the king of Spain, remains with her husband.[26]

There yet remains a large and interesting class of stories to be
examined. The class may conveniently be termed "Bluebeard," although, as
we shall see, there are three versions of this story, to only one of
which the above name properly belongs. These three versions are well
represented by the three Grimm stories of "The Feather Bird" (No. 46),
"The Robber Bridegroom" (No. 40), and "The Wood-cutter's Child" (No. 3).
In the first version, which is, properly speaking, the Bluebeard story,
two sisters are married in turn and killed by their husband, because
they open the forbidden chamber. The youngest sister, although she opens
the forbidden door, manages to escape and deliver her sisters, whom she
restores to life. In the second version a robber marries several
sisters, whom he kills for disobeying his commands (the trait of
forbidden chamber is usually wanting); the youngest sister again manages
to escape and restores her dead sisters to life. Generally in this
version the husband makes a desperate effort to be revenged on the
sister who has escaped from him, but fails in this also. In the third
version a young girl is under the guardianship of some supernatural
being, who forbids her to open a certain door. The child disobeys,
denies her fault, and is sent away in disgrace; she afterward marries
and her children are taken from her one by one until she confesses her
fault, or, as is the case in an Italian version, persists in her denial
to the very end. We shall examine these three versions separately, and
first give an example of the first, or Bluebeard, class. It is from
Venice (Widter-Wolf, No. 11, _Jahrb._ VII. 148), and is entitled:

XVI. HOW THE DEVIL MARRIED THREE SISTERS.

Once upon a time the Devil was seized with a desire to marry. He
therefore left hell, took the form of a handsome young man, and built a
fine large house. When it was completed and furnished in the most
fashionable style, he introduced himself to a family where there were
three pretty daughters, and paid his addresses to the eldest of them.
The handsome man pleased the maiden, her parents were glad to see a
daughter so well provided for, and it was not long before the wedding
was celebrated.

When he had taken his bride home, he presented her with a very
tastefully arranged bouquet, led her through all the rooms of the house,
and finally to a closed door. "The whole house is at your dispo