Their house was not far from the king’s palace, and one day, when the three sisters were out walking, they met the king, attended by his secretary and his valet.
“Ah,” sighed Alitea, the eldest sister, “how happy I should be if I could only marry the king’s valet! I should then be able to see all the grand feasts that are held at the palace!”
“And I should like to marry his secretary,” murmured Truda, the second sister, “for then I should both hear and see all that was going on.”
“Oh, if I had to marry any one,” cried Hertha, the youngest sister, “I should like to marry King Leofric himself! See how young and handsome he is!”
The king, who had noticed the whispers and eager glances of the girls, said to his attendants—
“I wonder what those pretty maidens want? Let us go to them and find out what they are talking about; I thought I heard them mention my name.”
The secretary tried to dissuade the young king from speaking to the girls, saying he was sure their chatter was not worth listening to, and that his Majesty had better not attend to them. But King Leofric would not be put off, and it ended in their all three going up to the young maidens. Then the king asked them what they had been talking about when he and his attendants came in sight.
Now when the girls saw the king come up to them, they were rather frightened, but he spoke so kindly and pleasantly that their fears soon vanished, and when he insisted on hearing what they had said, they at last confessed the truth.
King Leofric was mightily amused when he heard their tale. He thought the girls very handsome, especially the youngest one, and after chatting with them for some little time, he found them so bright and clever, that he told them their wishes should be fulfilled.
The sisters were so surprised to think their idle words should speedily become real facts, that they were speechless with wonder and delight.