jump over them."

After resting about two days they prepared to continue their journey,
and the horse, holding its breath, said:

"Buckle my girth as tight as you can, and when you have mounted hold
fast to my mane and press your feet close to my neck, that you may not
hinder me." The prince mounted, and in a moment they were close to the
forest.

"Master," said the horse, "this is the time that the wild beasts are
fed; they are all collected together, now we'll jump over."

"Forward," replied the handsome prince, "and may the Lord have mercy
on us."

They flew upward and saw the palace, which glittered so that it would
have been easier to look at the sun. They passed over the forest, and,
just as they were descending at the palace steps, one of the horse's
hoofs lightly touched the top of a tree, which put the whole woods in
motion. The wild animals began to howl till it was enough to make
one's hair bristle. They hastily alighted, and if the mistress of the
palace had not been outside feeding her chickens (for that is what she
called the wild beasts), they would certainly have been killed. She
spared their lives out of pure pleasure, for she had never before seen
a human being. Restraining the savage beasts, she soothed them, and
sent them back to their haunts. She was a tall, slender, lovely
fairy, quite too beautiful. When the young hero saw her, he stood
still as though turned to stone. But as she gazed at him she pitied
him and said:

"Welcome, my handsome prince. What do you seek here?"

"We seek Youth without Age and Life without Death."

Then he dismounted from his horse and entered the palace, where he
found two other ladies, both of the same age, the elder sisters of the
first one. He began to thank the fairy for having delivered him from
danger, but she and her sisters, to show their joy, had a handsome
banquet served in golden dishes. They gave the horse liberty to graze
wherever it chose, and afterward made it acquainted with all the wild
beasts, so that it might rove about the forest in peace. The ladies
entreated the prince to stay with them, saying that it was so tiresome
to be alone. He did not wait to be asked a second time, but accepted
the offer with the satisfaction of a man who has found precisely what
he sought.

By degrees they became accustomed to live together; the prince told
them his story and related what he had suffered before meeting them,
and after some time he married the y