The mountains rumbled and the castle trembled and the prince knew that Yezibaba’s son was coming home.
“Phew! Phew! I smell human meat! I’ll eat it!” bellowed the mighty fellow. He stood in the doorway and banged the ground with his silver club until the whole castle shook.
“No, no, my son,” said Yezibaba, “don’t talk that way! A pretty little chap has come bringing you greetings from your brother of the Leaden Castle.”
“Well, if he’s been at the Leaden Castle and came to no harm, he’ll have nothing to fear from me either. Where is he?”
The prince slipped out from under the bed and stood before the ogre. Looking up at him was like looking at the top of the tallest pine tree.
“Well, little June bug, so you’ve been at my brother’s, eh?”
“Yes,” said the prince. “See, I still have the dumplings he gave me for the journey.”
“I believe you. Well, what do you want?”
“What do I want? I came to ask you whether you could tell me something about the Glass Hill and the Three Citrons.”
“H’m, it seems to me I used to hear something about them, but I forget. I tell you what you do: go to my brother of the Golden Castle and ask him. But wait! I can’t let you go away hungry. Hi, mother, bring out the dumplings!”