richly dressed,
who asked what were her commands. 'Go,' said the maiden, 'I will get up
at once and cook the old man's supper for him, and then I will feed the
pretty cock and hen and the brindled cow.'

But the door opened and in came a handsome young man, who said, 'I am a
king's son, and was condemned by a wicked witch to live as an old man
in this wood with no company but that of my three servants, who were
transformed into a cock, a hen, and a brindled cow. The spell could only
be broken by the arrival of a maiden who should show herself kind
not only to men but to beasts. You are that maiden, and last night at
midnight we were freed, and this poor house was again transformed into
my royal palace.

As they stood there the king's son told his three servants to go and
fetch the maiden's parents to be present at the wedding feast.

'But where are my two sisters?' asked the maid.

'I shut them up in the cellar, but in the morning they shall be led
forth into the forest and shall serve a charcoal burner until they have
improved, and will never again suffer poor animals to go hungry.'

Uraschimataro and the Turtle

From the Japanische Marchen und Sagen, von David Brauns (Leipzig:
Wilhelm Friedrich).

There was once a worthy old couple who lived on the coast, and supported
themselves by fishing. They had only one child, a son, who was their
pride and joy, and for his sake they were ready to work hard all day
long, and never felt tired or discontented with their lot. This son's
name was Uraschimataro, which means in Japanese, 'Son of the island,'
and he was a fine well-grown youth and a good fisherman, minding neither
wind nor weather. Not the bravest sailor in the whole village dared
venture so far out to sea as Uraschimataro, and many a time the
neighbours used to shake their heads and say to his parents, 'If your
son goes on being so rash, one day he will try his luck once too often,
and the waves will end by swallowing him up.' But Uraschimataro paid no
heed to these remarks, and as he was really very clever in managing a
boat, the old people were very seldom anxious about him.

One beautiful bright morning, as he was hauling his well-filled nets
into the boat, he saw lying among the fishes a tiny little turtle. He
was delighted with his prize, and threw it into a wooden vessel to
keep till he got home, when suddenly the turtle found its voice, and
tremblingly begged for its life. 'After all,' it said