` Do n't you feel thirsty , Costan ? ' asked Florea , winking at him . ` Yes , ' replied Costan , understanding directly what was wanted . ` Come , Petru , let us drink now we have the chance , and then we will set out on our way home . It is a good thing you have us with you , to protect you from harm . ' The horse neighed , and Petru knew what it meant , and did not go with his brothers . No , he went home to his father , and cured his blindness ; and as for his brothers , they never returned again . -LRB- From Rumanische Marchen . -RRB- THE ENCHANTED KNIFE Once upon a time there lived a young man who vowed that he would never marry any girl who had not royal blood in her veins . One day he plucked up all his courage and went to the palace to ask the emperor for his daughter . The emperor was not much pleased at the thought of such a match for his only child , but being very polite , he only said : ` Very well , my son , if you can win the princess you shall have her , and the conditions are these . In eight days you must manage to tame and bring to me three horses that have never felt a master . The first is pure white , the second a foxy-red with a black head , the third coal black with a white head and feet . And besides that , you must also bring as a present to the empress , my wife , as much gold as the three horses can carry . ' The young man listened in dismay to these words , but with an effort he thanked the emperor for his kindness and left the palace , wondering how he was to fulfil the task allotted to him . Luckily for him , the emperor 's daughter had overheard everything her father had said , and peeping through a curtain had seen the youth , and thought him handsomer than anyone she had ever beheld . So returning hastily to her own room , she wrote him a letter which she gave to a trusty servant to deliver , begging her wooer to come to her rooms early the next day , and to undertake nothing without her advice , if he ever wished her to be his wife . That night , when her father was asleep , she crept softly into his chamber and took out an enchanted knife from the chest where he kept his treasures , and hid it carefully in a safe place before she went to bed . The sun had hardly risen the following morning when the princess 's nurse brought the young man to her apartments . Neither spoke for some minutes , but stood holding each other 's hands for joy , till at last they both cried out that nothing but death should part them .
Then the maiden said : ` Take my horse , and ride straight XXXXX the wood towards the sunset till you come to a hill with three peaks .
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