t to the room where the young
girls were. There he resumed his shape, and the girls were astonished at
seeing a man appear so suddenly, and one of them said to him: "Take
care, there is a fairy here; if she finds you on her return she will
kill you." "Do not be troubled," he answered, "for I wish to see about
setting you all free." Then he went to the bed of the king's daughter
and asked her if she had some token to send her mother. She gave him a
ring, and the youth took it and went to the queen, told her where her
daughter was, and asked her to send some food to the poor girl. She did
so, and the youth retraced his steps, reached the palace, informed the
girls, and drew up the food with ropes. He then said to the girls: "When
the fairy returns, ask her what you shall do when she dies; thus you
will find out how to kill her." Then he hid himself, and when the fairy
returned the girls asked her the question; but she answered: "I shall
never die." They urged her to tell them, and the next day she took them
out on a terrace, and said: "Do you see that mountain far off there? On
that mountain is a tigress with seven heads. If you wish me to die, a
lion must fight that tigress and tear off all seven of her heads. In her
body is an egg, and if any one hits me with it in the middle of my
forehead I shall die; but if that egg falls into my hands the tigress
will come to life again, resume her seven heads, and I shall live."
"Good!" said the young girls; "certainly our mamma can never die." But
in their hearts they were discouraged. When the fairy had departed, the
youth came forth and they told him all. "Do not be disheartened," he
said, and straightway went to the princess' father, asked him for a
room, a pan of bread, a barrel of good wine, and a child seven years
old. He took all these things and shut himself up in the room, and said
to the child: "Do you want to see something, my child? I am going to
turn into a lion." Then he turned into a lion, and the child was afraid;
but the youth persuaded him that it was only himself after all, and the
child fed him, and was no longer frightened. As soon as he had
instructed the child, he took all the things and went to the mountain
where the tigress was. Then he filled the pan with bread and wine and
said to the child: "I am going to become a lion; when I return give me
something to eat." Then he became a lion, and went to fight the tigress.
Meanwhile the fairy returned home, saying: