“O my dear son! at last I have found thee! never again will I let thee go!”
“Follow me!” replied his son, who mounted his horse and rode away, his father following him on foot. Presently they came to a river which was frozen over, and in the ice was a hole.[464] And the youth rode straight into that hole, and in it both he and his horse disappeared. The old man lingered long beside the ice-hole, then he returned home and said to his wife:
“I have found our son, but it will be hard to get him back. Why, he lives in the water!”
Next night the youth’s mother went to the hut, but she succeeded no better than her husband had done.
So on the third night his young wife went to the hut and hid behind the stove. And when she heard the horseman enter she sprang forth, exclaiming:
“My darling dear, my life-long spouse! now will I never part from thee!”
“Follow me!” replied her husband.
And when they came to the edge of the ice-hole—
“If thou goest into the water, then will I follow after thee!” cried she.
“If so, take off thy cross,” he replied.