'And perhaps, too, you can tell me something about my journey.
Are the hill of ice and the sea of glass anywhere in this neighbourhood ?' "The old woman smiled and nodded her head two or three times.
"'Seven days must you travel,' she said, 'before you see them.

At the foot of the hill of ice lies the sea of glass.

No mortal foot unaided has ever crossed the one or ascended the other.

Here, take these shoes--with them you can safely walk over the sea of glass, and with this staff you can mount the hill of ice,' and as she spoke she handed to the Princess a pair of curiously carved wooden shoes and a short sharp-pointed stick.

The Princess took them gratefully, and would have thanked the old woman, whom she now knew to be a fairy, but she stopped her.