There was plenty to do before he got all the others wakened , for the two doors of the castle were crowded with them all the day long . The loss of the Princess , however , kept rankling in his mind day and night , till finally he thought he would go about the world to see if he could find anyone to give him news of her . So he took the best horse in the stable and set out . Three years he spent travelling through forests and wildernesses , but could find no one able to tell him anything of the Princess . At last he fell into so great despair that he thought he would put an end to his own life , and for this purpose laid hold of the sword that she had given him by the hands of the fair-haired lad ; but on drawing it from its sheath he noticed that there was some writing on one side of the blade . He looked at this , and read there , ` You will find me in the Blue Mountains . ' This made him take heart again , and he gave up the idea of killing himself , thinking that he would go on in hope of meeting some one who could tell him where the Blue Mountains were . After he had gone a long way without thinking where he was going , he saw at last a light far away , and made straight for it . On reaching it he found it came from a little house , and as soon as the man inside heard the noise of the horse 's feet he came out to see who was there . Seeing a stranger on horseback , he asked what brought him there and where he was going . ' I have lived here , ' said he , ` for three hundred years , and all that time I have not seen a single human being but yourself . ' ' I have been going about for the last three years , ' said the Irishman , ` to see if I could find anyone who can tell me where the Blue Mountains are . ' ` Come in , ' said the old man , ` and stay with me all night . I have a book which contains the history of the world , which I shall go through to-night , and if there is such a place as the Blue Mountains in it we shall find it out . ' The Irishman stayed there all night , and as soon as morning came rose to go . The old man said he had not gone to sleep all night for going through the book , but there was not a word about the Blue Mountains in it . ` But I 'll tell you what , ' he said , ` if there is such a place on earth at all , I have a brother who lives nine hundred miles from here , and he is sure to know where they are , if anyone in this world does . ' The Irishman answered that he could never go these nine hundred miles , for his horse was giving in already . ` That does n't matter , ' said the old man ; ' I can do better than that . I have only to blow my whistle and you will be at my brother 's house before nightfall . '
So he blew the whistle , and the Irishman did not know where on earth he was until he found himself at the other old man 's door , who also told him XXXXX it was three hundred years since he had seen anyone , and asked him where he was going . '
At as for into on than that till to with