Once upon a time, a man and his wife lived very happily. They were sad as they had no children. A juniper tree stood in the yard outside and the woman loved the tree.
One winter, while sewing, she pricked her finger with a needle. The drops of blood on the snow made her wish she had a child as white as snow and as red as blood.
Her wish came true, and she did have a beautiful baby boy. But the woman died. The man buried her under her favourite juniper tree. He married another woman and they soon had a daughter whom they named Marlene.
Marlene loved her brother, but her mother hated the boy. She wished he would die and then her daughter would get all her husband’s property.
She treated the boy very badly, scolding and shouting, and beating him. There were days he went to bed without any supper. Marlene tried to intervene but was told to keep quiet.
One day, the woman killed the poor boy. Then, when her husband enquired about him, she pretended that he must have gone away somewhere. Marlene wept because she knew the truth but dared not say anything.
Marlene buried the boy under the juniper tree. The tree swayed as if it was happy and a fiery mist rose from it. Out of it flew a magnificent white bird, singing sweetly. It flew off towards the village.
There it went to the shop of the goldsmith and sang its sweet, sad song:
“My father loved me, but the woman killed me;
Marlene buried me under the juniper tree.” The goldsmith was so touched by the song that he came out and gave it a gold chain that it picked up in its beak.
The bird then went to the shoemaker’s shop and sang the song. He was so happy that he gave the bird a pair of beautiful red shoes. Carrying them in his beak and claws respectively, the bird then went to the mill.
The miller was so charmed by the bird’s song that he gave the bird a millstone. He put it around the bird’s neck and it flew back to his father’s house.
When he reached the house, strange things happened. Marlene began to cry. The father felt happy, as if he was about to meet an old friend. And the woman began to feel very uneasy and upset.
The bird began singing the song perched on the juniper tree. The strange feelings of the three people kept increasing. The father came out of the house smiling. The bird flew down and dropped the gold chain around his neck.
When Marlene came out to look at the bird, it flew towards her and dropped the two red dancing shoes at her feet. Delighted, Marlene picked them up and twirled around happily dancing.
Then the woman came out and looked at the bird, wishing she were dead, because she felt as if her whole body was on fire. The bird dropped the heavy millstone on her and crushed her to death.
A mist came up around the juniper tree and out of it walked the beautiful little boy. Marlene hugged him and she and her father took the boy back into the house. The juniper tree swayed as if it was dancing.
