possible, bring the thief to me that I may punish him
as he deserves.' His sons were delighted at this proposal, for they had
long wished to see something of the world, so they got ready for their
journey with all haste, bade their father farewell, and left the town.

The youngest Prince was much disappointed that he too was not sent out
on his travels; but his father wouldn't hear of his going, for he had
always been looked upon as the stupid one of the family, and the King
was afraid of something happening to him. But the Prince begged and
implored so long, that at last his father consented to let him go, and
furnished him with gold and silver as he had done his brothers. But
he gave him the most wretched horse in his stable, because the foolish
youth hadn't asked for a better. So he too set out on his journey to
secure the thief, amid the jeers and laughter of the whole court and
town.

His path led him first through a wood, and he hadn't gone very far when
he met a lean-looking wolf who stood still as he approached. The Prince
asked him if he were hungry, and when the wolf said he was, he got down
from his horse and said, 'If you are really as you say and look, you may
take my horse and eat it.'

The wolf didn't wait to have the offer repeated, but set to work, and
soon made an end of the poor beast. When the Prince saw how different
the wolf looked when he had finished his meal, he said to him, 'Now, my
friend, since you have eaten up my horse, and I have such a long way to
go, that, with the best will in the world, I couldn't manage it on foot,
the least you can do for me is to act as my horse and to take me on your
back.'

'Most certainly,' said the wolf, and, letting the Prince mount him,
he trotted gaily through the wood. After they had gone a little way
he turned round and asked his rider where he wanted to go to, and the
Prince proceeded to tell him the whole story of the golden apples that
had been stolen out of the King's garden, and how his other two brothers
had set forth with many followers to find the thief. When he had
finished his story, the wolf, who was in reality no wolf but a mighty
magician, said he thought he could tell him who the thief was, and
could help him to secure him. 'There lives,' he said, 'in a neighbouring
country, a mighty emperor who has a beautiful golden bird in a cage, and
this is the creature who steals the golden apples, but it flies so fast
that it is impossible to catch