Somewhere between Singer's universally compelling folk tales and his flatly pious fables is this story of a good man who wins the princess and a bad man redeemed after doing penance with a beastly witch in the forest. Vile enchantments and magical transformations make for some diverting episodes, and Margot Zemach's softly sly drawings provide the perfect accompaniment — but neither the good nor the evil have the force so effectively demonstrated in The Fearsome Inn (1967)