So the prince went home , and the old woman remained in the mill , and as soon as the dragon returned she said to him : ` Where have you been all this time -- you must have travelled far ? ' ` Yes , little mother , I have indeed travelled far . ' answered he . Then the old woman began to flatter him , and to praise his cleverness ; and when she thought she had got him into a good temper , she said : ' I have wondered so often where you get your strength from ; I do wish you would tell me . I would stoop and kiss the place out of pure love ! ' The dragon laughed at this , and answered : ` In the hearthstone yonder lies the secret of my strength . ' Then the old woman jumped up and kissed the hearth ; whereat the dragon laughed the more , and said : ` You foolish creature ! I was only jesting . It is not in the hearthstone , but in that tall tree that lies the secret of my strength . ' Then the old woman jumped up again and put her arms round the tree , and kissed it heartily . Loudly laughed the dragon when he saw what she was doing . ` Old fool , ' he cried , as soon as he could speak , ` did you really believe that my strength came from that tree ? ' ` Where is it then ? ' asked the old woman , rather crossly , for she did not like being made fun of . ` My strength , ' replied the dragon , ` lies far away ; so far that you could never reach it . Far , far from here is a kingdom , and by its capital city is a lake , and in the lake is a dragon , and inside the dragon is a wild boar , and inside the wild boar is a pigeon , and inside the pigeon a sparrow , and inside the sparrow is my strength . ' And when the old woman heard this , she thought it was no use flattering him any longer , for never , never , could she take his strength from him . The following morning , when the dragon had left the mill , the prince came back , and the old woman told him all that the creature had said . He listened in silence , and then returned to the castle , where he put on a suit of shepherd 's clothes , and taking a staff in his hand , he went forth to seek a place as tender of sheep . For some time he wandered from village to village and from town to town , till he came at length to a large city in a distant kingdom , surrounded on three sides by a great lake , which happened to be the very lake in which the dragon lived .
As was his custom , he stopped everybody whom he met in the streets that looked likely to want a shepherd and begged them XXXXX engage him , but they all seemed to have shepherds of their own , or else not to need any .
So as at by for from in of that to