And she gave him the white mare, and away he went with her to try and find her. So the mare ran in among the sheep, and took and hid herself in the earth. And the lad arose and searched for the mare, and failed to light on her. And the wolf came into his mind; and he thought of him.
And the wolf came and asked him, ‘What’s the matter, lad?’
He said, ‘I can’t find the white mare.’
The wolf said, ‘Do you see this one, the biggest of the sheep? that is she. Go, and give her a taste of the stick.’
So the lad took and called her, and she became a horse. And he went with her to the old woman.
And the old woman said, ‘You have two more days.’
‘All right, old lady,’ said the lad.
So next day also he took and went off with the mare, to try and find her. (The old woman had thrashed the mare for not hiding herself properly, so that he could not have found her. And the white mare had said, ‘Forgive me, old woman. This time I will hide in the clouds, and he never will find me.’)
So the lad went off with her, to try and find her; and she went into the clouds. So the lad set to work, and searched from morning till noon. And the crow came into his mind; and, as he thought of it, the crow came and asked him, ‘What’s the matter, lad?’
‘Why, I have lost the white mare, and cannot light on her.’