s
wife. After the ceremony he went back to his sheep, but he did not
live with his wife; he left her at the palace.

It was not many months after the king had been cured when the queen
fell ill. As before, it was proclaimed that any one who could cure her
would receive one of her daughters in marriage. Two princes presented
themselves, and promised to get the lion's milk that was needed to
make the queen well. After they had started on their search, they
came to the dwelling of Pugut-Negru, whom they forced to accompany
them. Pugut-Negru pretended to be lame, and so he could not keep
up with them. As he was so slow, they mercilessly threw him into a
bush of thorns and left him there. But he said to his magical whip,
"Build me at once, along the road in which the two princes will pass,
a splendid palace; and let lions, leopards, and other animals be about
it." No sooner was the order given than the palace was built, and
Pugut-Negru was in it, attired like a king. When the two princes came
up, they said to him, "May we have some of your lion's milk?"--"Yes,
on one condition I will give you the milk: you must let me brand
you with my name." Although this condition was very bitter to them,
they agreed. Then they hastened back to present the milk to the queen,
who at once married them to her two older daughters. Pugut-Negru went
back to his old life as shepherd.

Not long after this event the Moors declared war on the Christians. The
king's country was invaded, and the Christians were about to
be disastrously defeated, when a strange knight with a magic
whip (Pugut-Negru) appeared on the field and put the Saracens to
flight. This knight wounded himself in his left arm so that he might
receive the attention of the princess. The king's youngest daughter
(Pugut-Negru's own wife) dressed his wound without recognizing her
husband. After the battle was over, the knight said to the king,
"Do you know where my brother Pugut-Negru lives?" But the king was
ashamed at the way he had treated Pugut-Negru, so he denied all
knowledge of him. Although the king pressed the strange knight to
come to the palace, he refused. He hastened back to his sheep, and
donned his disguise once more.

One day the youngest princess, the wife of Don Fernando, went
stealthily to the hut of Pugut-Negru. She found him undisguised,
and at once recognized her handkerchief with which she had tied
the strange knight's wound. She embraced her husband with joy,