“Ah,” she answered, “this is not my form; human eyes can only see me in
this state of ugliness, but that thou mayst know what I am like, look
in the mirror it does not let itself be misled it will show thee my
image as it is in truth.” She gave him the mirror in his hand, and he
saw therein the likeness of the most beautiful maiden on earth, and
saw, too, how the tears were rolling down her cheeks with grief. Then
said he, “How canst thou be set free? I fear no danger.” She said, “He
who gets the crystal ball, and holds it before the enchanter, will
destroy his power with it, and I shall resume my true shape. Ah,” she
added, “so many have already gone to meet death for this, and thou art
so young; I grieve that thou shouldst encounter such great danger.”
“Nothing can keep me from doing it,” said he, “but tell me what I must
do.” “Thou shalt know everything,” said the King’s daughter; “when thou
descendest the mountain on which the castle stands, a wild bull will
stand below by a spring, and thou must fight with it, and if thou hast
the luck to kill it, a fiery bird will spring out of it, which bears in
its body a burning egg, and in the egg the crystal ball lies like a
yolk. The bird will not, however, let the egg fall until forced to do
so, and if it falls on the ground, it will flame up and burn everything
that is near, and melt even ice itself, and with it the crystal ball,
and then all thy trouble will have been in vain.”

The youth went down to the spring, where the bull snorted and bellowed
at him. After a long struggle he plunged his sword in the animal’s
body, and it fell down. Instantly a fiery bird arose from it, and was
about to fly away, but the young man’s brother, the eagle, who was
passing between the clouds, swooped down, hunted it away to the sea,
and struck it with his beak until, in its extremity, it let the egg
fall. The egg did not, however, fall into the sea, but on a fisherman’s
hut which stood on the shore and the hut began at once to smoke and was
about to break out in flames. Then arose in the sea waves as high as a
house, they streamed over the hut, and subdued the fire. The other
brother, the whale, had come swimming to them, and had driven the water
up on high. When the fire was extinguished, the youth sought for the
egg and happily found it; it was not yet melted, but the shell was
broken by being so suddenly cooled with the water, and he could take
out the crystal ball unhurt. When the youth went to the enchanter and held it before him, the latter
said, “My power is destroyed, and from this time forth thou art the
King of the Castle of the Golden Sun. With this canst thou likewise
give back to thy brothers their human form.” Then the youth hastened to
the King’s daughter, and when he entered the room, she was standing
there in the full splendour of her beauty, and joyfully they exchanged
rings with each other. 198 Maid Maleen

There was once a King who had a son who asked in marriage the daughter
of a mighty King; she was called Maid Maleen, and was very beautiful. As her father wished to give her to another, the prince was rejected;
but as they both loved each other with all their hearts, they would not
give each other up, and Maid Maleen said to her father, “I can and will
take no other for my husband.” Then the King flew into a passion, and
ordered a dark tower to be built, into which no ray of sunlight or
moonlight should enter. When it was finished, he said, “Therein shalt
thou be imprisoned for seven years, and then I will come and see if thy
perverse spirit is broken.” Meat and drink for the seven years were
carried into the tower, and then she and her waiting-woman were led
into it and walled up, and thus cut off from the sky and from the
earth. There they sat in the darkness, and knew not when day or night
began. The King’s son often went round and round the tower, and called
their names, but no sound from without pierced through the thick walls. What else could they do but lament and complain? Meanwhile the time
passed, and by the diminution of the food and drink they knew that the
seven years were coming to an end. They thought the moment of their
deliverance was come; but no stroke of the hammer was heard, no stone
fell out of the wall, and it seemed to Maid Maleen that her father had
forgotten her. As they only had food for a short time longer, and saw a
miserable death awaiting them, Maid Maleen said, “We must try our last
chance, and see if we can break through the wall.” She took the
bread-knife, and picked and bored at the mortar of a stone, and when
she was tired, the waiting-maid took her turn. With great labour they
succeeded in getting out one stone, and then a second, and a third, and
when three days were over the first ray of light fell on their
darkness, and at last the opening was so large that they could look
out. The sky was blue, and a fresh breeze played on their faces; but
how melancholy everything looked all around! Her father’s castle lay in
ruins, the town and the villages were, so far as could be seen,
destroyed by fire, the fields far and wide laid to waste, and no human
being was visible. When the opening in the wall was large enough for
them to slip through, the waiting-maid sprang down first, and then Maid
Maleen followed. But where were they to go? The enemy had ravaged the
whole kingdom, driven away the King, and slain all the inhabitants. They wandered forth to seek another country, but nowhere did they find
a shelter, or a human being to give them a mouthful of bread, and their
need was so great that they were forced to appease their hunger with
nettles. When, after long journeying, they came into another country,
they tried to get work everywhere; but wherever they knocked they were
turned away, and no one would have pity on them. At last they arrived
in a large city and went to the royal palace. There also they were
ordered to go away, but at last the cook said that they might stay in
the kitchen and be scullions. The son of the King in whose kingdom they were, was, however, the very
man who had been betrothed to Maid Maleen. His father had chosen
another bride for him, whose face was as ugly as her heart was wicked. The wedding was fixed, and the maiden had already arrived; but because
of her great ugliness, however, she shut herself in her room, and
allowed no one to see her, and Maid Maleen had to take her her meals
from the kitchen. When the day came for the bride and the bridegroom to
go to church, she was ashamed of her ugliness, and afraid that if she
showed herself in the streets, she would be mocked and laughed at by
the people. Then said she to Maid Maleen, “A great piece of luck has
befallen thee.