shrieked the Troll.

'Fire yourself!' said Minnikin.

'Can you fight?' roared the Troll.

'If not, I can learn,' said Minnikin.

So the Troll struck at him with his iron club--which was still bigger
than that which the first Troll had had--so that the earth flew ten
yards up in the air.

'Fie!' said Minnikin. 'That was not much of a blow. Now you shall see
one of my blows.'

Then he grasped his sword and struck at the Troll, so that all his ten
heads danced away over the sands.

And again the King's daughter said to him, 'Sleep a while on my lap,'
and while Minnikin lay there she drew some silver raiment over him.

As soon as Ritter Red saw that there was no longer any danger afoot, he
crept down from the tree and threatened the Princess, until at last she
was again forced to promise to say that it was he who had rescued her;
after which he took the tongue and the lungs of the Troll and put them
in his pocket-handkerchief, and then he conducted the Princess back
to the palace. There was joy and gladness in the palace, as may be
imagined, and the King did not know how to show enough honour and
respect to Ritter Red.

Minnikin, however, took home with him an armful of gold and silver
hoops from the Troll's ship. When he came back to the King's palace the
kitchen-maid clapped her hands and wondered where he could have got all
that gold and silver; but Minnikin answered that he had been home for
a short time, and that it was only the hoops which had fallen off some
pails, and that he had brought them away for the kitchen-maid.

When the third Thursday evening came, everything happened exactly as
it had happened on the two former occasions. Everything in the King's
palace was hung with black, and everyone was sorrowful and distressed;
but Ritter Red said that he did not think that they had much reason to
be afraid--he had delivered the King's daughter from two Trolls, so he
could easily deliver her from the third as well.

He led her down to the strand, but when the time drew near for the Troll
to come, he climbed up into the tree again and hid himself.

The Princess wept and entreated him to stay, but all to no purpose. He
stuck to his old speech, 'It is better that one life should be lost than
two.'

This evening also, Minnikin begged for leave to go down to the
sea-shore.

'Oh, what can you do there?' answered the kitchen-maid.

However, he begged until at last he got leave to go, but he was forced
to