d-still, not able to advance a step into the thick tangle. So there
was nothing for the magician to do but to retrace his steps, to fetch an
axe, with which he cut himself a way through the wood. But it took
him some time, during which the prince and the black horse got on well
ahead.

But once more they heard the sound of pursuing feet. 'Look back,' said
the black horse, 'and see if he is following.'

'Yes,' answered the prince, 'this time I hear him distinctly.

'Let us hurry on,' said the horse. And a little later he said: 'Look
back now, and see if he is in sight.'

'Yes,' said the prince, turning round, 'I see the flame; he is close
behind us.'

'Then you must throw down the whip,' answered the horse.' And in the
twinkling of an eye the whip was changed into a broad river. When the
old man got up to it he urged the roan horse into the water, but as the
water mounted higher and higher, the magic flame which gave the magician
all his power grew smaller and smaller, till, with a fizz, it went out,
and the old man and the roan horse sank in the river and disappeared.
When the prince looked round they were no longer to be seen.

'Now,' said the horse, 'you may dismount; there is nothing more to fear,
for the magician is dead. Beside that brook you will find a willow wand.
Gather it, and strike the earth with it, and it will open and you will
see a door at your feet.'

When the prince had struck the earth with the wand a door appeared, and
opened into a large vaulted stone hall.

'Lead me into that hall,' said the horse, 'I will stay there; but you
must go through the fields till you reach a garden, in the midst of
which is a king's palace. When you get there you must ask to be taken
into the king's service. Good-bye, and don't forget me.'

So they parted; but first the horse made the prince promise not to let
anyone in the palace see his golden hair. So he bound a scarf round
it, like a turban, and the prince set out through the fields, till he
reached a beautiful garden, and beyond the garden he saw the walls and
towers of a stately palace. At the garden gate he met the gardener, who
asked him what he wanted.

'I want to take service with the king,' replied the prince.

'Well, you may stay and work under me in the garden,' said the man; for
as the prince was dressed like a poor man, he could not tell that he was
a king's son. 'I need someone to weed the ground and to sweep the dead
leaves from the paths. Y