Then she wept bitterly and said, “I have done great wrong, and am not worthy to be your wife.”
But he said, “Be comforted. The evil days are past. Now we will celebrate our wedding.”
Then the maids-in-waiting came, and put the most splendid clothing on her. Her father and his whole Court arrived, and wished her happiness in her marriage to King Thrushbeard. And the joy now began in earnest. I wish you and I had been there too!
THE GOLD-CHILDREN
There was once a poor man and a poor woman who had nothing but a little cottage. They earned their bread by fishing, and always lived from hand to mouth.
But it came to pass one day, when the man was sitting by the waterside and casting his net, that he drew out a fish entirely of gold.
As he was looking at the fish, full of astonishment, it began to speak and said, “Hark you, Fisherman, if you will throw me back again into the water, I will change your little hut into a splendid castle.”