THERE once lived a king and queen who ought to have been as happy as the day is long, for they had a large and prosperous kingdom in which the people were contented and industrious, and they had a splendid palace and plenty of horses and carriages; and their treasure-room was filled with gold, silver, and precious stones. Yet notwithstanding all this they were sad and sorrowful, because they had no children to inherit the good things they possessed.
One bright winter morning the queen went out into the palace garden. The snow covered the ground and clung to the trees and bushes, and it sparkled in the sunshine just as if all the jewels in the king’s treasury had been scattered about on it. The queen seated herself on a stone bench beneath a huge oaktree. She had not been there long when an old man came down a garden path and stood before her. He was a wicked magician named Surtur, who lived in a cave not far away.
“O queen!” he said, “you have long wished for a child. Your wish shall be granted, and a daughter will be born to you; but I warn you that she will cause you great unhappiness. She is destined to marry a terrible giant, and she will burn your palace; and the king, her father, will perish in the flames.”
So saying, he laughed spitefully and went away. The queen was greatly troubled, for she knew that Surtur was her enemy and that he was powerful; but as time went on she got over her anxiety and seldom thought of the old magician’s threat. At length the little daughter was born, and all the court agreed that she was the most beautiful child ever seen. More important still, she grew up as good as she was beautiful.
Things went as well with her as could be desired year after year until there came a time when the queen told her daughter about the prophecy of the magician. From that day a change came over the princess. She no longer laughed and danced, but walked about the rooms alone, often weeping. Finally, at her request, the king built her a house in which she lived with her own attendants, and there she stayed continually, fearful that if she went to the palace she would bring disaster on her father, and that if she walked around outdoors the giant might kidnap her.
Once, when she was sitting in her room, with her work that used to give her such pleasure lying idly on her lap, she heard some one knocking at the door. She opened it, and there stood a funny little old woman with a high, peaked hat on her head. The little old woman asked if she might come in and rest.
“Yes,” replied the princess listlessly.
So the little old woman came in, and they sat down, and the visitor began telling some wonderful stories. At last the princess got so interested that she looked quite bright and happy, like her old self.
Presently the old woman said: “Now I want you to come into the woods with me. It is a lovely day, and you will enjoy walking there in the shade of the trees.”
At first the princess declared she did not care to go, but after a while she allowed herself to be persuaded, and they went forth to wander on the mossy paths among the tall, straight-stemmed firs and graceful beeches and feathery birches. The princess forgot her sorrow, and she laughed and ran about in great enjoyment. When they were tired they sat down on a green bank, and the old woman said, “Tell me, my dear princess, why of late you have been so sad.”