thou too mayest have something to divert thyself with.”  On returning home that evening the young man found his sister quite afflicted, and asked the cause of her grief.  “Why should I not grieve?” said she “You leave me alone, secluded here, while you go about as your fancy directs.  If you love me, go to the Belle of the Earth and bring a flower, so that I too may be amused.”  “Console yourself,” replied he, and at once gave orders to the bridle.  An enormous horse appeared, which he mounted and set off.

As he journeyed, a lamia presented herself before him, and said, “I have a great desire to eat thee, but thou also excitest pity, and so I leave thee thy life.”  The young man then inquired of her how he could find the Belle of the Earth.  “I know nothing about it, my son,” replied the lamia; “but go ask my second sister.”  So he rode off and came to her, and she drew near, intending to devour him, but seeing him so beautiful, she asked where he was going.  He told his story and said, “Do you know the way to the Belle of the Earth’” But she in her turn sent him to her elder sister, who on seeing him rushed out to eat him, but like the others, was touched by his comeliness and spared him; and when he inquired after the Belle of the Earth, “Take this handkerchief,” said she, “and when thou arrivest at her abode, use it to open the door.  Inside thou wilt see a lion and a lamb; throw brains to the lion and grass to the lamb.”  So he went forward and did all the lamia advised.  He tried the door and it opened; threw brains to the lion and grass to the lamb, and they allowed him to pass.  He went in and pulled a flower, and he had no sooner done so than he found himself at his own door.

Great was his sister’s joy as she began playing with the flower.  But on the morrow the two sisters sent the old woman to her again.  “Has he brought thee the flower?” she asked.  “Yes, he has.”  Thou art content,” said the old hag; “but if thou hadst the handkerchief of the Belle of the Earth, it would be quite another thing.”  When her brother came home he found her in tears, and in reply to his inquiries, “What pleasure,” said she—­“what pleasure can this flower give me?  So long as I have not the handkerchief of the Belle of the Earth I shall not be happy.”  Then he, desirous that his sister should have no cause for grief, mounted his horse, and in the same manner as he had obtained the flower, possessed himself of the handkerchief and brought it home to his sister.

On the morrow, when the young man had gone to his cafe, the old witch again visited his sister, who informed her that her brother had brought her the handkerchief.  “How happy,” said the sorceress—­“how happy thou art in having a brother who brings thee whatever thou desirest!  But if thou cost wish to spend thy life like a pasha’s wife, thou must also obtain the owner of that handkerchief.”