you must cut it, thresh it, and winnow it, so that you can
malt it and grind it. You must brew beer of this malt, and when I wake
to-morrow morning, you must bring me a jug of fresh beer for my morning
drink. Take care to follow my instructions exactly, or it might easily
cost you your life."

This time the prince was quite confounded, and on leaving the room, he
stood outside weeping bitterly, and said to himself, "This is my last
night, for no mortal can do this work, and the clever maiden's aid will
avail me no longer. O unhappy wretch that I am! why was I so thoughtless
as to leave the king's palace, and thrust myself into this danger! I
cannot even lament my unhappy lot to the stars in heaven, for here
there are neither stars nor sky. But yet God reigns over all."

He was still standing with the bag of barley in his hand when the
house-door opened and the kind maiden came out. She asked what troubled
him so much, and he replied, "Alas! my last hour has come, and we must
part for ever. I will tell you all before I die. I am the only son of a
great king, from whom I should inherit a mighty empire; but now all hope
and happiness are at an end." Then he told the maiden with tears of the
task the old man had laid upon him; but it pained him to see that she
did not seem to share his trouble. When he had finished his long story,
she smiled and said, "My dear prince, you may sleep quietly to-night,
and enjoy yourself all day to-morrow. Take my advice, and don't despise
it because I am only a poor servant-girl. Take this little key, which
unlocks the third hen-house, where the Old Boy keeps the spirits who
serve him.[114] Throw the bag of barley into the house, and repeat word
for word the commands that you have received from the master, and add,
'If you depart a hair's breadth from my instructions, you will all
perish together; but if you want help, the door of the seventh pen will
be open to-night, in which dwell the most powerful of the old man's
spirits.'"

The prince carried out all her instructions, and then lay down to sleep.
When he awoke in the morning and went to the beer tub, he found it full
of beer violently working, with the foam flowing over the edge. He
tasted the beer, filled a large jug with the foaming drink, and brought
it to his master, who was just getting up. But instead of the thanks
which he expected from him, the old man broke out in uncontrollable
fury, "That's not from yourself. I see you have