“Farewell!” said the lad; and the maiden was drawn up.
The two brothers were amazed at the beauty of the youngest maiden.
“Lo! lo! lo!” they exclaimed, “he has preserved the most beautiful one for himself, and has given us the uglier ones.”
Thus envying their youngest brother, they took the three maidens and went away, leaving the poor lad at the bottom of the abyss.
On Friday evening the three rams came, as foretold by the fair maiden. The lad was so afflicted that he had forgotten the directions of the maiden, and his desire to go up to the surface of the world being very great, he threw himself upon the back of the white ram. It, in turn, threw him upon the back of the red; the red one threw him upon the back of the black; and it, in turn, threw him into the world of Darkness. Oh! it was awfully dark. The lad began to grope his way until he found a door, at which he knocked.
“Who is there?” asked an old woman from behind the door.
“I am a poor orphan without father, without mother,” answered the lad in a pitiful voice.
“Come in, then,” said the old dame, opening the door. “I have no children; you take me as a mother, and I will take you as a son; so let us live together. God will give us our bread.”
They accepted one another as mother and son.
“Mother, please give me some water, I am thirsty,” said the lad.