the third night there came a troll that had nine heads and nine rods, and he whipped and flogged the lad so long that he fainted away; then the troll took him up and dashed him against the wall; but the shock brought down the flask, which fell on the lad, burst, and spilled the ointment all over him, and so he became as strong and sound as ever again. then he wasn't slow; he grasped the sword and slew the troll; and next morning when he went out of the castle the princesses stood before him with all their bodies out of the earth.