Once upon a time, across seven and seven lands, even beyond the glass mountain, where the little pig with the short tail is a prowler, there was a king, and his son John. Once the king said to his son, who was just a boy, 'Go, my son, see the world and the country, and let your feet be your feet. Then you will be a good man. He threw a sling around his neck and a staff in his hand, bade farewell to his father and mother, and went to the seventeen countries. As he goes, as he goes, he meets on the road a terribly tall, thin man. The prince greets him, and the tall man greets him. And then he looked, and looked at the tall man, and his eyes were wide open with great amazement, for he had never seen such a tall man. He said, "Who art thou, what art thou, what is thy trade? The tall, thin man answered, 'My name is Lightning-fast. I run as fast as lightning, and faster than lightning. Before he had hardly said it, a stag sprang out of the bushes. He leaps, and then he's quick as lightning, leaps one leap, leaps two, and catches up with the deer. Says the prince: 'Now I do believe you can run as fast as lightning. Come with me, let's be breadfellows, you won't regret it.
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