One day the false bride said to the Prince, “I wish you would have Falada’s head cut off. I am weary of him, and besides he stumbles when I ride him.” But really she feared Falada might speak and tell all he had seen.
The Prince was shocked. “Why should you kill a horse that is so beautiful and gentle?” he asked.
“Because, as I tell you, I do not like him,” answered the waiting-maid. “Besides the horse is mine, and I can do as I like with him. If you refuse to have this done I shall know very well that it is because you do not love me.”
The Prince dared refuse no longer. He sent for a man and had Falada’s head cut off.
When the true Princess heard this she wept bitterly. She sent for the man and offered him a piece of gold if he would bring Falada’s head and nail it up over the gateway through which she passed every morning.
The man was anxious to have the gold. He took the money and nailed Falada’s head up over the gateway where the Princess wished it put.
The next morning as the Princess and Conrad drove the geese out to pasture she looked up at Falada and said:
“Ah, Falada, that thou shouldst hang there!”
And Falada answered: