The mother was very well pleased to get this money; for she was poor, and she could now buy herself something to eat.
Next day these two brothers again set out. The mother cried to her foolish son, ‘Go and fetch me some water.’ He [[157]]went out to get the water, laid down his pails beside the well, and went to the bush; he struck it thrice, and the fairy appeared to him. ‘What is thy will?’
‘I wish to have a horse of gold and golden garments.’
The fairy brought him a horse of gold, golden garments, and a sum of money. Off he set, and once more he overtook his brothers on the road. This time he did not dismount, but, cudgel in hand, he charged upon his brothers, beat them severely, and gave them ten ducats apiece. He then betook himself to the king. The nobles gazed admiringly on him, seated on his horse of gold, himself attired in a golden garb. With a single bound he reached the second story, and gave the princess a kiss. Well, they wished to detain him, but he sprang away, and fled like the wind, with the help of the good God. He came back to his bush, out of which the fairy issued, and asked him, ‘What wilt thou?’
‘Hide my horse and my clothes.’
He dressed himself in his wretched clothes, and went into the house again.
‘Where hast thou been?’ asked his mother.
‘I have been sitting in the sun, and (excuse me for saying it) I have been hunting lice in my shirt.’
She answered nothing, but gave him some food. He went and squatted down behind the stove in idiot fashion. The two wise brothers arrived. Their mother saw how severely they had been beaten, and she asked them, ‘Who has mauled you so terribly?’
‘It was that prince, mother.’