"I am no longer hungry. Give me something to drink."
"There is," said the giant, "a spring up in the mountain which runs with
sparkling wine, but I have no one to fetch of it."
"If that is all," said the lad, "one of my dogs can go up there."
The giant laughed in his false heart when he heard that, for what he
wanted was that the lad should send away his dogs. The lad told
Hold-fast to go for the wine, and the giant gave him a large jug. The
dog went, but one might see that he did so very unwillingly.
Time went on and on, but the dog did not come back. After some time the
giant said--
"I wonder why the dog is so long away. It might, perhaps, be as well to
let another dog go to help him. He has to go a long distance, and the
jug is a heavy one to carry."
The lad, suspecting no trickery, fell in with the giant's suggestion,
and told Tear to go and see why Hold-fast did not come. The dog wagged
his tail and did not want to leave his master, but he noticed it, and
drove him off to the spring. The giant laughed to himself, and the
princess wept, but the lad did not mark it, being very merry, jested
with his entertainer, and did not dream of any danger.
A long time passed, but neither the wine nor the dogs appeared.
"I can well see," said the giant, "that your dogs do not do what you
tell them, or we should not sit here thirsty. It seems to me it would be
best to send Quick-ear to ascertain why they don't come back."
The lad was nettled at that, and ordered his third dog to go in haste to
the spring. Quick-ear did not want to go, but whined and crept to his
master's feet. Then the lad became angry, and drove him away. The dog
had to obey, so away he set in great haste to the top of the mountain.
When he reached it, it happened to him as it had to the others. There
arose a high wall around him, and he was made a prisoner by the giant's
sorcery.
When all the three dogs were gone, the giant stood up, put on a
different look, and gripped his bright sword which hung upon the wall.
"Now will I avenge my brethren," said he, "and you shall die this
instant, for you are in my hands."
The lad was frightened, and repented that he had parted with his dogs.
"I will not ask my life," said he, "for I must die some day. I only ask
one thing, that I may say my _Paternoster_ and play a psalm on my
pipe. That is the custom in my country."
The giant granted him his wish, but said he would not wait long. The lad
knelt down, and devoutly said his _Paternoster_, and began to play
upon his pipe so that it was heard over hill and dale. That instant the
magic lost its power, and the dogs were once more set free. They came
down like a blast of wind, and rushed into the mountain. Then the lad
sprang up and cried--
"Hold-fast, hold him; Tear and Quick-ear, tear him into a thousand
pieces."
The dogs flew on the giant, and tore him into countless shreds. Then the
lad took all the treasures in the mountain, harnessed the giant's
horses to a golden chariot, and made haste to be gone.
As may well be imagined, the young princesses were very glad at being
thus saved, and they thanked the lad for having delivered them from the
power of mountain giants. He himself fell deep in love with the youngest
princess, and they vowed to be true and faithful. So they travelled,
with mirth and jest and great gladness, and the lad waited on the
princesses with the respect and care they deserved. As they went on, the
princesses played with the lad's hair, and each one hung her finger-ring
in his long locks as a keepsake.
One day as they were journeying, they came up with two wanderers who
were going the same way. They had on tattered clothes, their feet were
sore, and altogether one would have thought they had come a long
distance. The lad stopped his chariot and asked them who they were and
where they came from. The strangers said they were two princes who had
gone out to look for the three maidens who had been carried off to the
mountains. They had, however, searched in vain, so they had now to go
home more like beggars than princes.
When the lad heard that, he had pity on the two wanderers, and he asked
them to go with him in the beautiful chariot. The princes gave him many
thanks for the favour. So they travelled on together till they came to
the land over which the father of the princesses ruled.
Now when the princes heard how the poor lad had rescued the princesses,
they were filled with envy, thinking how they themselves had wandered to
no purpose. They considered how they could get rid of him, and obtain
the honour and rewards for themselves. So one day they suddenly set on
him, seized him by the throat, and nearly strangled him. Then they
threatened to kill the princesses unless they took an oath not to reveal
what they had done, and they, being in the princes' power, did not dare
to refuse. However, they were very sorry for the youth who had risked
his life for them, and the youngest princess mourned him with all her
heart, and would not be comforted.
After having done this, the princes went on to the king's demesnes, and
one can well imagine how glad the king was to once more see his three
daughters.
Meanwhile the poor lad lay in the forest as if he were dead. He was not,
however, forsaken, for the three dogs lay down by him, kept him warm,
and licked his wounds. They attended to him till he got his breath
again, and came once more to life. When he had regained life and
strength, he began his journey, and came, after having endured many
hardships, to the king's demesnes, where the princesses lived.
When he went into the palace, he marked that the whole place was filled
with mirth and joy, and in the royal hall he heard dancing and the sound
of harps. The lad was much astonished, and asked what it all meant.
"You have surely come from a distance," said the servant, "not to know
that the king has got back his daughters from the mountain giants. The
two elder princesses are married to-day."
The lad asked about the youngest princess, whether she was to be
married. The servant said she would have no one, but wept continually,
and no one could find out the reason for her sorrow. Then the lad was
glad, for he well knew that his love was faithful and true to him.
He went up into the guard-room, and sent a message to the king that a
guest had come who prayed that he might add to the wedding mirth by
exhibiting his dogs. The king was pleased, and ordered that the stranger
should be well received. When the lad came into the hall, the wedding
guests much admired his smartness and his manly form, and they all
thought they had never before seen so brave a young man. When the three
princesses saw him they knew him at once, rose from the table, and ran
into his arms. Then the princes thought they had better not stay there,
for the princesses told how the lad had saved them, and how all had
befallen. As a proof of the truth of what they said, they showed their
rings in the lad's hair.
When the king knew how the two foreign princes had acted so
treacherously and basely he was much enraged, and ordered that they
should be driven off his demesnes with disgrace.
The brave youth was welcomed with great honour, as, indeed, he deserved,
and he was, the same day, married to the youngest princess. When the
king died, the youth was chosen ruler over the land, and made a brave
king. There he yet lives with his beautiful queen, and there he governs
prosperously to this day.