“Listen,” said the troll, “I’ll tell you something. Think of something really easy, then he won’t come up with it. Think about one of your shoes. He won’t guess that. Then have his head chopped off, but don’t forget to bring me his eyes when you come out here tomorrow night because I want to eat them.”
The princess curtsied deeply and said that she wouldn’t forget the eyes. Then the troll opened the mountain, and she flew home again, but the traveling companion followed after her and whipped her strongly with the whisk so that she sighed deeply about the terrible hail, and hurried as fast as she could to get through the window into her bedroom. Then the traveling companion flew back to the inn, where Johannes was still sleeping, took off his wings, and lay down on the bed, for he had reason to be tired.
Johannes woke up very early in the morning. The traveling companion got up too and said that he’d had a very strange dream about the princess and her shoes, and told Johannes to be sure to ask if the princess was thinking about her shoe. Of course that was what he had heard the troll say in the mountain, but he didn’t want to tell Johannes anything about that. So he just told him to ask if she was thinking about her shoe.
“I can just as well ask about that as about something else,” Johannes said. “Maybe what you dreamed is right because I’ve always believed that the Lord will help me. But I’ll say good bye anyway because, if I guess wrong, I’ll never see you again.”
They kissed each other, and Johannes went into the city and to the castle. The whole chamber was quite full of people. The judges were sitting in their easy chairs and had goose-down pillows under their heads because they had so much to think about. The old king stood up and dried his eyes with a white handkerchief. Then the princess walked in. She was even more beautiful than the day before and greeted everyone very warmly. However, to Johannes she gave her hand and said, “Good morning to you!”
Then Johannes had to guess what she had thought about. God, how friendly she looked at him. But when she heard him say the one word “shoe,” her face turned chalk-white, and she trembled all over. Of course, it didn’t do her any good because he had guessed correctly!
Hallelujah! How happy the old king was! He turned a somersault with a vengeance, and all the people clapped their hands for him and for Johannes, who had guessed right the first time.
The traveling companion was also very happy when he heard how well it had gone, but Johannes folded his hands and thanked God, whom he was sure would help him again the next two times. Indeed, he had to go back the very next day to guess again.
The evening went by the same as the one before. While Johannes slept, the traveling companion followed the princess out to the mountain, beating her even harder than the last time, because he had taken two of the switches along. No one saw him, and he heard everything. The princess was going to think about her glove, and he told Johannes all about this as if it had been a dream. So Johannes was able to guess correctly, and there was great joy at the castle. All the courtiers turned somersaults, as they had seen the king do the first time, but the princess just lay on the sofa and would not say a single word. Now it would all depend on whether or not Johannes could guess the third time. If all went well, he would marry the lovely princess and inherit the kingdom when the old king died. If he guessed incorrectly, he would lose his life, and the troll would eat his beautiful blue eyes.
That night, Johannes went to bed early, said his prayers, and slept quite peacefully. Meanwhile the traveling companion strapped the wings to his back, tied the sword to his side, took all three switch bundles with him, and flew away to the castle.
It was a dark and stormy night. It was so stormy that the roof tiles flew off the houses, and the trees in the garden where the skeletons were hanging swayed like rushes in the wind. Lightning struck every minute, and thunder was rolling as though it were a single thunderclap that lasted all night. Then the window flew open, and the princess soared into the air. She was pale as death, but laughed at the terrible weather; she didn’t think it was bad enough. Her white coat swirled around in the air like a huge ship-sail, and the traveling companion beat her with the three switches until blood was dripping on the ground, and until she could barely fly. But at last she came to the mountain.
“It’s hailing and stormy,” she said. “Never have I been out in such weather.”
“Yes, it’s possible to get too much of a good thing,” the troll said. Then she told him that Johannes had guessed correctly the second time too. If he did the same tomorrow, he would win, and she could never come to the mountain again or do witchcraft as before. She was very saddened by this.
“He won’t be able to guess!” the troll said. “I’ll come up with something that he has never imagined, or he’s a better magician than I am. But now we’ll be merry!” He took the princess in both hands and they danced around with all the little pixies and will-o-wisps that were in the hall. The red spiders ran merrily up and down the walls, and the fire flowers were sparkling. The owl played the drum; the crickets chirped; and the black grasshoppers played the harmonica. It was a very merry ball!
When they had danced long enough, the princess had to go home because she could be missed at the castle. The troll said that he would accompany her so they could be together for a while yet.
They flew away in terrible weather, and the traveling companion wore out his three switches on their backs. The troll had never been out in such a hailstorm. Outside the castle the troll said good bye to the princess and whispered to her, “Think about my head,” but the traveling companion heard it all right, and the moment the princess slipped through the window into her bedroom, and the troll turned to go, he grasped him by his long black beard and chopped his nasty troll head off at the shoulders with the sword, so quickly that the troll didn’t even see it. He threw the body out into the ocean for the fish, but he dipped the head in the water. Then he wrapped it up in his silk handkerchief, took it back to the inn, and went to bed.
The next morning he gave Johannes the handkerchief, but told him not to open it until the princess asked what she had thought about.
There were so many people in the big chamber at the castle that they were standing on top of each other like radishes tied in a bunch. The councilors sat in their chairs with their soft pillows, and the old king was wearing new clothes. His gold crown and scepter were polished and looked beautiful, but the princess was quite pale and was wearing a coal-black dress, as though she were going to a funeral.
“What have I been thinking about?” she asked Johannes, and he immediately opened the handkerchief and became frightened himself when he saw the terrible troll head. Everyone shivered because it was dreadful to see, but the princess sat like a statue and could not utter a single word. Finally, she stood up and gave Johannes her hand because he had guessed correctly. She didn’t look at anyone, but sighed deeply and said, “Now you are my master! We’ll have the wedding this evening.”
“I like that!” said the old king, “That’s what we’ll do.” All the people shouted “hurrah,” the guard played music in the streets, bells rang, and the bakery women took the black ribbons off the candied pigs, for now there was joy!
