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 She disguised him as an old village piper and give him a pair of bagpipes.

“Go to the castle,” she told him, “and play on these pipes. When they offer to reward you, ask for the heart that hangs by a string from the ceiling.”

So Vitazko took the bagpipes and went to the castle. He played under the castle windows and his mother looked out and beckoned him in.

He went inside and played and Sharkan and his mother danced to his music. They danced and danced until they could dance no longer.

Then they gave the old piper food and drink and offered him golden money.

But Vitazko said:

“Nay, what use has an old man for gold?”

“What then can I give you?” the woman asked.

Vitazko looked slowly about the chamber as an old man would.

“Give me that heart,” he said, “that hangs from the ceiling. That’s all I want.”

So they gave him the heart and Vitazko thanked them and departed.

He carried the heart to Nedyelka who washed it at once in the Water of Death and the Water of