Everything happened just as the fox had said. At midnight, the young man saw the princess on her way to the bathhouse. He kissed her, and she agreed to escape with him.
However, she began to cry and begged him to let her say goodbye to her father. At first, he refused, but she continued crying, falling to her knees and pleading with him. Finally, he gave in.
The moment she entered her father’s house, the guards woke up. They seized the young man and brought him before the king.
“You will never have my daughter,” the king said, “unless you remove the hill blocking my window within eight days.”
This hill was so large that no one in the world could have moved it. The young man worked as hard as he could for seven days, but he barely made any progress.
Then, on the seventh day, the fox appeared again. “Lie down and sleep,” the fox said. “I will do the work for you.”
The young man obeyed, and when he woke up in the morning, the hill was completely gone!
Happy and relieved, he went to the king and said, “The hill is gone. Now you must keep your promise and give me the princess.”
The king had no choice. He gave his daughter to the young man, and they left together.
Soon after, the fox appeared again and said, “Now we can take everything—the princess, the golden horse, and the golden bird.”
The young man was surprised. “That would be wonderful, but how can we do it?”
“If you listen carefully, it will be easy,” the fox said.
“When you return to the king who owns the golden horse, he will be very happy to see the princess. When he gives you the golden horse, get on it. Then, as you are saying goodbye, shake hands with the princess last. As soon as you take her hand, quickly pull her onto the horse behind you and ride away as fast as you can.”
The young man followed the fox’s plan exactly, and it worked!
Then the fox said, “Now, when you arrive at the castle with the golden bird, I will wait outside with the princess while you go inside. The king will be excited to see the golden horse and will bring you the golden bird. But do not get off the horse. Instead, say that you want to take a closer look at the bird to make sure it is real. Once you have it in your hands, ride away immediately.”
Again, everything went exactly as the fox had said. The young man took the bird, the princess got back on the horse, and they rode away.
After some time, they reached a large forest. The fox appeared once more and said, “Now, I have one final request. Please kill me and cut off my head and feet.”
The young man was shocked. “No! I could never do that,” he said.
The fox sighed. “At least listen to my advice: Never try to save anyone from the gallows, and never sit down by a river.”
Then the fox disappeared into the forest.
The young man thought to himself, “That’s easy advice to follow.”