"We shall see whether or no there is sound in you!" roared the troll.
Thereupon he caught the Prince by the hair and dragged him out into the
middle of the room. Then he snatched up a great cudgel and began beating
the Prince as though he were a sack of barley-flour; but the Prince said
never a word. At last the troll had to give over beating him, for the
morning had come and the troll was afraid the sun would catch him; and
if that were to happen, he would swell up and burst with a great noise.
"We shall see whether you will come again!" said he, and then he left
the Prince lying on the floor more dead than alive; and if anybody was
sore in all of the world, the Prince was that man.
After the troll had left the house, the black Princess came and wept
over the Prince; and when her tears fell on him, pain and bruise left
him, and he was as whole as ever. When he looked he saw that the black
Princess's feet were as white as silver.
The next night the troll came again, and with him two others. "Black
cats and spotted toads!" bellowed he, "are you here again?" Then he
caught the Prince by the hair and dragged him out into the middle of the
floor, and all three of the trolls fell upon the Prince and beat him
with clubs, as though he had been a sack of barley-flour. But the Prince
bore this too without a word. At last the morning came, and they had to
give over beating him. "We shall see if you will come again," said the
troll of the house.
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