“To-morrow you must go to court. Put the bird in a box and carry it with you; and when the king asks for it, put it on the table, that it may declare the wickedness of the dowager-queen, and the innocence of your mother.”
So the next day the three went to the palace and were invited to dine with the king. There were the queen-mother and the witch also present.
“Ah,” said the latter sneeringly, “you’ve kept your promise finely, haven’t you?”
“Certainly we have,” they answered.
“Why,” said the king, “where is the bird?”
They opened the box, and the Sound and Song of the Lovely Sibyl flew on to the table and told the whole black tale of deceit.
Then the queen-mother was burnt in the great public square, and the witch in a smaller square; but the children’s mother was crowned queen again amid the shouts of the people, and her husband and her children loved her dearly.
“So,” concluded old ’Drea, “innocence triumphs over vice.”