must bring her dead and living water, for she will have need of it.” George, not knowing where to turn for this water, went haphazard hither and thither, where his feet carried him, until he came to a black wood. “Oh! if my ravens were here, perhaps they could help me!” Here something rustled above his head, and where they came, there they came—two young ravens: “Why, here we are to help thee. What wouldst thou?” I have to bring dead and living water, and I do not know where to look for it.” “Just wait a little bit, we will bring it thee.” And after a short time each brought George a gourd full of water; in one gourd was dead water, in the other was living water. George was glad to have succeeded so well, and hastened to the castle. At the outskirts of the wood he saw stretched from pine to pine a spider’s web, in the middle of the spider’s web sat a big spider sucking a dead fly. George took the gourd with the dead water, spattered the spider with it, and the spider rolled to the ground like a ripe cherry. It was dead. After this he spattered the fly with the living water from the other gourd, and the fly began to stretch itself, scraped itself clean from the spider’s web, and hi! away into the air. “Lucky for thee, George, that thou hast resurrected me,” it buzzed past his ear, for without me thou hadst scarcely guessed which of the twelve is Golden Locks.”
When the king saw that George had also discovered the third thing, he said that he would give him his golden-haired daughter. “But,” says he, “thou must select her thyself.” Hereupon, he led him into a large hall; there in the middle was a round table, and round the table sat twelve beautiful maidens, one just like the other; but each had on her head a long whimple falling to the ground, white as snow, so that it was impossible to see what sort of hair each had. “Look, there are my daughters,” says the king. “If thou guessest which of them is Golden Locks, thou hast won her, and canst take her away with thee; but if thou dost not hit upon her, she is not decreed to thee; thou must go away without her.” George was in the greatest perplexity, he did not know how to begin. At that moment something whispered in his ear: “Buzz! buzz! walk round the table. I’ll tell thee which it is.” It was the fly that George had brought to life again with the living water. “It isn’t that girl—nor that one either—nor that—here, this is Golden Locks.” “Give me this daughter!” exclaimed George, “her I have deserved for my master.” “Thou hast guessed,” said the king, and
