THE ENVIOUS SISTERS. 51 pitied the poor handless girl and was afraid his master would

punish ^her severely.

He

decided therefore to let her

go.

Accidentally, however, the prince

came

_past

and

asked

who

she was.

"Your

highness," replied the gardener, "_I

know

no

more

ofher than

you

^{do. I}caught her ^{in the}garden, andto prevent her doing

any more damage

^I

was

_going to turn her out."

"

_Don't

leadher away," ^said the prince ;

"and

who

are you, unfortunate _girl ?" "

You

have called

me

_right,

my

lord,"

said Kindness, "_{for I}

am

unfortunate, but I

am

not bad ; I

am

a

beggar,but I

am

of

royal blood. I

was

taken from

my

father because he loved

me

most_;

crippled because^I

was

a

good

child.

That

is

my

story."

To

thistheprincereplied,

"

However

dirtily

and

_ragged

you

^are dressed, still it is clear to

me

that

you

arenot of

low

birth: yourpretty ^face

and

_{polished speechprove}

it. Follow

me

;

and

whatever

you

^{have lost}

you

will find in

my

house.'' ^li

Your

_highness, in this

nasty, dirty dress

how

can I

come

intoyourpresence^?

Send

clothes to

me which

^Ican_put on,

and

then I willdo whatever

you

order." u

Very

well," said the prince ^;

"

stay here,

and

I will sendtoyou."

He went

and senther a lady-in-waiting with perfumed water ^to

wash

_{with, a} gorgeous ^dress,

and

a

carriage. Kindness

washed

and dressed herself, got ^{into the} carriage,

and went

to the

prince. Quite

changed

^{in her} appearance, not at all like as she was _before,

however much

she suffered she

was

aspretty ^as a Lucretia; and the prince^{fell so}

much

in lovewith her that he decidedonthe spot that

he would marry

^her;

and

so they got ^married, with great splendour,

and

_spenttheirtime _together ingreat happiness.

When

the

two

elder sisters

came home

from theforesttheir father inquired

where

Kindness was. "

Has

she not

come home

?"

said they^;

" we

_thought that she

would

have been

home

before us.

As

she was running ^after butterflies she got separated from_us,

We

looked for hereverywhereand called for her; as

we

_got

no

answer

we

^{set off}

home

before the darkness set in,^5'

E2

52 MAGYAR

FOLK-TALES.

The

_{king gave} orders that Kindness

was

to be looked for everywhere; they^{searched for} days butcould not findher; then thekinggot^soangry ^{in his}sorrow thathe drove the

two

elder girls

away

^because they

had

not taken _proper care of their sister.

They

^{set outinto the world in} quite another _direction, but

by

^{accident arrived in the} country

where

Kindness

was

queen^{; here} they^{lived aretiredlife in a small}

town unknown

to all. Kindness at this time

was

enceinte; andas

war

broke out with aneighbouring ^nation her _royal

husband was

_obliged

to

go

^{tothe field ofbattle.}

The war

lasted a long ^time,

and

in the

meantime

Kindness gave^{birth to twins,}

two handsome

sons;

on

the forehead of one

was

the

sign of the blessed sun,

on

the other the sign of the blessed

moon;

ⁱⁿ great joy ^the queen's guardian^{sent aletter}containing the

good news

^{to the} king

by

a messenger^{to the} camp.

The

_messenger

had

to

pass through the small

town where

theenvious sisters dwelt;it

was

_quitedark

when ^he

arrived,

and

^as

he

did not see a_light

anywhere

^{but in}

their

window

he

went and

asked fora night's lodging; while

he

stayed there

he

told

them

all about the object of ^his journey;

you may

imagine

how

well

he was

_received,

and

with

what

pleasurethey ^offered

him

lodging, theseenvious brutes!

When

themessenger ^fellasleep they immediately tookpossession of the letter, tore it open, read it,

and

burnt it,

and

_put in its

place anothertothe king, saying ^{that the}

queen had

given ^{birth to}

two

monsters

which

looked

more

likepuppies than ^{babes; inthe}

morning

theygave

meat and

drink to the messenger,

and

_pressed

him

to call

and

see

them on

his

way

^{back, as} they

would

be delighted ^{to see} him.

He

_accepted their kindinvitation, and promised ^that

he would come

to them,

and

^to no one _else,

on

his return.

The

_messenger arrived at the

camp

^{and delivered his}

letter to the king,

who was

very downcast ^as he read it

; but

stillhe wrote back

and

said thathis wife

was

not to be blamed;

flifithas

happened

^thus

how

can I help ^it? don't

show

her the slightest discourtesy," wrote he.

As

the messenger

went

back

i

THE ENVIOUS

SISTERS. 53

he _sleptagain in the house of the

two

old serpent-sisters; they stole the king's ^letter

and

wrote in itsplace^: "

I

want

neither children nor mother; ^{see that}

by

^{the time I}

come home

those monsters be out of

my

way, ^{so that not}even so

much

as their

name

remain."

When

^{this letter}

was

read

every one was very sorry^forthepoor queen,

and

couldn't

make

out

why

^theking

was

so angry, but ^there

was

_nothing for itbut for the

king's orders to be carried _out,

and

so the

two

_pretty babes were put ^{in a} sheet

and hung ^round

Kindness's neck,

and

she

was

sent away.

For

_days

and

days poor Kindness walked about suffering

hunger and

_thirst,tillat lastshe

came

to a pretty

wood

_{; passing through}

this she travelled through a valley covered with _{trees; passing} through ^{this at last she}

saw

the great alpine ^{fir-trees at}the

end

of the vale; there she found a clearspring; ⁱⁿher parching ^thirst she stooped ^to drink, but in her hurry ^shelost her balance

and

fell intothe water_; as shetried to drag ^{herself out} withher

two

stumps, ^to herintense astonishment shefound that

by

^immersion her

two

hands

had grown

again ^as they were before; she

wept

forjoy.

Although

^she

was

_hidingin an

unknown

_placewith

no

husband,

no

father,

no

friend,

no

_{help whatever,} with

two

starving children ^{in this}great wilderness, ^stillshe wasn't sorrow-ful, because she

was

^so _delighted ^to have her hands _again.

She

stood _there,

and

could not

make _up

her

mind

in which direction togo; ^{as she stood}looking ^all

round

she suddenly caught sight ofan old

man _coming

towards her. "

Who

are

you?"

^{said the}

old

man. " Who am

^{I ?" she} _replied, sighing deeply; uI'man unfortunate queen."

She

then told

him

all she

had

suffered,

and how

she

had

recovered her hands that very minute

by

washing ^{in the} spring.

"

My

poor

good

daughter," ^{said the} old

man,

bitterly,

"then we

are both afflicted ones; ^it's quite

enough

^that

you

^{are alive,}

and

that I

have

found _you. Listen to

me

:

your husband was

^{warring against}me, he drove

me

from

my

country, and hiding from

him

^I

came

this

way

^{; not} very

far from here with one^of

my

^{faithful servants Ihave built ahut}

54

MAGYAR

FOLK-TALES.

and we

will live together there."

The

old

man,

^{in orderto} prove the miraculous curing

power

of the spring, dipped ^his

maimed

finger ^intoit,

which was

shot offin thelast war; ^as he took it out, lo^{! it}

was

^all_right once more.

When

^the

war was

_over, Kindness's

husband

returned

home and

_inquired after his wife.

They

^told

him

all that

had

happened,

and he was

_{deeplygrieved,}

and went

insearch ofher with_{a great}

number

ofhis people,and they found her^{at last}with her

two

pretty babes, living with herold father.

On

_inquiry it

was

also found out

where

the messenger with ^{the letters}

had

slept

and how

theletters were changed. Pride

and

Gentleness

were summoned and

sentenced ^to death; but Kindness _forgave

them

all their misdeeds,

and was

so kind to

them

that she obtained their pardon,

and

also persuaded her ^{father to} forgive them.

There

^is

no more

of this speech ^to

which you

^need listen, as Ihave told it to the very

end and

^I

have

notmisseda

word

out ofit.

Those

of

whom

I

have

_spoken

may

they be

your

guests, every one ^ofthem,

to-morrow

!

In document IS IS (Pldal 127-130)