show thee what
thou seekest." His words made me sorrowful and fearful of myself, which
the man perceived, and added, "If thou meanest truly what thou sayest,
and desirest earnestly to prove thy valour, and not to boast vainly that
none can overcome thee, I have somewhat to show thee. But to-night thou
must sleep in the this castle, and in the morning see that thou rise
early and follow the road upwards through the valley, until thou
reachest a wood. In the wood is a path branching to the right; go along
this path until thou comest to a space of grass with a mound in the
middle of it. On the top of the mound stands a black man, larger than
any two white men; his eye is in the centre of his forehead and he has
only one foot. He carries a club of iron, and two white men could hardly
lift it. Around him graze a thousand beasts, all of different kinds, for
he is the guardian of that wood, and it is he who will tell thee which
way to go in order to find the adventure thou art in quest of."

'So spake the man, and long did that night seem to me, and before dawn
I rose and put on my armour, and mounted my horse and rode on till I
reached the grassy space of which he had told me. There was the black
man on top of the mound, as he had said, and in truth he was mightier
in all ways than I had thought him to be. As for the club, Kai, it would
have been a burden for four of our warriors. He waited for me to speak,
and I asked him what power he held over the beasts that thronged so
close about him.

'"I will show thee, little man," he answered, and with his club he
struck a stag on the head till he brayed loudly. And at his braying the
animals came running, numerous as the stars in the sky, so that scarce
was I able to stand among them. Serpents were there also, and dragons,
and beasts of strange shapes, with horns in places where never saw I
horns before. And the black man only looked at them and bade them go
and feed. And they bowed themselves before him, as vassals before their
lord.

'"Now, little man, I have answered thy question and showed thee my
power," said he. "Is there anything else thou wouldest know?" Then I
inquired of him my way, but he grew angry, and, as I perceived, would
fain have hindered me; but at the last, after I had told him who I was,
his anger passed from him.

'"Take that path," said he, "that leads to the head of this grassy
glade, and go up the wood till thou reachest the top. There thou wilt
find a