From: INGE VABEKK

                          THE THREE PRINCESSES
                      IN THE MOUNTAIN-IN-THE-BLUE

                          third part of seven

 "Well,   the old fellow was fool enough to do as he was told:  he  lay 
down and sighted along the log. When the soldier saw that his beard was 
well  down in the crack,  he knocked out the wedge and started  soundly 
thrashing  the fellow with the axe handle.  Then he swung the axe  over 
his  head  and swore he would split his skull if he didn't tell him  in 
that very instant where the king's daughters were.
 "Spare my life!  Spare my life!  I'll tell you!"  shouted the  fellow. 
"East of the manor there's a big mound,"  he said. "On top of the mound 
you're to dig loose a square peace of turf. Then you'll see a huge slab 
of rock,  and under it is a deep hole. You must lower yourself down the 
hole.   Then you'll come to another world,  and there you'll  find  the 
princesses with the Mountain Trolls.  But it's deep, and it's dark down
there, and you must pass through both water and fire."
 When the soldier had found out what he wanted to know, he released the 
old fellow from the log, and *he* wasn't slow in bidding farewell.
 When  the  captain and the lieutenant came home,  they were amazed  to
find the soldier alive. Well,  he told them how he had fared from first 
to last, and where the king's daughters were, and how they were to find 
them.   They were as happy as though they had already found them,   and 
when  they had had some food,  they took a basket and all the rope  and 
cord they could find, and went to the mound - all three of them.  There 
they first cut loose the turf, just as the fellow had said.  Underneath 
they found a great big stone slab, and it was all they could do to roll 
it aside.  Then they tried to find out how deep the hole was. They tied 
the pieces of rope together, first two lengths and then three, but they 
found no more bottom the last time than the first.  At last they had to 
tie  together all the pieces they had,  both thick and thin;  then they 
felt it reach all the way to the bottom.
 The captain wanted to be the first to descend,  you may be sure.  "But 
when  I tug on the rope,  you must be quick and haul me up again,"   he 
said.
 The  hole was both dark and dismal,  but he thought he had  better  go 
through with it, as long as it got no worse. But all at once cold water 
started spouting about his ears; at that he was frightened to death and 
started tugging on the rope.
 Then  the lieutenant wanted to try,  but he didn't fare  much  better. 
When  he was well past the flood of water,  he caught sight  of  flames 
blazing away below him,  and he was so frightened that he, too,  had to 
turn around and return to the top of the shaft.
 Then  the soldier climbed into the basket.  He kept going through both 
fire and water,  all the way to the bottom.  Down there it was so pitch 
black that he could not see his hand in front of his nose.  Nor did  he 
dare  let go the basket either,  but went round in a circle groping and 
fumbling about.
 Then he caught sight of a tiny glimmer of light a long,  long way off, 
just like the dawn.  He walked toward it,  and when he had gone part of 
the  way  it started growing brighter about him,  and  it  wasn't  long 
before he saw a golden sun rise in the heavens, and the daylight was as 
bright and clear as in the real world. First he came to a great herd of 
cattle, with cows so fat and sleek that they glistened. And when he had
passed them, he came to a large and splendid castle.
 There  he walked through many rooms before he met anyone.  At last  he 
heard the whirring of a spinning wheel,  and when he went in, there sat 
the  king's  eldest daughter spinning copper yarn;  and  the  room  and
everything in it were of burnished copper.
 "My!  Have Christian folk come here?"  exclaimed the princess.   "Lord 
have mercy upon you! What do you want here?"
 "I want to rescue you from the mountain," replied the soldier.
 "My good fellow,  begone! If the Troll comes home, he'll put an end to 
you right away. He has three heads!" she said.
 "I don't care if he has four!" said the soldier.  "Now that I've come, 
I'm going to stay!"
 "Well,   since you're so stubborn,  I  suppose I'd better see if I can 
help you,"  said the king's daughter. Then she told him to crawl behind 
the big brewing vat which stood out in the hall.  In the meantime,  she 
would make the Troll welcome, and stroke his head until he fell asleep. 
"Then, when I go out and call in the hens,  you must come in as quickly 
as  you can,"  she said.  "Now go out and try to swing the sword that's 
lying on the table."
 But  the sword was too heavy;  he couldn't so much as budge it.  So he 
had  to take a strength-giving draught from the drinking-horn that  was 
hanging  behind the hall door.  Then he could just raise the sword from 
the table. He took another swig, and now he could lift it; so he took a
really big one, and was able to swing the sword as easily as could be.
 All  at  once  the Troll came rushing in with a noise that  shook  the 
castle.
 "Fie! Fie! I smell the blood and bones of a Christian in my house!" he 
said. 
 "Yes,  a raven flew past just now," said the king's daughter,  "and it 
had  a  man's bone in its beak,  which it dropped down the chimney.   I 
threw it out, right away, and swept up after it, too,  but I suppose it 
still smells."
 "I can smell it, all right!" said the Troll.
 "But  come now,  I'm going to stroke your heads,"  said the  princess. 
"Then it'll be better when you wake up."