and boiled meats, and little cakes and big cakes, and fine white
bread, and wine to drink.

Well, off they set, and on they went, a short way and a long way,
until they came to the edge of a forest, and there they sat down in
the shade to eat; and when they spread the food out before them it
made a fine feast I can tell you.

Just as they were about to begin an old woman came hobbling out of the
forest. She was so old that her nose and her chin met and she was so
bent that she could barely get along even with the help of the crutch
she had.

"Good masters, give me a bite and a sup, I beg of you," she said. "It
is a hundred years since I have tasted anything but black bread."

"If you have lived on black bread that long you can live on it a
little longer," said one of the Princes, and then they both laughed.
However, they bade the old crone come back there after they had gone,
and it might be she would find some broken bits lying round, and those
she might have if she cared to gather them up.

Then the Princes went on eating and drinking, and after they had
finished they journeyed on again.

Presently they came to a cross roads, and there they separated; one
went east and one went west. The eldest Prince took the east road, and
soon it brought him to a castle, and in this castle lived a Princess
who was as pretty as a picture. It was not long before the Prince won
her to be his wife, for he was a stout and comely lad, and as soon as
they were married he set out for home, taking his bride with him.

As it happened with the eldest Prince, so it did with the second
brother. He also found a castle and a Princess, and won her to be his
bride, and brought her home with him to his father's house; and when
the two Princesses met it was hard to choose between them, they were
both so pretty. It seemed as though the kingdom would have to be
divided between the elder brothers and their pretty brides.

But first it was only right that the youngest Prince should have a
chance, so now that his brothers had returned he was ready to set out
into the wide world and see what sort of a beauty he could pick up.
His brothers laughed at him, for they had never had much of an opinion
of his wit, even though they were jealous of him.

"Only see that she has two eyes and a stout pair of hands," said they.
"Our Princesses will find something for her to do about the palace, no
doubt, and as for you, you shall always have a warm place in