this evening speak with the bridegroom in his chamber, and I will give thee the whole brood."

Then the princess thought to betray her as before, and agreed to what she asked: but when the prince went to his chamber he asked the chamberlain why the wind had whistled so in the night. And the chamberlain told him all-how he had given him a sleeping draught, and how a poor maiden had come and spoken to him in his chamber, and was to come again that night. Then the prince took care to throw away the sleeping draught; and when Lily came and began again to tell him what woes had befallen her, and how faithful and true to him she had been, he knew his beloved. wife's voice, and sprang up, and said, "You have awakened me as from a dream, for the strange princess had thrown a spell around me, so that I had altogether forgotten you; but Heaven hath sent you to me in a lucky hour."

And they stole away out of the palace by night unawares, and journeyed home, and there they found their child, now grown up to be comely and fair; and after all their troubles they lived happily together to the end of their days.

DONKEY-WORT.*

A MERRY young huntsman, named Peter, was once riding briskly along through a wood, one while winding his horn and another singing a merry song:

As he journeyed along, there came up a little old woman, and said to him, "Good day, good day, Mr. Huntsman bold! you seem merrry enough, but I am hungry and thirsty; do pray give me something to eat." So Peter took pity on her, and put his hand in his pocket, and gave her what he had. Then he wanted to of him, and said, Listen, Master Peter, to what I am going to tell you; I will reward you for your kindness. Go your way, and after a little time you will come to a tree, where you will see nine birds sitting upon a cloak. Shoot into the midst of them, and one will fall down dead. The cloak will fall, too; take it as a wishing-cloak, and

go his way; but she took hold

* The "Krautesel" of MM. Grimm. The transformation will of course remind the reader of Apuleius. See also Prætorius, ii. 452, where the lily has the restorative power. But the whole is only another version of the story of Fortunatus; the origin of which is not known, though the common version of it was probably got up in Spain, if we may judge by the names Andalusia, Marsepia, and Ampedo. One version of it is in the Gesta Romanorum.

See some observations on the nature of the precious gifts, on which the plot of this and the following story turns, in the preface to the late edition of Warton's History of English Poetry (p. 66).

when you wear it, you will find yourself at any place you may wish to be. Cut open the dead bird, take out its heart and keep it, and you will find a piece of gold under your pillow every morning when you rise. It is the bird's heart that will bring you this good luck."

The huntsman thanked her, and thought to himself, "If all this do happen, it will be a fine thing for me." When he had gone a hundred steps or so, he heard a screaming and chirping in the branches over him; so he looked up, and saw a flock of birds, pulling a cloak with their bills and feet; screaming, fighting, and tugging at each other, as if each wished to have it himself. "Well," said the huntsman, "this is wonderful; this happens just as the old woman said." Then he shot into the midst of them, so that their feathers flew ali about. Off went the flock chattering away; but one fell down dead, and the cloak with it. Then Peter did as the old woman told him, cut open the bird, took out the heart, and carried the cloak home with him.

The next morning, when he awoke, he lifted up his pillow, and there lay the piece of gold glittering underneath; the same happened next day, and, indeed, every day when he arose. He heaped up a great deal of gold, and at last thought to himself, "Of what use is this gold to me whilst I am at home? I will go out into the world, and look about me."

Then he took leave of his friends, and hung his horn and bow about his neck, and went his way merrily as before, singing his song:

U

"Merrily rides the huntsman bold,
Blithesome and gay rides he :

He winds his horn, and he bends his bow,
Under the greenwood tree."

Now it so happened that his road led through a thick wood, at the end of which was a large castle in a green meadow; and at one of the windows stood an old woman, with a very beautiful young lady by her side, looking about them. The old woman was a fairy, and she said to the young lady, whose name was Meta, "There comes a young man out of the wood, with a wonderful prize; we must get it away from him, my dear child, for it is more fit for us than for him. He has a bird's heart that brings a piece of gold under his pillow every morning." Meantime the huntsman came nearer, and looked at the lady, and said to himself, "I have been travelling so long, that I should like to go into this castle and rest myself, for I have money enough to pay for anything I want;" but the real reason was, that he wanted to see more of the beautiful lady. Then he went into the house, and was welcomed kindly; and it was not long before he was so much in love, that he thought of nothing else but looking at Meta's eyes, and doing everything that she wished. Then the old woman said, "Now is the time for getting the bird's heart." So Meta stole it away, and he never found any more gold under his pillow; for it lay now under Meta's, and the old woman took it away every morning: but he was so much in love that he never missed bis prize.

"Well," said the old fairy, "we have got the bird's heart, but not the wishing-cloak yet, and that we must also get." "Let us leave him that," said Meta; "he has already lost all his wealth." Then the fairy was very angry, and said, "Such a cloak is a very rare and wonderful thing, and I must and will have it." So Meta did as the old woman told her, and sat herself at the window, and looked about the country, and seemed very sorrowful. Then the huntsman said, "What makes you so sad?" "Alas, dear sir," said she, "yonder lies the granite rock, where all the costly diamonds grow, and I want so much to go there, that, whenever I think of it, I cannot help being sorrowful; for who can reach it? only the birds and the flies, - man cannot.” "If that's all your grief," said huntsman Peter, "I'll take you there with all my heart." So he drew her

under his cloak, and the moment he wished to be on the granite mountain, they were both there.

The diamonds glittered so on all sides, that they were delighted with the sight, and picked up the finest. But the old fairy made a deep drowsiness come upon him; and he said to the young lady, "Let us sit down and rest ourselves a little, I am so tired that I cannot stand any longer." So they sat down, and he laid his head in her lap and fell asleep; and whilst he was sleeping on, the false Meta took the cloak from his shoulders, hung it on her own, picked up the diamonds, and wished herself at her own home again.

When poor Peter awoke, and found that his faithless Meta had tricked him, and left him alone on the wild rock, he said, "Alas! what roguery there is in the