when he came back, the horse told him to pull off his clothes and get into the cauldron which stood and boiled in the other room, and bathe himself there. "if i do," thought the lad, "i shall look an awful fright;" but for all that, he did as he was told. so when he had taken his bath, he became so handsome and sleek, and as red and white as milk and blood, and much stronger than he had been before.