“Then the black fairy said, ‘They shall be forgiven this time, because the birds should pick wool for themselves.’
“So the finches flew away.
“Then the harvest was over, and the reapers came and said to the child-king’s uncle, ‘Sir, what shall we do with the new wheat, for the old is not half eaten yet, and there is no room in the granaries?’
“He said, ‘Throw that into the lake also.’
“While they were throwing it in, there came a great flight of the wood fairies, fairies of passage from over the sea. They were in the form of pigeons, and they alighted and prayed them, ‘O cousins! we are faint with our long flight; give us some of that corn which you do not want, that we may peck it and be refreshed.’
“But they said, ‘You may rest on our land, but our corn is our own. Rest awhile, and go and get food in your own fields.’
“Then the brown fairy said, ‘They may be forgiven this once, but yet it is a great unkindness.’
“And as they were going to pour in the last sackful, there passed a poor mortal beggar, who had strayed in from the men and women’s world, and she said, ‘Pray give me some of that wheat, O fairy people! for I am hungry, I have lost my way, and there is no money to be earned here. Give me some of that wheat, that I may bake cakes, lest I and my baby should starve.’
“And they said, ‘What is starve? We never heard that word before, and we cannot wait while you explain it to us.’
“So they poured it all into the lake; and then the white fairy said, ‘This cannot be forgiven them;’ and she covered her face with her hands and wept. Then the black fairy rose and drove them all before her—the prince, with his chief shepherd and his reapers, his courtiers and his knights; she drove them into the great bed of reeds, and no one has ever set eyes on them since. Then the brown fairy went into the palace where the king’s aunt sat, with all her ladies and her maids about her, and with the child-king on her knee.