then they embraced each other， and John went into the town and walked to the palace.The GREat hall was full of people， and the judges sat in arm-chairs， with eider-down cushionsto rest their heads upon， because they had so much to think of. The old king stood near，wiping his eyes with his white pocket-handkerchief. When the princess entered， she lookedeven more beautiful than she had appeared the day before， and greeted every one presentmost gracefully; but to John she gave her hand， and said， “Good morning to you.”
Now came the time for John to guess what she was thinking of; and oh， how kindly shelooked at him as she spoke. But when he uttered the single word shoe， she turned as pale asa ghost; all her wisdom could not help her， for he had guessed rightly. Oh， how pleased theold king was! It was quite amusing to see how he capered about. All the people clapped theirhands， both on his account and John's， who had guessed rightly the first time. His fellow-traveller was glad also， when he heard how successful John had been. But John folded hishands， and thanked God， who， he felt quite sure， would help him again; and he knew hehad to guess twice more. The evening passed pleasantly like the one preceding. While Johnslept， his companion flew behind the princess to the mountain， and flogged her even harderthan before; this time he had taken two rods with him. No one saw him go in with her， andhe heard all that was said. The princess this time was to think of a glove， and he told John asif he had again heard it in a dream. The next day， therefore， he was able to guess correctlythe second time， and it caused GREat rejoicing at the palace. The whole court jumped aboutas they had seen the king do the day before， but the princess lay on the sofa， and would notsay a single word. All now depended upon John. If he only guessed rightly the third time， hewould marry the princess， and reign over the kingdom after the death of the old king： but ifhe failed， he would lose his life， and the magician would have his beautiful blue eyes. Thatevening John said his prayers and went to bed very early， and soon fell asleep calmly. But hiscompanion tied on his wings to his shoulders， took three rods， and， with his sword at hisside， flew to the palace. It was a very dark night， and so stormy that the tiles flew from theroofs of the houses， and the trees in the garden upon which the skeletons hung bentthemselves like reeds before the wind. The lightning FLASHed， and the thunder rolled in onelong-continued peal all night. The window of the castle opened， and the princess flew out. Shewas pale as death， but she laughed at the storm as if it were not bad enough. Her whitemantle fluttered in the wind like a large sail， and the traveller flogged her with the three rods tillthe blood trickled down， and at last she could scarcely fly; she contrived， however， toreach the mountain. “What a hail-storm!” she said， as she entered; “I have never been outin such weather as this.”
“Yes， there may be too much of a good thing sometimes，” said the magician.
then the princess told him that John had guessed rightly the second time， and if hesucceeded the next morning， he would win， and she could never come to the mountainagain， or practice magic as she had done， and therefore she was quite unhappy. “I will findout something for you to think of which he will never guess， unless he is a GREater conjurorthan myself. But now let us be merry.”
then he took the princess by both hands， and they danced with all the little goblins andJack-o'-lanterns in the room. The red spiders sprang here and there on the walls quite asmerrily， and the flowers of fire appeared as if they were throwing out sparks. The owl beat thedrum， the crickets whistled and the grasshoppers played the mouth-organ. It was a veryridiculous ball. After they had danced enough， the princess was obliged to go home， for fearshe should be missed at the palace. The magician offered to go with her， that they might becompany to each other on the way. Then they flew away through the bad weather， and thetraveller followed them， and broke his three rods across their shoulders. The magician hadnever been out in such a hail-storm as this. Just by the palace the magician stopped to wish theprincess farewell， and to whisper in her ear， “To-morrow think of my head.”
But the traveller heard it， and just as the princess slipped through the window into herbedroom， and the magician turned round to fly back to the mountain， he seized him by thelong black beard， and with his sabre cut off the wicked conjuror's head just behind theshoulders， so that he could not even see who it was. He threw the body into the sea to thefishes， and after dipping the head into the water， he tied it up in a silk handkerchief， took itwith him to the inn， and then went to bed. The next morning he gave John the handkerchief，and told him not to untie it till the princess asked him what she was thinking of. There were somany people in the GREat hall of the palace that they stood as thick as radishes tied together ina bundle. The council sat in their arm-chairs with the white cushions. The old king wore newrobes， and the golden crown and sceptre had been polished up so that he looked quitesmart. But the princess was very pale， and wore a black dress as if she were going to afuneral.
“What have I thought of?” asked the princess， of John. He immediately untied thehandkerchief， and was himself quite frightened when he saw the head of the ugly magician.Every one shuddered， for it was terrible to look at; but the princess sat like a statue， andcould not utter a single word. At length she rose and gave John her hand， for he had guessedrightly.
She looked at no one， but sighed deeply， and said， “You are my master now; thisevening our marriage must take place.”
“I am very pleased to hear it，” said the old king. “It is just what I wish.”
then all the people shouted “Hurrah.” The band played music in the streets， the bellsrang， and the cake-women took the black crape off the sugar-sticks. There was universal joy.Three oxen， stuffed with ducks and chickens， were roasted whole in the market-place，where every one might help himself to a slice. The fountains spouted forth the most deliciouswine， and whoever bought a penny loaf at the baker's received six large buns， full of raisins，as a present. In the evening the whole town was illuminated. The soldiers fired off cannons，and the boys let off crackers. There was eating and drinking， dancing and jumping everywhere.In the palace， the high-born gentlemen and beautiful ladies danced with each other， and theycould be heard at a GREat distance singing the following song：—
“Here are maidens， young and fair，Dancing in the summer air;Like two spinning-wheelsat play，Pretty maidens dance away- Dance the spring and summer through Till the sole fallsfrom your shoe.”