Then they asked him why he had come ; and he told them how he was sent to find the Sword of Sharpness and the Cap of Darkness . And the fairies gave him these , and a wallet , and a shield , and belted the sword , which had a diamond blade , round his waist , and the cap they set on his head , and told him that now even they could not see him though they were fairies . Then he took it off , and they each kissed him and wished him good fortune , and then they began again their eternal dance round the golden tree , for it is their business to guard it till the new times come , or till the world 's ending . So the boy put the cap on his head , and hung the wallet round his waist , and the shining shield on his shoulders , and flew beyond the great river that lies coiled like a serpent round the whole world . And by the banks of that river , there he found the three Terrible Women all asleep beneath a poplar tree , and the dead poplar leaves lay all about them . Their golden wings were folded and their brass claws were crossed , and two of them slept with their hideous heads beneath their wings like birds , and the serpents in their hair writhed out from under the feathers of gold . But the youngest slept between her two sisters , and she lay on her back , with her beautiful sad face turned to the sky ; and though she slept her eyes were wide open . If the boy had seen her he would have been changed into stone by the terror and the pity of it , she was so awful ; but he had thought of a plan for killing her without looking on her face . As soon as he caught sight of the three from far off he took his shining shield from his shoulders , and held it up like a mirror , so that he saw the Dreadful Women reflected in it , and did not see the Terrible Head itself . Then he came nearer and nearer , till he reckoned that he was within a sword 's stroke of the youngest , and he guessed where he should strike a back blow behind him . Then he drew the Sword of Sharpness and struck once , and the Terrible Head was cut from the shoulders of the creature , and the blood leaped out and struck him like a blow . But he thrust the Terrible Head into his wallet , and flew away without looking behind . Then the two Dreadful Sisters who were left wakened , and rose in the air like great birds ; and though they could not see him because of his Cap of Darkness , they flew after him up the wind , following by the scent through the clouds , like hounds hunting in a wood . They came so close that he could hear the clatter of their golden wings , and their shrieks to each other : '' here , here , '' '' no , there ; this way he went , '' as they chased him . But the Shoes of Swiftness flew too fast for them , and at last their cries and the rattle of their wings died away as he crossed the great river that runs round the world . Now when the horrible creatures were far in the distance , and the boy found himself on the right side of the river , he flew straight eastward , trying to seek his own country . But as he looked down from the air he saw a very strange sight -- a beautiful girl chained to a stake at the high-water mark of the sea . The girl was so frightened or so tired that she was only prevented from falling by the iron chain about her waist , and there she hung , as if she were dead . The boy was very sorry for her and flew down and stood beside her . When he spoke she raised her head and looked round , but his voice only seemed to frighten her .
Then he remembered that he was wearing the Cap of XXXXX , and that she could only hear him , not see him .
Darkness air back eyes girl left mirror right shrieks sight