When all was ready , it was found that the iron horse was so heavy that a hundred men could not move it from the spot , so the youth found there was nothing for it but to move it with his own strength by means of the magic ring . The Dragon was now so near that in a couple of springs he would be over the frontier . The youth now began to consider how he should act , for if he had to push the iron horse from behind he could not ride upon it as the sorcerer had said he must . But a raven unexpectedly gave him this advice : ` Ride upon the horse , and push the spear against the ground , as if you were pushing off a boat from the land . ' The youth did so , and found that in this way he could easily move forwards . The Dragon had his monstrous jaws wide open , all ready for his expected prey . A few paces nearer , and man and horse would have been swallowed up by them ! The youth trembled with horror , and his blood ran cold , yet he did not lose his courage ; but , holding the iron spear upright in his hand , he brought it down with all his might right through the monster 's lower jaw . Then quick as lightning he sprang from his horse before the Dragon had time to shut his mouth . A fearful clap like thunder , which could be heard for miles around , now warned him that the Dragon 's jaws had closed upon the spear . When the youth turned round he saw the point of the spear sticking up high above the Dragon 's upper jaw , and knew that the other end must be fastened firmly to the ground ; but the Dragon had got his teeth fixed in the iron horse , which was now useless . The youth now hastened to fasten down the chains to the ground by means of the enormous iron pegs which he had provided . The death struggle of the monster lasted three days and three nights ; in his writhing he beat his tail so violently against the ground , that at ten miles ' distance the earth trembled as if with an earthquake . When he at length lost power to move his tail , the youth with the help of the ring took up a stone which twenty ordinary men could not have moved , and beat the Dragon so hard about the head with it that very soon the monster lay lifeless before him . You can fancy how great was the rejoicing when the news was spread abroad that the terrible monster was dead . His conqueror was received into the city with as much pomp as if he had been the mightiest of kings . The old King did not need to urge his daughter to marry the slayer of the Dragon ; he found her already willing to bestow her hand upon this hero , who had done all alone what whole armies had tried in vain to do . In a few days a magnificent wedding was celebrated , at which the rejoicings lasted four whole weeks , for all the neighbouring kings had met together to thank the man who had freed the world from their common enemy . But everyone forgot amid the general joy that they ought to have buried the Dragon 's monstrous body , for it began now to have such a bad smell that no one could live in the neighbourhood , and before long the whole air was poisoned , and a pestilence broke out which destroyed many hundreds of people . In this distress , the King 's son-in-law resolved to seek help once more from the Eastern magician , to whom he at once travelled through the air like a bird by the help of the ring .
But there is a proverb which says XXXXX ill-gotten gains never prosper , and the Prince found that the stolen ring brought him ill-luck after all .
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