to my son as wife?' The King listened to the end of the old
woman's strange request, but every moment his face grew blacker, and his
features sterner; till all at once he thought to himself, 'Is it worth
while that I, the King, should be angry with this poor old fool?' And
all the courtiers and counsellors were amazed when they saw the hard
lines round his mouth and the frown on his brow grow smooth, and heard
the mild but mocking tones in which he answered the old woman, saying:

'If your son is as wonderfully clever as you say, and if there is
nothing in the world that he cannot do, let him build a magnificent
castle, just opposite my palace windows, in four and twenty hours. The
palace must be joined together by a bridge of pure crystal. On each
side of the bridge there must be growing trees, having golden and silver
apples, and with birds of Paradise among the branches. At the right of
the bridge there must be a church, with five golden cupolas; in this
church your son shall be wedded to my daughter, and we will keep the
wedding festivities in the new castle. But if he fails to execute this
my royal command, then, as a just but mild monarch, I shall give orders
that you and he are taken, and first dipped in tar and then in feathers,
and you shall be executed in the market-place for the entertainment of
my courtiers.'

And a smile played round the King's lips as he finished speaking, and
his courtiers and counsellors shook with laughter when they thought of
the old woman's folly, and praised the King's wise device, and said to
each other, 'What a joke it will be when we see the pair of them tarred
and feathered! The son is just as able to grow a beard on the palm of
his hand as to execute such a task in twenty-four hours.'

Now the poor old woman was mortally afraid and, in a trembling voice she
asked:

'Is that really your royal will, O King? Must I take this order to my
poor son?'

'Yes, old dame; such is my command. If your son carries out my order,
he shall be rewarded with my daughter; but if he fails, away to the
tar-barrel and the stake with you both!'

On her way home the poor old woman shed bitter tears, and when she saw
Martin she told him what the King had said, and sobbed out:

'Didn't I tell you, my son, that you should marry someone of your own
rank? It would have been better for us this day if you had. As I told
you, my going to Court has been as much as our lives are worth, and
now we will bo