to tell him that the
only way in which the old creature could be killed was with the sword
that hung up in the castle; but the sword was so heavy that no one
could lift it.

Then the youth went into a room in the castle where everything was
made of silver, and here he found another beautiful girl, the sister
of his bride. She was combing her silver hair, and every hair that
fell on the ground rang out like pure metal. The second girl handed
him the sword, but though he tried with all his strength he could not
lift it. At last a third sister came to him and gave him a drop of
something to drink, which she said would give him the needful
strength. He drank one drop, but still he could not lift the sword;
then he drank a second, and the sword began to move; but only after he
had drunk a third drop was he able to swing the sword over his head.

Then he hid himself in the castle and awaited the old witch's arrival.
At last as it was beginning to grow dark she appeared. She swooped
down upon a big apple-tree, and after shaking some golden apples from
it, she pounced down upon the earth. As soon as her feet touched the
ground she became transformed from a hawk into a woman. This was the
moment the youth was waiting for, and he swung his mighty sword in the
air with all his strength and the witch's head fell off, and her blood
spurted up on the walls.

Without fear of any further danger, he packed up all the treasures of
the castle into great chests, and gave his brothers a signal to pull
them up out of the abyss. First the treasures were attached to the
rope and then the three lovely girls. And now everything was up above
and only he himself remained below. But as he was a little suspicious
of his brothers, he fastened a heavy stone on to the rope and let them
pull it up. At first they heaved with a will, but when the stone was
half way up they let it drop suddenly, and it fell to the bottom
broken into a hundred pieces.

'So that's what would have happened to my bones had I trusted myself
to them,' said the youth sadly; and he began to cry bitterly, not
because of the treasures, but because of the lovely girl with her
swan-like neck and golden hair.

[Illustration: 'Then the Youth Swung his Mighty Sword in the Air, and
with One Blow Cut Off the Serpent's Head']

For a long time he wandered sadly all through the beautiful
underworld, and one day he met a magician who asked him the cause of
his tears. The youth told hi