One day the king went out hunting with all his people. Towards evening he found himself in the forest at a place where he had never been before, and where he was not able to tell the north from the south, nor the east from the west, for he was lost. He wandered up and down and here and there, but the farther he went the less able he was to find the road home again. As he wandered thus he came to a place where a great raven, as black as the soot in the chimney, and with eyes that glowed like two coals of fire, sat in the middle of the path in front of him. “Whither away, king?” said the Great Black Raven. “That I cannot tell,” said the king, “for I am lost.” “See now,” said the Raven, “I will show you the way out of the forest, if you will give me your youngest daughter to be my wife.” “Oh, no,” said the king, “I can never do such a thing as that, for my daughter is as dear to me as the apple of my eye.” “Very well, then,” said the Raven, “off I go, and then there will be no getting out of the forest for you, but here you will have to stay as long as you live.” Now one will do much before one will stay in a dark forest forever, and though it was a bad piece of business to be sure, the king promised at last that if the Raven would show him the way home again, it should have the Princess Golden-Hair for its wife, though it was a pity for the girl, and that was the truth. So the Raven flapped on ahead of the king, and showed him the way out of the forest. “To-morrow,” it said, “I will come for my bride.” Sure enough, when the next morning came, there was the Great Black Raven sitting outside of the castle gateway waiting for the Princess Golden-Hair to be sent to him. But it was not the princess whom he got after all; for the king had bade them dress the swineherd’s daughter in the princess’s dress, and it was she who went to the Great Black Raven. “A Great Black Raven,” said the king to himself, “will never be able to tell a swineherd’s daughter from a real princess.” Well, the Raven took the swineherd’s daughter on its back and away it flew over woods and meadows, hills and valleys, until by and by it came to a rude little hut that stood on the tip top of a great bleak hill. And not a living soul was there, only a great number of birds of different kinds. In the hut was a table, and on the table stood a golden goblet of red wine, a silver cup of white wine, and an earthenware jug full of bitter beer. “This is our home,” said the Raven; “and now will my dear one drink refreshment after her long journey?” Yes, indeed; the swineherd’s daughter would do that, for she was weary after her ride through the air. So she went to the table and took a good drink of the beer, “for,” said she to herself, “the golden goblet and the silver cup are too fine for the likes of me.”