THE MAGIC EGG. 243

has ordered me to catch her the golden hare.”—* Qh,
oh!” cried the she-dragon’s daughter, “the berries
ave ripening now; only her father, the Devil, knows
how to catch such a hare ag that. Nevertheless, ll
go to a rocky place I know of, and there perchance
we shall be able to catch it.” So they went to this
rocky place together, and she said to him: “Stand
over that hole. I'll go in and chase him out of the
hole, and thou catch him as he comes out ; but mind,
whatever comes out of the hole, seize it, for it will be
the golden hare.”

So she went and began beating up, and all at once
out came a snake and hissed, and he let it go. Then
she came out of the hole and said to him: “What!
has nothing come out ?”—* Well,” said he, “only a
snake, and I was afraid it would bite me, so I let it
go.” —“ What hast thou done?” said she; “that was
the very hare itself. Look now!” said she, “I'll go
in again, and if any one comes out and tells you that
the golden hare is not here, don’t believe it, but hold
him fast.” So she crept into the hole again and
began to beat for game, and out came an old woman,
who said to the youth: ‘What art thou poking
about there for?”—And he said to her: “For the
golden hare.”—She said to him: “It is not here, for
this is a snake’s hole,” and when she had said this
she went away. Presently the girl also came out