Page 246 [246]
-THE-SIX-SWAÁNS¬
NCE on a time a king was hunting in
a great wood, and he pursued a wild
animal so eagerly that none of his
people could follow him. When even¬
ing came he stood still, and looking
round him he found that he had lost .
his way; and seeking a path, he found
none. Then all at once he saw an old
woman with a nodding head coming
up to him ; and it was a witch.
" My good woman,” said he, "can you show me the way
out of the wood ?” |
“Oh yes, my lord king,” answered she, “certainly I can;
but I must make a condition, and if you do not fulfil it, you
will never get out of the wood again, but die there of hunger.”
“What is the condition?” asked the king.
“T have a daughter,” said the old woman, ‘ who 1s as fair
as any in the world, and if you will take her for your bride,
and make her queen, I will show you the way out of the wood.”
The king consented, because of the difficulty he was in,
and the old woman led him into her little house, and there her
daughter was sitting by the fire.
She received the king just as if she had been expecting
him, and though he saw that she was very beautiful, she did
not please him, and he could not look at her without an in¬
ward shudder. Nevertheless, he took the maiden before him —
on his horse, and the old woman showed him the way, and