ng to her about this trouble, yet she could see that it vexed
him that they had no heir to the kingdom; and she wished every day that
she might have one.

One day a poor old woman came to the castle and asked to speak with the
queen. The royal servants answered that they could not let such a poor
beggar-woman go in to their royal mistress. They offered her a penny,
and told her to go away. Then the woman desired them to tell the queen
that there stood at the palace gate one who would help her secret
sorrow. This message was taken to the queen, who gave orders to bring
the old woman to her. This was done, and the old woman said to her:

'I know your secret sorrow, O queen, and am come to help you in it. You
wish to have a son; you shall have two if you follow my instructions.'

The queen was greatly surprised that the old woman knew her secret wish
so well, and promised to follow her advice.

'You must have a bath set in your room, O queen,' said she, 'and filled
with running water. When you have bathed in this you will find. under
the bath two red onions. These you must carefully peel and eat, and in
time your wish will be fulfilled.'

The queen did as the poor woman told her; and after she had bathed she
found the two onions under the bath. They were both alike in size
and appearance. When she saw these she knew that the woman had been
something more than she seemed to be, and in her delight she ate up one
of the onions, skin and all. When she had done so she remembered that
the woman had told her to peel them carefully before she ate them. It
was now too late for the one of them, but she peeled the other and then
ate it too.

In due time it happened as the woman had said; but the first that the
queen gave birth to was a hideous lindorm, or serpent. No one saw this
but her waiting-woman, who threw it out of the window into the forest
beside the castle. The next that came into the world was the most
beautiful little prince, and he was shown to the king and queen, who
knew nothing about his brother the lindorm.

There was now joy in all the palace and over the whole country on
account of the beautiful prince; but no one knew that the queen's
first-born was a lindorm, and lay in the wild forest. Time passed
with the king, the queen, and the young prince in all happiness and
prosperity, until he was twenty years of his age. Then his parents said
to him that he should journey to another kingdom and seek for himself a