The prince was warmly welcomed at the palace of the White Cat. The Hands led him to the dining room and the White Cat joined him and looked happy on seeing him.
After a lavish meal, the prince told the White Cat about the second condition imposed by his father.
The White Cat nodded slowly. “There are cats in my palace which can make such a fabric. So do not worry. I will give you the softest fabric in the world, as soon as it is ready. Until then you can rest here.”
The prince was happy.
He enjoyed the company of the White Cat and the conversations that he had with her.
Time flew and the next year was up.
It was time for the prince to go back to his palace.
The White Cat arranged for a grand golden carriage which was studded with diamonds. The carriage was driven by twelve white horses.
The White Cat gave a walnut to the prince, but she gave a stern warning to the prince that the walnut was to be opened only before the king and nowhere else.
The prince reached his own palace in a jiffy and this time too, his brothers had already come to the palace.
The first prince brought out a fine piece of cloth, but the cloth could go inside a tip of the needle, but the entire cloth could not pass through.
Same was the case with the cloth produced by the second prince.
The third prince brought out his walnut.
Everybody in the court jeered at the prince for his foolishness.
The prince was unsettled as he cracked open the walnut and he was shocked because there was no cloth inside. Instead there was a cherrystone.
The people in the court laughed out loud, but the prince broke the cherrystone and found the kernel. Inside the kernel, he found a grain of wheat and inside it was the millet seed.
The prince was decidedly feeling foolish but he remembered the earnest face of the White Cat and broke open the millet seed.
He, and everyone else in the court was shocked to find that inside the millet seed was the finest fabric ever.
The entire fabric passed through a needle easily.
Thus the third prince won the second competition also.
Adapted from Andrew Lang’s folktales
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