“At twelve o’clock sharp,” said the goat.
The comrade once more put on his Three-Sisters Hat, and waited until the princess came with the horn of ointment and anointed the goat. Then she repeated what she had already said: “Up, up! over gable and tower, over land and sea, over hill and dale, to my dearest who waits for me in the hill!” And when the goat arose, the comrade swung himself up in back, and off they were like lightning through the air. Soon they had reached the troll-hill, and when she had knocked thrice they passed through the interior of the hill till they met the troll who was her dearest.
“What manner of care did you take of the golden shears I gave you yesterday, my friend?” asked the princess. “The suitor had them, and he gave them back to me.”
That was quite impossible, said the troll, for he had locked them up in a chest with three locks, and had thrust the key into his hollow tooth. But when they had unlocked the chest and looked, there were no shears there. Then the princess told him that she had now given him her ball of golden twine.
“Here it is,” said she. “I took it away from him again without his having noticed it; but what are we to do if he is a master of such arts?”
The troll could not think of anything to suggest; but after they had reflected a while they hit on the idea of lighting a great fire, and burning the ball of gold twine, for then the suitor could surely not regain it. Yet when she threw it into the flames, the comrade leaped forward and caught it, without being seen, for he was wearing the Three-Sisters Hat. After the princess had stayed a little while she returned home, and again the comrade sat up behind, and the trip home was swiftly and safely made. When the youth was asked to the king’s table, the comrade gave him the ball. The princess was still more sharp and disdainful in her remarks than before, and after they had eaten she pinched her lips, and said: “Would it not be possible for me to get my ball of gold twine again, which I gave you yesterday?”
“Yes,” said the youth, “you can have it; there it is!” and he flung it on the table with such a thud that the king leaped up in the air with fright.
The princess grew as pale as a corpse; but she made the best of a bad bargain, and said that he had done well. Now there was only one more little test for him to undergo. “If you can bring me what I am thinking about by to-morrow noon, then you may have me and keep me.”
The youth felt as though he had been condemned to death; for it seemed altogether impossible for him to know of what the princess was thinking, and still more impossible to bring her the thing in question. And when he came to his room his comrade could scarcely quiet him. He said he would take the matter in hand, as he had done on the other occasions, and at last the youth grew calmer, and lay down to sleep. In the meantime the comrade went to the smith, and had him weld an additional twenty-four pounds of iron on his sword. When this had been done, he went to the stable, and gave the goat such a smashing blow between the horns that he flew to the other side of the wall.
“At what time does the princess ride to her dearest to-night?” said he.