s the old man had told them, and underneath they
found a big stone slab, which it took all their strength to turn over.
They then began to measure how deep it was; they joined on ropes both
two and three times, but they were no nearer the bottom the last time
than the first. At last they had to join all the ropes they had, both
the coarse and fine, and then they found it reached the bottom.

The captain was, of course, the first who wanted to descend; "But when
I tug at the rope you must make haste to drag me up again," he said.
He found the way both dark and unpleasant, but he thought he would go
on as long as it became no worse. But all at once he felt ice cold
water spouting about his ears; he became frightened to death and began
tugging at the rope.

The lieutenant was the next to try, but it fared no better with him.
No sooner had he got through the flood of water than he saw a blazing
fire yawning beneath him, which so frightened him that he also turned
back.

The soldier then got into the bucket, and down he went through fire
and water, right on till he came to the bottom, where it was so pitch
dark that he could not see his hand before him. He dared not let go
the basket, but went round in a circle, feeling and fumbling about
him. At last he discovered a gleam of light far, far away like the
dawn of day, and he went on in that direction.

When he had gone a bit it began to grow light around him, and before
long he saw a golden sun rising in the sky and everything around him
became as bright and beautiful as if in a fairy world.

First he came to some cattle, which were so fat that their hides
glistened a long way off, and when he had got past them he came to a
fine, big palace. He walked through many rooms without meeting
anybody. At last he heard the hum of a spinning wheel, and when he
entered the room he found the eldest _Princess_ sitting there spinning
copper yarn; the room and everything in it was of brightly polished
copper.

"Oh, dear; oh, dear! what are Christian people doing here?" said the
_Princess_. "Heaven preserve you! what do you want?"

"I want to set you free and get you out of the mountain," said the
soldier.

"Pray do not stay. If the troll comes home he will put an end to you
at once; he has three heads," said she.

"I do not care if he has four," said the soldier. "I am here, and here
I shall remain."

"Well, if you will be so headstrong, I must see if I can help you,"
said th