farther off, then put the ring on the little finger of his left
hand, and soared into the air like a bird.

When the maiden saw him flying away she thought at first that he
was still in play, and cried, 'Come back, friend, for now you see
I have told you the truth.' But the young man never came back.

Then the maiden saw she was deceived, and bitterly repented that
she had ever trusted him with the ring.

The young man never halted in his flight until he reached the
dwelling of the wise magician who had taught him the speech of
birds. The magician was delighted to find that his search had
been successful, and at once set to work to interpret the secret
signs engraved upon the ring, but it took him seven weeks to make
them out clearly. Then he gave the youth the following
instructions how to overcome the Dragon of the North: 'You must
have an iron horse cast, which must have little wheels under each
foot. You must also be armed with a spear two fathoms long,
which you will be able to wield by means of the magic ring upon
your left thumb. The spear must be as thick in the middle as a
large tree, and both its ends must be sharp. In the middle of
the spear you must have two strong chains ten fathoms in length.
As soon as the Dragon has made himself fast to the spear, which
you must thrust through his jaws, you must spring quickly from
the iron horse and fasten the ends of the chains firmly to the
ground with iron stakes, so that he cannot get away from them.
After two or three days the monster's strength will be so far
exhausted that you will be able to come near him. Then you can
put Solomon's ring upon your left thumb and give him the