furniture, glasses, chairs, benches, the table, and at last the walls,
without touching the bird at all. In the end, however, they caught
her: and the wife said, 'Shall I kill her at once?' 'No,' cried he,
'that is letting her off too easily: she shall die a much more cruel
death; I will eat her.' But the sparrow began to flutter about, and
stretch out her neck and cried, 'Carter! it shall cost thee thy life
yet!' With that he could wait no longer: so he gave his wife the
hatchet, and cried, 'Wife, strike at the bird and kill her in my
hand.' And the wife struck; but she missed her aim, and hit her
husband on the head so that he fell down dead, and the sparrow flew
quietly home to her nest.



THE TWELVE DANCING PRINCESSES

There was a king who had twelve beautiful daughters. They slept in
twelve beds all in one room; and when they went to bed, the doors were
shut and locked up; but every morning their shoes were found to be
quite worn through as if they had been danced in all night; and yet
nobody could find out how it happened, or where they had been.

Then the king made it known to all the land, that if any person could
discover the secret, and find out where it was that the princesses
danced in the night, he should have the one he liked best for his
wife, and should be king after his death; but whoever tried and did
not succeed, after three days and nights, should be put to death.

A king's son soon came. He was well entertained, and in the evening
was taken to the chamber next to the one where the princesses lay in
their twelve beds. There he was to sit and watch where they went to
dance; and, in order that nothing might pass without his hearing it,
the door of his chamber was left open. But the king's son soon fell
asleep; and when he awoke in the morning he found that the princesses
had all been dancing, for the soles of their shoes were full of holes.
The same thing happened the second and third night: so the king
ordered his head to be cut off. After him came several others; but
they had all the same luck, and all lost their lives in the same
manner.

Now it chanced that an old soldier, who had been wounded in battle and
could fight no longer, passed through the country where this king
reigned: and as he was travelling through a wood, he met an old woman,
who asked him where he was going. 'I hardly know where I am going, or
what I had better do,' said the soldier; 'but I think I should like
very well to find out where it is that the princesses dance, and then
in time I might be a king.' 'Well,' said the old dame, 'that is no
very hard task: only take care not to drink any of the wine which one
of the princesses will bring to you in the evening; and as soon as she
leaves you pretend to be fast asleep.'

Then she gave him a cloak, and said, 'As soon as you put that on you
will become invisible, and you will then be able to follow the
princesses wherever they go.' When the soldier heard all this good
counsel, he determined to try his luck: so he went to the king, and
said he was willing to undertake the task.

He was as well received as the others had been, and the king ordered
fine royal robes to be given him; and when the evening came he was led
to the outer chamber. Just as he was going to lie down, the eldest of
the princesses brought him a cup of wine; but the soldier threw it all
away secretly, taking care not to drink a drop. Then he laid himself
down on his bed, and in a little while began to snore very loud as if
he was fast asleep. When the twelve princesses heard this they laughed
heartily; and the eldest said, 'This fellow too might have done a
wiser thing than lose his life in this way!' Then they rose up and
opened their drawers and boxes, and took out all their fine clothes,
and dressed themselves at the glass, and skipped about as if they were
eager to begin dancing. But the youngest said, 'I don't know how it
is, while you are so happy I feel very uneasy; I am sure some
mischance will befall us.' 'You simpleton,' said the eldest, 'you are
always afraid; have you forgotten how many kings' sons have already
watched in vain? And as for this soldier, even if I had not given him
his sleeping draught, he would have slept soundly enough.'

When they were all ready, they went and looked at the soldier; but he
snored on, and did not stir hand or foot: so they thought they were
quite safe; and the eldest went up to her own bed and clapped her
hands, and the bed sank into the floor and a trap-door flew open. The
soldier saw them going down through the trap-door one after another,
the eldest leading the way; and thinking he had no time to lose, he
jumped up, put on the cloak which the old woman had given him, and
followed them; but in the middle of the stairs he trod on the gown of
the youngest princess, and she cried out to her sisters, 'All is not
right; someone took hold of my gown.' 'You silly creature!' said the
eldest, 'it is nothing but a nail in the wall.' Then down they all
went, and at the bottom they found themselves in a most delightful
grove of trees; and the leaves were all of silver, and glittered and
sparkled beautifully. The soldier wished to take away some token of
the place; so he broke off a little branch, and there came a loud
noise from the tree. Then the youngest daughter said again, 'I am sure
all is not right--did not you hear that noise? That never happened
before.' But the eldest said, 'It is only our princes, who are
shouting for joy at our approach.'

Then they came to another grove of trees, where all the leaves were of
gold; and afterwards to a third, where the leaves were all glittering
diamonds. And the soldier broke a branch from each; and every time
there was a loud noise, which made the youngest sister tremble with
fear; but the eldest still said, it was only the princes, who were


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