The adversaries charged together, and so violent was the shock with
which Hans came upon his foe, and so accurately did he direct his lance,
that the deadly weapon pierced through the massive breast plate of his
enemy and came out at his back. Hans, whose natural strength was terrific, and which was increased
ten-fold by the magical touch he had received from his spouse, whirled
the dead champion at the point of his lance two or three times round his
head, and then flung the body to an incredible distance over the heads
of the crowd. The champion of the Princess Carlotta, seeing the fate of the other
champion, would fain have drawn back, for he thought Hans could be none
other than the foul fiend himself. But the crowd cried out to him, "Thou, too, votest for the Princess
Carlotta." "Ay," he was constrained to say. "Do battle for her, then," said Hans. Carlotta's champion sullenly laid his lance in rest, and aimed at a
portion of Hans' vast body which seemed least protected; but the point
of his lance got entangled in the shirt of mail that Hans wore beneath
his plate armour without doing further injury to him, while Hans' lance
pierced through the left eye of his foe, and passing through the back of
his skull, helmet and all, pinned him to the ground, whilst his horse
galloped off through the crowd. Now, the news of the return of their sister and the defeat of their
champions soon reached the ears of the twin princesses, who knew not how
to contain their rage; but the Princess Clothilde, the more wily and
wicked of the two, bribed her followers with large sums of money to
feign to vote for the Princess Bertha, and thus make friends with this
stranger knight, and invite him into their houses, to offer him a cup of
wine after the fatigue of the combat, which, when unobserved, she
commanded them to drug, and as soon as he was insensible he was to be
carried off to prison and loaded with chains, care being taken to secure
the Princess Bertha at the same time. Hereupon all those who had formerly voted for the Princess Clothilde
commenced to shout, "Long live the Princess Bertha!" But the little princess, suspecting treachery--for she recognised the
faces of the men who now shouted for her as being the same as before
shouted for her sister--warned her spouse not to receive any man's
hospitality but the arch-priest's, telling him that if he disobeyed her
command it might cost him his life. Hans promised to obey, but when he saw so many well-dressed gentlemen of
the court come forward to offer him their congratulations and invite him
so cordially to their houses, being very simple and unsuspicious, he
forgot the warning of his spouse, though she did all in her power by
pinching and biting him to make him remember, and he accepted the
invitation of a certain lord, imagining his spouse's vehement urging to
be nothing more than the bite of a flea. "Fool!" cried the princess, "you will ruin both yourself and me;" but
Hans paid no attention, for he was hungry and thirsty. The great lord who had invited Hans to his mansion possessed all the
polished manners of a courtier, though he had a very black heart, and
easily working himself into Hans' affections, he locked his arm within
the arm of Hans, and led him to his home. "May I also have the honour of entertaining Her Royal Highness the
Princess Bertha?" asked the nobleman. "Oh, yes," said Hans in his simple manner; "she is inside my helmet. I'll bring her, too. You see, she being small and I being large, it is
the only way we can discourse together." "Ha! ha!" laughed the nobleman; "an original idea. By all means let me
have the honour of entertaining my princess." Hans was charmed at the affable manners of the nobleman, and arrived at
the mansion, took a seat at the lord's table, where he was introduced to
other men of high rank, who all congratulated him on his prowess, and
expressed their delight at having made his acquaintance. A meal was speedily prepared, and wine handed round. "Drink not," whispered the princess. But Hans, deaf to all counsel in
the presence of so many genial companions, accepted glass after glass,
until he was in a state bordering on intoxication. Now, Hans was a good
man, and a true, but he had one small failing, which was an inclination
to tipple. He could never refuse a good glass of wine when he was among boon
companions. He had also a most ravenous appetite, and afforded the other
guests much amusement by the clownish manner in which he devoured his
food, as well as by his brutal stupidity and broad peasant's brogue. When the wine had loosened his tongue a little he soon informed the
nobleman of his former condition, saying he was no knight of the court,
but a humble woodcutter, and would take no notice of the signs made to
him by the princess to keep quiet (who now, by the by, was seated on the
table before him, Hans having unbuckled his helmet) but went on eating
and drinking, and chatting and laughing, in a manner ill-suited to his
dignity as champion, to say nothing of husband to the princess. The Princess Bertha was treated with the respect due to her rank, and
was pressed to partake of something, but she refused, pleading no
appetite. When the host observed that the wine had got into Hans' head, he
motioned to some of the guests to engage the princess in conversation
while he administered the drug. Then, taking a paper containing a powder from his pocket, he emptied it
into a goblet of wine which he offered to Hans. But the princess, who observed this, said to the host, "May it please
your lordship to drink first this toast--'to the prosperity of our
kingdom.'" The nobleman looked confused, and stammered out that he hoped that Her
Royal Highness would excuse him, as he, a humble individual, could not
think of tasting the cup before so illustrious a guest. "Then you refuse to do me this small favour, my lord?" said Bertha. But before the host had time to reply Hans had already grasped the
goblet greedily and drained it dry. The effect was not immediate, but
after about twenty minutes Hans fell back in his chair in a state of the
most perfect insensibility. "I am afraid," said the host, "that your Royal Highness's brave champion
has partaken a little too freely of the contents of my cellar. It is an
accident that is apt to befall the best of us. I am sorry for his state,
though I cannot but feel it a compliment to my wine." The princess answered not save by a look of scorn. Then, fearing that
the nobleman would offer to remove her to another room while he procured
men to remove the helpless body of her spouse, as well as secure her
person, and bring her, in spite of herself, into her sister's power, who
was sure to make away with her secretly, she touched herself with her
wand, and instantly she became invisible.