Then he shouted as loud and cheerfully as he could, “Good evening, my dear comrades! I have been a very long time in search of you!”
They received him well, saying, “Welcome! if thou art of our company!”
He answered, “I shall remain yours for ever, and would give my life for your sake!”
“Eh!” said they, “if you intend to be one of us, you know, you must also eat man’s flesh, and go out with us in search of prey?”
The king’s son answered, “Certainly; I shall do everything that you do!”
“Then come and sit with us!” cried the giants; and the whole company, sitting round the fire, took meat out of the kettle and began to eat. The king’s son pretended to eat, also, but instead of eating he always threw the meat behind him, and thus deceived them.
When they had eaten up the whole of the roasted meat the giants got up and said, “Let us now go to hunt, that we may have meat for to-morrow.” So they went away, all nine of them, the king’s son making the tenth. “Come along!” they said to him, “there is a city near in which a great king lives. We have been supplying ourselves with food from that city a great many years.” As they came near the city they pulled two tall pine-trees up by the roots, and carried them along with them. Having come to the city wall, they [[85]]reared one pine-tree up against it, and said to the king’s son, “Go up, now, to the top of the wall, so that we may be able to give you the other pine-tree, which you must take by the top and throw down into the city. Take care, however,” they said, “to keep the top of the tree in your hands, so that we can go down the stem of it into the city.” Thereupon the king’s son climbed up on the wall and then cried out to them, “I don’t know what to do; I am not acquainted with this place, and I don’t understand how to throw the tree over the wall; please one of you come up and show me what I must do.” Then one of the giants climbed up the tree placed against the wall, caught the top of the other pine-tree, and threw it over the wall, keeping the top all the time safe in his hand. Whilst he was thus standing, the king’s son drew his sword, struck him on the neck, and cut his head off, so that the giant fell down into the city.
Then he called to the other eight giants, “Your brother is in the city; come, one after the other, so that I can let you also down into the city!” And the giants, not knowing what had happened to the first one, climbed up one after the other, and thus the king’s son cut off their heads till he had killed all the nine.
After that, he himself slowly descended the pine-tree and went into the city, walking through all the streets, but there was not one living creature to be seen. The city seemed quite deserted. Then he said to himself, “Surely those giants have made this great devastation and carried all the people away.” [[86]]
After walking about a very long time, he came to a tall tower, and, looking up, he saw a light in one of the rooms. So he opened the door, and went up the steps, into the room. And what a beautiful room it was in which he had entered! It was decorated with gold and silk and velvet, and there was no one there except a girl lying on a couch sleeping. As soon as the king’s son entered, his eyes fell upon the girl, who was exceedingly beautiful. Just then he saw a large serpent coming down the wall, and it had stretched out its head and was ready to strike the girl on the forehead, between the eyes. So he drew his dagger very quickly, and nailed the snake’s head to the wall, exclaiming, “God grant that my dagger may not be taken out of the wall by any hand but my own!” and thereupon he hurried away, and passed over the city wall, climbing up and going down the pine-trees. When he got back to the cavern where the giants had been, he plucked a brand from the fire, and ran away very quickly to the spot where he had left his brothers, and found them still sleeping.