mit, who sent him to an older one. He asked the youth
where he was going, and said: "It is a difficult task to get the
Singing Apple, but hear what you must do: Climb the mountain; beware
of the giants, the door, and the lions; then you will find a little
door and a pair of shears in it. If the shears are open, enter; if
closed, do not risk it." The youth continued his way, found the
palace, entered, and found everything favourable. When he saw the
shears open, he went in a room and saw a wonderful tree, on top of
which was an apple. He climbed up and tried to pick the apple, but the
top of the tree swayed now this way, now that. He waited until it was
still a moment, seized the branch, and picked the apple. He succeeded
in getting safely out of the palace, mounted his horse, and rode home,
and all the time he was carrying the apple it kept on singing.

The aunts were again delighted because their nephew was so long
absent; but when they saw him return, they felt as though the house
had fallen on them. Again they summoned the nurse, and again she
visited the young girl, and said: "See how beautiful they are, the
Dancing Water and the Singing Apple! But should you see the Speaking
Bird, there would be nothing left for you to see." "Very well," said
the young girl; "we will see whether my brother will get it for me."

When her brother came she asked him for the Speaking Bird, and he
promised to get it for her. He met, as usual on his journey, the first
hermit, who sent him to the second, who sent him on to a third one,
who said to him: "Climb the mountain and enter the palace. You will
find many statues. Then you will come to a garden, in the midst of
which is a fountain, and on the basin is the Speaking Bird. If it
should say anything to you, do not answer. Pick a feather from the
bird's wing, dip it into a jar you will find there, and anoint all the
statues. Keep your eyes open, and all will go well."

The youth already knew well the way, and soon was in the palace. He
found the garden and the bird, which, as soon as it saw him,
exclaimed: "What is the matter, noble sir; have you come for me? You
have missed it. Your aunts have sent you to your death, and you must
remain here. Your mother has been sent to the tread-mill." "My mother
in the tread-mill?" cried the youth, and scarcely were the words out
of his mouth when he became a statue like all the others.

Now when her brother did not come back the third time the s