have become a demon, for he had no other explanation.
Just then this maiden saw other maidens in that place, who were sporting among themselves. Then the prince—for he still felt like a prince, even though he now had the body of a woman—was approached by one of the maidens, who said:
Who are you, and where do you come from? Then the poor prince told her everything that had happened since he had become lost in that forest.
When he had finished telling her this tale, the girl said: If you will swear to take me for your wife, I will save you, and return you safely to your father, the king. The prince swore to her that if she saved him she would become his wife, and she said: Drink again from the fountain. This the prince did, and at once he became a man again, as he was before. Then the girl led him out of the forest, and they rode together back to the palace of the king. There the prince told his father all that had happened to him, and the king welcomed the girl and thanked her many times for saving his son, and ordered that a magnificent wedding be prepared for them at once. But the king was very angry with the minister who had abandoned the prince, and ordered that he should be left in the forest by himself, as he had done to the prince. And it is said that before long that minister became another rock in the demons' ruin.