ode straight on till he reached the borders of a
strange kingdom. He crossed the frontier, and soon found himself on
the banks of a river; and before him, in the middle of the stream, a
beautiful girl sat chained to a rock and weeping bitterly. For in this
river dwelt a serpent with seven heads, who threatened to lay waste the
whole land by breathing fire and flame from his nostrils unless the king
sent him every morning a man for his breakfast. This had gone on so long
that now there were no men left, and he had been obliged to send his
own daughter instead, and the poor girl was waiting till the monster got
hungry and felt inclined to eat her.

When the young man saw the maiden weeping bitterly he said to her, 'What
is the matter, my poor girl?'

'Oh!' she answered, 'I am chained here till a horrible serpent with
seven heads comes to eat me. Oh, sir, do not linger here, or he will eat
you too.'

'I shall stay,' replied the young man, 'for I mean to set you free.'

'That is impossible. You do not know what a fearful monster the serpent
is; you can do nothing against him.'

'That is my affair, beautiful captive,' answered he; 'only tell me,
which way will the serpent come?'

'Well, if you are resolved to free me, listen to my advice. Stand a
little on one side, and then, when the serpent rises to the surface, I
will say to him, "O serpent, to-day you can eat two people. But you had
better begin first with the young man, for I am chained and cannot run
away." When he hears this most likely he will attack you.'

So the young man stood carefully on one side, and by-and-bye he heard
a great rushing in the water; and a horrible monster came up to the
surface and looked out for the rock where the king's daughter was
chained, for it was getting late and he was hungry.

But she cried out, 'O serpent, to-day you can eat two people. And you
had better begin with the young man, for I am chained and cannot run
away.'

Then the serpent made a rush at the youth with wide open jaws to swallow
him at one gulp, but the young man leaped aside and drew his sword,
and fought till he had cut off all the seven heads. And when the great
serpent lay dead at his feet he loosed the bonds of the king's daughter,
and she flung herself into his arms and said, 'You have saved me from
that monster, and now you shall be my husband, for my father has made
a proclamation that whoever could slay the serpent should have his
daughter to wife.'