and found the cow and the calf lying asleep near
together, and they slept so fast that they did not hear his approach.
But when he struck off the calf's head, the cow groaned very loud, as if
she had had a bad dream. He hastened to split the calf's skull with the
second blow, and lo! the whole stall suddenly became as light as if it
was day. The red reel fell out of the brain, and shone like a little
sun. The prince wrapped it carefully in a cloth, and hid it in his
bosom. It was fortunate that the cow did not wake, or she would have
begun to roar so loud that she might easily have roused her master too.

The prince found the maiden waiting for him at the gate with a small
bundle on her arm. "Where is the reel?" she whispered. "Here," replied
the prince, and gave it to her. "Now we must hasten our flight," said
she, and she unravelled a small part of the reel from the cloth that its
shining light might illuminate the darkness of the way like a lantern.
As the prince had expected, the peas had all sprung up, so that they
could not miss the way. The maiden then told the prince that she had
once overheard a conversation between the old man and his grandmother,
and had learned that she was a princess whom the Old Boy had stolen from
her parents by a trick. The prince knew the real state of the case
better, but kept silence, rejoicing inwardly that he had succeeded in
freeing the poor girl. The travellers must have gone a long way before
the day began to break.

The Old Boy did not wake till late In the morning, and rubbed the sleep
out of his eyes for a long time before he remembered that he was going
to devour the couple. After waiting for them a good while he said to
himself, "Perhaps they haven't quite finished their preparations for the
wedding." But at last he got tired of waiting so long, and shouted out,
"Ahoy, man and maid, what has become of you?" He repeated the cry
several times, shouting and cursing, but neither man nor maid appeared.
At last he scrambled out of bed in a rage, and went in search of the
defaulters. But he found the house empty, and discovered, too, that the
beds had not been slept in. Then he rushed into the stall, and when he
saw the calf slaughtered and the magic reel stolen, he comprehended all.
He cursed till everything was black, and opened the third spirit-house,
sending his messengers forth to seek the fugitives. "Bring me them just
as you find them, for I must have them," said the Old Boy