said to him, 'Tell me, my son why are you tied to that tree?'

'Because I was so crooked,' answered the young man; 'but it has
quite cured me, and now my back is as straight as can be.'

'I wish you would bind me to a tree,' exclaimed the shepherd, 'so
that my back would get straight.'

'With all the pleasure in life,' replied the youth. 'If you will
loosen these cords I will tie you up with them as firmly as I
can.'

This was soon done, and then the young man drove off the sheep,
leaving their real shepherd to repent of his folly; and before he
had gone very far he met with a horse boy and a driver of oxen,
and he persuaded them to turn with him and to seek for
adventures.

By these and many other tricks he soon became so celebrated that
his fame reached the king's ears, and his majesty was filled with
curiosity to see the man who had managed to outwit everybody. So
he commanded his guards to capture the young man and bring him
before him.

And when the young man stood before the king, the king spoke to
him and said, 'By your tricks and the pranks that you have played
on other people, you have, in the eye of the law, forfeited your
life. But on one condition I will spare you, and that is, if you
will bring me the flying horse that belongs to the great dragon.
Fail in this, and you shall be hewn in a thousand pieces.'