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 16 TEE GOLDEN BIRD.

the bird, and went home to the king their master, and said, " All this have we won by our exertions." Then there was great rejoicing made ; but the horse would not eat, the bird would not sing, and the princess wepi

The youngest son fell to the bottom of the river's l^ed : luckily it was nearly dry, but his bones were almost broken, and the bank was so steep that he could find no way to get out Then the old fox came once more, and scolded him for not following his advice ; otherwise no evil would have bofall^i him: "Yet," said he, "I cannot leave vou here, so lay hold of my tail and hold fast." Then he pulled him out of river, and said to him,' as he got upon the bank, " Your brothers have set watch to kill you, if they find yon in the kingdom." So he dressed himself as a poor man, and came secretly to the king's court, and was scarcely within the doors when the horse began to eat, and the bird to sing, and the princess left off weeping. He went straight to the Idng, and told him all his brothers' roguery; and they were seized and punished, and he had the princess given to him again ; and after the king's death he was heir to his kingdom.

A long while after, he went to walk one day in the wood, and the old fox met him, and besought him with tears in his eyes to kill him, and cut off his head and feet. And at last he did so, and in a moment the fox was changed into a man, and turned out to be the brother of the princess, who had been lost a great many many years.