‘Bah! I will.’ And he took a feather, and put it in his pocket.
And they mounted their horses and rode away, and went to a city. There was a great lord, a count; and he asked them, ‘Where are you going?’
‘We are going to service.’
‘Take service with me, then.’
And that lord was still unmarried. And they went to him, and he gave them each a place. One he set over the horses, and one he set over the oxen, and one he set over the swine; and Tropsyn he made coachman. Of a night Tropsyn stuck the feather in the wall, and it shone like a candle. And his brothers were angry, and went to their master. ‘Master, Tropsyn has a feather, such that one needs no candle—of gold.’
The master called: ‘Tropsyn, come here, bring me the feather.’
Tropsyn brought it, and gave it to his master. The master liked him better than ever, and the brothers went to the master, and said to him, ‘Master, Tropsyn has said that he’ll bring the bird alive.’
The master called Tropsyn. ‘Tropsyn, bring me the bird. If you don’t, I shall cut off your head.’
He went to his horse. ‘What am I to do, horse, for the master has told me to bring the bird?’
‘Fear not, Tropsyn; jump on my back.’