w she should
coax Steelpacha to tell her the secret of his strength. Then he betook
himself to some place of safety.

When Steelpacha came home the Princess beset him with questions. "In
heaven's name, do tell me wherein your strength lies!"

Steelpacha answered, "My pretty wife, my strength lies in my sword."

Then the Princess prayed to the sword as if to God. At sight of this
Steelpacha burst into a mocking laugh and said to her, "Oh, you simple
woman! my strength lies not in my sword but in my arrow."

Therefore she fell upon her knees before the arrow and began to pray
to it. Then Steelpacha said, "My wife, some one must have well taught
you how to coax from me the secret of my strength. If your husband
were alive I should say it was he who had taught you."

But she swore by body and soul that no one had taught her, no one had
been there.

After several days her husband came again, and she told him that thus
far it had been impossible to learn from Steelpacha wherein his
strength lay. But the Prince answered, "Try again," and went away.

When Steelpacha came home she asked him anew wherein his strength lay.
Upon which he answered her, "Since I see that you have a high respect
for my strength, I will confess the truth about it."

Then he told her: "Far from here is a mountain-peak. On this
mountain-peak lives a Fox. The Fox has a heart in which a bird is
concealed; this bird holds my strength. But that Fox is very hard to
catch, for he has many transformations."

The next day, when Steelpacha was away from home, the Prince came
again to his wife to learn what he had told her. She repeated
everything carefully, and the Prince went straight away to his
brothers-in-law with the much-longed-for news. They received it with
joy, and at once set out with the Prince to go to that mountain-peak.

Arrived there, they set the eagles upon the Fox, which immediately
took refuge in a lake and there changed himself into a gull with six
wings. But the falcons gave battle to the gull and drove him thence.
He flew high amid the clouds, the falcons ever following. In a trice
the gull changed himself into a fox again and tried to escape into the
earth; but, falling into the power of the eagles and all the rest of
the mighty host, he was surrounded and taken prisoner.

Then the emperors commanded that the Fox should be cut open and his
heart taken out. A fire was kindled, the heart cut open, and the bird
taken out and cast