At midday he remembered that there was a young witch. She lived in a cave and she was very good at magic. He ran quickly to her.

 

‘What do you need? What do you need?’ she cried, when he ran towards her cave. ‘Do you need fish when the weather is bad? I have a special instrument. You play it and all the fish swim into the bay. But it has a price, pretty boy, it has a price.

 

‘What do you need? What do you need? A storm to destroy the ships? Do you want the gold on the ships? I can help you. I have more storms than the wind. My master is stronger than the wind. But I have a price, pretty boy, I have a price.’

 

‘I do not want very much,’ said the young fisherman, ‘but the priest is very angry with me, and the merchants laugh at me. So, I came to you, and I will pay you any price.’

 

‘What do you want?’ asked the witch.

 

‘I want to send my soul away from me,’ answered the young fisherman.

 

The witch’s face became white. ‘Pretty boy, pretty boy,’ she said, ‘that is a terrible thing to do.’

 

He laughed and answered her, ‘My soul is not important to me. I cannot see it. I cannot touch it. I do not know it.’

 

‘I will tell you, but you must give me something,’ said the witch. She looked at him with her beautiful eyes.

 

‘Five pieces of gold,’ he said, ‘and my nets and my house, and my boat. But how can I send away my soul?’

 

She laughed and answered, ‘I can change the autumn leaves into gold. I can change the light of the moon into silver. My master is richer than all the kings of this world.’

 

The witch caressed his hair with her thin white hand. ‘You must dance with me, pretty boy,’ she said softly, and she smiled at him.

 

‘Only this?’ cried the young fisherman.

 

‘Only this,’ she answered, and she smiled at him again.

 

‘Then we will dance together in a secret place at sunset,’ he said, ‘and you will tell me everything. Then I can send away my soul.’

 

‘When the moon is full, when the moon is full,’ she said softly. Then she looked around and listened. Three birds sang. There was no other sound. There was only the sound of the waves. So she pulled him next to her. She put her dry lips close to his ear.

 

‘Tonight you must come to the top of the mountain,’ she whispered. ‘It is a special night and He will be there.’

 

‘Who is He?’ he asked.

 

‘It is not important,’ she answered. ‘Go tonight and stand under the tree, and wait for me. You will see a dog, and you must hit it with a stick. The dog will run away. Remember, do not speak to the owl. I will come with the full moon, and we will dance together.’

 

‘How can I send my soul away? You must promise to tell me,’ he said.

 

She came out of the cave into the sun. T promise,’ she answered.

 

‘You are the best witch in the world,’ cried the fisherman, and he ran back to the town happily.

 

The witch went into her cave, and burned a magic plant. She looked into the smoke.

 

After some time she said angrily, ‘He must be mine. I am as beautiful as she is.’

 

That evening, when the moon appeared, the fisherman went to the top of the mountain. He stood under the tree.

 

A big owl with yellow eyes called his name. He did not answer. A black dog ran towards him. He hit it with the stick, and it ran away.

 

At midnight the witches were in the sky. They were like bats. ‘Phew!’ they cried when they came to the ground, ‘there is someone here and we do not know him!’

 

Finally, the young witch with red hair appeared. She wore a gold dress with peacock’s eyes on it and her little hat was green.

 

‘Where is he, where is he?’ asked the witches when they saw her. She laughed and ran to the fisherman. She took him by the hand and then they danced in the moonlight.

 

They danced round and round. Then they heard the sound of a galloping horse, but they did not see a horse.

 

‘Faster, faster!’ she cried, and then the fisherman was afraid. Something very bad was there and he was afraid of it.

 

There was a man near a rock. He wore elegant Spanish clothes. This man watched the fisherman constantly. The witch laughed, and he danced with her round and round.