Indeed Peter thought that there were even more of them than before . The old man could not believe his eyes when he saw the multitudes of horses , oxen and sheep standing before his door . ` How did you come by all these ? ' he gasped , as soon as he could speak ; and the son told him the whole story , and of the promise he had given Eisenkopf . The next day some of the cattle were driven to market and sold , and with the money the old man was able to buy some of the fields and gardens round his house , and in a few months had grown the richest and most prosperous man in the whole village . Everything seemed to turn to gold in his hands , till one day , when he and his son were sitting in the orchard watching their herds of cattle grazing in the meadows , he suddenly said : ` Peter , my boy , it is time that you were thinking of marrying . ' ` But , my dear father , I told you I can never marry , because of the promise I gave to Eisenkopf . ' ` Oh , one promises here and promises there , but no one ever thinks of keeping such promises . If Eisenkopf does not like your marrying , he will have to put up with it all the same ! Besides , there stands in the stable a grey horse which is saddled night and day ; and if Eisenkopf should show his face , you have only got to jump on the horse 's back and ride away , and nobody on earth can catch you . When all is safe you will come back again , and we shall live as happily as two fish in the sea . ' And so it all happened . The young man found a pretty , brown-skinned girl who was willing to have him for a husband , and the whole village came to the wedding feast . The music was at its gayest , and the dance at its merriest , when Eisenkopf looked in at the window . ` Oh , ho , my brother ! what is going on here ? It has the air of being a wedding feast . Yet I fancied -- was I mistaken ? -- that you had given me a promise that you never would marry . ' But Peter had not waited for the end of this speech .
Scarcely had he seen Eisenkopf than he darted like the wind to the stable and flung himself XXXXX the horse 's back .
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