"'Well! well!' said the Troll, 'if you can get me again the horse which my nearest neighbour has stolen from me, you shall get off with your life.'

"'But where shall I find him?' asked the king's son.

"'Oh! he lives three hundred miles beyond yon big fell that looks blue in the sky.'

"So the king's son gave his word to do his best. But when he met the fox, Reynard was not altogether in a soft temper.

"'Now you have behaved badly,' he said. 'Had you done as I bade you, we should have been on our way home by this time.'

"So they had to make a fresh start, as life was at stake, and the prince had given his word, and after a long, long time they got to the spot.

And when the prince was to go and take the horse, the fox said:

"'When you come into the stable, you will see many bits hanging on the stalls, both of silver and gold; them you shall not touch, for then the Troll will come out and slay you on the spot; but the ugliest and poorest, that you shall take.'

"Yes! the king's son gave his word to do that; but when he got into the stable he thought it was all stuff, for there was enough and to spare of fine bits; and so he took the brightest he could find, and it shone like gold; but in a trice out came the Troll, so cross that sparks of fire flashed from him.

"'WHO IS IT WHO TRIES TO STEAL MY HORSE AND MY BIT?' he roared out.

"'Thieves think every man a thief,' said the kings son; 'but none are hanged but those who don't steal right.'

"'Well! all the same,' said the Troll, 'I'll kill you on the spot.'

"But the king's son said he must spare his life.

"'Well! well!' said the Troll, 'if you can get me back the lovely maiden my nearest neighbour has stolen from me I'll spare your life.'

"'Where does he live, then?' said the king's son.

"'Oh! he lives three hundred miles behind that big fell that is blue, yonder in the sky,' said the Troll.

"Yes! the king's son gave his word to fetch the maiden, and then he had leave to go, and got off with his life. But when he came out of doors the fox was not in the very best temper, you may fancy.

"'Now you have behaved badly again. Had you done as I bade you, we might have been on our way home long ago. Do you know, I almost think now I won't stay with you any longer.'

"But the king's son begged and prayed so prettily from the bottom of his heart, and gave his word never to do anything but what the fox said, if he would only be his companion. At last the fox yielded, and they became fast friends again, and so they set off afresh, and after a long, long time they came to the spot where the lovely maiden was.

"'Yes!' said the fox, 'you have given your word like a man, but for all that, I dare not let you go in to the Troll's house this time. I must go myself.'

"So he went in, and in a little while he came out with the maiden, and so they travelled back by the same way that they had come. And when they came back to the Troll who had the horse, they took both it and the grandest bit; and when they got to the Troll who owned the linden and the bird, they took both the linden and the bird, and set off with them.

"So when they had travelled awhile, they came to a field of rye, and the fox said:

"'I hear a noise; now you must ride on alone, and I will bide here awhile.'

"So he platted himself a dress of rye-straw, and it looked just like some one who stood there and preached. And he had scarcely done that before all three Trolls came flying along, thinking they would overtake them.

"'Have you seen any one riding by here with a lovely maiden, and a horse with a gold bit, and a golden bird and a gilded linden-tree?' they all roared out to him who stood there preaching.

"'Yes! I heard that from my grandmother's grandmother, that such a train pa.s.sed by here, but Lord bless us, that was in the good old time, when my grandmother's grandmother baked cakes for a penny, and gave the penny back again.'

"Then all the three Trolls burst out into loud fits of laughter, 'HA!

HA! HA! HA!' they cried, and took hold of one another.

"'If we have slept so long, we may e'en just turn our noses home, and go to bed,' they said; and so they went back by the way they had come.

"Then the fox started off after the king's son; but when they got to the town where the inn and his brothers were, he said:

"'I dare not go through the town for the dogs. I must take my own way round about; but now you must take good care that your brothers don't lay hold of you.'

"But when the king's son got into the town, he thought it very hard if he didn't look in on his brothers and have a word with them, and so he halted a little time. But as soon as his brothers set eyes on him, they came out and took from him both the maiden and the horse, and the bird and the linden, and everything; and himself they stuffed into a cask and cast him into the lake, and so they set off home to the king's palace, with the maiden and the horse, and the bird and linden, and everything.

But the maiden wouldn't say a word; she got pale and wretched to look at. The horse got so thin and starved, all his bones scarce clung together. The bird moped and shone no more, and the linden withered away.

"Meanwhile the fox walked about outside the town, where the inn was with all its jollity, and he listened and waited for the king's son and the lovely maiden, and wondered why they did not come back. So he went hither and thither, and waited and longed, and at last he went down to the strand, and there he saw the cask which lay on the lake drifting, and called out:

"'Are you driven about there, you empty cask?'

"'Oh! it is I,' said the king's son inside the cask.

"Then the fox swam out into the lake as fast as he could, and got hold of the cask and drew it on sh.o.r.e. Then he began to gnaw at the hoops, and when he had got them off the cask, he called out to the king's son, 'Kick and stamp!'

"So the king's son struck out and stamped and kicked, till every stave burst asunder, and out he jumped from the cask. Then they went together to the king's palace, and when they got there the maiden grew lovely, and began to speak; the horse got so fat and sleek that every hair beamed; the bird shone and sang; the linden began to bloom and glitter with its leaves, and at last the maiden said:

"'Here he is who set us free!'

"So they planted the linden in the garden and the youngest prince was to have the princess, for she was one of course; but as for the two elder brothers, they put them each into his own cask full of nails, and rolled them down a steep hill.

"So they made ready for the bridal; but first the fox said to the prince he must lay him on the chopping-block, and cut his head off, and whether he thought it good or ill, there was no help for it, he must do it. But as he dealt the stroke, the fox became a lovely prince, and he was the princess's brother, whom they had set free from the Trolls.

"So the bridal came on, and it was so great and grand, that the story of that feasting spread far and wide, till it reached all the way to this very spot."

THE END.