rd Grip sat in his cage he
again asked the fox for three grains of gold. These he got, and with
them he was successful in carrying off the bird.

He was now full of joy, for his blind father would now recover his
sight, while he himself owned the world's most beautiful princess and
the horse with the golden shoes.

The prince and princess travelled on together with mirth and happiness,
and the fox followed them until they came to the forest where the prince
first met with him.

'Here our ways part,' said the fox. 'You have now got all that your
heart desired, and you will have a prosperous journey to your father's
palace if only you do not ransom anyone's life with money.'

The prince thanked the fox for all his help, promised to give heed to
his warning, said farewell to him, and rode on, with the princess by his
side and the bird Grip on his wrist.

They soon arrived at the inn where the two eldest brothers had stayed,
forgetting their errand. But now no merry song or noise of mirth was
heard from it. When the prince came nearer he saw two gallows erected,
and when he entered the inn along with the princess he saw that all the
rooms were hung with black, and that everything inside foreboded sorrow
and death. He asked the reason of this, and was told that two princes
were to be hanged that day for debt; they had spent all their money in
feasting and playing, and were now deeply in debt to the host, and as
no one could be found to ransom their lives they were about to be hanged
according to the law.

The prince knew that it was his two brothers who had thus forfeited
their lives and it cut him to the heart to think that two princes should
suffer such a shameful death; and, as he had sufficient money with him,
he paid their debts, and so ransomed their lives.

At first the brothers were grateful for their liberty, but when they
saw the youngest brother's treasures they became jealous of his good
fortune, and planned how to bring him to destruction, and then take the
bird Grip, the princess, and the horse with the golden shoes, and convey
them to their blind father. After they had agreed on how to carry out
their treachery they enticed the prince to a den of lions and threw him
down among them. Then they set the princess on horseback, took the bird
Grip, and rode homeward. The princess wept bitterly, but they told her
that it would cost her her life if she did not say that the two brothers
had won all the treasure