r tails,
tore them in two, and threw them out onto the cliffs above the lake.

When the imprisoned lady saw this, she heaved a deep sigh of relief and
spoke: "Now I believe that you will be able to liberate me. Draw this
ring from my finger!"

The knight obeyed and as he touched the lady's fingers, which were
slender and pointed, he felt his heart warm within him, and he would
gladly have kissed her. But he only withdrew the ring. As he forced it
onto the end of his own little finger the lady said to him: "Whenever
you turn it round you will be changed to a falcon; for you must know....
But woe to us! There, where the water is lashed into foam, is the
monster swimming towards us!"

She had hardly finished before a hideous creature drew itself out of the
lake. It looked as if it were covered with mouldering pumice-stone.
Two toads peeped from the cavities of the eyes, brown eel-grass hung
dripping and disordered over its neck and forehead, and in place of
teeth there were long iron spikes in its jaws which protruded and
crossed one another over its lips.

"A fine wooer, indeed!" thought the squire. "If the stone-clad fellow
should not possess a vulnerable spot somewhere on his body I shall
certainly lose my position!"

Similar thoughts passed through the knight's mind, and consequently he
did not attack it with his sword, but lifting a huge piece of granite
from the ground he hurled it at the monster's head. The creature only
sneezed, and passed its hand over its eyes as if to brush away a fly.
Then it looked round and, perceiving the knight, bellowed aloud, and
changed itself into a dragon spouting fire. Herr Wendelin rejoiced at
this, for his favourite pastime was to kill that sort of beast. He
had no sooner, however, plunged his good sword into a soft part of
the monster, and seen the blood flow from the wound, than his opponent
changed itself into a griffin, and raising itself from the ground
swooped upon him. His defence now became more difficult, as the evil
spirit continued to attack him in ever changing forms, but Sir Wendelin
was no coward, and knew well how to use his arm and sword. At length,
however, the knight began to feel that his strength was deserting him;
his sword seemed to grow heavier and heavier in his hand, and his legs
felt as if an hundredweight had been attached to them. His squire,
noting his fatigue, grew faint, and began to think the best thing for
him would be to ride off, for the figh