e to his hand; he imagined it to be a stone, but it was
really a skull, and aiming it at the owl, killed the bird with the
first blow. The rescued hare ran up to him and gratefully licked his
hands, after which it ran away: but the human skull spoke to him and
said, "Prince Dobrotek, accept my grateful thanks for the good turn
you have done me. I belonged to an unhappy man who took his own life,
and for this crime of suicide I have been condemned to roll in the mud
until I was the means of saving the life of one of God's creatures. I
have been kicked about for seven hundred and seventy years, crumbling
miserably on the earth, and without exciting the compassion of a
single individual. You have been the means of setting me free by
making use of me to save the life of that poor hare. In return for
this kindness I will teach you how to call to your aid a most
marvellous horse, who during my life belonged to me. He will be able
to help you in a thousand ways, and when in need of him you have only
to walk out on the moorland without once looking behind you, and to
say:

'Dappled Horse with Mane of Gold,
Horse of Wonder! Come to me.
Walk not the earth, for I am told
You fly like birds o'er land and sea.'

Finish your work of mercy by burying me here, so that I may be at rest
until the day of judgment. Then depart in peace and be of good cheer."

The prince dug a hole at the foot of a tree, and reverently buried the
skull, repeating over it the prayers for the dead. Just as he finished
he saw a small blue flame come out of the skull and fly towards
heaven: it was the soul of the dead man on its way to the angels.

The prince made the sign of the cross and resumed his journey. When he
had gone some way along the moorland he stopped, and without looking
back tried the effect of the magic words, saying:

"Dappled Horse with Mane of Gold,
Horse of Wonder! Come to me.
Walk not the earth, for I am told
You fly like birds o'er land and sea."

Then amid flash of lightning and roll of thunder appeared the horse. A
horse, do I say? Why, he was a miracle of wonder. He was light as air,
with dappled coat and golden mane. Flames came from his nostrils and
sparks from his eyes. Volumes of steam rolled from his mouth and
clouds of smoke issued from his ears. He stopped before the prince,
and said in a human voice, "What are your orders, Prince Dobrotek?"

"I am in great trouble," answered the prince, "and shall be g