lean finger, and offering it to him said, "Now go, for your first task, and scoop out the water from the fish-pond outside with this thimble. All the fish, also, that are in the water must be laid together, according to their size and species, and the work must be finished by night."

"That is a strange task!" said the drummer. However, he went out to the pond and commenced his work.

He scooped industriously for the whole morning; but how can a man empty so large a quantity of water with only a thimble? Why, it would take a thousand years.

When noontide came he thought to himself, “All I am doing is quite useless; it will be just the same whether I work or not." So he gave it So he gave it up and seated himself.

Presently he saw a young maiden coming toward him from the house. She had a basket in her hand, containing some dinner for him, and she said, "Why are you sitting here and looking so sad? What is the matter?"

He looked up at her and saw that she was very handsome. "Ah!" he exclaimed, "I cannot perform the first task which has been given me, and how shall I succeed with the other two? I have come to seek for a king's daughter who dwells here, but I have not found her, so I may as well go away."

"No; stay here," she replied; "I will help you out of your trouble. You are tired now, so lay your head in my lap and go to sleep. When you awake again your work will be done."

The drummer did not require to be told twice, and as soon as his eyes were closed the maiden turned

a wish-ring on her finger, and said, "Water, rise; fish, come out."

In a moment the water rose in the air like a white mist and floated away to the clouds above the mountain, while the fish came springing and jumping onto the bank and laid themselves down near each other, each according to its size and species. When the drummer awoke, he saw with astonishment that all had been done for him.

"It is not quite right now," said the maiden; "one of the fish is lying away from its own species, quite alone. When the old woman comes this evening to see if all is done as she desired, she will ask why that little fish is left out. Then throw it in her face, and say, "That is left for you, old witch!'"

In the evening she came, and when she asked the question as the maiden had said she would, he threw the fish in her face and repeated the words he had been told to. The old woman stood still and appeared not to notice what he had done, but she looked at him with malicious eyes.

The next morning she said to him, "The task I gave you yesterday was too easy; you must have something more difficult to-day. I expect you, therefore, to cut down all the trees of the forest behind this house, to split them into logs and to stack them; and when evening comes, all must be finished."

She gave him an ax, a chopper, and a wedge. But the ax was made of lead, and the chopper and wedge were of tin, so that when he began his work the ax stuck fast in the wood, and the chopper and wedge struck one against the other and became useless.

He knew not what to do; but at noon the maiden

came again with his dinner and comforted him. "Lay your head in my lap," said she, "and sleep, and when you awake the work will be done."

While he slept she turned the wish-ring on her finger, and in a moment the forest trees fell together with a crash. The wood divided itself into logs and stacked itself in piles; it was as if an invisible giant had accomplished the task. When the drummer awoke the maiden said:

"You see how all the wood is cut down and stacked, except one little bough. When the old woman comes this evening and asks what the bough is left there for, you must give her a blow with it and say, 'It is for you, old witch.'"

The old woman came, and when she saw the work all done she said, “Ah, it was an easy task I gave you; but what is that bough left there for?"

"For you, old witch," he replied, giving her a blow with it. But she appeared not to feel it, laughed scornfully, and said, "To-morrow you shall place all this wood in a heap, set fire to it, and burn it."

He was at the forest at daybreak, and began his work of gathering the wood into a heap; but how was it possible for one man to carry trees of a whole forest into one spot? The work went backward, not forward. The maiden, however, did not forget him in his trouble; she brought him his midday meal, and when he had eaten, made him lay his head in her lap and sleep. When he awoke the whole stack of wood was burning in one vast flame, the tongues of which reached to the clouds. "Listen, now," said the maiden; "when the witch comes she will give you all sorts of orders. If you perform courageously whatever she desires, she cannot injure you

or take your life. But if you show any fear she will put you in the fire, and you will be consumed. At last, when you have done all she tells you, take her up with both hands and throw her into the flames."

Then the maiden went away, and presently the witch came sneaking up.

"Ha!" she exclaimed. "I am so cold, and here is a fire to warm my old bones and do me good; but there lies a log that will not burn; just fetch it out for me. If you can do that you are free to go where you will. Now be brisk, and do as I tell you.'

The drummer did not hesitate long; he sprang into the flames, but they did him no harm, and not even a hair of his head was singed as he drew out the log and placed it before her. Scarcely, however, had it touched the ground when it was transformed, and the beautiful maiden who had helped him in his trouble stood before him, the silk and goldembroidered clothes she wore proving at once that she was a king's daughter. The old witch laughed spitefully, and said:

"You think you are going to have the princess, but you shan't; I will take care of that;" and she advanced to lay hold of the maiden and carry her away. But the drummer started forward, seized the old witch with both hands, and threw her into the midst of the flames, which gathered over her as if in joy at being able to consume a witch.

The king's daughter looked earnestly at the drummer and saw that he was really a handsome youth; she remembered, moreover, that he had saved her life and set her free from the witch's spell. So she held out her hand to him, and said:

"You have risked everything for me, therefore I will now do something for you. Promise to be true to me, then shall you be my spouse. I have plenty of riches and possessions which the old witch had accumulated."

She led him into the house and showed him chests and boxes which were full of treasures. They left the gold and silver, took only the precious stones, and prepared to leave the mountain of glass. Then the drummer said to her, "Seat yourself with me on my saddle, and we can fly through the air like birds." "The old saddle is useless to me," she said; "I only require to turn my wish-ring over, and we are at home."

"All right!" he cried; "then let us wish ourselves at the gate of my native city."

In a trice they were there, and the drummer said, "I will first go and see my parents and tell them all the news; wait here for me in this field; I shall soon return."

"Ah," said the king's daughter, "let me beg of you to be careful when you reach home; remember to kiss your parents only on the left cheek, otherwise you will forget me and all that has happened, and I shall be left behind in the field alone.'

"How can I ever forget you?" he said, and pledged her with his right hand to return to her very soon.

When he reached his father's house no one knew who he was, he had so changed; for the three days which he had, as he supposed, spent on the mountains, had been really three long years. At last his parents recognized him, and they were so overjoyed at his return that they fell on his neck and embraced