n those
he had set free. The middle one had a mussel in his mouth, and he laid
it on the strand at the young man's feet; and when he took it up and
opened it there was the gold ring inside! Full of joy he carried it to
the King, and expected the promised reward; but the King's daughter,
proud of her high birth, despised him, and set him another task to
perform. She went out into the garden, and strewed about over the grass
ten sacks full of millet seed.

"By the time the sun rises in the morning you must have picked up all
these," she said, "and not a grain must be wanting."

The young man sat down in the garden and considered how it was possible
to do this task, but he could contrive nothing, and stayed there,
feeling very sorrowful, and expecting to be led to death at break of
day. But when the first beams of the sun fell on the garden he saw that
the ten sacks were all filled, standing one by the other, and not even a
grain was missing. The ant-king had arrived in the night with his
thousands of ants, and the grateful creatures had picked up all the
millet seed, and filled the sacks with great industry. The King's
daughter came herself into the garden and saw with astonishment that the
young man had performed all that had been given him to do. But she could
not let her proud heart melt, but said,

"Although he has completed the two tasks, he shall not be my bridegroom
unless he brings me an apple from the tree of life."

The young man did not know where the tree of life was to be found, but
he set out and went on and on, as long as his legs could carry him, but
he had no hope of finding it. When he had gone through three kingdoms he
came one evening to a wood, and seated himself under a tree to go to
sleep; but he heard a rustling in the boughs, and a golden apple fell
into his hand. Immediately three ravens flew towards him, perched on his
knee, and said,

"We are the three young ravens that you delivered from starving; when we
grew big, and heard that you were seeking the golden apple, we flew
over the sea to the end of the earth, where the tree of life stands, and
we fetched the apple."

Full of joy the young man set off on his way home, and brought the
golden apple to the King's beautiful daughter, who was without any
further excuse.

So they divided the apple of life, and ate it together; and their hearts
were filled with love, and they lived in undisturbed happiness to a
great age.

The STRAW,