Nor was the fox angry with him for having forgot his last warning . He only said that sons who could so forget their old father and disgrace their royal birth as those had done would not hesitate to betray their brother either . Then he took the prince up out of the lion 's den and gave him directions what to do now so as to come by his rights again . The prince thanked the fox with all his heart for his true friendship , but the fox answered that if he had been of any use to him he would now for his own part ask a service of him . The prince replied that he would do him any service that was in his power . ' I have only one thing to ask of you , ' said the fox , ` and that is , that you should cut off my head with your sword . ' The prince was astonished , and said that he could not bring himself to cut the had off his truest friend , and to this he stuck in spite of all the fox 's declarations that it was the greatest service he could do him . At this the fox became very sorrowful , and declared that the prince 's refusal to grant his request now compelled him to do a deed which he was very unwilling to do -- if the prince would not cut off his head , then he must kill the prince himself . Then at last the prince drew his good sword and cut off the fox 's head , and the next moment a youth stood before him . ` Thanks , ' said he , ` for this service , which has freed me from a spell that not even death itself could loosen . I am the dead man who lay unburied in the robber 's inn , where you ransomed me and gave me honourable burial , and therefore I have helped you in your journey . ' With this they parted and the prince , disguising himself as a horse-shoer , went up to his father 's palace and offered his services there . The king 's men told him that a horse-shoer was indeed wanted at the palace , but he must be one who could lift up the feet of the horse with the golden shoes , and such a one they had not yet been able to find . The prince asked to see the horse , and as soon as he entered the stable the steed began to neigh in a friendly fashion , and stood as quiet and still as a lamb while the prince lifted up his hoofs , one after the other , and showed the king 's men the famous golden shoes . After this the king 's men began to talk about the bird Grip , and how strange it was that he would not sing , however well he was attended to . The horse-shoer then said that he knew the bird very well ; he had seen it when it sat in its cage in another king 's palace , and if it did not sing now it must be because it did not have all that it wanted . He himself knew so much about the bird 's ways that if he only got to see it he could tell at once what it lacked . The king 's men now took counsel whether they ought to take the stranger in before the king , for in his chamber sat the bird Grip along with the weeping princess . It was decided to risk doing so , and the horse-shoer was led into the king 's chamber , where he had no sooner called the bird by its name than it began to sing and the princess to smile . Then the darkness cleared away from the king 's eyes , and the more the bird sang the more clearly did he see , till at last in the strange horse-shoer he recognised his youngest son .
Then the princess told the king how treacherously his eldest sons had acted , and he had them banished XXXXX his kingdom ; but the youngest prince married the princess , and got the horse with the golden shoes and half the kingdom from his father , who kept for himself so long as he lived the bird Grip , which now sang with all its heart to the king and all his court .
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