together, but soon each began to think
that he knew the right way best; so they separated, and all went in
different directions.

[Footnote 30: From the Icelandic.]

The Prince, too, had got lost like the rest, and wandered on for a
time until he came to a little clearing in the forest not far from the
sea, where he saw a woman sitting on a chair and a big barrel standing
beside her. The Prince went up to her and saluted her politely, and
she received him very graciously. He looked down into the barrel then,
and saw lying at the bottom an unusually beautiful gold ring, which
pleased him so much that he could not take his eyes off it. The woman
saw this, and said that he might have it if he would take the trouble
to get it; for which the Prince thanked her, and said it was at least
worth trying. So he leaned over into the barrel, which did not seem
very deep, and thought he would easily reach the ring; but the more he
stretched down after it the deeper grew the barrel. As he was thus
bending down into it the woman suddenly rose up and pushed him in head
first, saying that now he could take up his quarters there. Then she
fixed the top on the barrel and threw it out into the sea.

[Illustration: The Woman Pushes Prince Ring into the Cask]

The Prince thought himself in a bad plight now, as he felt the barrel
floating out from the land and tossing about on the waves. How many
days he spent thus he could not tell, but at last he felt that the
barrel was knocking against rocks, at which he was a little cheered,
thinking it was probably land and not merely a reef in the sea. Being
something of a swimmer, he at last made up his mind to kick the bottom
out of the barrel, and having done so he was able to get on shore, for
the rocks by the sea were smooth and level; but overhead there were
high cliffs. It seemed difficult to get up these, but he went along
the foot of them for a little, till at last he tried to climb up,
which at last he did.

Having got to the top, he looked round about him and saw that he was
on an island, which was covered with forest, with apples growing, and
altogether pleasant as far as the land was concerned. After he had
been there several days, he one day heard a great noise in the forest,
which made him terribly afraid, so that he ran to hide himself among
the trees. Then he saw a Giant approaching, dragging a sledge loaded
with wood, and making straight for him, so that he could see nothing
for