At noon came Marietta, to bring him his lunch, and found him in tears.
“What’s the matter, Antonuccio?”
“If you knew that I am to be killed this evening—”
“What for?”
“Your father has said that unless I clean out the stable, and pave and whitewash it to the echo—”
“Is that all? Sta allegro—be of good cheer—I’ll attend to that.”
Marietta went home, and stealing in on tip-toe while the sorcerer slept, softly carried away his magic wand, and with a few words cleaned out the stable to the echo, and Antonuccio was delighted.
In the evening the magician came, and finding the stable clean as a new pin, was much pleased, and kissed him and took him home. The witch-wife was furious at learning that the stable had been cleaned, and declared that Marietta had done it, and ended by screaming for his life. At last the wizard said:
“To-morrow I will set him another task, and should he fail in that, he shall surely die.”
The next morning he led the youth into a dense forest of mighty trees, and said: