and when the lilies are in flower, and a pot filled with some of them is standing rather high up in the chemist's shop, he throws down his sack as he is passing by, leaps on it, snatches at the lilies, and instantly becomes a man again, but stands there naked. And now we will leave this story, which varies much, and follow that from Zwehrn. Three soldiers were so old and weak that they could no longer even eat pap, on which the King dismissed them without allowing them anything to keep themselves on, and they had to beg. They passed through a great forest, and at night two of them lay down to rest, and the third had to keep watch that they might not be torn to pieces in their sleep by wild beasts. As the latter was standing there, a little dwarf clad in red, came, and cried, "Who's there?" "A good friend," replied the soldier. "What kind of a good friend?" "Three discharged old soldiers who have no longer anything to live on." Then the dwarf gave him a cloak which looked old, but if any one put it on and wished for anything, his wish was fulfilled immediately; only he was not to tell his comrades about it till day. Next night the second received in the same way a purse full of money which would never become empty, and the night after, the third received a horn which, when blown, made all the people throng together. And now they travelled about for a while in luxury, but at length they wished for a castle, and then for a carriage with three white horses. When they had all these things, they drove to a King who had only one daughter, and gave out that they were King's sons. One of them was playing with the maiden, and when she saw that he had a wishing-purse, she made him so drunk that he fell asleep, and then she made a purse which looked exactly like his, and exchanged the two. Next morning the soldiers drove away again, and the deception soon came to light. "Alas!" one cried, "now we are poor people!" "Don't grow any grey hairs about that," said one of the others, "I will soon have the purse back," and he put on his cloak, and wished himself in the princess's chamber. She was sitting there, counting out gold from the purse. When she saw a man she was terribly alarmed, and screamed, "Robbers! robbers!" till the whole court came running thither, and was about to seize him. In his haste he leapt out of the window, and left his cloak caught fast, so when he went back to his comrades they had now nothing left but the horn; with that, however, they were resolved to regain their property. They blew the horn till they had gathered together a whole army; and with that they marched to the kingdom, and informed the King that if he did not deliver up the purse and the cloak, not one stone of his palace should be left standing on another. The King spoke to his daughter, but she was determined to use stratagem, and dressed herself like a poor
