And standing among the flowers were lovely maidens who called to him in soft voices , till he had to shut his eyes against their spells . ` Come , my hero , come and rest ; the heat will kill you , ' said they . Petru shook his head and said nothing , for he had lost the power of speech . Long he rode in this awful state , how long none can tell . Suddenly the heat seemed to become less , and , in the distance , he saw a little hut on a hill . This was the dwelling of the Goddess of Thunder , and when he drew rein at her door the goddess herself came out to meet him . She welcomed him , and kindly invited him in , and bade him tell her all his adventures . So Petru told her all that had happened to him , and why he was there , and then took farewell of her , as he had no time to lose . ` For , ' he said , ` who knows how far the Fairy of the Dawn may yet be ? ' ` Stay for one moment , for I have a word of advice to give you . You are about to enter the kingdom of Venus ; -LRB- 4 -RRB- go and tell her , as a message from me , that I hope she will not tempt you to delay . On your way back , come to me again , and I will give you something that may be of use to you . ' -LRB- 4 -RRB- ` Vineri ' is Friday , and also ` Venus . ' So Petru mounted his horse , and had hardly ridden three steps when he found himself in a new country . Here it was neither hot nor cold , but the air was warm and soft like spring , though the way ran through a heath covered with sand and thistles . ` What can that be ? ' asked Petru , when he saw a long , long way off , at the very end of the heath , something resembling a house . ` That is the house of the goddess Venus , ' replied the horse , ` and if we ride hard we may reach it before dark ' ; and he darted off like an arrow , so that as twilight fell they found themselves nearing the house . Petru 's heart leaped at the sight , for all the way along he had been followed by a crowd of shadowy figures who danced about him from right to left , and from back to front , and Petru , though a brave man , felt now and then a thrill of fear . ` They wo n't hurt you , ' said the horse ; ` they are just the daughters of the whirlwind amusing themselves while they are waiting for the ogre of the moon . '
Then he stopped in front XXXXX the house , and Petru jumped off and went to the door .
On about among if in of off till to while