dependence upon himself, adding, "You are now both accomplished huntsmen."
So the brothers went off into the wood and consulted together, and finally agreed what they would do.
When they sat down to supper that evening, they said to their foster father:
"We will not touch a single morsel of food until you have granted us the request we have to make?"
"And what is the request?" he asked.
They answered, "We have been fully trained as huntsmen, but we still want experience, and what we ask is that you will let us leave you and go out into the world by ourselves."
The old man responded with delight, "You speak as brave hunstmen should, and what you wish is my desire also; go forth, all will, I know, be well with you."
After this they passed a happy evening, making merry over their supper.
When the appointed day came for their departure, the foster-father gave them each a good gun, and let them take as much as they wanted from the money he had saved for them. He went with them part of the way, and before finally saying good-bye to them, he made them a further present of a knife with a polished blade. "If later on," he said, "you should have to separate, stick this knife into a tree at the cross-ways, and when either of you wishes to know how his absent brother is faring, go back and look at the blade on the side facing the direction in which he went: if he is dead, the blade will be rusty, but as long as he is alive, it will remain bright."
The brothers travelled on and at last came to a forest which was too large to be traversed in a single
