The beggar-man led her out by the hand, and she was obliged to walk
away on foot with him. When they came to a large forest she asked, “To
whom does that beautiful forest belong?” “It belongs to King
Thrushbeard; if you had taken him, it would have been yours.” “Ah,
unhappy girl that I am, if I had but taken King Thrushbeard!”
Afterwards they came to a meadow, and she asked again, “To whom does
this beautiful green meadow belong?” “It belongs to King Thrushbeard;
if you had taken him, it would have been yours.” “Ah, unhappy girl that
I am, if I had but taken King Thrushbeard!”
Then they came to a large town, and she asked again, “To whom does this
fine large town belong?” “It belongs to King Thrushbeard; if you had
taken him, it would have been yours.” “Ah, unhappy girl that I am, if I
had but taken King Thrushbeard!”
“It does not please me,” said the fiddler, “to hear you always wishing
for another husband; am I not good enough for you?” At last they came
to a very little hut, and she said, “Oh goodness! what a small house;
to whom does this miserable, mean hovel belong?” The fiddler answered,
“That is my house and yours, where we shall live together.”
She had to stoop in order to go in at the low door. “Where are the
servants?” said the King’s daughter. “What servants?” answered the
beggar-man; “you must yourself do what you wish to have done. Just make
a fire at once, and set on water to cook my supper, I am quite tired.”
But the King’s daughter knew nothing about lighting fires or cooking,
and the beggar-man had to lend a hand himself to get anything fairly
done. When they had finished their scanty meal they went to bed; but he
forced her to get up quite early in the morning in order to look after
the house.
For a few days they lived in this way as well as might be, and came to
the end of all their provisions. Then the man said, “Wife, we cannot go
on any longer eating and drinking here and earning nothing. You weave
baskets.” He went out, cut some willows, and brought them home. Then
she began to weave, but the tough willows wounded her delicate hands.
“I see that this will not do,” said the man; “you had better spin,
perhaps you can do that better.” She sat down and tried to spin, but
the hard thread soon cut her soft fingers so that the blood ran down.
“See,” said the man, “you are fit for no sort of work; I have made a
bad bargain with you. Now I will try to make a business with pots and
earthenware; you must sit in the market-place and sell the ware.”
“Alas,” thought she, “if any of the people from my father’s kingdom
come to the market and see me sitting there, selling, how they will
mock me?” But it was of no use, she had to yield unless she chose to
die of hunger.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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