J. F. Campbell Collection > Fireside stories of Ireland

THE GREEK PRINCESS AND THE YOUNG GARDENER. 5 I
anil cursed, and swore at him, till he didn't know whether
it's his foot or head he was standing on. They called the
king, and told him what happened, and he put on a very
grim face. "It's on a gdbbet you ought to be tliis moment,"
says he, " but I'll give you a chance of your life, and of the
golden bird too. I lay you under prohibitions, and restric-
tions, and death, and destruction, to go and brmg me the
King of Moroco's bay filly that outruns the wind, and leaps
over the walls of castle-bawns. When you fetch her into
the bawn of this palace, you must get the golden bird, and
liberty to go where you please."
Out passed the boy, very down-hearted, but as he went
along, who should come out of a brake but the fox again !
" Ah, my friend," says he, " I was right when I suspect-
ed you hadn't a head on you ; but I won't rub your hair
again' the grain. Get on my tail again, and when we come
to the king of Moroco's palace we'll see what we can do."
So away they went like thought. The wind, &c., &c., &c.
Well, the nightfall came on them in a wood near the
palace, and says the fox, " I'll go and make things easy for
you at the stables, and when you are leading out the filly,
don't let her touch the door, nor door-posts, nor anything
but the ground, and that with her hoofs ; ancl if you haven't
a head on you once you are in the stable, you'll be worse
off than before."
So the boy delayed for a quarter of an hour, and then he
went into the big bawn of the palace. There were two
rows of armed men reaching from the gate to the stable,
and every man was in the depth of deep sleep, and througn
them with the boy till he got into the stable. There was
the fill}^, as handsome a beast as ever stretched leg, and
there was one stable boy "with a currycomb in his hand,
and another with a bridle, and another with a sieve of oats,
and another with an armfull of hay, and all as if they were
cut out of stone. The filly was the only live thing lu
the place except himself. She had a common wood and
leather saddle on her back, but a golden saddle with the
nicest work on it was hung from the post, and he thought
it the greatest pity not to put it in place of the other.
Well, I believe there was some plshrogues over it for a
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