That evening, when the Princess came with her sleepy drink, the
Prince made as if he drank, but threw it over his shoulder, for he
could guess it was a sleepy drink. So, when the lassie came in, she
found the Prince wide awake; and then she told him the whole story
how she had come thither.

'Ah', said the Prince, 'you've just come in the very nick of time,
for to-morrow is to be our wedding-day; but now I won't have the
Long-nose, and you are the only woman in the world who can set me
free. I'll say I want to see what my wife is fit for, and beg her to
wash the shirt which has the three spots of tallow on it; she'll say
yes, for she doesn't know 'tis you who put them there; but that's a
work only for Christian folk, and not for such a pack of Trolls, and
so I'll say that I won't have any other for my bride than the woman
who can wash them out, and ask you to do it.'

So there was great joy and love between them all that night. But next
day, when the wedding was to be, the Prince said:

'First of all, I'd like to see what my bride is fit for.'

'Yes!' said the step-mother, with all her heart.

'Well', said the Prince, 'I've got a fine shirt which I'd like for my
wedding shirt, but some how or other it has got three spots of tallow
on it, which I must have washed out; and I have sworn never to take
any other bride than the woman who's able to do that. If she can't,
she's not worth having.'

Well, that was no great thing they said, so they agreed, and she with