Once... a king gave a feast... for the loveliest princesses 

in the realm. Now, a soldier who was standing guard... saw 

the kings daughter go by. She was the most beautiful of all, 

and he fell instantly in love.  But what is a simple soldier 

next to the daughter of a king? At last he succeeded in

meeting her, and he told her... he could no longer live

without her.  The princess was so taken by the depth of his

feelings... that she said to the soldier... "If you can wait

for 100 days... and 100 nights under my balcony at the end 

of it... I shall be yours."  With that, the soldier went... 

and waited one day... two days... then twenty.  Each evening 

the princess looked out, and he never moved!  In rain, in 

wind, in snow, he was always there! Birds shat on his head, 

Bees stung him... but he didn't budge.  At the end of... 

ninety nights... he had become... all dry, all white. Tears 

streamed from his eyes.  He couldn't hold them back.  He 

didn't even have the strength to sleep.  And all that time, 

the princess watched him.  At long last, it was the 99th 

night... and the soldier stood up, took his chair... and 

left.