Thus they afterward came in front of the castle, and the servants came out-of-doors; and when they saw such things they went and told the king.  “Oh, sire, we have such a spectacle here; we have already had all manner of masquerades, but this has never been here yet.”  So they immediately led the king’s daughter to the square in front of the castle, and she looked and laughed till the castle shook.

Now they asked him what sort of person he was.  He said that he was a shepherd’s son, and was named George.  They said that it could not be done; for he was of mean lineage, and they could not give him the damsel; but he must accomplish something more for them.  He said, “What?” They replied that there was a spring yonder, a hundred miles off; if he brought a goblet of water from it in a minute, then he should obtain the damsel.  So George said to the man who had the foot on his shoulder:  “You said that if you took the foot down, you could jump a hundred miles.”  He replied:  “I’ll easily do that.”  He took the foot down, jumped, and was there.  But after this there was only a very little time to spare, and by then he ought to have been back.  So George said to the other:  “You said that if you removed the bandage from your eyes, you could see a hundred miles.  Peep and see what is going on.”  “Ah, sir!  Goodness gracious! he’s fallen asleep!” “That will be a bad job,” said George; “the time will be up.  You, third man, you said if you pulled your thumb out, you could squirt a hundred miles; be quick and squirt thither, that he may get up.  And you, look whether he is moving, or what.”  “Oh, sir, he’s getting up now; he’s knocking the dust off; he’s drawing the water.”  He then gave a jump, and was there exactly in time.

After this they said that he must perform one task more; that yonder, in a rock, was a wild beast, a unicorn, of such a nature that he destroyed a great many of their people; if he cleared him out of the world he should obtain the damsel.  So he took his people and went into the forest.  They came to a firwood.  There were three wild beasts, and three lairs had been formed by wallowing as they lay.  Two did nothing:  but the third destroyed the people.  So they took some stones and some pine-cones in their pockets, and climbed up into a tree; and when the beasts lay down, they dropped a stone down upon that one which was the unicorn.  He said to the next:  “Be quiet; don’t butt me.”  It said:  “I’m not doing anything to you.”  Again they let a stone fall from above upon the unicorn.  “Be quiet! you’ve already done it to me twice.”  “Indeed, I’m doing nothing to you.”  So they attacked each other and fought together.  The unicorn wanted to pierce the second beast through; but it jumped out of the way, and he rushed so violently after it, that he struck his horn into a tree, and couldn’t pull it out quickly.  So they sprang speedily down from the fir, and the other two beasts ran away and escaped, but they cut off the head of the third, the unicorn, took it up, and carried it to the castle.