were hidden. He offered to show the place
himself, but Sharpeye begged the king not to let the thief out of the
cage, or he would become a moth again, and escape. They were obliged to
singe his hair many times before he would give up all the stolen
property; and at last, when all the golden apples had been recovered,
the thief was burned in the cage, and his ashes scattered to the winds.

There was great rejoicing when the three brothers returned home at the
end of the term agreed upon. Shortly afterwards, hearing that the
daughter of a rich king in the North was destined as the bride of any
one who could perform three wonderful feats, they set out to the court
of her father.

The first feat was to watch a swift reindeer cow for a whole day, and
bring her back to the stable at night; the second to bolt the palace
door in the evening; and the third was to shoot an arrow straight
through the middle of an apple, which a man, standing on the top of a
high hill, held in his mouth by the stalk.

The three brothers were so much alike that as each could accomplish one
of the feats only, they decided to personate the same man, which was not
difficult, when they trimmed their beards to exactly the same pattern.

Swiftfoot went first to the king, and the princess peeped at him through
the crack of the door, and fell in love with him, wishing she could
hobble the reindeer's feet that the handsome man might win her. However,
he found that he was easily a match for the reindeer, though she could
have run across the world in a single day. In the evening he brought the
cow back to her stable, and after supper returned to his brothers.

Next day, Quickhand dressed himself up like his brother, and went to the
court, where every one took him for Swiftfoot. The princess again peeped
at him, and wished she could drive away the witch from the palace door.
This witch was accustomed to change herself into the iron door bar, and
if any one climbed a ladder to close it, she would grasp his hand, and
set the folding doors swinging backwards and forwards till morning,
while the man swung helpless in her grasp. But Quickhand ordered an iron
hand to be made,[11] which he heated red hot, and mounting the ladder,
held it out to the witch, and shot the bolt at the moment that she
grasped it; and the door remained bolted till the king rose in the
morning. Quickhand spent that day with the king, and returned to his
brothers in the evening.

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