As soon as her feet touched the ground she became transformed from a hawk into a woman . This was the moment the youth was waiting for , and he swung his mighty sword in the air with all his strength and the witch 's head fell off , and her blood spurted up on the walls . Without fear of any further danger , he packed up all the treasures of the castle into great chests , and gave his brothers a signal to pull them up out of the abyss . First the treasures were attached to the rope and then the three lovely girls . And now everything was up above and only he himself remained below . But as he was a little suspicious of his brothers , he fastened a heavy stone on to the rope and let them pull it up . At first they heaved with a will , but when the stone was half way up they let it drop suddenly , and it fell to the bottom broken into a hundred pieces . ` So that 's what would have happened to my bones had I trusted myself to them , ' said the youth sadly ; and he began to cry bitterly , not because of the treasures , but because of the lovely girl with her swanlike neck and golden hair . For a long time he wandered sadly all through the beautiful underworld , and one day he met a magician who asked him the cause of his tears . The youth told him all that had befallen him , and the magician said : ` Do not grieve , young man ! If you will guard the children who are hidden in the golden apple-tree , I will bring you at once up to the earth . Another magician who lives in this land always eats my children up . It is in vain that I have hidden them under the earth and locked them into the castle . Now I have hidden them in the apple-tree ; hide yourself there too , and at midnight you will see my enemy . ' The youth climbed up the tree , and picked some of the beautiful golden apples , which he ate for his supper . At midnight the wind began to rise , and a rustling sound was heard at the foot of the tree . The youth looked down and beheld a long thick serpent beginning to crawl up the tree . It wound itself round the stem and gradually got higher and higher . It stretched its huge head , in which the eyes glittered fiercely , among the branches , searching for the nest in which the little children lay . They trembled with terror when they saw the hideous creature , and hid themselves beneath the leaves .
Then the youth swung his mighty sword in the air , and with one blow cut off the XXXXX 's head .
enemy magician man pieces serpent signal strength sword walls wind