land. The
King's enemies had risen up against him and had come to take away his
land from him. But the King with his courtiers and his armed men rode
out to meet them and turn them back. The lad would have liked to ride
with them and strike a blow for the King, but the gardener would not
hear of it. Nevertheless the day the King and his army were ready to
set out the lad stole away to the stables and begged the stablemen to
give him a mount.

It seemed to the men that that would be a merry thing to do. He was
such a scarecrow they gave him a scarecrow horse. It was old and blind
of one eye and limped on three legs, dragging the fourth behind it.
The lad mounted and rode forth with all the rest, and when the
courtiers saw him they laughed and laughed until their sides ached.

They had not gone far before they had to cross a swamp, and midway
through it the nag stuck fast. There sat the lad, beating it and
shouting, "Hie! Hie! Now will you go? Hie! Hie! Now will you go?"
Every one went riding by, and as they passed him they pointed and
laughed and jeered.

After they had all gone the lad slipped from the nag's back and ran
off to the wood. He snatched off his wig and took his armor from the
hollow tree and shook the bridle. At once the black steed came
galloping up. The lad mounted him and rode off after the others. His
armor shone in the sun, and so handsome was he, and so noble his air
that any one would have taken him for a prince at least.

When he reached the battle ground he found the King sore pressed, but
he rode so fiercely against the enemy that they were obliged to fall
back, and the King's own forces won the day. Then the lad rode away so
quickly that no one knew what had become of him. The King was sorry,
for he wished to thank the brave hero who had fought for him.

But the lad rode back to the wood and hid his armor in a tree and
turned the black steed loose. Then he put on his wig and ran back and
mounted the sorry nag that was still stuck in the swamp where he had
left it.

When the King and his courtiers came riding back there sat the lad in
rags and a gray moss wig, and he was beating his horse and shouting,
"Hie! Hie! Now will you go?"

Then the courtiers laughed more than ever, and one of them threw a
clod at him.

The next day the King again rode forth to war with all his train.
There was the lad still seated on the nag in the swamp. "What a fool
he is," they cried. "He must have been sit