Then he took leave of the giant, and went forth over mountain and valley,and through plains and forests, until at length he came to the wondrousgarden.
The beasts lay round about it, but they had put their heads down andwere asleep. Moreover, they did not awake when he went up to them,so he stepped over them, climbed the fence, and got safely into thegarden. There, in the very middle of it, stood the tree of life, and thered apples were shining upon the branches. He climbed up the trunk to thetop, and as he was about to reach out for an apple, he saw a ring hangingbefore it; but he thrust his hand through that without any difficulty,and gathered the apple. The ring closed tightly on his arm, and all atonce he felt a prodigious strength flowing through his veins. When he hadcome down again from the tree with the apple, he would not climb over thefence, but grasped the great gate, and had no need to shake it more thanonce before it sprang open with a loud crash. Then he went out, and thelion which had been lying down before, was awake and sprang after him,not in rage and fierceness, but following him humbly as its master.
The King's son took the giant the apple he had promised him, and said,"Seest thou, I have brought it without difficulty." The giant was gladthat his desire had been so soon satisfied, hastened to his bride,and gave her the apple for which she had wished. She was a beautifuland wise maiden, and as she did not see the ring on his arm, she said,"I shall never believe that thou hast brought the apple, until I see thering on thine arm." The giant said, "I have nothing to do but go homeand fetch it," and thought it would be easy to take away by force fromthe weak man, what he would not give of his own free will. He thereforedemanded the ring from him, but the King's son refused it. "Where theapple is, the ring must be also," said the giant; "if thou wilt not giveit of thine own accord, thou must fight with me for it."
They wrestled with each other for a long time, but the giant could notget the better of the King's son, who was strengthened by the magicalpower of the ring. Then the giant thought of a stratagem, and said,"I have got warm with fighting, and so hast thou. We will bathe inthe river, and cool ourselves before we begin again." The King's son,who knew nothing of falsehood, went with him to the water, and pulledoff with his clothes the ring also from his arm, and sprang into theriver. The giant instantly snatched the ring, and ran away with it,but the lion, which had observed the theft, pursued the giant, tore thering out of his hand, and brought it back to its master. Then the giantplaced himself behind an oak-tree, and while the King's son was busyputting on his clothes again, surprised him, and put both his eyes out.
And now the unhappy King's son stood there, and was blind and knew nothow to help himself. Then the giant came back to him, took him by thehand as if he were someone who wanted to guide him, and led him to thetop of a high rock. There he left him standing, and thought, "Just twosteps more, and he will fall down and kill himself, and I can take thering from him." But the faithful lion had not deserted its master; itheld him fast by the clothes, and drew him gradually back again. Whenthe giant came and wanted to rob the dead man, he saw that his cunninghad been in vain. "Is there no way, then, of destroying a weak child ofman like that?" said he angrily to himself, and seized the King's son andled him back again to the precipice by another way, but the lion whichsaw his evil design, helped its master out of danger here also. Whenthey had got close to the edge, the giant let the blind man's hand drop,and was going to leave him behind alone, but the lion pushed the giantso that he was thrown down and fell, dashed to pieces, on the ground.
The faithful animal again drew its master back from the precipice,and guided him to a tree by which flowed a clear brook. The King's sonsat down there, but the lion lay down, and sprinkled the water in hisface with its paws. Scarcely had a couple of drops wetted the socketsof his eyes, than he was once more able to see something, and remarkeda little bird flying quite close by, which wounded itself against thetrunk of a tree. On this it went down to the water and bathed itselftherein, and then it soared upwards and swept between the trees withouttouching them, as if it had recovered its sight again. Then the King'sson recognized a sign from God and stooped down to the water, and washedand bathed his face in it. And when he arose he had his eyes once more,brighter and clearer than they had ever been.
The King's son thanked God for his great mercy, and travelled with hislion onwards through the world. And it came to pass that he arrived beforea castle which was enchanted. In the gateway stood a maiden of beautifulform and fine face, but she was quite black. She spoke to him and said,"Ah, if thou couldst but deliver me from the evil spell which is thrownover me." "What shall I do?" said the King's son. The maiden answered,"Thou must pass three nights in the great hall of this enchanted castle,but thou must let no fear enter thy heart. When they are doing their worstto torment thee, if thou bearest it without letting a sound escape thee,I shall be free. Thy life they dare not take." Then said the King's son,"I have no fear; with God's help I will try it." So he went gaily intothe castle, and when it grew dark he seated himself in the large halland waited. Everything was quiet, however, till midnight, when all atonce a great tumult began, and out of every hole and corner came littledevils. They behaved as if they did not see him, seated themselvesin the middle of the room, lighted a fire, and began to gamble. Whenone of them lost, he said, "It is not right; some one is here who doesnot belong to us; it is his fault that I am losing." "Wait, you fellowbehind the stove, I am coming," said another. The screaming became stilllouder, so that no one could have heard it without terror. The King's sonstayed sitting quite quietly, and was not afraid; but at last the devilsjumped up from the ground, and fell on him, and there were so many ofthem that he could not defend himself from them. They dragged him abouton the floor, pinched him, pricked him, beat him, and tormented him,but no sound escaped from him. Towards morning they disappeared,and he was so exhausted that he could scarcely move his limbs, butwhen day dawned the black maiden came to him. She bore in her hand alittle bottle wherein was the water of life wherewith she washed him,and he at once felt all pain depart and new strength flow through hisveins. She said, "Thou hast held out successfully for one night, but twomore lie before thee." Then she went away again, and as she was going,he observed that her feet had become white. The next night the devilscame and began their gambols anew. They fell on the King's son, and beathim much more severely than the night before, until his body was coveredwith wounds. But as he bore all quietly, they were forced to leave him,and when dawn appeared, the maiden came and healed him with the waterof life. And when she went away, he saw with joy that she had alreadybecome white to the tips of her fingers. And now he had only one nightmore to go through, but it was the worst. The hob-goblins came again:"Art thou there still?" cried they, "thou shalt be tormented till thybreath stops." They pricked him and beat him, and threw him here andthere, and pulled him by the arms and legs as if they wanted to tear himto pieces, but he bore everything, and never uttered a cry. At last thedevils vanished, but he lay fainting there, and did not stir, nor couldhe raise his eyes to look at the maiden who came in, and sprinkled andbathed him with the water of life. But suddenly he was freed from allpain, and felt fresh and healthy as if he had awakened from sleep, andwhen he opened his eyes he saw the maiden standing by him, snow-white,and fair as day. "Rise," said she, "and swing thy sword three times overthe stairs, and then all will be delivered." And when he had done that,the whole castle was released from enchantment, and the maiden was a richKing's daughter. The servants came and said that the table was alreadyset in the great hall, and dinner served up. Then they sat down and ateand drank together, and in the evening the wedding was solemnized withgreat rejoicings.
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