me and rest; the heat will kill you,' said they.

Petru shook his head and said nothing, for he had lost the power of
speech.

Long he rode in this awful state, how long none can tell. Suddenly the
heat seemed to become less, and, in the distance, he saw a little hut
on a hill. This was the dwelling of the Goddess of Thunder, and when he
drew rein at her door the goddess herself came out to meet him.

She welcomed him, and kindly invited him in, and bade him tell her all
his adventures. So Petru told her all that had happened to him, and why
he was there, and then took farewell of her, as he had no time to lose.
'For,' he said, 'who knows how far the Fairy of the Dawn may yet be?'

'Stay for one moment, for I have a word of advice to give you. You are
about to enter the kingdom of Venus;(4) go and tell her, as a message
from me, that I hope she will not tempt you to delay. On your way back,
come to me again, and I will give you something that may be of use to
you.'

(4) 'Vineri' is Friday, and also 'Venus.'

So Petru mounted his horse, and had hardly ridden three steps when he
found himself in a new country. Here it was neither hot nor cold, but
the air was warm and soft like spring, though the way ran through a
heath covered with sand and thistles.

'What can that be?' asked Petru, when he saw a long, long way off, at
the very end of the heath, something resembling a house.

'That is the house of the goddess Venus,' replied the horse, 'and if we
ride hard we may reach it before dark'; and he darted off like an
arrow, so that as twilight fell they found themselves nearing the house.
Petru's heart leaped at the sight, for all the way along he had been
followed by a crowd of shadowy figures who danced about him from right
to left, and from back to front, and Petru, though a brave man, felt now
and then a thrill of fear.

'They won't hurt you,' said the horse; 'they are just the daughters of
the whirlwind amusing themselves while they are waiting for the ogre of
the moon.'

Then he stopped in front of the house, and Petru jumped off and went to
the door.

'Do not be in such a hurry,' cried the horse. 'There are several things
I must tell you first. You cannot enter the house of the goddess Venus
like that. She is always watched and guarded by the whirlwind.'

'What am I to do then?'

'Take the copper wreath, and go with it to that little hill over
there. When you reach it, say to yourself, "Were there ever