Strona 574 z 626

All on a sudden, as she was going out, in came the king's son in

golden clothes; and when he saw a beautiful woman at the door, he

took her by the hand, and said she should be his partner in the

dance; but she trembled for fear, for she saw that it was King

Grisly-beard, who was making sport of her. However, he kept fast

hold, and led her in; and the cover of the basket came off, so

that the meats in it fell about. Then everybody laughed and

jeered at her; and she was so abashed, that she wished herself a

thousand feet deep in the earth. She sprang to the door to run

away; but on the steps King Grisly-beard overtook her, and

brought her back and said, 'Fear me not! I am the fiddler who has

lived with you in the hut. I brought you there because I really

loved you. I am also the soldier that overset your stall. I have

done all this only to cure you of your silly pride, and to show

you the folly of your ill-treatment of me.