So no wonder the youth trembled and turned pale when he heard what lay
before him.

'You will succeed in this also,' whispered the Sister of the Sun,
pressing his hand, 'for in my ship is a magic sword which will cut
through everything. Go down to the river and unfasten a boat which
lies moored there, and throw the chips into the water. When the
serpent rears up its body you will cut off its three heads with one
blow of your sword. Then take the tip of each tongue and go with it
to-morrow morning into the king's kitchen. If the king himself should
enter, just say to him: "Here are three gifts I offer you in return
for the services you demanded of me!" and throw the tips of the
serpent's tongues at him, and hasten to the ship as fast as your legs
will carry you. But be sure you take great care never to look behind
you.'

The young man did exactly what the princess had told him. The three
chips which he flung into the river became a boat, and, as he steered
across the stream, the serpent put up its head and hissed loudly. The
youth had his sword ready, and in another second the three heads were
bobbing on the water. Guiding his boat till he was beside them, he
stooped down and snipped off the ends of the tongues, and then rowed
back to the other bank. Next morning he carried them into the royal
kitchen, and when the king entered, as was his custom, to see what he
was going to have for dinner, the bridegroom flung them in his face,
saying: 'Here is a gift for you in return for the services you asked
of me.' And, opening the kitchen door, he fled to the ship. Unluckily
he missed the way, and in his excitement ran backwards and forwards,
without knowing whither he was going. At last, in despair, he looked
round, and saw to his amazement that both the city and palace had
vanished completely. Then he turned his eyes in the other direction
and, far, far away, he caught sight of the ship with her sails spread,
and a fair wind behind her.

This dreadful spectacle seemed to take away his senses, and all day
long he wandered about, without knowing where he was going, till, in
the evening, he noticed some smoke from a little hut of turf near by.
He went straight up to it and cried: 'O mother, let me come in for
pity's sake!' The old woman who lived in the hut beckoned to him to
enter, and hardly was he inside when he cried again: 'O mother, can
you tell me anything of the Sister of the Sun?'

But the old woman only shook her