Once upon a time there was a king who travelled to a strange country,
where he married a queen. When they had been married some time the queen
had a daughter, which gave rise to much joy through the whole land, for
all people liked the king, he was so kind and just. As the child was
born there came an old woman into the room. She was of a strange
appearance, and nobody could guess where she came from, or to what place
she was going. This old woman declared that the royal child must not be
taken out under the sky until it was fifteen years old. If she was she
would be in danger of being carried away by the giants of the mountains.
The king, when he was told what the woman had said, heeded her words,
and set a guard to see that the princess did not come out into the open
air.
In a short time the queen bore another daughter, and there was again
much joy in the land. The old woman once more made her appearance, and
she said that the king must not let the young princess go out under the
sky before she was fifteen.
The queen had a third daughter, and the third time the old woman came,
warning the king respecting this child as she had done regarding the two
former. The king was much distressed, for he loved his children more
than anything else in the world. So he gave strict orders that the three
princesses should be always kept indoors, and he commanded that every
one should respect his edict.
A considerable time passed by, and the princesses grew up to be the most
beautiful girls that could be seen far or near. Then a war began, and
the king had to leave his home.
One day, while he was away at the seat of war, the three princesses sat
at a window looking at how the sun shone on the flowers in the garden.
They felt that they would like very much to go and play among the
flowers, and they begged the guards to let them out for a little while
to walk in the garden. The guards refused, for they were afraid of the
king, but the girls begged of them so prettily and so earnestly that
they could not long refuse them, so they let them do as they wished. The
princesses were delighted, and ran out into the garden, but their
pleasure was short-lived. Scarcely had they got into the open air when a
cloud came down and carried them off, and no one could find them again,
though they searched the wide world over.
The whole of the people mourned, and the king, as you may imagine, was
very much grieved when, on his return home, he learned what had
happened. However, there is an old saying, "What's done cannot be
undone," so the king had to let matters remain as they were. As no one
could advise him how to recover his daughters, the king caused
proclamation to be made throughout the land that whoever should bring
them back to him from the power of the mountain-giants should have one
of them for his wife, and half the kingdom as a wedding present. As soon
as this proclamation was made in the neighbouring countries many young
warriors went out, with servants and horses, to look for the three
princesses. There were at the king's court at that time two foreign
princes and they started off too, to see how fortunate they might be.
They put on fine armour, and took costly weapons, and they boasted of
what they would do, and how they would never come back until they had
accomplished their purpose.
We will leave these two princes to wander here and there in their
search, and look at what was passing in another place. Deep down in the
heart of a wild wood there dwelt at that time an old woman who had an
only son, who used daily to attend to his mother's three hogs. As the
lad roamed through the forest, he one day cut a little pipe to play on.
He found much pleasure in the music, and he played so well that the
notes charmed all who heard him. The boy was well built, of an honest
heart, and feared nothing.
One day it chanced that, as he was sitting in the wood playing on his
pipe, while his three hogs grubbed among the roots of the pine-trees, a
very old man came along. He had a beard so long that it reached to his
waist, and a large dog accompanied him. When the lad saw the dog he said
to himself--
"I wish I had a dog like that as a companion here in the wood. Then
there would be no danger."