“I may not tell you that, and I dare not lament my sorrows to any human being, for I have sworn not to do so by the heaven which is above me. If I had not done that, I should have lost my life.” He urged her and left her no peace, but he could draw nothing from her. Then said he, “If you will not tell me anything, tell your sorrows to the iron stove there,” and he went away. Then she crept into the iron stove, and began to weep and lament, and emptied her whole heart, and said, “Here am I deserted by the whole world, and yet I am a King’s Daughter, and a false waiting-maid has by force brought me to such a pass, that I have been compelled to put off my royal apparel. She has taken my place with my Bridegroom, and I have to do the mean work of a goose-girl. “_If my Mother only knew, ’Twould surely break her heart in two!_” The old King was standing outside by the pipe of the stove, and was listening to what she said, and heard it. Then he came back again, and bade her come out of the stove. And royal garments were placed on her, and it was marvelous how beautiful she was! The old King called his son, and revealed to him, that he had got the false Bride who was only a waiting-maid, but that the true one was standing there, as the goose-girl. The young King rejoiced with all his heart when he saw her beauty and youth, and a great feast was made ready to which all the people and all good friends were invited. At the head of the table sat the Bridegroom with the King’s Daughter at one side of him, and the waiting-maid on the other, but the waiting-maid was blinded, and did not recognize the Princess in her dazzling array. When they had eaten and drunk, and were merry, the old King asked the waiting-maid as a riddle, what a person deserved who had behaved in such and such a way to her master, and at the same time related the whole story, and asked what sentence such a one merited? Then the false Bride said, “She deserves no better fate than to be put in a barrel which is studded inside with pointed nails, and two white horses should be harnessed to it, to drag her along through one street after another, till she is dead.” “It is you,” said the old King, “and you have pronounced your own sentence. Thus shall it be done unto you.” And when the sentence had been carried out, the young King married his true Bride, and both of them reigned over their kingdom in peace and happiness. [Illustration] THE SINGING, SOARING LARK There was once on a time, a man who was about to set out on a long journey. At parting he asked his three daughters what he should bring back for them. Whereupon the eldest wished for pearls, the second wished for diamonds, but the third said, “Dear Father, I should like a Singing, Soaring Lark.” The father said, “Yes, if I can get it, you shall have it,” kissed all three, and set out.