l came to pass.
Rhodopis, before taking a bath, had given her robes in charge to her
attendants; but at the same time there was an eagle flying over the
bath, and it darted down and flew away with one of her slippers. The
eagle flew away, and away, and away, until it got to the city of
Memphis, where the Prince Psammetichus was sitting in the open air,
and administering justice to those subject to his sway; and as the
eagle flew over him it let the slipper fall from its beak, and it fell
down into the lap of Psammetichus. The prince looked at the slipper,
and the more he looked at it, the more he marvelled at the beauty of
the material and the dainty minuteness of its size; and then he
cogitated upon the wondrous way in which such a thing was conveyed to
him through the air by a bird; and then it was he sent forth a
proclamation to all parts of Egypt to try to discover the woman to
whom the slipper belonged, and solemnly promised that whoever she
might be he would make her his bride.[66]

A very beautiful legend, which has been preserved by the Rev. W. S.
Lach-Szyrma,[67] carries into its fairy narrative more of the
realities of tribal life. Mr. Lach-Szyrma obtained it from a peasant's
chap-book, but it professes to be an ancient Slovac folk-tale:--

"An orphan girl is left with a cruel stepmother, who has a daughter
who is bad-tempered and disagreeable, and extremely jealous of her.
She becomes the Cinderella of the house, is ill-treated and beaten,
but submits patiently. At last the harsh stepmother is urged by her
daughter to get rid of her. It is winter, in the month of January; the
snow has fallen, and the ground is frozen. The cruel stepmother in
this dreadful weather bids the poor girl to go out in the forest, and
not to come back till she brings some violets with her. After many
entreaties for mercy the orphan is driven out, and goes out in the
snow on the hopeless errand. As she enters the forest she sees a
little way on in the deep glade, under the leafless trees, a large
fire burning. As she draws near she perceives around the fire are
twelve stones, and on the stones sit twelve men. The chief of them,
sitting on the largest stone, is an old man with a long snowy beard,
and a great staff in his hand. As she comes up to the fire the old man
asks her what she wants. She respectfully replies by telling them,
with many tears, her sad story. The old man comforts her. 'I am
January; I cannot give you any violets,