But the Prince would not give up the quest, so he asked a wolf that he met next where the cave was located in the woods.
The wolf ran away, saying: “You better go home. That cave will bring only harm to any one who finds it.”
The Prince was not to be frightened and on he went, and an owl was the next one he saw. “Where is the cave the old witch lives in?” he asked.
“Hoot! hoot!” said the owl, flapping his wings. “Be off, man, while there is time. Don’t go near that cave if you value your life,” and off flew the owl, leaving the Prince no wiser than before.
After going deep into the woods—in fact, he was at the very center and did not know it—the Prince stood still and listened.
A sound reached his ear which seemed like the clatter of horses’ hoofs, and the Prince went in the direction from which the sound came.
All at once he found himself in front of the cave for which he had searched so long, and, looking in, he saw the old witch prancing about in the craziest manner.
She would climb the side of her cave with as much ease as she could walk across the floor, and then, giving a spring, she would walk on the top of the cave, her head hanging down toward the floor.
While the Prince was looking and wondering at this strange performance he noticed something shining on her feet, and when he looked closer, to his surprise he saw that the witch had on her feet silver horseshoes. Then he knew what his black horse had said was worth listening to—he was to get the shoes the old witch was wearing.
But then he thought: “She has on only two; I must have four. I wonder where are the other two.”