d
said:

"Let me decide this for you. Suppose you sell me the fish and then
divide the money."

He offered them all the money the king had given him for his journey.
The fishermen, delighted at the offer, at once agreed. Yirik handed them
over the money and then, taking the gasping fish in his hand, he threw
it back into the sea.

When the fish had caught its breath, it rose on a wave and called out to
Yirik:

"Thank you, Yirik, thank you. You have saved my life this day. Your
kindness will not go unrewarded. If ever you are in trouble, think of me
and I will help you."

With that the golden fish flicked its tail and disappeared in the water.

"Where are you going, Yirik?" the fishermen asked.

"I'm going in quest of a golden-haired maiden whom my master, the king,
wished to make his wife."

"He must mean the Princess Zlatovlaska," the fishermen said to each
other.

"The Princess Zlatovlaska?" Yirik repeated. "Who is she?"

"She's the golden-haired daughter of the King of the Crystal Palace. Do
you see the faint outlines of an island over yonder? That's where she
lives. The king has twelve daughters but Zlatovlaska alone has golden
hair. Each morning at dawn a wonderful glow spreads over land and sea.
That's Zlatovlaska combing her golden hair."

The fishermen conferred apart for a moment and then said:

"Yirik, you settled our dispute for us and now in return we'll row you
over to the island."

So they rowed Yirik over to the Island of the Crystal Palace and left
him there with the warning that the king would probably try to palm off
on him one of the dark-haired princesses.

Yirik at once presented himself at the palace, got an audience with the
king, and declared his mission.

"H'm," the king said. "So your master desires the hand of my daughter,
the Princess Zlatovlaska, eh? H'm, h'm. Well, I see no objection to your
master as a son-in-law, but of course before I entrust the princess into
your hands you must prove yourself worthy. I tell you what I'll do: I'll
give you three tasks to perform. Be ready for the first one tomorrow."

Early the next day the king said to Yirik:

"My daughter, Zlatovlaska, had a precious necklace of pearls. She was
walking in the meadow over yonder when the string broke and the pearls
rolled away in the tall grasses. Now your first task is to gather up
every last one of those pearls and hand them to me before sundown."

Yirik went to the meadow and when he saw how