“That would be jolly!” I cried.
“The half-moon pasture of Korbi is the end of your journey, where you will get rid of the third black hair, and be cured.”
“What?” I cried in astonishment.
“Yes, the third of the three black hairs in your head.”
I had forgotten all about them. Certainly this was a knowing old sorcerer.
The Old Man of Ice, the Laughing Nymph, and the Great Horned Owl
“I will tell you,” he went on, “what those three black hairs are. The one on the left side of your head is the Old Man of Ice, who lives in the Great Cave near the top of Thunder Mountain, in this very island. The one on the right side of your head is the Laughing Nymph who lives in the Three-Spire Rock on the farther shore of the Great Sea. The one in the middle of your head is the Great Horned Owl, whose feathers are scales so hard that no spear can pierce them, and who lives at the top of the cliff at the far side of the half-moon pasture of Korbi. You must not touch the Old Man of Ice. You must not laugh with the Laughing Nymph. And you must not speak when you see the Great Horned Owl.”
“I don’t like this very much,” said the Princess.
“Nonsense, my dear,” said I. “It sounds very exciting.”