The prince thanked the fox for all his help , promised to give heed to his warning , said farewell to him , and rode on , with the princess by his side and the bird Grip on his wrist . They soon arrived at the inn where the two eldest brothers had stayed , forgetting their errand . But now no merry song or noise of mirth was heard from it . When the prince came nearer he saw two gallows erected , and when he entered the inn along with the princess he saw that all the rooms were hung with black , and that everything inside foreboded sorrow and death . He asked the reason of this , and was told that two princes were to be hanged that day for debt ; they had spent all their money in feasting and playing , and were now deeply in debt to the host , and as no one could be found to ransom their lives they were about to be hanged according to the law . The prince knew that it was his two brothers who had thus forfeited their lives and it cut him to the heart to think that two princes should suffer such a shameful death ; and , as he had sufficient money with him , he paid their debts , and so ransomed their lives . At first the brothers were grateful for their liberty , but when they saw the youngest brother 's treasures they became jealous of his good fortune , and planned how to bring him to destruction , and then take the bird Grip , the princess , and the horse with the golden shoes , and convey them to their blind father . After they had agreed on how to carry out their treachery they enticed the prince to a den of lions and threw him down among them . Then they set the princess on horseback , took the bird Grip , and rode homeward . The princess wept bitterly , but they told her that it would cost her her life if she did not say that the two brothers had won all the treasures . When they arrived at their father 's palace there was great rejoicing , and everyone praised the two princes for their courage and bravery . When the king inquired after the youngest brother they answered that he had led such a life in the inn that he had been hanged for debt . The king sorrowed bitterly over this , because the youngest prince was his dearest son , and the joy over the treasures soon died away , for the bird Grip would not sing so that the king might recover his sight , the princess wept night and day , and no one dared to venture so close to the horse as to have a look at his golden shoes . Now when the youngest prince was thrown down into the lions ' den he found the fox sitting there , and the lions , instead of tearing him to pieces , showed him the greatest friendliness . 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 XXXXX 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 .
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