And besides the horse , the magician gave him a zither , a fiddle , and a flute , saying : ` If you are in danger , touch the zither ; and if no one comes to your aid , then play on the fiddle ; but if that brings no help , blow on the flute . ' The youth thanked the magician , and fastening his treasures about him mounted the horse and rode off . He had already gone some miles when , to his great surprise , the horse spoke , and said : ` It is no use your returning home just now , your father will only beat you . Let us visit a few towns first , and something lucky will be sure to happen to us . ' This advice pleased the boy , for he felt himself almost a man by this time , and thought it was high time he saw the world . When they entered the capital of the country everyone stopped to admire the beauty of the horse . Even the king heard of it , and came to see the splendid creature with his own eyes . Indeed , he wanted directly to buy it , and told the youth he would give any price he liked . The young man hesitated for a moment , but before he could speak , the horse contrived to whisper to him : ` Do not sell me , but ask the king to take me to his stable , and feed me there ; then his other horses will become just as beautiful as I. ' The king was delighted when he was told what the horse had said , and took the animal at once to the stables , and placed it in his own particular stall . Sure enough , the horse had scarcely eaten a mouthful of corn out of the manger , when the rest of the horses seemed to have undergone a transformation . Some of them were old favourites which the king had ridden in many wars , and they bore the signs of age and of service . But now they arched their heads , and pawed the ground with their slender legs as they had been wont to do in days long gone by . The king 's heart beat with delight , but the old groom who had had the care of them stood crossly by , and eyed the owner of this wonderful creature with hate and envy . Not a day passed without his bringing some story against the youth to his master , but the king understood all about the matter and paid no attention . At last the groom declared that the young man had boasted that he could find the king 's war horse which had strayed into the forest several years ago , and had not been heard of since . Now the king had never ceased to mourn for his horse , so this time he listened to the tale which the groom had invented , and sent for the youth . ` Find me my horse in three days , ' said he , ` or it will be the worse for you . ' The youth was thunderstruck at this command , but he only bowed , and went off at once to the stable . ` Do not worry yourself , ' answered his own horse . ` Ask the king to give you a hundred oxen , and to let them be killed and cut into small pieces .
Then we will start XXXXX our journey , and ride till we reach a certain river .
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