So next morning at sunrise the youth set forth , and in a few days he reached the Sultan 's palace . The old witch was waiting for him at the gate , and whispered as he passed : ` This is the last time you will ever enter it . ' But the sword clanked , and the lad did not even look at her . As he crossed the threshold fifteen armed Turks barred his way , with the Sultan at their head . Instantly the sword darted forth and cut off the heads of everyone but the Sultan , and then went quietly back to its scabbard . The witch , who was looking on , saw that as long as the youth had possession of the sword , all her schemes would be in vain , and tried to steal the sword in the night , but it only jumped out of its scabbard and sliced off her nose , which was of iron . And in the morning , when the Sultan brought a great army to capture the lad and deprive him of his sword , they were all cut to pieces , while he remained without a scratch . Meanwhile the princess was in despair because the days slipped by , and the young man did not return , and she never rested until her father let her lead some troops against the Sultan . She rode proudly before them , dressed in uniform ; but they had not left the town more than a mile behind them , when they met the lad and his little sword . When he told them what he had done they shouted for joy , and carried him back in triumph to the palace ; and the king declared that as the youth had shown himself worthy to become his son-in-law , he should marry the princess and succeed to the throne at once , as he himself was getting old , and the cares of government were too much for him . But the young man said he must first go and see his mother , and the king sent him in state , with a troop of soldiers as his bodyguard . The old woman was quite frightened at seeing such an array draw up before her little house , and still more surprised when a handsome young man , whom she did not know , dismounted and kissed her hand , saying : ` Now , dear mother , you shall hear my secret at last ! I dreamed that I should become King of Hungary , and my dream has come true . When I was a child , and you begged me to tell you , I had to keep silence , or the Magyar king would have killed me . And if you had not beaten me nothing would have happened that has happened , and I should not now be King of Hungary . ' -LSB- From the Folk Tales of the Magyars . -RSB- The Prince And The Dragon Once upon a time there lived an emperor who had three sons . They were all fine young men , and fond of hunting , and scarcely a day passed without one or other of them going out to look for game . One morning the eldest of the three princes mounted his horse and set out for a neighbouring forest , where wild animals of all sorts were to be found . He had not long left the castle , when a hare sprang out of a thicket and dashed across the road in front .
The young man gave chase XXXXX once , and pursued it over hill and dale , till at last the hare took refuge in a mill which was standing by the side of a river .
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