He answered, 'I am a messenger of the King, and have been sent to seek
the finest salad that grows under the sun. I have been so lucky as to
find it, and am bringing it with me; but the heat of the sun is so great
that the tender cabbage threatens to grow soft, and I do not know if I
shall be able to bring it any farther.'
When the old witch heard of the fine salad she wanted to eat it, and
said, 'Dear countryman, just let me taste the wonderful salad.'
'Why not?' he answered; 'I have brought two heads with me, and will give
you one.'
So saying, he opened his sack and gave her the bad one. The witch
suspected no evil, and her mouth watered to taste the new dish, so that
she went into the kitchen to prepare it herself. When it was ready she
could not wait till it was served at the table, but she immediately took
a couple of leaves and put them in her mouth. No sooner, however, had
she swallowed them than she lost human form, and ran into the courtyard
in the shape of a donkey.
Now the servant came into the kitchen, and when she saw the salad
standing there ready cooked she was about to carry it up, but on the
way, according to her old habit, she tasted it and ate a couple of
leaves. Immediately the charm worked, and she became a donkey, and ran
out to join the old witch, and the dish with the salad in it fell to the
ground. In the meantime, the messenger was sitting with the lovely
maiden, and as no one came with the salad, and she wanted very much to
taste it, she said, 'I don't know where the salad is.'
Then thought the Hunter, 'The cabbage must have already begun to work.'
And he said, 'I will go to the kitchen and fetch it myself.'
When he came there he saw the two donkeys running about in the
courtyard, but the salad was lying on the ground.
'That's all right,' said he; 'two have had their share!' And lifting
the remaining leaves up, he laid them on the dish and brought them to
the maiden.
'I am bringing you the delicious food my own self,' he said, 'so that
you need not wait any longer.'
Then she ate, and as the others had done, she at once lost her human
form, and ran as a donkey into the yard.
When the Hunter had washed his face, so that the changed ones might know
him, he went into the yard saying, 'Now you shall receive a reward for
your faithlessness.'
He tied them all three with a rope, and drove them away till he came to
a mill. He knocked at the window, and the miller put his head out and
asked what he wanted.
'I have three tiresome animals,' he answered, 'which I don't want to
keep any longer. If you will take them, give them food and stabling,
and do as I tell you with them, I will pay you as much as you want.'