The Prince was, however, very calm when he saw the robber brandishing the knife.
"Before I die I want to blow my hunting horn three times, once from this room, once from the staircase, and once from the courtyard."
The robber did not think there was anything wrong with the request of the prince, and he agreed to it.
When the first hunting horn was blown, the fox of the eldest prince realized that his master was in trouble. The fox was in the cage and he woke up the wolf which was next to him. Together, the two animals woke up the lion.
The lion broke the cage with all its might and all the animals were free and they rushed inside the castle to protect their master.
The animals stormed the castle and together killed the robber.
However, the eldest prince did not let the animals hurt his step sister.
"I will not kill you but I will leave you here to repent." The eldest Prince chained his stepsister in the castle and after that the prince kept a bowl in front of her. "I will not see you again until you fill this bowl with your tears."
With that the eldest prince and his beasts set off from the castle.
The prince came to another kingdom and settled there in an inn with all his beasts.
However, the Prince noticed that all the people in the inn and even in the kingdom were very glum.
"What is the matter here?"
"Our princess is to be sacrificed to the nine headed dragon of the sea," the innkeeper told the prince in a sad voice.
The Prince decided to save the princess. He conferred with his beasts and soon they came upon a clap. He saw that the other people in the kingdom brought the princess to the seashore in a procession.
They left her there and walked away sadly. Only the carriage of the princess remained near the seashore.
The princess fearfully waited near the sea shore.
At that time the eldest prince saw ripples in the water far away. He realized that this was the nine headed dragon.
The fox went forward at this time and with its paws through water into the eyes of the dragon. It was salt water and the Dragon was momentarily confused. The bear and the lion used their paws and their strength and threw more salt water at the dragon.
The dragon was bewildered because it could suddenly not see because of the water around it.
At this time, the prince came forward, removed his sword and plunged it into the heart of the dragon full storm.
After that, the other beasts fell on the dragon and killed it.
The princess was thrilled when she realized that she was not going to be killed by the dragon.
The princess gave her ring and half her handkerchief to the eldest prince. "Please come into this carriage with me and we will drive back to my father's palace. There I shall tell my father what you have done for me and the kingdom."
However, the coachman and the footman of the carriage had other ideas.
They did not want to drive a stranger back to the palace and they decided to kill the eldest Prince and take the credit for killing the dragon and saving the princess so that one of them could marry her
So the coachman and the footman together killed the prince and left him dead on the roadside.
Adapted from Lithuanian fairy tales
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