but the room was empty.
The beast had fled with the giant princess.

Once more the young man made use of his magic boot and soon was by the
side of the princess. The beast had hidden her in a cave by the sea
and had gone away in search of food. The giant princess was delighted
to find her husband whom she had never expected to see again and
wanted to hasten away from the cave with him at once.

"You have got yourself into this affair," said her husband. "I can get
you out again, I think, but I believe that it is your duty to at least
make an effort to take the beast's life. Perhaps when he comes back to
the cave you can extract from him the secret of his charmed life."

The princess awaited the return of the beast. Then she asked him to
tell her the secret of his charmed life. The beast was very much
flattered to have the giant princess so interested in him, and he told
it to her at once. He never thought of a plot. This is what he said:
"My life is in the sea. In the sea there is a chest. In the chest
there is a stone. In the stone there is a pigeon. In the pigeon there
is an egg. In the egg there is a candle. At the moment when that
candle is extinguished I die."

All this time the prince had remained there, hiding under his magic
cap. He heard every word the beast said. As soon as the beast had gone
to sleep the prince stood on the seashore and said: "Help me, O King
of the Fishes," as he took out the scale which his brother-in-law had
given him. Immediately there appeared a great multitude of fishes
asking what he wished them to do. He asked them to get the chest from
the depths of the sea. They replied that they had never seen such a
chest, but that probably the sword-fish would know about it.

They hastened to call the sword-fish and he came at once. He said that
he had seen the chest only a moment before. All the fishes went with
him to get it, and they soon brought the chest out of the sea. The
prince opened the chest easily with the aid of his magic key, and
inside he found a stone.

Then the prince pulled the piece of wool which his second
brother-in-law had given him and said, "Help me, O King of the Rams."
Immediately there appeared a great drove of rams, running to the
seashore from all directions. They attacked the stone, giving it
mighty blows with their hard heads and horns. Soon they broke open the
stone, and from out of it there flew a pigeon.

The beast now awoke from his sleep and knew that h