One Sunday, on her way to church, a woman found a little boy of about two in the forest. The boy was bitterly crying with hunger and he was not able to say how he had got into the forest. But the fine clothes he had on testified to his noble birth.

The woman picked the boy up in her arms and carried him home. She gave him something to eat, and hurried back to the church hoping she might learn something about the boy's origin there. Although that very Sunday and the following one the news of the foundling was made known in all the neighbouring churches, no parents or relatives came to claim the boy. The woman talked the matter over with her husband and they decided to bring up the boy in their own family. The boy seemed to be a smart child and, granted that God gave him good health and a long life, he might grow into a fine lad and be great joy to his foster-parents. The old couple had already six children of their own and the foster-son was to be the seventh mouth to be fed. But as God's blessing went with their crops and cattle, the family was never short of anything and all its members were decently dressed and well nourished.

When the boy had grown into a young man he said to his foster-parents one day, "I am most grateful to you for all your kindness but time has come for me to go into the wide world. If by a lucky chance I can find some work where I can earn more than I need for my bare necessities I will repay the pains you have taken in bringing me up. I know that no amount of money can really pay for the-love you have lavished upon me and for that I'll remain in debt to you to the end of my days." So saying he bid farewell to his foster-parents, slung his food-bag over his shoulder and set out.

He had been travelling south for some days, when he came to a thick forest. Reaching the edge of the forest he heard loud groans coming from somewhere. He stopped and listened hard for some time before he could make out from which direction the groaning was coming, and then went on towards it. Soon he came upon a wounded old man who was lying under a thick bush. The old man's head and eyes were covered with blood and there was blood spattered on the grass and moss around him too. The old man's eyes were closed acid his heavy breathing and groaning were the only signs that there was still life in him.

The young man hastened to look for some water. Not far off he found a small spring from which clear cold water was trickling. He filled his hat with water and took it to the old man to quench his thirst and invigorate him a little. Greedily the old man took a few big gulps, but then he began choking with cough and fainted in the arms of his young helper. The young man hoisted the old man on to his back and carried him to the spring. At the spring he kept sprinkling cold water on the old man's head until the latter gradually began coming to. Then the young man used his neckerchief to bandage the old man's battered head. Having cleaned his face, hair and clothes from blood, he gathered some moss and made a soft bed for him to rest on.

Almost instantly the old man fell asleep and rested for over half a day. All the while the young man remained sitting at his side, fanning with a leafy twig to keep off the flies. At last the old man opened one eye a little, took a thankful glance at his helper and said, "From all my heart I thank you for your kind help. I'm afraid I can't repay your good deed because I have been robbed of everything I had, and am as poor as a church mouse now. But if we happen to meet again some day I hope I shall be able to repay your kindness. Still I can see that your food-bag might not last you as long as your journey. Here, take the only thing the robbers have left on me, a jar of salted fish."

For a while the young man objected to this and refused to accept the offer as he thought the old man might badly need it himself. But after some arguing he had to give in as the old man grew impatient and irritated with his stubbornness. Tucking the jar into the young man's bag, he said, "My home is not far away from here, but a traveller has many a mile to cover."

After that he set out for home and the young man could but wonder at the swiftness of his pace. The farther the old man got, the swifter his pace became until he was gliding along like a bird and in a short while he was out of the young man's sight altogether.

As the young man had been resting from his walk for more than half a day he walked well into evening before he stopped for the night. When he sat down to have his supper, his loaf of bread seemed to have grown bigger since the morning and it tasted a lot sweeter as well. The jar he had received as a gift was full of freshly salted fish which tasted delicious. When in the morning he began to take his breakfast, he, found the jar full of butter, and at dinner-time he was surprised to find good pork in it. "God bless the generous giver!" exclaimed the young man. "What with this jar of plenty, from now on my journey will be easy!"

One day when the young man sat down by the roadside to rest his weary feet, he noticed a small red dog running towards him across the open fields. The dog ran straight up to the young man, wagged his tail and licked his hands. Now and then the dog took hold of his coat and gave it a pull as if asking him to stand up and follow him. The young man watched the dog's behaviour for a while, then got to his feet. The dog displayed great joy: he raced a few times around him and then seized his coat flap, quite determined to make the young man follow him. The young man understood his silent request and so followed the dog across the field to a forest about half a mile off. The dog made short stops from time to time to make sure the young man was still close behind.

In the forest he found a young woman tied fast to the trunk of a pine. The poor thing had nothing else on but a chemise of fine cloth. Without delay the young man unfastened the ropes that held her to the tree. She told him her sad story of how some highwaymen had robbed her of everything and then roped her to the tree.

"I have nothing else for you to wear," said the young man, "but my coat. It will cover you until we can find you some more suitable garments."

The maiden thankfully wrapped herself in the young man's coat and they continued their way together. The little red dog ran ahead, leading the way. By evening they came to stop in the ruins of an old castle as there was no better shelter around. Great was their surprise when they found that the ruins sheltered another wayfarer.

The young man opened his food-bag and invited the other two to share his meal. When the three of them had had their fill, the stranger, a skilled blacksmith, said that he was going to the king's city. He had heard that blacksmiths were in great demand there, and he hoped to find a good job. The maiden said that she was the daughter of a noble landlord. She had been on her way to visit her aunt when highwaymen had fallen upon her coach, and robbed her of everything she had on her, tied her to a tree, and then made off with the coach and horses.

Then the company held counsel as to how they might be able to obtain some clothing in which the maiden could present herself before people. As they had not a penny in their pockets they wondered anxiously whether they would find someone who might be willing to lend her some clothes. Before turning in, the young man noticed that the little red dog was gone. He turned to the maiden and asked after the dog. The maiden stared at him in wild wonderment and replied, "I haven't seen your dog since we came here!" Now it was the young man's turn to be puzzled. He had to explain to the maiden how the dog had led him to the forest. He had had every ground to think that it was the maiden's dog.

Next morning the young man and the blacksmith went to try their luck and see whether they could borrow some clothes for the maiden. By noon they were both back empty-handed. When night came all three of them went to sleep heavy-hearted: all their plans had ended up in smoke. In her sleep the maiden found some consolation in a pleasant dream. She dreamed of a kind small old man who promised her clothes and money if the men in her company were courageous enough to tackle a tough task the following day. The walls of the old castle were said to rest upon cellars in which a great treasure had been hidden. But before the men could lay their hands on the treasure they would have to grapple with watchmen who guarded it.

In the morning the maiden told the men about her dream. It had been so vivid that she thought to have seen the little old man standing at her side when she woke up. Without delay the men went in search of the cellar. In a short while they found it but they were not able to enter it because it was pitch-dark inside and they could not see the ground they were treading on. Fortunately they found a tarry log lying amid the rubble of sand and lime. They split it into two and set out in search of the promised fortune by torch-light.

After walking a while along a narrow tunnel they came to an iron door. It was so tightly closed that all their efforts to push or prize it open failed. The men returned downcast to recount their dismal failure. Even the heaviest blows of the blacksmith's big hammer had no effect on the door, it seemed as if it was made of solid rock.

Then it happened that when they were having their dinner, a little old man came up to them and asked to be allowed to share their meal. His request was willingly granted. After the meal the old man said, "I want to have a quiet word with the maiden, not meant for other ears." The maiden recognized him as the little man of her dream, and there was no fear in her heart when she withdrew from the company of her friends.

When they had found a solitary place in the ruins, the old man said, "You will not be able to prize the door open before you kill three toads and with their blood make crosses on the door. When the door is open, the men must be bold and overpower the guards watching the treasure. This will be a tough fight, but the reward will be worth-while. That is all I can tell you, more I may not."

Returning to her friends the maiden told them what she had learnt from the old man. Immediately the men went to look for the toads. It did not take long to find three toads around the damp walls of the ruins. The blacksmith took his heavy hammer, the young man seized a cudgel of oak, and so armed to face any foe, they set out again, determined to get to the treasure.

As soon as the crosses were made on the door with the blood of the toads, it burst open and the men could freely enter the cellar that looked as large as a church in the dim light. The very instant a big, ferociously barking black dog charged the young man and was about to take a good snap at his thigh when the blacksmith promptly brandished his hammer and hit the dog on the head so that no second blow was necessary.

Soon after, another black dog rushed at them, bigger than the first one; this one had two heads and four eyes. The blacksmith, at his first blow, knocked off one of the heads but the dog kept on attacking them even more furiously. Then the blacksmith, summoning all his might, brought the hammer down on the back of the dog's other head, and the vicious beast fell down at his feet.

Then out dashed a third, enormous black dog with three heads and six eyes. The blacksmith knocked off one of the heads, some time later another, but then the dog bolted whining and was soon out of sight.

Hardly had the dog disappeared when the dark cellar was flooded with dazzling light as if several dozens of candles had been lit though neither candles nor lamps were to be seen anywhere.

While the men were staring in wonderment at the unexpected light, a young woman entered the room. She was more beautiful than the loveliest of flowers. She was wearing a white robe of silk and round her neck there were golden necklaces as thick as a man's finger. She kindly held out her hand and said, "I thank you from the bottom of my heart for having broken the bonds of the evil spell imposed upon me by a wicked witch."

Then another maiden appeared. She was as beautiful as the first one, and she likewise thanked the men.

The maidens threw their arms round each other and wept for joy. They said they were daughters of a rich king, and told the men how their stepmother, with the help of a witch, had changed them into dogs and imprisoned them in the cellar. Thus the elder sister had been turned into a dog with one head and the younger one into a dog with two heads and made to guard the treasure. The bonds of the spell could not be broken before a human being should kill the dogs. The maidens said that the treasure containing cartfuls of gold and silver was kept in the witch's vault, but they warned the men that the door was guarded by a bear made strong by witchcraft. The men asked the maidens to show them the way to the vault.

They were brave enough to tackle the dangerous task and had it all planned out: the young man would push the cudgel into the bear's eye, while the blacksmith would attack him from behind and pound him on the head with his hammer. The task proved harder than they had expected. The struggle went on for about an hour. Both men were badly scratched and bleeding but they got the upper hand of the bear in the end.

The bear fell with a terrible crash as if the very ground had cracked under their feet. The black wall came crumbling down and the men's eyes came to rest upon treasure chests full of gold and silver coins. There were heaps of silver brooches and beads in such amounts that they alone might have made up many a cartload. A young man, well dressed, came out from behind the chests, greeted and thanked the men for breaking the spell. He was a king's son, changed into a bear to guard the witch's fortune.

The king's son said, "Lord in heaven be thanked for having guided you here. The old witch in the shape of a dog with three heads has no power over us any more as two of her heads, which held most of the magic, have been knocked off. Now we shall share the fortune among ourselves. There is plenty for every one of us."

The king's daughters gave plenty of clothes to the landlord's daughter so that she might dress herself decently; then they started to divide the fortune, which took them more than a week.

When they had completed the job, the little old man appeared again, and he was overjoyed to hear how well it all had come off. Then he said, "Now I may disclose the secrets that up to now have been kept hidden."

"You are," he turned to the young man, "also a son of a king like the others here. As you were the only child in the family you were stolen from the court of your parents by cruel and wicked people who in such a way hoped to become the rulers of your father's kingdom after his death. I have been your guardian since your birth. I took good care to see to it that no harm came your way when you lived on the peasant farm. Although you never saw me, I was at your side day and night. When you later on went travelling I wanted to test your heart. I turned myself into the wounded man whom you helped in the forest. I gave you a jar of salted fish that never became empty. Then in the dog's shape I took you to the maiden who had been robbed, and then to the ruins of the castle here, where you were to find your fortune. Now, young men, you have fortune more than enough. Each of you find yourself a wife after your own heart."

Then the king's son who had been changed into a bear took one of the princesses to be his wife. The king's son who had been brought up by the poor peasants wooed the other one. The daughter of the rich landlord gave her hand and heart to the blacksmith for ever.

And the king's son remembered his kind foster-parents and sent half of his fortune to them who became immensely rich and left a great wealth to their own children and grandchildren.

Jason Ladock

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