and the king was much pleased, and praised his son. When the evening came, the king’s youngest son took his place again under the apple-tree to keep guard over it. He again conversed as he had done the night before with the beautiful girl, and brought to his father, the next morning, two apples as before. But, after he had succeeded so well several nights, his two elder brothers grew envious because he had been able to do what they could not. At length they found an old woman, who promised to discover how the youngest brother had succeeded in saving the two apples. So, as the evening came, the old woman stole softly under the bed which stood under the apple-tree, and hid herself. And after a while came also the king’s son, and laid himself down as usual to sleep. When it was near midnight the nine peahens flew up as before, and eight of them settled on the branches, and the ninth stood by his bed, and turned into a most beautiful girl.
Then the old woman slowly took hold of one of the girl’s curls and cut it off, and the girl immediately rose up, changed again into a peahen, and flew away, and the other peahens followed her, and so they all disappeared. Then the king’s son jumped up, and cried out, “What is that?” and, looking under the bed, he saw the old woman, and drew her out.
Next morning he ordered her to be tied to a horse’s tail, and so torn to pieces. But the peahens never came back, so the king’s son was very sad for a long time, and wept at his loss. At length he determined to go and look after his peahen; resolving never to come back again unless he should find her. When he told the king his father of his intention, the king begged him not to go away, and told him that he would find him another beautiful girl, and that he might choose out of the whole kingdom.
But all the king’s persuasions were useless, so his son went into the world, taking only one servant to serve him to search everywhere for his peahen. After many travels
