After some time the queen had a little boy and the mad also had a male foal. The boy and the foal grew up together and loved each other like brothers.
The horse could talk so that the human could understand him.
In course of time the king died and so did the queen.
The son who was nineteen years old was all alone.
At that time, the horse talked to the prince. “If we keep sending these twelve young men and twelve maidens to the seven-headed serpent, our Kingdom will be ruined. So we will have to find the woman who will tell us how to kill the monster.”
The Prince mounted his horse and they went to a far away mountain. At its side was a great underground cave.
There was an old woman who was spinning there all around the walls of the cave, there were beds cut out of the solid rock, upon which the nuns slept.
In the middle, there was a light which was burning. It was the duty of the nuns to watch the lights and make sure that it never went out.
As soon as the Prince saw the old woman he threw himself at her feet. “How can I kill the seven headed serpent?” He asked her immediately.
The nun embraced the young man. “It was I who sent the nun to your mother. And I was the reason for your birth and the birth of your horse. Take your horse and load it with cotton and go through the secret passage which I will show you. This passage is hidden from the wild beasts and leads directly inside the serpent’s palace. There you will find the king asleep in his bed. The king's bed is surrounded by bells. There is a sword hanging over the bed. You can kill the serpent only with the sword. Even if the blade breaks a new one will grow again for every head that the seven-headed serpent has remaining. Thus you will be able to cut off all his seven heads. You must slip into the bed chamber of the monster and stop all the bells which are around the bed with cotton. Then take down the sword gently and quickly give the monster a blow on its tail. This will wake him up. However, be careful because if he sees you he will catch you. You must quickly cut off his first head and then wait till the next one comes off. Strike off all the heads and go on till you have cut off all the seven heads.”
The woman gave the Prince her blessing and he set out on what he had been told.
The prince was able to follow the instructions and soon he beheaded the serpent.
As soon as the wild beasts heard of the death of the seven-headed serpent, they came to the castle.
However, the Prince had long since mounted his horse and was already out of their reach.
Though the beasts pursued the prince, they found it impossible to overtake him and the prince reached his home safely.
Thus the prince freed his country from the seven-headed serpent.
Adapted from Greek Folk Tales
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