flour she had
left; and after that she did not know what was to become of her.

Whilst she was bathing she left her little brass pot on the river bank
covered with a cloth, to keep the inside nice and clean; but when she
came up out of the river and took the cloth off to fill the pot with
water, she saw inside it the glittering folds of a deadly snake. At
once she popped the cloth again into the mouth of the pot and held it
there; and then she said to herself:

'Ah, kind death! I will take thee home to my house, and there I will
shake thee out of my pot and thou shalt bite me and I will die, and
then all my troubles will be ended.'

With these sad thoughts in her mind the poor old woman hurried home,
holding her cloth carefully in the mouth of the pot; and when she got
home she shut all the doors and windows, and took away the cloth, and
turned the pot upside down upon her hearthstone. What was her surprise
to find that, instead of the deadly snake which she expected to see
fall out of it, there fell out with a rattle and a clang a most
magnificent necklace of flashing jewels!

For a few minutes she could hardly think or speak, but stood staring;
and then with trembling hands she picked the necklace up, and folding
it in the corner of her veil, she hurried off to the king's hall of
public audience.

'A petition, O king!' she said. 'A petition for thy private ear
alone!' And when her prayer had been granted, and she found herself
alone with the king, she shook out her veil at his feet, and there
fell from it in glittering coils the splendid necklace. As soon as the
king saw it he was filled with amazement and delight, and the more he
looked at it the more he felt that he must possess it at once. So he
gave the old woman five hundred silver pieces for it, and put it
straightway into his pocket. Away she went full of happiness; for the
money that the king had given her was enough to keep her for the rest
of her life.

As soon as he could leave his business the king hurried off and showed
his wife his prize, with which she was as pleased as he, if not more
so; and, as soon as they had finished admiring the wonderful necklace,
they locked it up in the great chest where the queen's jewellery was
kept, the key of which hung always round the king's neck.

A short while afterwards, a neighbouring king sent a message to say
that a most lovely girl baby had been born to him; and he invited his
neighbours to come to a grea