“I must go myself,” she answered. “My fairy goodmother said so.”
So she got into the bucket and he lowered her very carefully. And when she got down she found that the shining circle she had seen was not water but a mirror, and on its frame was written one word—“Truth.”
She came up with the mirror held fast in her arms, and she thanked the wood-reeve’s son and went home.
Now, when in due time came suitors for her hand, the Princess said to each: “How do you like my mirror?” And one after the other they looked in the mirror, and then fled with shrieks of fear.
The King and Queen looked in the mirror and beheld only their good and noble faces.
“What frightens the Princes, your suitors?” they asked.
Then the Princess told them that this was the Mirror of Truth, and that those who looked in it saw their own true natures.
“The Princes, my suitors, had wicked hearts,” she said, “and when they saw their true selves they were afraid.”
And no good Prince came there to woo, so the years went on and the Princess was still unwed.