The horse replied: "She's gone from us. They've carried her off again,
and this time we shall never catch up with them."
The dragon said in a rage: "What should prevent us from getting her
back? Let's go at once."
So they flew after them, and they reached the castle just as the
fugitives were going in through the gate.
The dragon snapped the princess away, saying to the lad: "You rascal! I
told you I would tear you to pieces if you came a third time for her."
So he caught hold of him, and took a foot in each claw, and tore him
in two. Then he went off with the princess and the horse.
The lad's horse took the healing water, dipped the two halves into
it, put the one against the other, and they grew together. Then he
took the water of life and poured it into the lad's mouth, and he
was alive again. Then they went into the castle.
The lad was weeping bitterly and crying out that all was over, that
now he would be separated from his wife for ever. But the horse gave
him comfort, saying:
"Well, I really don't know what advice I ought to give you now. We
have been three times, and he caught up with us every time. And
the last time you were torn in pieces. I don't know how things will
turn out. But I have another brother across the Red Sea, and he is
stronger than I or the dragon. If we could only get him, we should
be sure to kill the dragon. But it's a hard thing to do, for he is
in service with the Devil's grandmother. We will try it together,
if only we can manage to cross the Red Sea. And, if you follow the
advice I give you, you will get the horse.
"You must serve the Devil's grandmother for three days, and, when
you have served the three days, you must ask for that lean horse as
wages. You will have to herd twelve horses for three days. Nobody
has ever managed to do it yet. When the first day's service is done,
on the next day the Devil's grandmother always cuts off the servant's
head and hangs it on a hook. Now, listen carefully. While you are
herding the horses, anything the hag gives you to eat at home, eat
your fill of it. But, if she gives you anything to eat in the field,
do not eat it, but throw it away. If you were to eat it, sleep would
come down on you, your horses would stray, and the Devil's grandmother
would cut off your head and hang it upon a hook."
So off they went together till they came to the Red Sea. As they were
drawing near to the sea, they saw a huge fly entangled in a cobweb
and struggling to free itself. So the lad went up to it and said:
"Poor fly! You can't get out of that cobweb; wait a bit, and I will
help you."
The cobweb was as big as a sheet, but he tore it in two and the fly
crept out.
The fly said: "Thank you for helping me out of the cobweb. Tear one
of my feet from under my belly, and, whenever you are in need, think
of me, and I will help you."
The lad thought: "Poor fly! how could you help me?" Nevertheless,
he tore off one of her feet and kept it.
Then he went on his way, and he saw a wolf with his tail trapped under
a heavy log, and he was unable to help himself, for wolves have stiff
backs, and no wolf has ever been able to turn. The lad rolled the
log away and released the wolf.
The wolf said: "Thank you for helping me. Take one of my claws, and,
whenever you are in sore need, think of me, and I will help you." So
the lad took one of his claws and kept it.
When he got quite close to the sea, he saw a crab as big as a
barrel. The crab was lying on the sand with his belly upwards, and
he couldn't manage to turn himself over again. So the lad went and
turned the crab over again. The crab asked him where he was going. He
said he was going to the Devil's grandmother across the Red Sea.
The crab said: "My dear lad, I'll make a bridge for you across the
sea, so that you will be able to get across. But, besides that, you
must pluck off one of my claws from under my belly, and when you are
in sore need, think of me, and I will help you."
So he plucked off one of the claws and kept it. The crab sidled into
the sea, and immediately all the crabs of the sea came together,
and they closed in on one another so that they made a bridge
across the sea. The lad crossed the bridge and came to the Devil's
grandmother. She was standing waiting for him in the doorway of her
house, and welcomed him. He'd just come at the right time; she wanted
him to herd her horses. She gave him plenty of good food to eat,
and sent him out to the fields. She put twelve horses in his charge,
and said to him:
"Look to it that you herd them well, for if you lose one of them
you will lose your head. Just look here at these twenty-four posts,
with a hook on each one of them. There are heads on twenty-three of
them. The last hook is waiting for your head. If you herd my horses
badly, that hook is waiting for your head."
Then she fitted him out for herding the horses. She gave him a piece
of bread, so that he might have enough to eat and not starve. He
meant to follow the horse's advice, and threw the bread away. But a
fierce hunger came upon him, and he had to go and look for the bread
and eat it up.
The moment he had eaten it he fell asleep and all the horses were
lost. When he awoke there wasn't a single horse there. Sorrowfully
he said: "The Devil's grandmother was right; my head will hang from
that hook." In his grief he thought of the fly, and it came flying
up and called out: "Why are you weeping and wailing?"
He said that he had been hungry, and had been forced to eat the bread,
so that he fell asleep and all the horses were lost.
The fly tried to comfort him, saying: "Don't be troubled, dear lad;
I will help you."
So she called together all the flies, and they flew everywhere looking
for the horses, and when they found them, they buzzed round them and
plagued them till they drove them up to the herdsman. He drove them
joyfully home.
The Devil's grandmother welcomed them, and when she saw that all
the horses were there, she said: "You've herded them well enough,
for you have brought them all back." Then she seized a hatchet and
began to beat the horses with it, and most of all the lean one,
till the flesh hung in strips from its body. The lad was sorry for
the horse, for the hag was beating it hardest and it was the leanest
of them all. But the Devil's grandmother took a salve and anointed
the horses' wounds, and they were healed by morning.
The next day she fitted him out again for herding the horses, and
gave him some more of the bread, telling him to eat it all. But
when he came to the pasture he crumbled the bread and trampled the
crumbs into the ground, so that it should be uneatable. But it was no
good. He was forced to dig it up and eat it, earth and all, so great
was the hunger that the Devil's grandmother had sent against him. In
a moment he fell asleep and all the horses were lost.
When he woke he saw that there were no horses there. He wept and
wailed. But he thought of the wolf, and the wolf came running up
and asked him: "Why are you weeping and wailing? Don't be troubled;
I will help you."
He went and summoned all the wolves. A great flock of wolves ran up,
and they scattered everywhere, looking for the horses. When they found
them, they drove them to the herdsman, each horse with a wolf at its
side leading it by the ear. The herdsman was overjoyed, and took the
horses and drove them home.
The Devil's grandmother was waiting for him in front of the house. She
said: "Indeed you have herded them well; this is the second day that
you have brought them all home." But she beat the horses with the
hatchet far worse than the day before; then she anointed their wounds
with the salve, so that they should be healed by morning.
On the third day she sent him out again to herd the horses, and gave
him some more of the bread, telling him to eat it and not to throw it
away. But when he came to the pasture he threw the bread down on the
sand and trampled it in, so that it should be uneatable. But he had to
search it out again, so great was the hunger the Devil's grandmother
sent against him. The moment he had finished it he fell asleep and
the horses were lost. When he woke he burst into tears. This time
it was all up with him; the fly and the wolf had helped him before,
but the crab had already made a bridge for him, so there was nobody
to help him. The horses didn't know where to hide themselves to save
themselves from being beaten by the Devil's grandmother, so they
leapt into the sea, where nobody could find them.
The herdsman was in agony, and he kept on wailing that now his head
must hang upon that hook. At last he thought of the crab. The crab
turned round in the sea, and instantly all the crabs collected and
began searching the sea for the horses, and they pinched them until
they drove them out of the sea. But the lean one, since he couldn't
think of a better hiding-place, crouched under the crab's belly. The
other crabs set to work to look for him, and at last they found
him. The big crab had to turn over, and then they drove the lean
horse out. The herdsman took the horses and drove them home joyfully,
because his three days of service were now over.
The Devil's grandmother was waiting for him, and she beat the horses
with the hatchet so fiercely that their flesh hung in strips from
their bodies. Then she anointed them with the salve, and the wounds
healed by morning. In the morning she asked the herdsman what wages
he wanted. He answered: "I want nothing but that lean old horse."
She said: "It would be a sorry thing to give you such a wretched
horse in return for such good service; I will give you the best horse."