ou should have gone among the fishes,' cried the old woman, striking
the animal with a stick.

'I did go among the fishes,' replied the mare; 'but they are no friends
of mine, for they betrayed me at once.'

'Well, go among the foxes this time,' said she, and returned to the
house, not knowing that the prince had overheard her.

So when it began to grow dark the prince mounted the mare for the second
time and rode into the meadows, and the foal trotted behind its mother.
Again he managed to stick on till midnight: then a sleep overtook him
that he could not battle against, and when he woke up he found himself,
as before, sitting on the log, with the halter in his hands. He gave a
shriek of dismay, and sprang up in search of the wanderers. As he went
he suddenly remembered the words that the old woman had said to the
mare, and he drew out the fox hair and twisted it in his fingers.

'What is it, my brother?' asked the fox, who instantly appeared before
him.

'The old witch's mare has run away from me, and I do not know where to
look for her.'

'She is with us,' replied the fox, 'and has changed herself into a big
fox, and her foal into a little one, but strike the ground with a halter
and say, "Come here, O mare of the mountain witch!"'

The prince did so, and in a moment the fox became a mare and stood
before him, with the little foal at her heels. He mounted and rode back,
and the old woman placed food on the table, and led the mare back to the
stable.

'You should have gone to the foxes, as I told you,' said she, striking
the mare with a stick.

'I did go to the foxes,' replied the mare, 'but they are no friends of
mine and betrayed me.'

'Well, this time you had better go to the wolves,' said she, not knowing
that the prince had heard all she had been saying.

The third night the prince mounted the mare and rode her out to the
meadows, with the foal trotting after. He tried hard to keep awake,
but it was of no use, and in the morning there he was again on the log,
grasping the halter. He started to his feet, and then stopped, for he
remembered what the old woman had said, and pulled out the wolf's grey
lock.

'What is it, my brother?' asked the wolf as it stood before him.

'The old witch's mare has run away from me,' replied the prince, 'and I
don't know where to find her.'

'Oh, she is with us,' answered the wolf, 'and she has changed herself
into a she-wolf, and the foal into a cub; but strike th