Long ago there was a little princess named Ellen. She lived with her mother, the queen in a great castle by the sea. She had three brothers.

 

One day, as they were playing ball, one of her brothers threw the ball over the castle. Ellen ran to get it, and did not come back. The three brothers looked for her. They looked and looked, but they could not find her.

 

Day after day went by. At last the oldest brother went to a wise man and asked what man. The wise man told him as he had told the oldest brother. Then the next brother set out to find the dark tower. The youngest brother waited. He waited long, but no one came back.

 

Now the youngest brother was called childe Rowland. At last childe Rowland went to his mother, the queen, and said, "mother, let me go and find the dark tower and bring home Ellen and my brothers. "I cannot let you go. You are all that I have now," said the queen. But childe Rowland asked again and again, until at last the queen said, "go, my boy."

 

Then she gave him his father's sword², and he set out. He went to the wise man and asked the way. The wise man told him and said: "I will tell you two things: one thing is for you to do, and one thing is for you not to do.The thing to do is this: when you get to the country of the elves, hold your father's sword, pull it out quickly, and cut off the head of anyone who speaks to you, until you find the princess Ellen. The thing not to do is this: bite no bit and drink no drop until you come back. Go hungry and thirsty while you are in the country of the elves."

 

Childe Rowland said the two things over and over, lest³ he should forget. Then he went on his way. He went on and on and on, until he came to some horses with eyes of fire. Then he knew he was in the country of the elves. A man was with the horses. "Where is the dark tower?" asked childe Rowland. "I cannot tell. Ask the woman that keeps the hens," said the man. Childe Rowland took the sword and off went the man's head.

 

Then he went on and on, until he came to some hens with eyes of fire. An old woman was with them. "Where is the dark tower?" asked childe Rowland. "Go and look for a hill," said the old woman. "Go around the hill three times. Each time you go around say: "Open, door! Open, door! Let me come in. "When you have gone three times around, door will open. Go in." "When you have gone three times around, door will open. Go in."

 

Childe Rowland did not like to cut off the head of the old woman, but he thought of what the wise man had told him. So he took hold of the sword, and off went her head. After this he went on and on and on, until at last he came to a hill. He went three times around it, and each time he said: "Open, door! Open, door! Let me come in."

 

When he had gone three times around, a door opened. In he went. The door shut after him, and he was in the dark. Soon he began to see a dim⁴ light. It seemed to come from the walls. He went down a long way, and at last he came to another door. All at once it flew open, and he found himself in a great hall. The walls were of gold and silver, and were hung with diamonds. How the diamonds shone! And there sat the princess Ellen in a big chair of gold, with diamonds all about her head.

 

When she saw childe Rowland, she came to him and said: "Brother, Why are you here? If the king of the elves（侏儒） comes, it will be a sad ay for you." But this did not frighten childe Rowland. He sat down and told her all that he had done. She told him that the two brothers were in the tower. The king of the elves had turned them into stone. Soon childe Rowland began to be very hungry, and asked for something to eat. All at once he thought of what the wise man had said. So he threw the bowl down upon the floor, and said: "Not a bit will I bite, Not a drop will I drink, till Ellen is free."

 

Then they heard a great noise outside, and someone cried out: "fee-fi-fo- fum! I smell the blood of an Englishman⁵!" The door of the hall flew open and the king of the elves came in. Childe Rowland took his sword. They fought and they fought. At last childe Rowland beat the king of the elves down to the ground. "Stop!" Cried the king of the elves. "I have had enough." "I will stop when you set free the princess Ellen and my brothers," said childe Rowland. "I will set them free," said the king. He went at once to a cupboard and took out a blood-red bottle. Out of this bottle he let a drop or tow¹ fall upon the eyes of the two brothers, and up they jumped. Childe Rowland took the hand of his sister Ellen and went out of the hall, and up the long way. The two brothers went after them. And they all came out from the hill and found their way back to their own home. How glad their mother was!

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