Page 612 of 626

One evening, as they were thus sitting comfortably together,

someone knocked at the door as if he wished to be let in. The

mother said: 'Quick, Rose-red, open the door, it must be a

traveller who is seeking shelter.' Rose-red went and pushed back

the bolt, thinking that it was a poor man, but it was not; it was

a bear that stretched his broad, black head within the door.

Rose-red screamed and sprang back, the lamb bleated, the dove

fluttered, and Snow-white hid herself behind her mother's bed.

But the bear began to speak and said: 'Do not be afraid, I will

do you no harm! I am half-frozen, and only want to warm myself a

little beside you.'