e of the eleven got a fine white horse and money for the journey, and
so they said farewell to their father and their home, and rode away.

As for Esben, no one had ever thought about him; his brothers had not
even said farewell to him.

After the eleven were gone Esben went to his father and said, 'Father,
give me also a horse and money; I should also like to see round about me
in the world.'

'You are a little fool,' said his father. 'If I could have let you go,
and kept your eleven brothers at home, it would have been better for me
in my old age.'

'Well, you will soon be rid of me at any rate,' said Esben.

As he could get no other horse, he went into the forest, broke off a
branch, stripped the bark off it, so that it became still whiter than
his brothers' horses, and, mounted on this. rode off after his eleven
brothers.

The brothers rode on the whole day, and towards evening they came to
a great forest, which they entered. Far within the wood they came to a
little house, and knocked at the door. There came an old, ugly, bearded
hag, and opened it, and they asked her whether all of them could get
quarters for the night.

'Yes,' said the old, bearded hag, 'you shall all have quarters for the
night, and, in addition, each of you shall have one of my daughters.'

The eleven brothers thought that they had come to very hospitable
people. They were well attended to, and when they went to bed, each of
them got one of the hag's daughters.

Esben had been coming along behind them, and had followed the same way,
and had also found the same house in the forest. He slipped into this,
without either the witch or her daughters noticing him, and hid himself
under one of the beds. A little before midnight he crept quietly out
and wakened his brothers. He told these to change night-caps with the
witch's daughters. The brothers saw no reason for this, but, to get rid
of Esben's persistence, they made the exchange, and slept soundly again.

When midnight came Esben heard the old witch come creeping along. She
had a broad-bladed axe in her hand, and went over all the eleven beds.
It was so dark that she could not see a hand's breadth before her, but
she felt her way, and hacked the heads off all the sleepers who had the
men's night-caps on--and these were her own daughters. As soon as she
had gone her way Esben wakened his brothers, and they hastily took their
horses and rode off from the witch's house, glad that they had