good dinner served. He could not conceive how this came to pass, for
he never saw a human being in his house, and no one could have
concealed himself in it. He was certainly pleased with this good
attendance, but still at last he was so afraid that he went to a wise
woman and asked for her advice. The wise woman said: 'There is some
enchantment behind it, listen very early some morning if anything is
moving in the room, and if you see anything, no matter what it is,
throw a white cloth over it, and then the magic will be stopped.'

The shepherd did as she bade him, and next morning just as day dawned,
he saw the chest open, and the flower come out. Swiftly he sprang
towards it, and threw a white cloth over it. Instantly the
transformation came to an end, and a beautiful girl stood before him,
who admitted to him that she had been the flower, and that up to this
time she had attended to his house-keeping. She told him her story,
and as she pleased him he asked her if she would marry him, but she
answered: 'No,' for she wanted to remain faithful to her sweetheart
Roland, although he had deserted her. Nevertheless, she promised not
to go away, but to continue keeping house for the shepherd.

And now the time drew near when Roland's wedding was to be celebrated,
and then, according to an old custom in the country, it was announced
that all the girls were to be present at it, and sing in honour of the
bridal pair. When the faithful maiden heard of this, she grew so sad
that she thought her heart would break, and she would not go thither,
but the other girls came and took her. When it came to her turn to
sing, she stepped back, until at last she was the only one left, and
then she could not refuse. But when she began her song, and it reached
Roland's ears, he sprang up and cried: 'I know the voice, that is the
true bride, I will have no other!' Everything he had forgotten, and
which had vanished from his mind, had suddenly come home again to his
heart. Then the faithful maiden held her wedding with her sweetheart
Roland, and grief came to an end and joy began.



SNOWDROP

It was the middle of winter, when the broad flakes of snow were
falling around, that the queen of a country many thousand miles off
sat working at her window. The frame of the window was made of fine
black ebony, and as she sat looking out upon the snow, she pricked her
finger, and three drops of blood fell upon it. Then she gazed
thoughtfully upon the red drops that sprinkled the white snow, and
said, 'Would that my little daughter may be as white as that snow, as
red as that blood, and as black as this ebony windowframe!' And so the
little girl really did grow up; her skin was as white as snow, her
cheeks as rosy as the blood, and her hair as black as ebony; and she
was called Snowdrop.

But this queen died; and the king soon married another wife, who
became queen, and was very beautiful, but so vain that she could not
bear to think that anyone could be handsomer than she was. She had a
fairy looking-glass, to which she used to go, and then she would gaze
upon herself in it, and say:

'Tell me, glass, tell me true!
Of all the ladies in the land,
Who is fairest, tell me, who?'

And the glass had always answered:

'Thou, queen, art the fairest in all the land.'

But Snowdrop grew more and more beautiful; and when she was seven
years old she was as bright as the day, and fairer than the queen
herself. Then the glass one day answered the queen, when she went to
look in it as usual:

'Thou, queen, art fair, and beauteous to see,
But Snowdrop is lovelier far than thee!'

When she heard this she turned pale with rage and envy, and called to
one of her servants, and said, 'Take Snowdrop away into the wide wood,
that I may never see her any more.' Then the servant led her away; but
his heart melted when Snowdrop begged him to spare her life, and he
said, 'I will not hurt you, thou pretty child.' So he left her by
herself; and though he thought it most likely that the wild beasts
would tear her in pieces, he felt as if a great weight were taken off
his heart when he had made up his mind not to kill her but to leave
her to her fate, with the chance of someone finding and saving her.

Then poor Snowdrop wandered along through the wood in great fear; and
the wild beasts roared about her, but none did her any harm. In the
evening she came to a cottage among the hills, and went in to rest,
for her little feet would carry her no further. Everything was spruce
and neat in the cottage: on the table was spread a white cloth, and
there were seven little plates, seven little loaves, and seven little
glasses with wine in them; and seven knives and forks laid in order;
and by the wall stood seven little beds. As she was very hungry, she
picked a little piece of each loaf and drank a very little wine out of
each glass; and after that she thought she would lie down and rest. So
she tried all the little beds; but one was too long, and another was
too short, till at last the seventh suited her: and there she laid
herself down and went to sleep.

By and by in came the masters of the cottage. Now they were seven
little dwarfs, that lived among the mountains, and dug and searched
for gold. They lighted up their seven lamps, and saw at once that all
was not right. The first said, 'Who has been sitting on my stool?' The


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