\\u0027If you will only listen,\\u0027 said the fox, \\u0027it can be done. When you come to the king, and he asks for the beautiful princess, you must say, \\\"Here she is!\\\"Then he will be very joyful; and you will mount the golden horse that they are to give you, and put out your hand to take leave of them; but shake hands with the princess last. Then lift her quickly on to the horse behind you; clap your spurs to his side, and gallop away as fast as you can.\\u0027
All went right: then the fox said, \\u0027When you come to the castle where the bird is, I will stay with the princess at the door, and you will ride in and speak to the king; and when he sees that it is the right horse, he will bring out the bird; but you must sit still, and say that you want to look at it, to see whether it is the true golden bird; and when you get it into your hand, ride away.\\u0027
This, too, happened as the fox said; they carried off the bird, the princess mounted again, and they rode on to a great wood. Then the fox came, and said, \\u0027Pray kill me, and cut off my head and my feet.\\u0027 But the young man refused to do it: so the fox said, \\u0027I will at any rate give you good counsel: beware of two things; ransom no one from the gallows, and sit down by the side of no river.\\u0027 Then away he went. \\u0027Well,\\u0027 thought the young man, \\u0027it is no hard matter to keep that advice.\\u0027
He rode on with the princess, till at last he came to the village where he had left his two brothers. And there he heard a great noise and uproar; and when he asked what was the matter, the people said, \\u0027Two men are going to be hanged.\\u0027 As he came nearer, he saw that the two men were his brothers, who had turned robbers; so he said, \\u0027Cannot they in any way be saved?\\u0027But the people said \\u0027No,\\u0027 unless he would bestow all his money upon the rascals and buy their liberty. Then he did not stay to think about the matter, but paid what was asked, and his brothers were given up, and went on with him towards their home.
And as they came to the wood where the fox first met them, it was so cool and pleasant that the two brothers said, \\u0027Let us sit down by the side of the river,and rest a while, to eat and drink.\\u0027 So he said, \\u0027Yes,\\u0027and forgot the fox\\u0027s counsel, and sat down on the side of the river; and while he suspected nothing, they came behind, and threw him down the bank, and took the princess, the horse, and the bird, and went home to the king their master, and said. \\u0027All this have we won by our labour.\\u0027 Then there was great rejoicing made;but the horse would not eat, the bird would not sing,and the princess wept.
The youngest son fell to the bottom of the river\\u0027s bed: luckily it was nearly dry, but his bones were almost broken, and the bank was so steep that he could find no way to get out. Then the old fox came once more, and scolded him for not following his advice;otherwise no evil would have befallen him: \\u0027Yet,\\u0027 said he, \\u0027I cannot leave you here, so lay hold of my tail and hold fast.\\u0027 Then he pulled him out of the river, and said to him, as he got upon the bank, \\u0027Your brothers have set watch to kill you, if they find you in the kingdom.\\u0027So he dressed himself as a poor man, and came secretly to the king\\u0027s court, and was scarcely within the doors when the horse began to eat, and the bird to sing, and the princess left off weeping. Then he went to the king, and told him all his brothers\\u0027 roguery;and they were seized and punished, and he had the princess given to him again; and after the king\\u0027s death he was heir to his kingdom.
A long while after, he went to walk one day in the wood, and the old fox met him, and besought him with tears in his eyes to kill him, and cut off his head and feet. And at last he did so, and in a moment the fox was changed into a man, and turned out to be the brother of the princess, who had been lost a great many many years.