“Who are you and whence come you, O Fair One?” he asked.
“I am a poor girl who has neither home nor shelter,” she answered him, and as she spoke, roses and pearls fell from her lips.
The prince was overcome with admiration. “Never have I seen beauty to compare with yours,” he cried. “Come back with me to the palace, I pray of you, for unless you consent to be my bride I vow that I will never marry.”
Blushing, the Fair One allowed him to place her on the horse before him, for it seemed to her she had never seen anyone, at once so handsome and so kind, before. So he carried her home with him to the palace, and when they saw her the old king and queen were amazed at her beauty and sweetness. But when they saw the treasure that fell from her lips whenever she spoke, they gladly gave permission for her marriage with their son.
To celebrate it, a magnificent feast was prepared, and people were invited to come to it from far and near. The Fair One, who was very kind and forgiving, begged that her mother and sister might be invited, too. The prince could refuse her nothing, and so the invitation was sent.
No sooner was it received than there was a great commotion and excitement at the house of the cruel mother. She and the sister bought fine dresses and jewels and feathers that only served to set off their ill looks. Last of all, they stepped into a coach drawn by four black horses and drove away to the palace. There everything was mirth and rejoicing, and the widow and her daughter bowed and smirked with the best of them. But when they entered the grand hall where the king and queen sat, and saw that the prince’s bride was no other than the younger sister, and that she, too, sat upon a throne with a crown upon her head, they were so filled with envy and spite that they burst.
But the prince married the Fair One and they lived happy ever after, beloved by the king and queen and all their people.
