Cinderlad tried, but could not do it; so he had to take a draught from the pitcher, and then one more, and after that still another, and then he was able to wield the sword with perfect ease. ‘Good,’ said the Foal; ‘and now thou must take the sword away with thee, and with it shalt thou cut off the heads of all seven of us on thy wedding-day, and then we shall become princes again as we were before. For we are brothers of the Princess whom thou art to have when thou canst tell the King what we eat and drink, but there is a mighty Troll who has cast a spell over us. When thou hast cut off our heads, thou must take the greatest care to lay each head at the tail of the body to which it belonged before, and then the spell which the Troll has cast upon us will lose all its power.’ Cinderlad promised to do this, and then they went on farther. When they had travelled a long, long way, the Foal said: ‘Dost thou see anything?’ ‘No,’ said Cinderlad. So they went on a great distance farther. ‘And now?’ inquired the Foal, ‘seest thou nothing now?’ ‘Alas! no,’ said Cinderlad. So they travelled onwards again, for many and many a mile, over hill and dale. ‘Now, then,’ said the Foal, ‘dost thou not see anything now?’ ‘Yes,’ said Cinderlad; ‘now I see something like a bluish streak, far, far away.’ ‘That is a river,’ said the Foal, ‘and we have to cross it.’ There was a long, handsome bridge over the river, and when they had got to the other side of it they again travelled on a long, long way, and then once more the Foal inquired if Cinderlad saw anything. Yes, this time he saw something that looked black, far, far away, and was rather like a church tower. ‘Yes,’ said the Foal, ‘we shall go into that.’ When the Foals got into the churchyard they turned into men and looked like the sons of a king, and their clothes were so magnificent that they shone with splendour, and they went into the church and received bread and wine from the priest, who was standing before the altar, and Cinderlad went in too. But when the priest had laid his hands on the princes and read the blessing, they went out of the church again, and Cinderlad went out too, but he took with him a flask of wine and some consecrated bread. No sooner had the seven princes come out into the churchyard than they became foals again, and Cinderlad got upon the back of the youngest, and they returned by the way they had come, only they went much, much faster. First they went over the bridge, and then past the trunk of the birch tree, and then past the old hag who sat in the cleft of the rock spinning, and they went by so fast that Cinderlad could not hear what the old hag screeched after him, but just heard enough to understand that she was terribly enraged. It was all but dark when they got back to the King at nightfall, and he himself was standing in the courtyard waiting for them. ‘Hast thou watched well and faithfully the whole day?’ said the King to Cinderlad.