l, and set out for the mountain; and
scarcely had she gone a few steps upwards when cries and screams broke
forth around her, and she felt as if each stone she trod on was a living
thing. But she remembered the words of the giant, and knew not what had
befallen her brothers, and kept her face steadily towards the mountain
top, which grew nearer and nearer every moment. But as she mounted the
clamour increased sevenfold: high above them all rang the voices of her
three brothers. But the girl took no heed, and at last her feet stood
upon the top.

Then she looked round, and saw, lying in a hollow, the pool of the water
of life. And she took the brazen pitcher that she had brought with her,
and filled it to the brim. By the side of the pool stood the tree of
beauty, with the talking bird on one of its boughs; and she caught the
bird, and placed it in a cage, and broke off one of the branches.

After that she turned, and went joyfully down the hill again, carrying
her treasures, but her long climb had tired her out, and the brazen
pitcher was very heavy, and as she walked a few drops of the water spilt
on the stones, and as it touched them they changed into young men and
maidens, crowding about her to give thanks for their deliverance.

So she learnt by this how the evil spell might be broken, and she
carefully sprinkled every stone till there was not one left--only a
great company of youths and girls who followed her down the mountain.

When they arrived at the palace she did not lose a moment in planting
the branch of the tree of beauty and watering it with the water of life.
And the branch shot up into a tree, and was heavy with flowers, and the
talking bird nestled in its branches.

Now the fame of these wonders was noised abroad, and the people flocked
in great numbers to see the three marvels, and the maiden who had won
them; and among the sightseers came the king's son, who would not go
till everything was shown him, and till he had heard how it had all
happened. And the prince admired the strangeness and beauty of the
treasures in the palace, but more than all he admired the beauty and
courage of the maiden who had brought them there. So he went home and
told his parents, and gained their consent to wed her for his wife.

Then the marriage was celebrated in the church adjoining the palace.
Then the bridegroom took her to his own home, where they lived happy for
ever after.

The Wounded Lion

Cuentos P