# Where Is the Prince? explained — Short Fiction

> Chapter companion for Short Fiction by George MacDonald.

## What happens

The prince, unable to see the princess since she left him, disguises himself as a shoeblack to gain access to the palace and learn about her condition. The lake continues to dry up, and the princess wastes away, haunted by its decline. A golden plate found in a remaining pool reveals a riddle: only a willing human sacrifice can stanch the lake's leak and save the kingdom.

## Themes in this chapter

### Suffering and Divine Chastening

The princess suffers as the lake dries, feeling it is her soul wasting away; the kingdom faces a dire trial requiring a sacrificial hero.

### Reality vs. Illusion

The prince's disguise as a shoeblack contrasts with his true identity; the princess's memory of the prince fades as the lake's reality overtakes her.

## Character check-ins

### Prince

Disguises himself as a shoeblack to learn about the princess; dives in the lake and polishes the princess's unused boots.

### The Princess

Keeps to her room, brooding over the dying lake; has forgotten the prince and her parents.

## Key lines

> Death alone from death can save. Love is death, and so is brave. Love can fill the deepest grave. Love loves on beneath the wave.

Only a willing death can remedy the death of the lake; love is a form of death, requiring courage, and it persists even beyond the grave.

_The golden plate's riddle reveals the sacrificial solution to the lake's disappearance._

> The body of a living man could alone stanch the flow. The man must give himself of his own will; and the lake must take his life as it filled.

Only a living man who willingly offers himself can stop the leak; the lake will claim his life as it refills.

_The plate explains the only effective way to restore the lake._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_21_se/chapters/xii-where-is-the-prince
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_21_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_21_se/chapters