More quickly than he could have thought possible they reached an inn by the road-side, and turning to his companion the king’s son said, “I am hungry; let us go in and have something to eat.” So they went in and ordered dinner, and when they had finished the king’s son drew out of his pocket the last apple, and cut it into two unequal parts, and held both out to the stranger. And the stranger took the little piece, and the heart of the king’s son was glad within him, for at last he had found the friend he had been looking for. “Good youth,” he cried, “we will be brothers, and what is mine shall be thine, and what is thine shall be mine. And together we will push on to the shrine, and if one of us dies on the road the other shall carry his body there.” And the stranger agreed to all he said, and they rode forward together. It took them a whole year to reach the shrine, and they passed through many different lands on their way. One day they arrived tired and half-starved in a big city, and said to one another, “Let us stay here for a little and rest before we set forth again.” So they hired a small house close to the royal castle, and took up their abode there. The following morning the king of the country happened to step on to his balcony, and saw the young men in the garden, and said to himself, “Dear me, those are wonderfully handsome youths; but one is handsomer than the other, and to him will I give my daughter to wife;” and indeed the king’s son excelled his friend in beauty. In order to set about his plan the king asked both the young men to dinner, and when they arrived at the castle he received them with the utmost kindness, and sent for his daughter, who was more lovely than both the sun and moon put together. But at bed-time the king caused the other young man to be given a poisoned drink, which killed him in a few minutes, for he thought to himself, “If his friend dies the other will forget his pilgrimage, and will stay here and marry my daughter.” When the king’s son awoke the next morning he inquired of the servants where his friend had gone, as he did not see him. “He died suddenly last night,” said they, “and is to be buried immediately.” But the king’s son sprang up, and cried, “If my friend is dead I can stay here no longer, and cannot linger an hour in this house.” “Oh, give up your journey and remain here,” exclaimed the king, “and you shall have my daughter for your wife.” “No,” answered the king’s son, “I cannot stay; but, I pray you, grant my request, and give me a good horse, and let me go in peace, and when I have fulfilled my vow then I will return and marry your daughter.” So the king, seeing no words would move him, ordered a horse to be brought round, and the king’s son mounted it, and took his dead friend before him on the saddle, and rode away. Now the young man was not really dead, but only in a deep sleep.