He asked them in yet another language why they were so sorrowful. He was ready to sacrifice himself for the sake of her beauty. So they showed him the den in which the dragon dwelt, and he called out: “Well, come on, dragon; your meal is ready and waiting for you here.”
Now the rock began to shake; all the stones came rolling down, and the dragon flew out of the rock, his seven heads burning with flame, and he made straight for Hynek. Hynek began cutting at the seven heads until he was weary that he could not do any more. Then the horse began to crush the dragon, until after a while Hynek, being rested, took his sword, and at once he cut all the seven heads off.
He was so scorched by the fire that he could not run away, and he fainted on the spot. The people had seen what was happening, so they rode up and carried him away, lest he should perish of the dragon’s poison. They brought him and laid him in the princess’s lap. She gave him her ring and a golden neckchain, and so he recovered his senses and found himself lying in the princess’s lap. He was afraid that he had stayed too long, for he was supposed to be with the marshal by this time. They were all trying to hold him back from going, but he found an excuse and promised he would come back within three days. So at last they just had to let him go.
He returned to the castle, where he put everything back in its place again, except the sword, which he took with him and gave to the black man. The black man said to him: “You have succeeded now, and it will be well with both of us.”
So Hynek drove his sheep home rejoicing. He was playing the zither, and all the people gathered outside to listen to his rare and sweet music. He asked what had happened to the princess: had the dragon devoured her?
“Oh no! A knight delivered her, and the king is going to give her in marriage to him.”
“Alas! silly shepherd that I am, why did I not tackle him myself with my shepherd’s staff!”
But they all laughed at him: “You mind your sheep, that’s what befits you.”
In the royal castle the wedding-feast was ready. The sixth day had come and they were still waiting for him. But the bridegroom did not come and the princess was sad. On the sixth day he asked the marshal if he could go to the castle to play his zither to the princess; he would like to cheer her, since she was so sad.
“You may go, and, if you succeed, you shall make some extra money.”