ging on
the wall. The prince went to get it, but it was too heavy for him: he
could not even move it. Then the princess gave him a pail of water to
drink. She said that that was the water the monster always drank before
touching his sword. The prince drank the water, and then sat down on an
iron chair, and the chair broke. The princess now told him that he was
strong. Soon steps were heard on the stairs. Prince Alberto put on his
hat, and stood by the door, sword in hand. When the monster came up,
he thrust one of his heads through a window near the door, and said,
"I smell something human!" The prince cut off that head. "Somebody
must be here!" cried the monster; but the princess answered that there
was no one there with her. The prince then cut off the monster's heads
one after another until only the main one was left. The monster waved
his arms, but he could not grasp anything. At last he entered the
door. The prince cut off his last head, and he fell dead.

Inexpressible was the joy of the princess when she saw the monster
lying dead on the floor. She embraced the prince, and thanked him for
her deliverance. Then she told him how she happened to be there. When
the prince knew that she was one of the daughters of King Luis, he
said to her that she was the very one for whom he was looking. The
princess then told the prince about her two sisters, who were kept
prisoners in the same way. So Prince Alberto left her, saying that
he would go save her two sisters and then return.

He went outside and kicked the ground, and was brought before another
huge rock. He entered it, and another princess met him. After asking
him a few questions, she told him to go away, for the ten-headed
monster who was living with her would soon return. But the prince
said that he did not fear anything, and he told her to give him the
monster's sword. Before he could lift the sword he had to drink two
pails of water, which the princess gave him. Then he sat down on
an iron bed, and the bed broke in two, so he thought he was strong
enough. When the ten-headed monster came home, Alberto killed him
in the same way he had killed the other. The princess rejoiced, and
told the prince that he had saved her life. Then she embraced him and
thanked him. Her joy was increased when Alberto told her that he had
saved her younger sister. She begged him to save her eldest sister,
who was in the next rock. The prince answered that that was what he
had come for