The second night, about the same time, a similar noise was heard again round the palace, and a voice at the door exclaimed: "O princes, open the door!"
Seized with fear they dared not disobey. Then the pitiless voice spake again: "Give me your second sister; I have come to ask her in marriage!"
The eldest brother protested: "I will not consent!" The second brother said: "I will not give away our sister!" But the youngest brother was willing. "I will give her!" said he; "have you already forgotten what our father commanded at the hour of his death?"
Thereupon the youngest prince took his sister by the hand and presented her to the unseen visitor, saying: "Take her, may she be loyal and dutiful to you!" So the visitant departed with the princess, and next morning no trace of him could be found.
The third night at the same hour the earth quaked and the palace rocked on its foundations, so mighty was the tumult around it. And again a mysterious voice was heard from without. The princes opened the door, and the unseen presence entered and said: "I come to ask your youngest sister in marriage!" The two elder brothers exclaimed simultaneously: "We will not give our sister by night; we must know to whom we are giving her, so that we may visit her when we wish to do so!" But once more the youngest brother exclaimed: "I will give her, if you will not! Have you, then, forgotten what our father told us? It is not so very long ago!" So saying, he took the maiden and presented her to the invisible power, saying: "Take her with you! And may she bring you joy and happiness!"
Next morning the brothers debated the fate of their sisters, and sorrow filled their hearts. "Great Heaven!" they said, "what a mighty wonder! We know not what has befallen our sisters; neither do we know where they have gone nor whom they have married!" At length they decided to go in search of their beloved sisters, and making the necessary preparations for their journey they set out on the quest.
They journeyed for some time and then lost their way in a dense forest, in which they wandered for a whole day. When darkness fell, they agreed that they must pass the night at some place where they could find water, so when they came to a lake, they decided to pass the night there, and sat down to eat. When they were ready to compose themselves to sleep, the eldest proposed to his brothers that they should sleep while he kept guard. So the two younger brothers went to sleep, and the eldest watched.