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KING THRUSHBEARD. 209
A few days afterwards came a travelling ballad-singer, and
sang under the window in hopes of a small alms. When the
‘king heard of it, he said that he must come in. And so the
ballad-singer entered in his dirty tattered garments, and sang
before the king and his daughter ; when he had done, he asked
fora small reward. But the king said,
“'Thy song has so well pleased me, that I will give thee
my daughter to wife.” —
The princess was horrified ; but the king said,
“T took an oath to give you to the first beggar that came,
and so it must be done.”
There was no remedy. ‘The priest was fetched, and she
had to be married to the ballad-singer out of hand. When all
-was done, the king said,
_ Now, as you are a beggar-wife, you can stay no longer in
‘my castle, so off with you and your husband.”
The beggar-man led her away, and she was obliged to go
forth with him on foot. On the way they came to a great
wood, and she asked,
"6 Oh, whose is this forest, so thick and so fine?”
He answered,
‘It is King Thrushbeard’s, and might have been thine.”
And she cried,
66 Oh, I was a silly young thing, I’m afeared;
Would I had taken that good King Thrushbeard !”’
Then they passed through a meadow, and she asked,
‘* Oh, whose is this meadow, so green and so fine?”
He answered,
‘¢ Tt is King Thrushbeard’s, and might have been thine.”
And she cried,
‘* T was a silly young thing, I’m afeared,
Would I had taken that good King Thrushbeard ! "
Then they passed through a great town, and she asked,
‘* Whose is this city, so great and so fine ?”