The boat drove ashore below their father 's castle , and both princes were received with open arms by their father and mother , who had suffered great anxiety for them . The two brothers said nothing about what they had promised , neither at that time nor later on when the queen 's third son came , a beautiful boy , whom she loved more than anything else in the world . He was brought up and educated in his father 's house until he was full grown , and still his brothers had never seen or heard anything about the witch to whom they had promised him before he was born . It happened one evening that there arose a raging storm , with mist and darkness . It howled and roared around the king 's palace , and in the midst of it there came a loud knock on the door of the hall where the youngest prince was . He went to the door and found there an old woman with a dough - trough on her back , who said to him that he must go with her at once ; his brothers had promised him to her if she would save their lives . ` Yes , ' said he ; ` if you saved my brothers ' lives , and they promised me to you , then I will go with you . ' They therefore went down to the beach together , where he had to take his seat in the trough , along with the witch , who sailed away with him , over the sea , home to her dwelling . The prince was now in the witch 's power , and in her service . The first thing she set him to was to pick feathers . ` The heap of feathers that you see here , ' said she , ` you must get finished before I come home in the evening , otherwise you shall be set to harder work . ' He started to the feathers , and picked and picked until there was only a single feather left that had not passed through his hands . But then there came a whirlwind and sent all the feathers flying , and swept them along the floor into a heap , where they lay as if they were trampled together . He had now to begin all his work over again , but by this time it only wanted an hour of evening , when the witch was to be expected home , and he easily saw that it was impossible for him to be finished by that time . Then he heard something tapping at the window pane , and a thin voice said , ` Let me in , and I will help you . ' It was a white dove , which sat outside the window , and was pecking at it with its beak . He opened the window , and the dove came in and set to work at once , and picked all the feathers out of the heap with its beak . Before the hour was past the feathers were all nicely arranged : the dove flew out at the window , and at , the same moment the witch came in at the door . ` Well , well , ' said she , ` it was more than I would have expected of you to get all the feathers put in order so nicely . However , such a prince might be expected to have neat fingers . '
Next morning the witch said XXXXX the prince , ` To-day you shall have some easy work to do .
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