They went home, and their mother gave them the coffee; and they poured it on the ground and went back to school.
The merchant came and asked, ‘Were they sick?’
She answered, ‘No.’
‘I will go to the town and buy apples; and do you entice [[97]]them into the cellar, and I will cut their throats, and take out head, heart, and claws, and eat them.’
The youngest brother said, ‘Let us go out into the world.’
‘Go! what for?’
‘Our father is meaning to kill us.’
They departed, and went into another kingdom. The emperor there was dead; and they took his crown and put it in the church; whosever head the crown falls on he shall be emperor. And men of all ranks came into the church; and the three boys came. And the eldest went before, and slipped into the church; and the crown floated on to his head.
‘We have a new emperor.’
They raised him shoulder-high,[19] and clad him in royal robes. A mandate is issued: There is a new emperor. The army came and bowed before the new emperor.