Neither must you go through the door to the left , it leads to the snake 's chamber , where adders and serpents lodge ; but open the fast-closed door by means of the well-known spring-root , which you must on no account forget to take with you , or all your trouble will be for naught , for no crowbar or mortal tools will help you . If you want to procure the root ask a wood-seller ; it is a common thing for hunters to need , and it is not hard to find . If the door bursts open suddenly with great crackings and groanings do not be afraid , the noise is caused by the power of the magic root , and you will not be hurt . Now trim your lamp that it may not fail you , for you will be nearly blinded by the flash and glitter of the gold and precious stones on the walls and pillars of the vault ; but beware how you stretch out a hand towards the jewels ! In the midst of the cavern stands a copper chest , in that you will find gold and silver , enough and to spare , and you may help yourself to your heart 's content . If you take as much as you can carry you will have sufficient to last your lifetime , and you may return three times ; but woe betide you if you venture to come a fourth time . You would have your trouble for your pains , and would be punished for your greediness by falling down the stone steps and breaking your leg . Do not neglect each time to heap back the loose earth which concealed the entrance of the king 's treasure chamber . '' ` As the apparition left off speaking my dog pricked up his ears and began to bark . I heard the crack of a carter 's whip and the noise of wheels in the distance , and when I looked again the spectre had disappeared . ' So ended the shepherd 's tale ; and the landlord who was listening with the rest , said shrewdly : ` Tell us now , Father Martin , did you go to the mountain and find what the spirit promised you ; or is it a fable ? ' ` Nay , nay , ' answered the graybeard . ' I can not tell if the spectre lied , for never a step did I go towards finding the hollow , for two reasons : -- one was that my neck was too precious for me to risk it in such a snare as that ; the other , that no one could ever tell me where the spring-root was to be found . ' Then Blaize , another aged shepherd , lifted up his voice . `` Tis a pity , Father Martin , that your secret has grown old with you . If you had told it forty years ago truly you would not long have been lacking the spring-root . Even though you will never climb the mountain now , I will tell you , for a joke , how it is to be found . The easiest way to get it is by the help of a black woodpecker . Look , in the spring , where she builds her nest in a hole in a tree , and when the time comes for her brood to fly off block up the entrance to the nest with a hard sod , and lurk in ambush behind the tree till the bird returns to feed her nestlings . When she perceives that she can not get into her nest she will fly round the tree uttering cries of distress , and then dart off towards the sun-setting .
When you see her do this , take a scarlet cloak , or if that be lacking to you , buy a few yards of scarlet cloth , and hurry back to the tree before the woodpecker returns with the XXXXX in her beak .
Tis adders crackings dart greediness groanings left spring-root sun-setting wood-seller