Read Online Astrid Lindgren, illustrated by Ilon Wikland, translated from the Swedish by Jill Morgan by Astrid Lindgren - Free Book Online

to the Swordsmith and tell him Eno sent you. You must say that you need a sword which can cut through stone. You must say that you’re a knight from Farawayland.” He looked at me for a long time. “For I believe that’s what you are,” he said. “Aren’t you?”
    â€œYes,” Pompoo answered for me. “He’s a knight and a prince. Prince Mio from Farawayland. And he must have a sword.”
    â€œWhere can I find the Swordsmith?” I asked.
    â€œIn the Deepest Cave in the Blackest Mountain,” said the old man. “Go through the Dead Forest! Go now!”
    He went to the window and opened it again. And from out over the lake, I once more heard the birds wailing in the night.
    â€œGo now, Prince Mio,” said the old man. “I will sit here and wish that all goes well with you. But perhaps I’ll hear a new bird tomorrow night, flying over the lake and wailing.”

In the Dead Forest
    J UST AS WE closed Eno’s door behind us, I heard Miramis neigh. He neighed so loudly and desperately. He seemed to be calling, “Mio, come and help me!”
    My heart almost stopped, I was so scared. “Pompoo, what are they doing with Miramis?” I screamed. “Can you hear? What are they doing with Miramis?”
    â€œQuiet,” said Pompoo. “They’ve caught him . . . the spies. . . .”
    â€œHow did the spies find Miramis?” I screamed, not caring if anyone heard me.
    â€œYou must be quiet,” whispered Pompoo. “Or else they’ll catch us, too.”
    But I didn’t listen to what he said. Miramis, my own horse! It was my own horse they were taking away from me! And he was the kindest and most beautiful horse in the world.
    I heard him neigh again and thought it was exactly as if he cried, “Mio, can’t you help me?”
    â€œCome,” said Pompoo, “we must see what they’re doing with him.”
    We climbed over the rocks in the darkness. We scrambled and climbed. I cut my fingers on the sharp edges, but I didn’t feel it. I was worried for Miramis’s sake.
    He stood high on a rock and he shone white in the darkness. My Miramis, the brightest and most beautiful horse in the world!

    He neighed wildly and reared, trying to break loose. But five black spies stood around him, and two of them were hanging on to his bridle. Poor Miramis was so scared, and it wasn’t surprising. Because the black spies were so horrible and they talked to each other with their horrible raspy voices. Pompoo and I crept as close as we could and hid behind some rocks and heard what the spies were saying.

    â€œThe best thing is to take him back over the Dead Lake in the black boat,” said one of them.
    â€œYes, straight across the Dead Lake to Sir Kato,” said another.
    I wanted to shout at them to leave my horse alone, but I didn’t. Who would fight Sir Kato if I was captured by the spies? Oh, why must I be the one who would fight Sir Kato? I regretted it terribly, as I hid behind the rocks. Why hadn’t I stayed at home with my father the King, where no one could take my horse from me! I heard the Bewitched Birds wailing out over the lake, but I didn’t care about them. I didn’t care about them at all. They could continue being bewitched, if only I got back my Miramis with the golden mane.
    â€œSomeone must have crossed the border,” said one of the spies. “Someone must have been riding on the white colt. The enemy is among us.”
    â€œGood, the enemy is among us,” said another. “It’ll be so much easier to capture him. So much easier for Sir Kato to crush him and destroy him.”
    I trembled when I heard them. I was the enemy who had crossed the border. I was the one Sir Kato would crush and destroy. I regretted even more that I had come here. And I missed my father the King so much and wondered if he missed me too, and was worried about