present most gracefully; but to Jean she gave her hand, and said, “Good
morning to you.”
Now came the time for Jean to guess what she was thinking of; and oh,
how kindly she looked at him as she spoke. But when he uttered the single
word shoe, she turned as pale as a ghost; all her wisdom could not help her,
for he had guessed rightly. Oh, how pleased the old king was! It was quite
amusing to see how he capered about. All the people clapped their hands,
both on his account and Jean’s, who had guessed rightly the first time. His
fellow-traveller was glad also, when he heard how successful Jean had
been. But Jean folded his hands, and thanked God, who, he felt quite sure,
would help him again; and he knew he had to guess twice more. The
evening passed pleasantly like the one preceding. While Jean slept, his
companion flew behind the princess to the mountain, and flogged her even
harder than before; this time he had taken two rods with him. No one saw
him go in with her, and he heard all that was said. The princess this time
was to think of a glove, and he told Jean as if he had again heard it in a
dream. The next day, therefore, he was able to guess correctly the second
time, and it caused great rejoicing at the palace. The whole court jumped
about as they had seen the king do the day before, but the princess lay on
the sofa, and would not say a single word. All now depended upon Jean. If
he only guessed rightly the third time, he would marry the princess, and
reign over the kingdom after the death of the old king: but if he failed, he
would lose his life, and the magician would have his beautiful blue eyes.
That evening Jean said his prayers and went to bed very early, and soon fell
asleep calmly. But his companion tied on his wings to his shoulders, took
three rods, and, with his sword at his side, flew to the palace. It was a very
dark night, and so stormy that the tiles flew from the roofs of the houses,
and the trees in the garden upon which the skeletons hung bent themselves
like reeds before the wind. The lightning flashed, and the thunder rolled in
one long-continued peal all night. The window of the castle opened, and the
princess flew out. She was pale as death, but she laughed at the storm as if it
were not bad enough. Her white mantle fluttered in the wind like a large
