On a beautiful, sunny morning Lady LovelyLocks and her Pixietails went on their way to visit the giant, who lived in the Pompadour Mountains. Lady LovelyLocks was to return to the giant, who was called Browbeater, a magic lamp which she had borrowed from him.

Because it was such beautiful weather, Lady LovelyLocks decided to go for a stroll. It was a very long stroll, but that did not matter to Lady Lovelylocks and if the Pixietails grew tired, they could always sit on her shoulder or in her hair. Lady LovelyLocks sang while walking and of course the Pixietails could do nothing else than sing along. This way the distance seemed shorter and they hardly noticed that the path was getting steeper. Not before long, they saw the cave of the giant Browbeater lying ahead of them.

As they came closer, they heard a loud snoring.
"HHHUNK-SHHHUU! HHHHUNK-SHHHUU!"
Browbeater was, as he often did, sleeping. PixieSparkle climbed onto his shoulder. Then she took hold of a hair of his moustache and pulled it!
TWINK!
Browbeater's eyebrow went up for a moment, but he just kept on sleeping. Then PixieSparkle grabbed as much as she could with two hands and gave another tug.
TWOINK!
"What's this?! Get out of here, you little beast!" called Browbeater as he woke up.
He always grumbled when he woke up. Actually he liked to grumble, but he was glad when he saw Lady LovelyLocks.
"Welcome, Ma'am my friend!" he said. "What brings you this way?"
"I came to return your magic lamp to you," said Lady LovelyLocks. "I don't need it now and I know for certain that you'd like it back."
"Very good, very good," said Browbeater, as he took the lamp. "But now that you've come all this way, you can't leave just like that. No, first we'll have tea with something sweet and tell each other stories."

And telling stories the giant did, because Browbeater was fond of stories. When he was not grumbling, he was a great storyteller. His words were like magic in the air. Lady LovelyLocks was delighted, because every story was even more beautiful than the last. The Pixietails too were listening with their mouths open.

The afternoon was over before they knew it and then it was time to return to the castle. Lady LovelyLocks said goodbye to Browbeater and went home with the Pixietails behind her.
Now it remains uncertain whether it was because they were thinking about Browbeater's stories or because they were just tired. Or maybe there was another reason, but one way or the other PixieSparkle and PixieBloom kept getting more behind.
The two stragglers had not seen a sign of Lady LovelyLocks for goodness knows. When it became dark, they grew a little afraid and walked down the path more quickly. But the path kept on going and going and when it was really dark, the two Pixietails realised that they were lost!

Then they saw a light a little further away and they went towards it in the hopes that it was Castle LovelyLocks. But when they came closer, they heard a loud snoring.
"HHHUNK-SHHHUU! HHHHUNK-SHHHUU!"
It was Browbeater, sleeping in his cave! The two Pixietails were back where they started, because they had been walking in circles around the mountain!

The Pixietails woke Browbeater up as hard-handed as before and he in turn grumbled just as loud. But when they told him that they were lost, he laughed and they knew that he would help them.
"Mountain paths like to let you walk in circles, if you don't pay attention," said Browbeater. "But it's dark now and you will need some extra help to get home."
Then Browbeater walked into his cave and returned with a golden bird, who radiated light from within.
"Let this bird be your guide," said Browbeater. "With his light he'll show you the shortest way home. But as soon as you're safely back at the castle, you must send him back to me."

PixieSparkle and PixieBloom thanked Browbeater and said goodbye for the second time. Then they followed the bird. The golden light of the bird radiated in the darkness and now it seemed only a short distance to Castle LovelyLocks. There a worried Lady LovelyLocks was waiting for them.
The two Pixietails were very tired, but before they went to sleep, they remembered to send the bird back home. They watched after him, while he flew back to the mountains, until his light had become so small that it disappeared between the stars in the night sky.

Translated by Maiden SnowTresses