The Beast Slayer

The young man put the three treasures in his saddle bag and went on his way. As soon as he was out of sight of the house he said to the boot, “O Boot, put me in the house of my eldest sister.”

Immediately the young man found himself in the most magnificent palace he had ever seen in his life. He asked to speak with his sister, but the queen of the palace replied that she had no brother and did not wish to be bothered with the stranger. It took much urging for the young man to gain permission from her to relate his story; but, when she had once heard it, everything sounded so logical that she decided to receive him as her brother. She asked how he had ever found her home, and how he had come through the thicket which surrounded her palace. The young man told her about his magic boot.

In the afternoon the queen suddenly burst into tears. Her brother asked what the trouble was. “O dear! O dear! What shall we do! What shall we do!” sobbed the queen. “My husband is King of the Fishes. When he comes home to dinner tonight he will be very angry to find a human in his palace.” The young man told her about his magic cap and comforted her fears.

Soon the King of Fishes arrived, accompanied by all his retinue. He came into the palace in a very bad temper, giving kicks and blows to everything which came in his way, and saying in a fierce, savage voice, “Lee, low, lee, leer, I smell the blood of a human, here. I smell the blood of a human, here.”

It took much persuasion on the part of the queen to get him to take a bath. After his bath he appeared in the form of a handsome man. He then ate his dinner, and when he had nearly finished the meal his wife said to him, “If you should see my brother here what would you do to him?”

“I would be kind to him, of course, just as I am to you,” responded the King of the Fishes. “If he is here let him appear.”

The young man then took off the magic cap by which he had hidden himself. The king treated him most kindly and courteously. He invited him to live for the rest of his life in the palace.