No sooner
than he had mounted his horse he could hear a tremendous noise, the
enchantment was broke, and they tried to follow him, but all to no
purpose. He was not long before he came to the oldest brother's house;
and glad enough he was to see it, for the sight and the noise of all
those things that were after him nearly frightened him to death.
"Welcome, my boy; I am proud to see you. Dismount and put the horse in
the stable, and come in and have some refreshments; I know you are
hungry after all you have gone through in that castle. And tell me all
you did, and all you saw there. Other kings' sons went by here to go to
that castle, but they never came back alive, and you are the only one
that ever broke the spell. And now you must come with me, with a sword
in your hand, and must cut my head off, and must throw it in that well."
The young Prince dismounts, and puts his horse in the stable, and they
go in to have some refreshments, for I can assure you he wanted some;
and after telling everything that passed, which the old gentleman was
very pleased to hear, they both went for a walk together, the young
Prince looking around and seeing the place looking dreadful, as did the
old man. He could scarcely walk from his toe-nails curling up like ram's
horns that had not been cut for many hundred years, and big long hair.
They come to a well, and the old man gives the Prince a sword, and tells
him to cut his head off, and throw it in that well. The young man has to
do it against his wish, but has to do it.
No sooner has he flung the head in the well, than up springs one of the
finest young gentlemen you would wish to see; and instead of the old
house and the frightful-looking place, it was changed into a beautiful
hall and grounds. And they went back and enjoyed themselves well, and
had a good laugh about the castle.
The young Prince leaves this young gentleman in all his glory, and he
tells the young Prince before leaving that he will see him again before
long. They have a jolly shake-hands, and off he goes to the next oldest
brother; and, to make my long story short, he has to serve the other two
brothers the same as the first.
Now the youngest brother began to ask him how things went on. "Did you
see my two brothers?"
"Yes."
"How did they look?"
"Oh! they looked very well. I liked them much. They told me many things
what to do."
"Well, did you go to the castle?"
"Yes, my uncle."
"And will you tell me what you see in there? Did you see the young
lady?"
"Yes, I saw her, and plenty of other frightful things."
"Did you hear any snake biting you in my oldest brother's bed?"
"No, there were none there; I slept well."
"You won't have to sleep in the same bed to-night. You will have to cut
my head off in the morning."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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