“No man,” answered Mirko.
“Well, my dear son, if no man told thee, thou art wise; but if some man told thee, he does not wish thee harm. I will tell thee where to find the horn; the rust has eaten it up, perhaps, by this time. In the seventh cellar it is enclosed in the wall; look for it, take it out, and make use of it if thou art able.”
Mirko called a mason, went with him to the seventh cellar, found the hollow place in the wall, took out the horn, and carried it away. Then standing on the square before the palace, he sounded towards the east, the west, the south, and the north, and having waited a little, behold! he hears the golden horse bells ringing so that the whole city is full of the sound. The steeds came in, one more beautiful than the other in appearance and in breed. At a distance he saw the shaggy-haired, crooked-legged mare; and when she came to the gate, as true as I live, she struck the pillars with her tail so that the whole palace trembled.
When the steeds had stopped in the court-yard, Mirko went up to the mare, led her away to the stable, and then said that he had taken her to try his fortune. The magic mare answered: “That is well, my lord king’s son; but first thou must feed me, for without that it will be hard to endure the long road.”
“What kind of food dost thou wish?—for whatever my father has, I will give thee with a good heart.”
“Very well, kind master; but a steed must be fed before starting, not while on the road.”
“I know not what I can do,” said Mirko, “except to give what I have with a good heart.”
“Bring me straightway a measure of peas, and turn them into the manger.”
Mirko obeyed, and when the peas were eaten, he brought a measure of beans; when these were eaten the mare turned to Mirko and said: “Now bring me half a measure of glowing coals.”
The coals were brought; and when she had eaten the glowing coals, she became such a golden-haired steed as the Star of Dawn, and spoke further to Mirko. “Go now, my master, to the king, and ask of him that saddle which he used when he coursed the meadow with me in his youth.”