Was the sleep he had last night not enough for him ? Tell him that he will never see me here again ; and here is a sword that you will give him in my name , and my blessing along with it . ' With this she went off , and as soon as she had gone the lad took the pin out of his master 's coat . He awoke instantly , and the first word he said was , ` Have you seen her ? ' The lad said that he had , and there was the sword she had left for him . The Irishman was ready to kill the lad out of sheer vexation , but when he gave a glance over his shoulder not a trace of the fair-haired lad was left . Being thus left all alone , he thought of going into the room where all the men were lying asleep , and there among the rest he found his two comrades who had deserted along with him . Then he remembered what the Princess had told him -- that he had only to touch them with the rod she had given him and they would all awake ; and the first he touched were his own comrades . They started to their feet at once , and he gave them as much silver and gold as they could carry when they went away . 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 XXXXX the last three years , ' said the Irishman , ` to see if I could find anyone who can tell me where the Blue Mountains are . '
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