“You are very fair,” answered the old witch, “but I must read the stars.” So she went down into the lowest depths of the cañon, and in the bottom of a deep well she read the stars:—
“There were maidens fair at the prince’s ball,
But Golden Snow is fairer than all.”
“What does it mean?” asked the consul’s daughter, pale and trembling with emotion.
“I will tell you! Golden Snow is the Elixir of Beauty, and if you can obtain it, and wash in it, you will become the most enchanting maiden in the world.”
“Where shall I find it? I will give you any thing—any thing for this Elixir of Beauty.”
Then the witch told her, if she would promise to be her slave one day in every month, she would help her to procure the great treasure.
“I can buy the old woman off when I become the bride of the rich prince,” thought the young girl. So she promised, and the witch brought out a wrinkled yellow parchment, and wrote the contract. Piercing the maiden’s arm, she dipped the pen in the blood, and the consul’s daughter signed it with a trembling hand.
“That is good,” said the old witch, her red eyes glaring at the maiden. “Now you must go to the summit of the black mountain, just over the prince’s mine, and bring me a quart of the snow that has drifted round the roots of the blasted pine. All your gold and jewelry you must bring, and, at twelve o’clock to-morrow night, come to the cavern, and I will give you the Elixir of Beauty, the wonderful golden snow.”
The consul’s daughter took off all her jewelry, necklace, bracelets, and all the gold she had she gave to the old witch. Then she toiled up the steep mountain, and at last, weary and worn, returned with the snow from the roots of the blasted pine.