Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review. Volume 26, 1915.djvu/327

 Collectanea. 3 1 7

The Boy jumped on to the Horse's back, did as he was told, and in the twinkHng of an eye they were near the forest.

" Master," said the Horse again, " this is the time th^t the Wild Beasts are fed ; they are all assembled in one place. Let us cross."

"Yes, let us cross!" answered the Boy, "and may Luck be with us ! "

They flew up into the air, and they saw the castle far away below them, glittering so brightly that you could have looked at the sun, but not at it. They flew over the forest and wanted to get down by the castle. But in doing this, they touched the top of a tree, they hardly touched it, and yet all of a sudden the whole forest became alive with endless howlings and roarings. They hurried to get down, but had the Lady of the Castle not been there to defend them, they would surely have been torn to pieces by the Wild Beasts. She saved them, however, and she saved them because she had never seen human beings before. The Beasts were sent back, each to his place, and then the Lady turned towards the Boy. She was a Fairy, tall and slight and graceful and pretty. Oh, very pretty !

The Boy looked at her in amazement ; but she, looking at him pitifully, said :

"What are you looking for in this place? Why did you come here?"

" I am looking for Youth free from Age and Life free from Death," replied our Boy.

" If you are looking for that, then you have found it," said the Lady.

Upon this, the Boy jumped down from his Horse, and entered the Castle.

There he found the Lady's two sisters, both of them young and beautiful. They were all so pleased that he had come, that they prepared a magnificent feast for him. The Horse was allowed to feed wherever he pleased, and they were both introduced to the Wild Beasts of the forest, so that they should be able to wander about in peace.

The Ladies asked him to live from now on with them, for, they said, they found it rather sad living all alone. He didn't wait to