ed and so
frightful that the poor boy recoiled in horror. Quite an army of
beetles, lizards, salamanders, spiders and other vermin surrounded the
witch.

"How dare you disturb me, impudent beggar," she exclaimed, "by coming
to knock at my door? What do you want? Speak quickly!"

"Madam," said the boy, "knowing that you alone know the way which
leads to the castle of Go and Return Not, I come to ask you, if you
please, to point it out to me."

The old woman made a grimace, intended for a mocking smile, and
answered:

"Very well; but now it is too late. You shall go to-morrow. Come in,
and you shall sleep with these little insects."

"I am not able to stay," replied the boy. "It is necessary that I
should go at once, as I have to return by daybreak to the place whence
I came."

"May dogs worry you, and cats tear you, you stubborn boy," growled the
old witch angrily. "If I tell you the way," she added, "it will only
be upon condition that you bring me this jar full of the Water of Many
Colours, which flows from the fountain in the courtyard of the castle;
and if you do not bring it to me, I will change you into a lizard for
all eternity."

"Agreed!" cried the boy in return.

Then the old woman called a poor dog, which looked very thin and
wretched, and said to it:

"Up! conduct this good-for-naught to the castle of Go and Return Not,
and be careful that you inform my friend of his arrival."

The dog snarled, shook himself savagely, and set forth. At the end of
about two hours they arrived in front of a very black, enormous, and
gloomy castle, whose portals stood wide open, though neither light nor
sound gave any indication that it was inhabited; even the rays of the
moon, as they were reflected upon the sombre and lifeless mass, seemed
to make it still more horrible.

As he went forward the dog began to howl; but the boy, who knew not
whether this was the giant's hour for sleep, stopped and rested
himself timorously against the trunk of a withered and leafless wild
olive, which was the only tree to be found in that parched and naked
district.

"Heaven help me!" exclaimed the boy.

"Cross! cross!" responded a sad voice among the branches of the olive.
Joyfully the boy recognized the hermit owl which the swallow had
mentioned, and said to it in the language of birds:

"Poor little owl, I beg you will help and guide me. I am come in
search of the Bird of Truth, and I have to carry the Water of Many
Colour