The blade was always bright and clear ; each time she looked she had the happiness of knowing that all was well , till one evening , tired and anxious , as she frequently was at the end of the day , she took it from its drawer , and behold ! the blade was red with blood . Her cry of horror brought her youngest brother to her , and , unable to speak , she held out the knife ! ' I will go , ' he said . So he walked , and he walked , and he walked , until he met the giant , and he asked , ` Have two young men , making for yonder mountain , passed this way ? ' And the giant answered , ` Yes , they have passed by , but they never came back , and by this I know that the spell has fallen upon them . ' ` Then what must I do to free them , and to get the water of life , and the talking bird , and the branch of the tree of beauty ? ' ` Go to the mountain , which you will find so thickly covered with stones that you will hardly be able to place your feet , and walk straight forward , turning neither to the right hand nor to the left , and paying no heed to the laughs and scoffs which will follow you , till you reach the top , and then you may take all that you desire . ' The young man thanked the giant for his counsel , and set forth to the mountain . And when he began to climb there burst forth all around him a storm of scoffs and jeers ; but he thought of the giant 's words , and looked neither to the right hand nor to the left , till the mountain top lay straight before him . A moment now and he would have gained it , when , through the groans and yells , he heard his brothers ' voices . He turned , and there was one stone the more . And all this while his sister was pacing up and down the palace , hardly letting the knife out of her hand , and dreading what she knew she would see , and what she did see . The blade grew red before her eyes , and she said , ` Now it is my turn . ' So she walked , and she walked , and she walked till she came to the giant , and prayed him to tell her if he had seen three young men pass that way seeking the distant mountain . ' I have seen them pass , but they have never returned , and by this I know that the spell has fallen upon them . ' ` And what must I do to set them free , and to find the water of life , and the talking bird , and a branch of the tree of beauty ? ' ` You must go to that mountain , which is so full of stones that your feet will hardly find a place to tread , and as you climb you will hear a noise as if all the stones in the world were mocking you ; but pay no heed to anything you may hear , and , once you gain the top , you have gained everything . ' The girl thanked him for his counsel , and set out for the mountain ; and scarcely had she gone a few steps upwards when cries and screams broke forth around her , and she felt as if each stone she trod on was a living thing . But she remembered the words of the giant , and knew not what had befallen her brothers , and kept her face steadily towards the mountain top , which grew nearer and nearer every moment .
But as she mounted the clamour increased sevenfold : high above them all rang the voices XXXXX her three brothers .
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