the middle of the
floor, and all three of the trolls fell upon the Prince and beat him
with clubs, as though he had been a sack of barley-flour. But the Prince
bore this too without a word. At last the morning came, and they had to
give over beating him. "We shall see if you will come again," said the
troll of the house.

After the trolls had gone, the black Princess came and wept over the
Prince as she had done before, and when her tears fell on him he was
made whole again. And now the hands of the black Princess were as white
as silver.

[Illustration: THE GREAT UGLY TROLL FINDS THE PRINCE BY THE FIRE]

The third night the troll of the house came, and brought with him six
others. Then the same thing happened as before, and they beat the Prince
with great cudgels as thick as my thumb. At last the morning came, and
they went away bellowing and howling, for their enchantment had gone. As
for the Prince, he lay upon the floor more dead than alive, for he could
neither see nor hear anything that happened about him.

Then the Princess came for the third time and wept over him, and he was
whole and sound again. As for the Princess, she stood before him, and
now her brow was as white as milk, and her cheeks were as red as blood,
and her eyes were as blue as the skies, and her hair was like spun gold.
But the beautiful Princess had little or nothing upon her, so the Prince
wrapped her in a ram's skin that was in the troll's house. Then he
turned his toes the way he had come, and started away for home, taking
her along with him.

So they went along and along till they had come so near to the King's
house that they could see the high roofs and the weathercocks over the
crest of the next hill. There the Prince bade the Princess to wait for
him till he went home and brought her a dress of real silver and gold,
such as was fitting for her to wear. Then he left her, and the Princess
sat down beside the roadside to wait until he should come again.

Now as the Princess sat there, there came along the old goose-herd of
the palace, and with her came her daughter; for they were driving the
royal geese home again from where they had been eating grass. When they
saw the beautiful Princess, clad in her ram's hide, they stared as
though they would never shut their eyes again. Then they wanted to know
all about her--who she was, and where she came from, and what she sat
there for. So the Princess told them all that they wanted to know,