On the way, however, being envious that Juan had obtained what they were not able to do, the two older brothers conspired between themselves to do away with him.
Pedro suggested that they should kill him but Diego, who was less brutal, convinced Pedro that it was sufficient to beat him, which they did.
After beating Juan to whom they owed their lives, they left him unconscious in the middle of the road as the two brothers continued on their way to the palace.
Once there, they presented themselves to their fathers as the ones who actually caught the Adarna.
To their surprise, the bird refused to sing for the king in the absence of Prince Juan and the monarch did not get well.
It was also fortunate that the old hermit who guided Juan to the Adarna found him stretched out helpless on the road, after curing him of his wounds the prince could returned safely to his father's kingdom.
It was then that the bird, out of sheer contentment, burst into a harmonious song recounting the history of its capture.
The song cured the king but angered him greatly to learned of his two son's treachery towards Don Juan.
The monarch, blinded by his ire, decreed the death of his two elder sons; but Juan with a noble heart interceded for them as always and once again reigned in the kingdom peace and merriment.
But on a certain night when Juan fell asleep while guarding the Adarna bird in its golden cage, his two elder brothers again entered into conspiracy with one another to put him in the bad graces of their father by releasing the bird from its cage.
Juan, ashamed of what he thought was his fault, slipped out of the palace and started to go in search of the famous bird.
King Fernando hurriedly ordered Pedro and Diego to start pursuit of the bird and Juan.
After an extensive search the bird was not found but the 3 brothers finally encountered each other near an incredibly deep well.
They decided to explore it instead of returning to the palace for the fear of the ire of their father.
Pedro, the eldest, was the first to descend by means of a cord lowered by the two brothers who remained above; but he had scarcely gone a third of the way when he felt afraid and gave sign for his two brothers to pull him out of the well.
Presently, Diego was let down but he too could not go farther down than half of the way.
When it was Juan's turn to go he allowed himself to be let down to the lowest depths of the cistern.
There the prince discovered two enchanted palaces, the first being occupied by Princess Juana who informed him she was being held prisoner by a giant, and the second by Princess Leonora, also the prisoner of a large seven-headed serpent.
After killing the giant and the serpent, the prince tugged on the cord and soon came up to the surface of the earth with the two captive princesses, whom his two brothers soon wanted to take away from him.
Diego desired Princess Juana for himself and Pedro wanted Princess Leonora.
Before the parting, however, Leonora discovered that she left her ring in the innermost recesses of the well.
Juan voluntarily offered to take it for her but when he was half way down, the two brothers cut the rope he was descending causing him to fall to the bottom of the well.
Not long after this, wedding bells were rung in the palace.
Diego married Princess Juana but Princess Leonora before casting her lot with Prince Pedro requested her marriage to him delayed for a term of seven years because she might still have a chance to unite herself with Don Juan.
Don Juan, thanks to Leonora's enchanted ring found in the well, could avail himself of the help of a wolf which cured him of his wounds, fix his dislocations, and bring him to the medicinal waters of the Jordan, and took him out of the well.
Already torn of all hope of ever finding the Adarna, Don Juan resolved to return to the Kingdom.
But to his confusion, he was unable to find his way.
No one could tell him precisely which was the way that would lead him to the kingdom of his father.
He came across the Adarna who told him that he should forget about Leonora because Maria Blanca is better than her and Don Juan forgot about Leonora.
The Adarna told Don Juan that Maria Blanca could be found in Reyno de los Cristales.
He came across three hermits none of whom could give him the necessary information.
The last of these consulted all the of the animals from the surrounding areas, but none of them could tell the prince the direction towards Reyno de los Cristales. But the king of all these animals, a swiftly soaring eagle, having compassion for his troubles, offered to take the prince to wherever he desired.
After an epic flight the prince and the eagle came to a distant crystal lake on whose shores they landed to rest from their long and tiresome flight.
Then the eagle related to his companion the secrets of the crystal lake.
This was the bathing place where, in certain hours of the day, the three daughters of the most powerful and most feared king of the surroundina regions used to dive into the water and swim; and for this reason it was not proper for the prince to commit any indiscretion if he desired to remain and see the spectacle of the bath.
Don Juan remained and when the hour of the bathing arrived he saw plunging into the pure crystal water the figures of the three most beautiful princesses whom his sinful eyes had ever seen.
He then secretly hid and kept one of the princesses dresses.
When the princess noticed the theft, her two sisters had already gone.
The prince hurriedly ran to her and on his knee begged her pardon and placed at her feet her stolen dress and at the same time poured forth the most ardent and tender professions of love.
Pleased by his gentleness and gallant phrases, the princess also fell in love with him; but she advised him that it would be better for him to go away before her father would come to know of his intrusion.
If he did not do so she would be converted into another piece of stone for the walls of the enchanted palace in which they live, in the same way that all the other suitors who aspired for their hands had been transformed.
On being informed of the adventure of the bold prince, the king sent for him.
Don Juan, who would risk everything for the privilege of seeing his beloved, presented himself to the king in spite of the princess' warning.
The king, greatly impressed with the youth's tact and self-possession, chose to give him a series of tests both gigantic and impossible for ordinary mortals.
After completing these trials the king was satisfied and offered Don Juan his daughter.
