sked for a small reward. But the king said,

"Thy song has so well pleased me, that I will give thee my daughter to
wife."

The princess was horrified; but the king said,

"I took an oath to give you to the first beggar that came, and so it
must be done."

There was no remedy. The priest was fetched, and she had to be married
to the ballad-singer out of hand. When all was done, the king said,

"Now, as you are a beggar-wife, you can stay no longer in my castle, so
off with you and your husband."

The beggar-man led her away, and she was obliged to go forth with him on
foot. On the way they came to a great wood, and she asked,

"Oh, whose is this forest, so thick and so fine?"

He answered,

"It is King Thrushbeard's, and might have been thine."

And she cried,

"Oh, I was a silly young thing, I'm afeared,
Would I had taken that good King Thrushbeard!"

Then they passed through a meadow, and she asked,

"Oh, whose is this meadow, so green and so fine?"

He answered,

"It is King Thrushbeard's, and might have been thine."

And she cried,

"I was a silly young thing, I'm afeared,
Would I had taken that good King Thrushbeard!"

Then they passed through a great town, and she asked,

"Whose is this city, so great and so fine?"

He answered,

"Oh, it is King Thrushbeard's, and might have been thine."

And she cried,

"I was a silly young thing, I'm afeared,
Would I had taken that good King Thrushbeard!"

Then said the beggar-man,

"It does not please me to hear you always wishing for another husband;
am I not good enough for you?"

At last they came to a very small house, and she said,

"Oh dear me! what poor little house do I see?
And whose, I would know, may the wretched hole be?"

The man answered,

"That is my house and thine, where we must live together."

She had to stoop before she could go in at the door.

"Where are the servants?" asked the king's daughter.

"What servants?" answered the beggar-man, "what you want to have done
you must do yourself. Make a fire quick, and put on water, and cook me
some food; I am very tired."

But the king's daughter understood nothing about fire-making and
cooking, and the beggar-man had to lend a hand himself in order to
manage it at all. And when they had eaten their poor fare, they went to
bed; but the man called up his wife very early in the morning, in order
to clean the house. Fo