There were plenty of those who wanted to try it, I can
tell you, for it is not every day that you can get a princess and half a
kingdom. The gate to the King's palace did not stand still a minute.
They came in great crowds from the East and the West, both riding and
walking. But there was not one of them who could silence the princess.
At last the king had it given out that those who tried, and failed,
should have both ears marked with the big redhot iron with which he
marked his sheep. He was not going to have all that flurry and worry for
nothing.
Well, there were three brothers, who had heard about the princess, and,
as they did not fare very well at home, they thought they had better set
out to try their luck and see if they could not win the princess and
half the kingdom. They were friends and good fellows, all three of them,
and they set off together.
When they had walked a bit of the way, Boots picked up something.
"I've found--I've found something!" he cried.
"What did you find!" asked the brothers.
"I found a dead crow," said he.
"Ugh! Throw it away! What would you do with that?" said the brothers,
who always thought they knew a great deal.
"Oh, I haven't much to carry, I might as well carry this," said Boots.
So when they had walked on a bit, Boots again picked up something.
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