He bent down to pat the dog, and at that moment the hag took her
wand and struck him with it. He was turned to stone, and his horse
and dog too.
The princess waited for her lord, but he did not return. She mourned
for him, and the citizens, who loved their lord, were grieved at
his loss.
Now, the other brother looked at his sword, and the sword began to
rust; so he was sure that his brother was in trouble. He felt that
he must help him, so he rode off in that direction and came to the
town. The town was hung with black flags. As he rode through the
streets the citizens saw him, and they thought he was their lord, for
he had a horse and a dog just like their lord's horse and dog. When
the princess saw him, she embraced him and said: "Where have you been
so long, my dear husband?"
He said that he had lost his way in the forest and that he had fallen
among robbers, and, since he had no choice, he had to pretend to be
a robber too, and to promise to stay with them and to show them good
hiding-places. The robbers, so he said, admitted him to be of their
company, and he had not been able to escape before this.
Everybody was delighted, and the lord's brother was careful enough
not to say that he was only the brother. But, whenever they went to
bed, he put his sword between himself and the lady. The princess was
troubled at this, and she tried to find different explanations for the
conduct of her supposed husband. One morning, as he was looking out of
the window, he saw that same castle, and he asked what castle it was.
She answered: "I have told you already that it is an enchanted castle,
and that nobody who goes there ever returns."