“Then the youngest brother set out on the same road to town, was taken in by the same master, and was told: ‘I’ll give wages, give you food and whatever you want, but you must obey me.’

“The orphan accepted, and was given the letter and the instructions about not touching the horse’s reins. When he arrived at the same ravine as his brothers had, the boy looked down and felt gooseflesh on his skin, but he thought, ‘I’ll trust in God,’ and he closed his eyes. When he opened them he was on the other side.

“Then he arrived at a body of water as large as the sea and he thought, ‘I’ll surely drown. In my case, I put my trust in God.’ And, at that, the water parted and he got across.

“Going on, he came to a river of blood and thought, ‘My trust is in God!’ and the river opened a path to his horse.

“Then he came to a thick forest, so thick that not even a bird could get through. ‘Now I’m lost,’ he thought. ‘Yet if I’m lost, so is the horse, so I’ll trust in God.’ And he went on into the woods, where he met an old man who was cutting a tree with a stalk of wheat. ‘What are you doing,’ he asked, ‘cutting a tree with that stalk of wheat?’

“To which the old man replied, ‘Another word and I’ll cut off your head as well.’

“The orphan galloped off, and then he saw an arch of fire with two lions on each side of it. ‘If I go through that arch I’ll burn,’ he thought, ‘but if I burn so will the horse, so let’s go with trust in God!’

“He galloped on until he saw a woman on her knees praying, before whom the horse stopped. The orphan knew then that the letter was for that woman and he gave it to her. The woman opened the letter, read it, then took a handful of sand and threw it in the air. The orphan mounted the horse again and returned to town.

“When he got back, he saw that his master was the Lord, who told him: ‘The ravine you saw was the fall into Hell, the large body of water the tears of my Blessed Mother, the river of blood was from my five wounds, the thick forest was the thorns of my crown, the man cutting the tree with the stalk of wheat was Death, the arch of fire was Hell and the two lions your brothers, and the kneeling woman was my Mother. You obeyed me, now take what you want from that pile of gold.’

“The orphan wanted nothing, but finally he picked up one gold coin and then took his leave of the Lord.

“On the next day, when he went to buy his bread, he spent his coin and yet it still remained in his pocket. And thus it was ever after, and thus he lived happy and well.”