Atondido Stories
should quarrel over them?”
The brothers replied that if one said to the boot, “O Boot, put
me somewhere,” the boot would immediately put him anywhere
he wished to go. If one said to the cap, “O Cap, hide me,” imme-
diately the cap would hide him so he could not be seen. The key
could unlock any door in the whole world. The young man at
once wanted to own these things himself, and he offered so
much money for them that at last the three brothers decided to
end their quarrel by selling the boot, the cap, and the key and di-
viding the money.
The young man put the three treasures in his saddle bag and
went on his way. As soon as he was out of sight of the house he
said to the boot, “O Boot, put me in the house of my eldest sis-
ter.”
Immediately the young man found himself in the most mag-
nificent palace he had ever seen in his life. He asked to speak
with his sister, but the queen of the palace replied that she had
no brother and did not wish to be bothered with the stranger. It
took much urging for the young man to gain permission from
her to relate his story; but, when she had once heard it, every-
thing sounded so logical that she decided to receive him as her
brother. She asked how he had ever found her home, and how
he had come through the thicket which surrounded her palace.
The young man told her about his magic boot.
In the afternoon the queen suddenly burst into tears. Her
brother asked what the trouble was. “O dear! O dear! What shall
we do! What shall we do!” sobbed the queen. “My husband is
King of the Fishes. When he comes home to dinner tonight he
will be very angry to find a human in his palace.” The young
man told her about his magic cap and comforted her fears.
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