content: when the king 's proclamation was made known throughout the neighbouring kingdoms , there was a fine stir among all the young gallants , for it seemed but a little thing to slay a sea - monster ; and a beautiful wife , a fertile kingdom , and a trusty sword are not to be won every day . so six - and - thirty champions arrived at the king 's palace , each hoping to gain the prize . but the king sent them all out to look at the giant stoorworm lying in the sea with its enormous mouth open , and when they saw it , twelve of them were seized with sudden illness , and twelve of them were so afraid that they took to their heels and ran , and never stopped till they reached their own countries ; and so only twelve returned to the king 's palace , and as for them , they were so downcast at the thought of the task that they had undertaken that they had no spirit left in them at all . and none of them dare try to kill the stoorworm ; so the three weeks passed slowly by , until the night before the day on which the princess was to be sacrificed . on that night the king , feeling that he must do something to entertain his guests , made a great supper for them . this was too much for the boatman . forgetting all about his head and the king , he jumped out of the boat , and , pushing assipattle aside , began to scrape among the sand with all his might . while he was doing so , assipattle seized his pot , jumped into the boat , pushed her off , and was half a mile out to sea before the outwitted man , who , needless to say , could find no gold , noticed what he was about . and , of course , he was very angry , and the old king was more angry still when he came down to the shore , attended by his nobles and carrying the great sword sickersnapper , in the vain hope that he , poor feeble old man that he was , might be able in some way to defeat the monster and save his daughter . but to make such an attempt was beyond his power now that his boat was gone . so he could only stand on the shore , along with the fast assembling crowd of his subjects , and watch what would befall . and this was what befell ! woe 's me ! but there was a conflagration ! and assipattle just got back to his boat in time ; for the mester stoorworm , in its convulsions , threw the boat right out of its mouth again , and it was flung up , high and dry , on the bare land . the commotion in the sea was so terrible that the king and his daughter -- who by this time had come down to the shore dressed like a bride , in white , ready to be thrown to the monster -- and all his courtiers , and all the country - folk , were fain to take refuge on the hill top , out of harm 's way , and stand and see what happened next . and this was what happened next . 
answer: the king did not have his boat to fight .
question: why was the princess ready to be thrown to the monster ?
target: why was the princess ready to be thrown to the monster ?
references: why was the princess ready to be thrown to the monster ?