But the youth had no pity , and went on blowing , till suddenly the old magician appeared and asked : ` What danger are you in , my son , that you have sent for me ? ' ` They want to hang me , ' answered the young man ; ` the gallows are all ready and the hangman is only waiting for me to stop playing . ' ` Oh , I will put that right , ' said the magician ; and taking the gallows , he tore it up and flung it into the air , and no one knows where it came down . ` Who has ordered you to be hanged ? ' asked he . The young man pointed to the king , who was still bound to the fir ; and without wasting words the magician took hold of the tree also , and with a mighty heave both fir and man went spinning through the air , and vanished in the clouds after the gallows . Then the youth was declared to be free , and the people elected him for their king ; and the stable helper drowned himself from envy , for , after all , if it had not been for him the young man would have remained poor all the days of his life . -LSB- From Finnische Mahrchen . -RSB- The Strong Prince Once upon a time there lived a king who was so fond of wine that he could not go to sleep unless he knew he had a great flaskful tied to his bed-post . All day long he drank till he was too stupid to attend to his business , and everything in the kingdom went to rack and ruin . But one day an accident happened to him , and he was struck on the head by a falling bough , so that he fell from his horse and lay dead upon the ground . His wife and son mourned his loss bitterly , for , in spite of his faults , he had always been kind to them . So they abandoned the crown and forsook their country , not knowing or caring where they went . At length they wandered into a forest , and being very tired , sat down under a tree to eat some bread that they had brought with them . When they had finished the queen said : ` My son , I am thirsty ; fetch me some water . ' The prince got up at once and went to a brook which he heard gurgling near at hand . He stooped and filled his hat with the water , which he brought to his mother ; then he turned and followed the stream up to its source in a rock , where it bubbled out clear and fresh and cold . He knelt down to take a draught from the deep pool below the rock , when he saw the reflection of a sword hanging from the branch of a tree over his head . The young man drew back with a start ; but in a moment he climbed the tree , cutting the rope which held the sword , and carried the weapon to his mother . The queen was greatly surprised at the sight of anything so splendid in such a lonely place , and took it in her hands to examine it closely .
It was of curious workmanship , wrought with gold , and XXXXX its handle was written : ` The man who can buckle on this sword will become stronger than other men . '
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