Now this bargain seemed to please the old fellow so much that he spun round like a top , and sang so loud that the whole wood rang with his voice . Then he set out with his companion , and chattered so fast that he never noticed that his new servant kept dropping peas out of the sack . At night they slept under a fig tree , and when the sun rose started on their way . About noon they came to a large stone , and here the old fellow stopped , looked carefully round , gave a sharp whistle , and stamped three times on the ground with his left foot . Suddenly there appeared under the stone a secret door , which led to what looked like the mouth of a cave . The old fellow seized the youth by the arm , and said roughly , ` Follow me ! ' Thick darkness surrounded them , yet it seemed to the prince as if their path led into still deeper depths . After a long while he thought he saw a glimmer of light , but the light was neither that of the sun nor of the moon . He looked eagerly at it , but found it was only a kind of pale cloud , which was all the light this strange underworld could boast . Earth and water , trees and plants , birds and beasts , each was different from those he had seen before ; but what most struck terror into his heart was the absolute stillness that reigned everywhere . Not a rustle or a sound could be heard . Here and there he noticed a bird sitting on a branch , with head erect and swelling throat , but his ear caught nothing . The dogs opened their mouths as if to bark , the toiling oxen seemed about to bellow , but neither bark nor bellow reached the prince . The water flowed noiselessly over the pebbles , the wind bowed the tops of the trees , flies and chafers darted about , without breaking the silence . The old greybeard uttered no word , and when his companion tried to ask him the meaning of it all he felt that his voice died in his throat . How long this fearful stillness lasted I do not know , but the prince gradually felt his heart turning to ice , his hair stood up like bristles , and a cold chill was creeping down his spine , when at last -- oh , ecstasy ! -- a faint noise broke on his straining ears , and this life of shadows suddenly became real . It sounded as if a troop of horses were ploughing their way over a moor . Then the greybeard opened his mouth , and said : ` The kettle is boiling ; we are expected at home . ' They walked on a little further , till the prince thought he heard the grinding of a saw-mill , as if dozens of saws were working together , but his guide observed , ` The grandmother is sleeping soundly ; listen how she snores . '
When they had climbed a hill which lay before them the prince saw in the distance the house XXXXX his master , but it was so surrounded with buildings of all kinds that the place looked more like a village or even a small town .
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