He had been married once before, and had by his first wife seven
children, six boys and a girl, whom he loved more than anything in the
world. But, because he was afraid that the stepmother might not treat
them well, or might even do them some harm, he took them to a lonely
castle which stood in the middle of a wood. It was so hidden, and the
road was so difficult to find, that he himself would not have found
it, if a wise woman had not given him a wonderful skein of thread;
which, when he threw it down before him, unrolled of itself and showed
him the way. The king went out so often to his dear children, that the
queen noticed his absence, and was full of curiosity to know what
business took him thus alone to the wood. So she gave his servants a
sum of money, and they told her the secret, and also told her of the
skein, which was the only thing that could show the way. After that
she never rested till she had found out where the king kept the skein.
Then she made some little white silk shirts, and as she had learned
witchcraft from her mother, she sewed a spell into every one of them.
And one day when the king was gone out to hunt, she took the little
shirts and went into the wood, and the skein showed her the way.
The six brothers, who saw some one in the distance, thought their
dear father was coming, and ran to meet him, full of joy.
Pages:
391
392
393
394
395
396
397
398
399
400
401
402
403
404
405
406
407
408
409
410
411
412
413
414
415