“She is under an evil enchantment and I am delivering her!”
So the youngest princess was sent for and at once Matti knew that she was the one he wanted to marry. [!-- original location of Evil Enchantment illustration --] [!-- blank page --] She wasn’t as beautiful as a princess should be but she was gentle and modest and when she passed Matti her cheeks flushed and she wasn’t able to whisper anything. But Matti felt very sure that if she had whispered her voice would have been scarcely husky.
“This, O King,” he said, “is my choice! Let me marry your youngest daughter and I promise to be a faithful husband to her.”
The King would have preferred to marry off the older princesses first for their horns were getting to be very troublesome, but as they all had horns he was afraid to refuse Matti’s offer.
So after a little talk he gave Matti the youngest and in a short time they were married.
After the wedding feast the King led the young couple to the bridal chamber and closed the door.
Matti’s Servant meantime had gone out to the woods and cut some stout switches of birch. When the palace was quiet and all were asleep, he crept softly into the bridal chamber and, dragging the bride out of bed, he beat her unmercifully.
“Oh! Oh!” she cried in pain.
Her screams woke Matti and in fright he jumped out of bed and tried to stop the Servant.
“Wait!” the Servant said. “She is under an evil enchantment and I am delivering her!”