He managed to loosen one stone with his tusks , and , having made a beginning , stone after stone was poked out till he had made quite a large hole , big enough to let a man go through . The young man quickly entered the church , and saw a bird flying about , but he could not catch it . ` Oh ! ' he exclaimed , ` if only the griffin were here , he would soon catch it . ' At these words the griffin appeared , and , seizing the bird , gave it to the youth , who carried it off carefully , while the griffin flew away . The young man hurried home as fast as possible , and reached the cottage before evening . He told his story to the little bride , who , after giving him some food and drink , hid him with his bird beneath the bed . Presently the old man came home , and complained of feeling ill . Nothing , he said , would go well with him any more : his ` heart bird ' was caught . The youth under the bed heard this , and thought , ` This old fellow has done me no particular harm , but then he has bewitched my brothers and their brides , and has kept my bride for himself , and that is certainly bad enough . ' So he pinched the bird , and the old man cried , ` Ah ! I feel death gripping me ! Child , I am dying ! ' With these words he fell fainting from his chair , and as the youth , before he knew what he was doing , had squeezed the bird to death , the old man died also . Out crept the young man from under the bed , and the girl took the magic wand -LRB- which she found where the old man had told her -RRB- , and , touching the twelve grey stones , transformed them at once into the six brothers and their brides . Then there was great joy , and kissing and embracing . And there lay the old man , quite dead , and no magic wand could restore him to life , even had they wished it . After that they all went away and were married , and lived many years happily together . The Two Brothers Sicilianische Malirchen . L. Gonzenbach .
Long ago there lived two brothers , both of them very handsome , and both so very poor that they seldom had anything XXXXX eat but the fish which they caught .
So before beneath for from if of till to under