Now the six came to a town where the King had proclaimed that whosoeverran a race with his daughter and won the victory, should be her husband,but whosoever lost it, must lose his head. Then the man presentedhimself and said, "I will, however, let my servant run for me." TheKing replied, "Then his life also must be staked, so that his headand thine are both set on the victory." When that was settled and madesecure, the man buckled the other leg on the runner, and said to him,"Now be nimble, and help us to win." It was fixed that the one who wasfirst to bring some water from a far distant well was to be the victor.The runner received a pitcher, and the King's daughter one too, andthey began to run at the same time, but in an instant, when the King'sdaughter had got a very little way, the people who were looking on couldsee no more of the runner, and it was just as if the wind had whistledby. In a short time he reached the well, filled his pitcher with water,and turned back. Half-way home, however, he was overcome with fatigue,and set his pitcher down, lay down himself, and fell asleep. He had,however, made a pillow of a horse's skull which was lying on the ground,in order that he might lie uncomfortably, and soon wake up again. Inthe meantime the King's daughter, who could also run very well quite aswell as any ordinary mortal can had reached the well, and was hurryingback with her pitcher full of water, and when she saw the runner lyingthere asleep, she was glad and said, "My enemy is delivered over intomy hands," emptied his pitcher, and ran on. And now all would have beenlost if by good luck the huntsman had not been standing at the top of thecastle, and had not seen everything with his sharp eyes. Then said he,"The King's daughter shall still not prevail against us;" and he loadedhis gun, and shot so cleverly, that he shot the horse's skull away fromunder the runner's head without hurting him. Then the runner awoke, leaptup, and saw that his pitcher was empty, and that the King's daughterwas already far in advance. He did not lose heart, however, but ranback to the well with his pitcher, again drew some water, and was athome again, ten minutes before the King's daughter. "Behold!" said he,"I have not bestirred myself till now, it did not deserve to be calledrunning before."
But it pained the King, and still more his daughter, that she should becarried off by a common disbanded soldier like that; so they took counselwith each other how to get rid of him and his companions. Then said theKing to her, "I have thought of a way; don't be afraid, they shall notcome back again." And he said to them, "You shall now make merry together,and eat and drink," and he conducted them to a room which had a floor ofiron, and the doors also were of iron, and the windows were guarded withiron bars. There was a table in the room covered with delicious food,and the King said to them, "Go in, and enjoy yourselves." And when theywere inside, he ordered the doors to be shut and bolted. Then he sentfor the cook, and commanded him to make a fire under the room until theiron became red-hot. This the cook did, and the six who were sitting attable began to feel quite warm, and they thought the heat was caused bythe food; but as it became still greater, and they wanted to get out, andfound that the doors and windows were bolted, they became aware that theKing must have an evil intention, and wanted to suffocate them. "He shallnot succeed, however," said the one with the cap. "I will cause a frostto come, before which the fire shall be ashamed, and creep away." Thenhe put his cap on straight, and immediately there came such a frost thatall heat disappeared, and the food on the dishes began to freeze. When anhour or two had passed by, and the King believed that they had perishedin the heat, he had the doors opened to behold them himself. But whenthe doors were opened, all six were standing there, alive and well,and said that they should very much like to get out to warm themselves,for the very food was fast frozen to the dishes with the cold. Then,full of anger, the King went down to the cook, scolded him, and askedwhy he had not done what he had been ordered to do. But the cook replied,"There is heat enough there, just look yourself." Then the King saw thata fierce fire was burning under the iron room, and perceived that therewas no getting the better of the six in this way.
Again the King considered how to get rid of his unpleasant guests, andcaused their chief to be brought and said, "If thou wilt take gold andrenounce my daughter, thou shalt have as much as thou wilt."
"Oh, yes, Lord King," he answered, "give me as much as my servant cancarry, and I will not ask for your daughter."
On this the King was satisfied, and the other continued, "In fourteendays, I will come and fetch it." Thereupon he summoned together all thetailors in the whole kingdom, and they were to sit for fourteen days andsew a sack. And when it was ready, the strong one who could tear up treeshad to take it on his back, and go with it to the King. Then said theKing, "Who can that strong fellow be who is carrying a bundle of linenon his back that is as big as a house?" and he was alarmed and said,"What a lot of gold he can carry away!" Then he commanded a ton of goldto be brought; it took sixteen of his strongest men to carry it, but thestrong one snatched it up in one hand, put it in his sack, and said, "Whydon't you bring more at the same time? that hardly covers the bottom!"Then, little by little, the King caused all his treasure to be broughtthither, and the strong one pushed it into the sack, and still the sackwas not half full with it. "Bring more," cried he, "these few crumbsdon't fill it." Then seven thousand carts with gold had to be gatheredtogether in the whole kingdom, and the strong one thrust them and theoxen harnessed to them into his sack. "I will examine it no longer," saidhe, "but will just take what comes, so long as the sack is but full."When all that was inside, there was still room for a great deal more;Then he said, "I will just make an end of the thing; people do sometimestie up a sack even when it is not full." So he took it on his back, andwent away with his comrades. When the King now saw how one single manwas carrying away the entire wealth of the country, he became enraged,and bade his horsemen mount and pursue the six, and ordered them to takethe sack away from the strong one. Two regiments speedily overtook thesix, and called out, "You are prisoners, put down the sack with the gold,or you will all be cut to pieces!" "What say you?" cried the blower,"that we are prisoners! Rather than that should happen, all of you shalldance about in the air." And he closed one nostril, and with the otherblew on the two regiments. Then they were driven away from each other,and carried into the blue sky over all the mountains one here, the otherthere. One sergeant cried for mercy; he had nine wounds, and was a bravefellow who did not deserve ill treatment. The blower stopped a littleso that he came down without injury, and then the blower said to him,"Now go home to thy King, and tell him he had better send some morehorsemen, and I will blow them all into the air." When the King wasinformed of this he said, "Let the rascals go. They have the best ofit." Then the six conveyed the riches home, divided it amongst them,and lived in content until their death.
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