THE COOK PUNISHED.
So the cook set out to look for the children herself and the servants went with her. By and by they came near the place where Birdie and Lena were. Lena saw them coming because she was the steeple and could see far around her. “O Birdie,” she cried, “here comes the old cook. We must change again. You must be a pond, dear Birdie, and I will be a duck swimming upon the pond.”
It was no sooner said than done; and when the old woman and the servants came, the church and the steeple had disappeared. And there, among the trees, they saw a little pond with a snow-white duck swimming upon it. “There they are,” cried the wicked old woman; “I am going to drink all that water up.” And so saying she stooped down to drink up all the water; but she lost her balance and, falling head-first into the pond, was drowned.
Birdie and Lena took back their own shapes again. You may be sure the servants were astonished when they heard the whole story. As for the old cook, they said, “She was a wicked woman; she is well punished.”
The children went back to the house and, when the hunter came home, told him all about the old woman’s wicked plan and how Birdie was saved. He, too, said, “She was a wicked woman. She is well punished.” And now that the old cook was gone, Birdie and her kind friends lived happily together all the rest of their lives.
Suggestions.
Punishment. Recall punishment in previous stories.
