d my undertaking
succeed your trouble shall be richly repaid.'

Then the magician brewed a powerful potion out of nine sorts of herbs
which he had gathered himself all alone by moonlight, and he gave the
youth nine spoonfuls of it daily for three days, which made him able to
understand the language of birds.

At parting the magician said to him. 'If you ever find Solomon's ring
and get possession of it, then come back to me, that I may explain the
inscription on the ring to you, for there is no one else in the world
who can do this.'

From that time the youth never felt lonely as he walked along; he always
had company, because he understood the language of birds; and in this
way he learned many things which mere human knowledge could never have
taught him. But time went on, and he heard nothing about the ring. It
happened one evening, when he was hot and tired with walking, and had
sat down under a tree in a forest to eat his supper, that he saw two
gaily-plumaged birds, that were strange to him, sitting at the top of
the tree talking to one another about him. The first bird said:

'I know that wandering fool under the tree there, who has come so far
without finding what he seeks. He is trying to find King Solomon's lost
ring.'

The other bird answered, 'He will have to seek help from the
Witch-maiden,(3) who will doubtless be able to put him on the right
track. If she has not got the ring herself, she knows well enough who
has it.'

(3) Hollenmadchen.

'But where is he to find the Witch-maiden?' said the first bird. 'She
has no settled dwelling, but is here to-day and gone to-morrow. He might
as well try to catch the wind.'

The other replied, 'I do not know, certainly, where she is at present,
but in three nights from now she will come to the spring to wash her
face, as she does every month when the moon is full, in order that
she may never grow old nor wrinkled, but may always keep the bloom of
youth.'

'Well,' said the first bird, 'the spring is not far from here. Shall we
go and see how it is she does it?'

'Willingly, if you like,' said the other.

The youth immediately resolved to follow the birds to the spring, only
two things made him uneasy: first, lest he might be asleep when the
birds went, and secondly, lest he might lose sight of them, since he had
not wings to carry him along so swiftly. He was too tired to keep awake
all night, yet his anxiety prevented him from sleeping soundly, and whe