The young man and the princess continued their journey. Eventually, they reached the village where he had left his two brothers. There was a loud commotion in the streets. Curious, he asked the people what was happening.
“Two men are about to be hanged,” someone said.
When he got closer, he was shocked to see that the two men were his brothers! They had become robbers and were about to be executed.
“Is there any way to save them?” the young man asked.
“No,” the people replied, “unless someone pays a great sum of money to set them free.”
Without thinking, the young man paid the price. His brothers were released, and the three of them continued their journey home together.
As they passed through the forest where the young man had first met the fox, the air was cool and pleasant.
“Let’s rest here by the river,” the older brothers said. “We can eat and drink before we continue.”
The young man agreed and sat down by the river, completely forgetting the fox’s warning.
But while he was relaxed and unsuspecting, his brothers suddenly pushed him into the river! Then they took the princess, the golden horse, and the golden bird and returned home to the king.
“We won all of this through our hard work,” they lied.
The king was overjoyed. However, something was wrong. The golden horse refused to eat, the golden bird would not sing, and the princess cried all day.
Meanwhile, the youngest brother had fallen deep into the riverbed. Fortunately, the river was nearly dry, but his body was weak, and the riverbank was too steep for him to climb out.
At that moment, the old fox appeared once more.
“I warned you not to sit by the river!” the fox scolded. “If you had listened to me, none of this would have happened!”
The young man hung his head in shame.
“Still,” the fox sighed, “I cannot leave you here. Grab my tail and hold on tightly.”
The young man did as he was told, and the fox pulled him out of the river.
Then the fox gave him another warning. “Your brothers have ordered the guards to kill you if they find you in the kingdom. You must disguise yourself.”
So the young man dressed as a poor beggar and entered the castle in secret.
The moment he stepped inside, something strange happened. The golden horse began to eat, the golden bird started to sing, and the princess stopped crying.
The young man went to the king and told him the truth about his brothers’ betrayal. The king was furious and ordered the brothers to be punished. The youngest son was reunited with the princess, and when the king later passed away, he inherited the kingdom.
One day, a long time later, he went for a walk in the forest. There, he met the fox once again.
“Please,” the fox said, tears in his eyes, “kill me and cut off my head and feet.”
The young man refused at first, but the fox kept begging. Finally, he agreed.
The moment he did it, the fox transformed into a man.
“I was never a fox,” he said. “I am the long-lost brother of the princess!”
The young man was amazed, and he and the princess were overjoyed to have her brother back.
From then on, they all lived happily ever after.