It was very quickly known among the inhabitants of the town that another suitor hadarrived for the princess， and there was GREat sorrow in consequence. The theatre remainedclosed， the women who sold sweetmeats tied crape round the sugar-sticks， and the king andthe priests were on their knees in the church. There was a great lamentation， for no oneexpected John to succeed better than those who had been suitors before.
In the evening John's comrade prepared a large bowl of punch， and said， “Now let us bemerry， and drink to the health of the princess.” But after drinking two glasses， John becameso sleepy， that he could not keep his eyes open， and fell fast asleep. Then his fellow-travellerlifted him gently out of his chair， and laid him on the bed; and as soon as it was quite dark，he took the two large wings which he had cut from the dead swan， and tied them firmly to hisown shoulders. Then he put into his pocket the largest of the three rods which he had obtainedfrom the old woman who had fallen and broken her leg. After this he opened the window， andflew away over the town， straight towards the palace， and seated himself in a corner， underthe window which looked into the bedroom of the princess.
the town was perfectly still when the clocks struck a quarter to twelve. Presently the windowopened， and the princess， who had large black wings to her shoulders， and a long whitemantle， flew away over the city towards a high mountain. The fellow-traveller， who had madehimself invisible， so that she could not possibly see him， flew after her through the air， andwhipped the princess with his rod， so that the blood came whenever he struck her. Ah， it wasa strange flight through the air! The wind caught her mantle， so that it spread out on allsides， like the large sail of a ship， and the moon shone through it. “How it hails， to besure!” said the princess， at each blow she received from the rod; and it served her right tobe whipped.
At last she reached the side of the mountain，and knocked. The mountain opened with a noise likethe roll of thunder， and the princess went in. Thetraveller followed her; no one could see him， as hehad made himself invisible. They went through along， wide passage. A thousand gleaming spidersran here and there on the walls， causing them toglitter as if they were illuminated with fire. They nextentered a large hall built of silver and gold. Large redand blue flowers shone on the walls， looking likesunflowers in size， but no one could dare to pluckthem， for the stems were hideous poisonous snakes， and the flowers were flames of fire，darting out of their jaws. Shining glow-worms covered the ceiling， and sky-blue bats flappedtheir transparent wings. Altogether the place had a frightful appearance. In the middle of thefloor stood a throne supported by four skeleton horses， whose harness had been made byfiery-red spiders. The throne itself was made of milk-white glass， and the cushions were littleblack mice， each biting the other's tail. Over it hung a canopy of rose-colored spider's webs，spotted with the prettiest little GREen flies， which sparkled like precious stones. On thethrone sat an old magician with a crown on his ugly head， and a sceptre in his hand. He kissedthe princess on the forehead， seated her by his side on the splendid throne， and then themusic commenced. Great black grasshoppers played the mouth organ， and the owl struckherself on the body instead of a drum. It was altogether a ridiculous concert. Little blackgoblins with false lights in their caps danced about the hall; but no one could see thetraveller， and he had placed himself just behind the throne where he could see and heareverything. The courtiers who came in afterwards looked noble and grand; but any one withcommon sense could see what they really were， only broomsticks， with cabbages for heads.The magician had given them life， and dressed them in embroidered robes. It answered verywell， as they were only wanted for show. After there had been a little dancing， the princesstold the magician that she had a new suitor， and asked him what she could think of for thesuitor to guess when he came to the castle the next morning.
“Listen to what I say，” said the magician， “you must choose something very easy， he isless likely to guess it then. Think of one of your shoes， he will never imagine it is that. Thencut his head off; and mind you do not forget to bring his eyes with you to-morrow night，that I may eat them.”
the princess curtsied low， and said she would not forget the eyes.
the magician then opened the mountain and she flew home again， but the travellerfollowed and flogged her so much with the rod， that she sighed quite deeply about the heavyhail-storm， and made as much haste as she could to get back to her bedroom through thewindow. The traveller then returned to the inn where John still slept， took off his wings andlaid down on the bed， for he was very tired. Early in the morning John awoke， and when hisfellow-traveller got up， he said that he had a very wonderful dream about the princess and hershoe， he therefore advised John to ask her if she had not thought of her shoe. Of course thetraveller knew this from what the magician in the mountain had said.
“I may as well say that as anything，” said John. “Perhaps your dream may come true; stillI will say farewell， for if I guess wrong I shall never see you again.”