` We want to go down to your parents , ' they said to Halvor , ` so we will go out and look about us . ' He followed them out , and they came to a large pond outside the farm-house . Very near the water there was a pretty green bank , and there the Princesses said they would sit down and while away an hour , for they thought that it would be pleasant to sit and look out over the water , they said . There they sat down , and when they had sat for a short time the youngest Princess said , ' I may as well comb your hair a little , Halvor . ' So Halvor laid his head down on her lap , and she combed it , and it was not long before he fell asleep . Then she took her ring from him and put another in its place , and then she said to her sisters : ` Hold me as I am holding you . I would that we were at Soria Moria Castle . ' When Halvor awoke he knew that he had lost the Princesses , and began to weep and lament , and was so unhappy that he could not be comforted . In spite of all his father 's and mother 's entreaties , he would not stay , but bade them farewell , saying that he would never see them more , for if he did not find the Princess again he did not think it worth while to live . He again had three hundred dollars , which he put into his pocket and went on his way . When he had walked some distance he met a man with a tolerably good horse . Halvor longed to buy it , and began to bargain with the man . ` Well , I have not exactly been thinking of selling him , ' said the man , ` but if we could agree , perhaps -- ' Halvor inquired how much he wanted to have for the horse . ' I did not give much for him , and he is not worth much ; he is a capital horse to ride , but good for nothing at drawing ; but he will always be able to carry your bag of provisions and you too , if you walk and ride by turns . ' At last they agreed about the price , and Halvor laid his bag on the horse , and sometimes he walked and sometimes he rode . In the evening he came to a green field , where stood a great tree , under which he seated himself . Then he let the horse loose and lay down to sleep , but before he did that he took his bag off the horse . At daybreak he set off again , for he did not feel as if he could take any rest . So he walked and rode the whole day , through a great wood where there were many green places which gleamed very prettily among the trees . He did not know where he was or whither he was going , but he never lingered longer in any place than was enough to let his horse get a little food when they came to one of these green spots , while he himself took out his bag of provisions .
So he walked and he rode , and it seemed XXXXX him that the wood would never come to an end .
At In as from of off on over so to