“But I am afraid that she will catch me,” said Jalmir.
“Fear not,” said the steed; “only do to a hair what I tell thee.” When he came to the ground in front of the castle, he said: “In the first chamber thou wilt see a beast with silver hair, tied with silver chains; in the second chamber a beast with golden hair and golden chains; in the third, one with pearl hair and pearl chains. Touch not any of these, or a blow will fall so that the whole castle will tremble, and the sorceress will seize thee to kill thee. But go to the fourth chamber; there seize an ugly dog that is tied with a ragged rope, and hurry to me.”
Somewhat timidly, but all the more carefully, did Jalmir pass the first, second, and third chamber, shading his eyes with his hands so the glitter of the silver, gold, and pearl might not blind him. When he entered the fourth chamber he broke the rope, seized the dog in his arms, rushed out, and swift as an arrow sprang on the horse, which rose in the air. And it was high time; for scarcely had he sat on the horse when the sorceress ran out after him. When she was unable to stop him, she cursed fearfully, and screamed: “But thou wilt come here again!”
When the steed had sprung over the boundary of the castle land, he said: “Now let the dog go.”
Jalmir obeyed at once, for he was sure the steed gave good counsel. When they came home, dawn was already appearing; still Jalmir lay on the bed, for he was greatly wearied. He did not sleep long, however; for barely had the dawn come when there was a noise in the castle, in the town, and outside the town, as if the earth were breaking. The king sprang in wonder to the window. But how astonished was he! Right in the garden he saw deer, stags, rabbits; on the trees squirrels; on the ground under the trees mice; in short, such myriads of beasts that his eyes danced. In the king’s garden it was pleasant for the beasts; but in the town and outside the town the people killed them, chased wildly after them, and threw stones at them. This displeased the king; and he issued an order that all beasts belonged to him, and that no man should dare to injure them. Then he went to Jalmir, thanked him cordially, and expressed his friendship with an ardent embrace.
The whole kingdom was pleased with the beasts, but Jalmir’s brothers were not pleased.
“What shall we do with him?” asked the eldest of the others. “Instead of getting rid of him we have brought him into still greater favor with the king.”
“But let us go and read again.”
“Yes, yes,” said a third; and all hurried off to the well-known room. They had read a long time when at last one cried out: “The king has no wine, and of course wine costs him money.”
“Then let Jalmir go for it,” answered the eldest, quietly; “and he must get luck from hell if he comes back.”