‘Did you see him, then?’ [[183]]
‘Yes, I saw him.’
‘Well, then, how was he able to escape you? You shall be killed.’
Then the queen and all the nobles entreated him. He pardoned this other son.
The king returned to his house.
Then the third brother, the fool, came to beg him that he would allow him to go and guard the golden apple-tree. ‘Father,’ said he, ‘it must be that I shall catch this thief.’
‘Go, then, fool that thou art,’ replied the king; ‘your wise brothers have kept watch, and could not take him; and you, what will you do, fool?’
‘Never mind, father, wise though my brothers may be, they knew not how to secure the thief. I, who am a fool, shall know better than they how to capture him.’
‘Very well; then, go. But you shall be put to death if you do not take him.’
‘Very well, father, I agree to it that you kill me; but if I do secure the thief, it is I who am to kill you.’