As for the
faithful Gilliflower, she stayed at court, with her beloved mistress,
and became the wife of the equally faithful Becafico, who had served
Prince Warrior as devotedly as she the Princess Desiree. The two were
laden with wealth and honours, and shared the happiness of the other
two lovers, which was as great as any mortal could desire. After their
death the story of the White Hind of the Forest was commanded to be
written down in the archives of the state, and thence it has been told
in tradition, or sung in poetry, half over the world.
THE JUNIPER-TREE.
One or two thousand years ago, there was a rich man, who had a
beautiful and pious wife; they loved one another dearly, but they had
no children. They wished and prayed for some night and day, but still
they had none. In front of their house was a yard, where stood a
Juniper-tree, and under it the wife stood once in winter, and peeled
an apple, and as she peeled the apple she cut her finger, and the
blood fell on the snow.
"Oh," said she, sighing deeply and looking sorrowfully at the blood,
"if I only had a child as red as blood, and as white as snow!"
While she spoke, she became quite happy; it seemed to her as if her
wish would surely come to pass. Then she went into the house; and a
month passed, and the snow melted; and two months, and the ground was
green; and three months, and the flowers came up out of the earth; and
four months, and all the trees in the wood burst forth, and the green
twigs all grew thickly together; the little birds sang so that the
whole wood rang, and the blossoms fell from the trees.
Pages:
430
431
432
433
434
435
436
437
438
439
440
441
442
443
444
445
446
447
448
449
450
451
452
453
454