'Ah, do not go!' cried the wife. 'I feel as if the whole house were in
flames!'

But the man went out and looked at the bird.

She laid her kerchief over me,
And took my bones that they might lie
Underneath the juniper-tree
Kywitt, Kywitt, what a beautiful bird am I!'

With that the bird let fall the gold chain, and it fell just round the
man's neck, so that it fitted him exactly.

He went inside, and said, 'See, what a splendid bird that is; he has
given me this beautiful gold chain, and looks so beautiful himself.'

But the wife was in such fear and trouble, that she fell on the floor,
and her cap fell from her head.

Then the bird began again:

'My mother killed her little son;

'Ah me!' cried the wife, 'if I were but a thousand feet beneath the
earth, that I might not hear that song.'

My father grieved when I was gone;

then the woman fell down again as if dead.

My sister loved me best of all;

'Well,' said little Marleen, 'I will go out too and see if the bird
will give me anything.'

So she went out.

She laid her kerchief over me,
And took my bones that they might lie

and he threw down the shoes to her,

Underneath the juniper-tree
Kywitt, Kywitt, what a beautiful bird am I!'

And she now felt quite happy and lighthearted; she put on the shoes
and danced and jumped about in them. 'I was so miserable,' she said,
'when I came out, but that has all passed away; that is indeed a
splendid bird, and he has given me a pair of red shoes.'

The wife sprang up, with her hair standing out from her head like
flames of fire. 'Then I will go out too,' she said, 'and see if it
will lighten my misery, for I feel as if the world were coming to an
end.'

But as she crossed the threshold, crash! the bird threw the millstone
down on her head, and she was crushed to death.

The father and little Marleen heard the sound and ran out, but they
only saw mist and flame and fire rising from the spot, and when these
had passed, there stood the little brother, and he took the father and
little Marleen by the hand; then they all three rejoiced, and went
inside together and sat down to their dinners and ate.



THE TURNIP

There were two brothers who were both soldiers; the one was rich and
the other poor. The poor man thought he would try to better himself;
so, pulling off his red coat, he became a gardener, and dug his ground
well, and sowed turnips.

When the seed came up, there was one plant bigger than all the rest;
and it kept getting larger and larger, and seemed as if it would never
cease growing; so that it might have been called the prince of turnips
for there never was such a one seen before, and never will again. At
last it was so big that it filled a cart, and two oxen could hardly
draw it; and the gardener knew not what in the world to do with it,
nor whether it would be a blessing or a curse to him. One day he said
to himself, 'What shall I do with it? if I sell it, it will bring no
more than another; and for eating, the little turnips are better than
this; the best thing perhaps is to carry it and give it to the king as
a mark of respect.'

Then he yoked his oxen, and drew the turnip to the court, and gave it
to the king. 'What a wonderful thing!' said the king; 'I have seen
many strange things, but such a monster as this I never saw. Where did
you get the seed? or is it only your good luck? If so, you are a true
child of fortune.' 'Ah, no!' answered the gardener, 'I am no child of
fortune; I am a poor soldier, who never could get enough to live upon;
so I laid aside my red coat, and set to work, tilling the ground. I
have a brother, who is rich, and your majesty knows him well, and all
the world knows him; but because I am poor, everybody forgets me.'

The king then took pity on him, and said, 'You shall be poor no
longer. I will give you so much that you shall be even richer than
your brother.' Then he gave him gold and lands and flocks, and made
him so rich that his brother's fortune could not at all be compared
with his.


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