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Odds and Ends #6 of 187

There was once an enchantress, who had three sons who loved each other... ...as brothers. the old woman did not trust them, and thought they wanted to steal her power from her. she changed the eldest into an eagle, which was forced to dwell in the rocky mountains, and was often seen flying in great circles in the sky. The second, she changed into a whale, which lived in the deep sea, and all that was seen of it was that it sometimes spouted up a great jet of water in the air. Each of them bore his human form for only two hours daily. The third son, who was afraid she might change him into a raging wild beast- a bear perhaps, or a wolf, went secretly away. He had heard that a king's daughter who was bewitched, was imprisoned in the castle of the golden sun, and was waiting to be set free. Those, however, who tried to free her risked their lives. Three-and-twenty youths had already died a miserable death, and now only one other might make the attempt, after which no more must come. he saw in a forest two giants, who were quarreling about a cap, and which of them it belonged to, and as they were equally strong, neither of them could get the better of the other. IT TURNED OUT THEY WERE FIGHING OVER A WISHING CAP. THE YOUTH EXPLAINED TO THEM... Give me the cap. I will go a short distance off, and when I call you, you must run a race, and the cap shall belong to the one who gets first to me. He put it on and went away, thINKING of the king's daughter, AND forgETTING the giants. SUDENLY, he was standing on a high mountain before the gate of the castle. Are you the king's daughter, whose beauty the whole world praises? he found the king's daughter. But WAS shocked when he saw her. She had an ashen-gray face full of wrinkles, bleary eyes, and GREY hair. She gave him the mirror in his hand, and he saw therein the likeness of the most beautiful maiden on earth, and saw, too, how the tears were rolling down her cheeks with grief. he who gets the crystal ball, and holds it before the enchanter, will destroy his power with it, and I shall resume my true shape. this is not my form, human eyes can only see me in this state of ugliness, but that you may know what I am like, look in the mirror. it will show you my TRUE image. HE descendED the mountain on which the castle stOOD, AND FACED a wild bull MAN standING below by a spring, AND KILLED it. a fiery bird sprAng out, bearINGa red-hot egg CONTAINING the crystal ball. the young man's brother, the eagle, who was passing between the clouds, swooped down, hunted it away to the sea, and struck it with his beak until, in its extremity, it let the egg fall. . The egg, however, did not fall into the sea, but on a fisherman's hut which stood on the shore and the hut began at once to smoke and was about to break out in flames. Then arose in the sea waves as high as a house, which streamed over the hut, and subdued the fire. The other brother, the whale, had come swimming to them, and had driven the water up on high. the shell was broken and the crystal ball unhurt. the youth went to the enchanter and held it before him, thE power WAs destroyed, and THE YOUTH BECAME the king of the castle of the golden sun. HE gAve back to THE brothers their human form, RESTORED THE PRINCESS' beauty, and joyfully they LIVED HAPPILY EVER AFTER... ...UNTIL THE GIANTS CAME LOOKIN' FOR THEIR HAT!