‘Yes, my uncle.’
‘And will you tell me what you see in there? Did you see the young lady?’
‘Yes, I saw her, and plenty other frightful things.’
‘Did you hear any snake biting you in my oldest brother’s bed?’
‘No, there were none there; I slept well.’ [[227]]
‘You won’t have to sleep in the same bed to-night. You will have to cut off my head in the morning.’
The young Prince had a good night’s rest, and changed all the appearance of the place by cutting his head off before he started in the morning, having a good breakfast, and supplying himself with a little brandy and a good lot of tobacco for the road before starting, for he had a very long way to go, and his horse had not the same speed as theirs had. A jolly shake-hands, and tells him it’s very probable that he shall see him again very soon when he will not be aware of it. This one’s mansion was very pretty, and the country around it beautiful, after having his head cut off. And off he goes, over hills, dales, valleys, and mountains, and very near losing his apples again. (I forgot to tell you that he give some to each of those brothers before leaving.)
At last he arrives at the cross-roads where he has to meet his brothers on the very day appointed. Coming up to the place, he sees no tracks of horses, and, being very tired, he lays himself down to sleep, by tying the horse to his leg,[9] and putting the apples under his head. When presently up comes the other brothers the same time to the minute, and found him fast asleep. And they would not waken him, but said one to another, ‘Let’s see what sort of apples he has got under his head.’ So they took and tasted them, and found they were different from theirs. They took and changed his apples for theirs, and hooked it off to London as fast as they could, and left the poor fellow sleeping.
After a while he awoke, and, seeing the tracks of other horses, he mounted and off with him, not thinking anything about the apples being changed. He had still a long way to go by himself, and by the time he got near London he could hear all the bells in the town ringing, but did not know what was the matter until he rode up to the palace, when he came to know that his father was recovered by his brothers’ apples. When he got there, his two brothers went off to some sports for a while. And the king was very glad to see his youngest son, and was very anxious to taste his apples. And when he found that they were not good, and thought that they were more for poisoning him, he sent [[228]]immediately for the head butcher to behead his youngest son; and was taken away there and then in a carriage. But instead of the butcher taking his head off, he took him to some forest not far from the town, because he had pity on him, and there left him to take his chance. When presently up comes a big hairy bear, limping upon three legs; and the Prince, poor fellow, climbed up a tree, frightened of him, and the bear telling him to come down, that it’s no use of him to stop there. With hard persuasion poor Jack comes down; and the bear speaks to him in Rómani, and bids him to ‘Come here to me; I will not do you any harm. It’s better for you to come with me and have some refreshments. I know that you are hungry all this time.’
The poor young Prince says, ‘No, I am not very hungry; but I was very frightened when I saw you coming to me first, when I had no place to run away from you.’