Foralongtimehewanderedallthroughtheworld，anditwasnottilltheninety-ninthdayafterhestartedthathefoundanoldmanwhowasabletotellhimwheretheTreeoftheSungrew。Hefollowedhisdirections，androdeonhisway，andafteranotherninety-ninedayshearrivedatagoldencastle，whichstoodinthemiddleofavastwilderness。Heknockedatthedoor，whichwasopenednoiselesslyandbyinvisiblehands。Findingnooneabout，thePrincerodeon，andcametoagreatmeadow，wheretheSun-Treegrew。Whenhereachedthetreeheputouthishandtopickagoldenapple；butallofasuddenthetreegrewhigher，sothathecouldnotreachitsfruit。Thenheheardsomeonebehindhimlaughing。Turninground，hesawthegirlinredwalkingtowardshim，whoaddressedhiminthesewords:
’Doyoureallyimagine，bravesonoftheearth，thatyoucanpluckanapplesoeasilyfromtheTreeoftheSun？Beforeyoucandothat，youhaveadifficulttaskbeforeyou。Youmustguardthetreeforninedaysandninenightsfromtheravagesoftwowildblackwolves，whowilltrytoharmit。Doyouthinkyoucanundertakethis？’
’Yes，’answeredtheSun-Hero，’IwillguardtheTreeoftheSunninedaysandninenights。’
Thenthegirlcontinued:’Remember，though，ifyoudonotsucceedtheSunwillkillyou。Nowbeginyourwatch。’
WiththesewordstheRedGirlwentbackintothegoldencastle。