Atondido Stories
“On the contrary, master, it is just because I see too well that
I have to bandage my eyes. With bandaged eyes I see as well as
other people whose eyes are uncovered. When I take the hand-
kerchief off, my sight is so keen it goes straight through every-
thing. When I look at anything intently it catches fire, and if it
can’t burn, it crumbles to pieces. On account of my sight I’m
called Keen.”
He untied the handkerchief, turned to one of the rocks oppo-
site, and gazed at it with glowing eyes. Soon the rock began to
crumble and fall to pieces. In a few moments it was reduced to a
heap of sand. In the sand something gleamed like fire. Keen
picked it up and handed it to the prince. It was a lump of pure
gold.
“Ha, ha!” said the prince. “You are a fine fellow and worth
more than wages! I should be a fool not to take you into my ser-
vice. Since you have such keen eyes, look and tell me how much
farther it is to the Iron Castle and what is happening there now.”
“If you rode there alone,” Keen answered, “you might get
there within a year, but with us to help you, you will arrive this
very day. Our coming is not unexpected, either, for at this very
moment they are preparing supper for us.”
“What is the captive princess doing?”
“She is sitting in a high tower behind an iron grating. The
magician stands on guard.”
“If you are real men,” the prince cried, “you will all help me
to free her.”
The three comrades promised they would.
They led the prince straight through the gray rocks by a de-
file which Keen made with his eyes, and on and on through high
mountains and deep forests. Whatever obstacle was in the way
one or another of the three comrades was able to remove it.
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