Pagina 338 de 626

Thus they danced till a late hour of the night; and then she

wanted to go home: and the king's son said, 'I shall go and take

care of you to your home'; for he wanted to see where the

beautiful maiden lived. But she slipped away from him, unawares,

and ran off towards home; and as the prince followed her, she

jumped up into the pigeon-house and shut the door. Then he waited

till her father came home, and told him that the unknown maiden,

who had been at the feast, had hid herself in the pigeon-house.

But when they had broken open the door they found no one within;

and as they came back into the house, Ashputtel was lying, as she

always did, in her dirty frock by the ashes, and her dim little

lamp was burning in the chimney.