And you're to be, I plainly see,
The heir of all his land."

(Repeat the same inquiries to the man attending the swine and the man
attending the goats, with the same answer in each case.)

When he came to the place where the monstrous beasts were standing, he
did not stop nor run away, but went boldly through among them. One came
up roaring with open mouth to devour him, when he struck it with his
wand, and laid it in an instant dead at his feet. He soon came to the
Etin's castle, where he knocked, and was admitted. The auld woman that
sat by the fire warned him of the terrible Etin, and what had been the
fate of the twa brithers; but he was not to be daunted. The monster soon
came in, saying:

"Snouk but and snouk ben,
I find the smell of an earthly man;
Be he living, or be he dead,
His heart shall be kitchen to my bread."

He quickly espied the young man, and bade him come forth on the floor.
And then he put the three questions to him, but the young man had been
told everything by the good fairy, so he was able to answer all the
questions. When the Etin found this he knew that his power was gone. The
young man then took up the axe and hewed off the monster's three heads.
He next asked the old woman to show him where the King's daughters lay;
and the old woman took him upstairs and opened a great many doors, and
out of every door came a beautiful lady who had been imprisoned there by
the Etin; and ane o' the ladies was the King's daughter. She also took
him down into a low room, and there stood two stone pillars that he had
only to touch wi' his wand, when his two friends and neighbors started
into life. And the hale o' the prisoners were overjoyed at their
deliverance, which they all acknowledged to be owing to the prudent
young man. Next day they a' set out for the King's Court, and a gallant
company they made. And the King married his daughter to the young man
that had delivered her, and gave a noble's daughter to ilk ane o' the
other young men; and so they a' lived happily a' the rest o' their
days.(1)

(1) Chambers, Popular Traditions of Scotland.

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