green satin, come down to the edge of the lake. Not
guessing that he was watched, he got into a little boat that lay
moored to the bank, rowed himself over to the island where the
princess's castle stood. The girl went home wondering who the knight
could be; and as she was brushing the queen's hair, she said to her:
'Does your majesty know that the princess has a suitor?'
[Illustration: THE POISONED NAIL]
'Nonsense!' replied the queen crossly. But she was dreadfully vexed at
the mere idea, as her own daughter was still unmarried, and was likely
to remain so, because she was so ill-tempered and stupid that no one
wanted her.
'It is true,' persisted the girl. 'He is dressed all in green, and is
very handsome. I saw him myself, though he did not see me, and he got
into a boat and rowed over to the island, and the princess was waiting
for him at the castle door.'
'I must find out what this means,' thought the queen. But she bade her
maid of honour cease chattering and mind her own business.
Early next morning the queen got up and went down to the shore of the
lake, where she hid herself behind a tree. Sure enough there came a
handsome knight dressed in green, just as the maid of honour had said,
and he got into a boat and rowed over to the island where the princess
awaited him. The angry queen remained by the lake all day, but it was
not until the evening that the knight returned, and leaping on shore,
he tied the boat to its moorings and went away through the forest.
* * * * *
'I have caught my step-daughter nicely,' thought the queen. 'But she
shall not be married before my own sweet girl. I must find a way to
put a stop to this.'
Accordingly she took a poisoned nail and stuck it in the handle of the
oar in such a way that the knight would be sure to scratch his hand
when he picked up the oar. Then she went home laughing, very much
pleased with her cleverness.
The next day the Green Knight went to visit the princess as usual; but
directly he took up the oars to row over to the island he felt a sharp
scratch on his hand.
'Oof!' he said, dropping the oars from pain, 'what can have scratched
so?' But, look as he might, only a tiny mark was to be seen.
'Well, it's strange how a nail could have come here since yesterday,'
he thought. 'Still, it is not very serious, though it hurts a good
deal.' And, indeed, it seemed such a little thing that he did not
mention it to t
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