head. But the king looked kindly at her, stretched out his hand, and said, "Will you go with me to my palace and be my dear wife?" "Yes, indeed," answered the maiden, "but the little roe must go with me; I cannot leave him." The king said, "It shall "It shall stay with you as long as you live, and shall want nothing." Just then he came running in, and the sister again tied him with the cord of rushes, took it in her own hand, and went away with the king from the cottage.

with great pomp.

The king took the lovely maiden upon his horse and carried her to his palace, where the wedding was held She was now the queen, and they lived for a long time happily together; the roebuck was tended and cherished, and ran about in the palace garden.

But the wicked stepmother, because of whom the children had gone out into the world, thought all the time that the sister had been torn to pieces by the wild beasts in the wood, and that the brother had been shot for a roebuck by the huntsmen. Now when she heard that they were so happy, and so well off, envy and hatred rose in her heart and left her no peace, and she thought of nothing but how she could bring them again to misfortune. Her own daughter, who was as ugly as night, and had only one eye, grumbled at her and said, "A queen! that ought to have been my luck." "Only be quiet," answered the old woman, and comforted her by saying, "When the time comes I shall be ready."

As time went on, the queen had a pretty little boy,

and it happened that the king was out hunting; so the old witch took the form of the chambermaid, went into the room where the queen lay, and said to her, “Come, the bath is ready; it will do you good, and give you fresh strength; make haste before it gets cold."

The daughter also was close by; so they carried the weakly queen into the bathroom, and put her into the bath; then they shut the door and ran away. But in the bathroom they had made a fire of such deadly heat that the beautiful young queen was soon suffocated.

When this was done the old woman took her daughter, put a nightcap on her head, and laid her in bed in place of the queen. She gave her, too, the shape and the look of the queen, only she could not make good the lost eye. But in order that the king might not see it, she was to lie on the side on which she had no eye.

In the evening when he came home and heard that he had a son he was heartily glad, and was going to the bed of his dear wife to see how she was, but the old woman quickly called out, "For your life leave the curtains closed; the queen ought not to see the light yet, and must have rest." The king went away, and did not find out that a false queen was lying in the bed.

But at midnight, when all slept, the nurse, who was sitting in the nursery by the cradle, and who was the only person awake, saw the door open and the true queen walk in. She took the child out of the cradle, laid it on her arm, and suckled it. Then she shook up its pillow, laid the child down again, and covered it with the little

ΤΟ

Vol. I

quilt. And she did not forget the roebuck, but went into the corner where it lay, and stroked its back. Then she went quite silently out of the door again. The next morning the nurse asked the guards whether any one had come into the palace during the night, but they answered, "No, we have seen no one."

She came thus many nights and never spoke a word : the nurse always saw her, but she did not dare to tell any one about it.

When some time had passed in this manner, the queen began to speak in the night, and said:

"How fares my child, how fares my roe?

Twice shall I come, then nevermore."

The nurse did not answer, but when the queen had gone again, went to the king and told him all. The king said, "Ah, heavens! what is this? To-morrow night I will watch by the child." In the evening he went into the nursery, and at midnight the queen again appeared and said:

"How fares my child, how fares my roe?

Once will I come, then nevermore."

And she nursed the child as she was wont to do before she disappeared. The king dared not speak to her, but on the next night he watched again.

said:

"How fares my child, how fares my roe?

This time I come, then nevermore."

Then she

Then the king could not restrain himself; he sprang toward her, and said, "You can be none other than my

dear wife." She answered, "Yes, I am your dear wife," and at the same moment she received life again, and by God's grace became fresh, rosy, and full of health.

Then she told the king the evil deed which the wicked witch and her daughter had been guilty of toward her. The king ordered both to be led before the judge, and judgment was delivered against them. The daughter was taken into the forest, where she was torn to pieces by wild beasts, but the witch was cast into the fire and miserably burned. And as soon as she, was burned the roebuck changed his shape, and received his human form again, so the sister and brother lived happily together all their lives. -The Brothers Grimm

ONCE

THE SIX SWANS

He sought a

NCE upon a time, a certain king was hunting in a great forest, and he chased a wild beast so eagerly that none of his attendants could follow him. When evening drew near, he stopped and looked around him, and then he saw that he had lost his way. way out, but could find none. Then he perceived an aged woman with a head which nodded perpetually, who came toward him, but she was a witch. "Good woman,' said he to her, "can you not show me the way through the forest?" "Oh, yes, lord king," she answered, "that I certainly can, but on one condition, and if you do not fulfil that, you will never get out of the forest, and will die of hunger in it."

"What kind of condition is it?" asked the king.

"I have a daughter," said the old woman, "who is as beautiful as any one in the world, and well deserves to be your consort, and if you will make her your queen, I will show you the way out of the forest." In the anguish