“You said, ‘for Heaven’s sake,’” replied the lad, “I will therefore tell you the truth; I have kidnaped you for the Invulnerable Giant; I have promised to deliver you to him.”
“Alas!” exclaimed the maiden. “May Heaven’s curse rest upon the Invulnerable! He could not get me for all the world. You do not reflect that it was by your skill and valor that you secured me. Woe be to frail womanhood! Maidens are the slaves of their hearts. For you, only for you, I eloped. If you reject me, here is the deep water, and here the high precipice; I would better be food for fishes and birds. May Heaven’s fire burn and consume the hard hearts of men!” So saying, she prepared to throw herself down the abyss into the deep water. The lad’s heart began to burn like a furnace, and he took hold of her, crying:
“Nay, dearest, do not harm yourself. It was because of the vow I made upon my soul that I am taking you to the Giant, and the day you become his wife I will put an end to my life with this sword, for without you life for me would be a curse.”
Then they exchanged vows that they would use every means to put a speedy end to the Invulnerable Giant, and then be married; because they could not marry without destroying the Giant. Thereupon, they mounted the horse and began to proceed toward the castle. The Giant, who from the tower of the castle was looking their way, seeing them at a distance, immediately came down and ran to meet them. He expressed his gratitude to the lad, and his excess of love to the maiden. He treated her with extreme kindness, fearing that he might hurt her tender feelings with his unpolished manners.
“Are you pleased with this place?” he asked her. “What do you want me to do in order to make you as happy as possible?”
“I am very well, thank you; you are everything for me,” said the maiden, suppressing her bitter hatred towards him. “But my parents consented to send me to you only under the condition that I should keep myself a virgin seven years longer. I have given an oath that I will do so; otherwise the love with which they have cherished me would turn into poison and defile my whole life. Do you accept this condition?”
“I do,” said the Giant. “As you are now in my hand, I am willing to wait not only seven years, but, if necessary, seven times seven years.”
They exchanged solemn vows, and decided that Bedik should live with them, and be the best man at their wedding. The maiden occupied one apartment of the castle, the youth and the Giant the other apartments, and so they lived for a time. But the lad and the maiden were uneasy. It was in vain to think of killing the Giant,—he was invulnerable. If they eloped he would certainly overtake them, and there was no escaping from his wrath. One day as the Giant was lying on the couch, with his head on the maiden’s lap, she said to him:
“In former times, how did you live alone, without any companions? And how is it that you are invulnerable, when so many arrows and swords are thrown at you? What is the secret of your immortality?”
At first the Giant refused to tell, but the maiden importuned him, saying: “If you will not inform me, then you do not love me. Tell me in plain words that you love me not, and I will cease to live.”