A King had a daughter, Anne, who was pretty, and his Queen had another daughter, Kate, who was clever. The girls loved each other very much though the Queen felt rather envious of Anne’s beauty. She wished to make Anne look plain and wondered what to do about it. Then, she consulted the hen-wife who asked her to send Anne to her early morning. Therefore, on the pretext of collecting eggs, the Queen sent Anne to the hen-wife one morning. She had put a pot on the fire and asked Anne to take off the lid and look in. As soon as Anne did that, her head was transformed into a sheep’s head! Kate, however, felt very sad for her sister, and wrapping her head in a scarf, she left the palace with Anne to seek their fortune elsewhere. They walked till they came to a castle and learnt that it belonged to the King of that country.
The Secret
Kate sought shelter at the palace for both the sisters. She learnt that one of the two princes was ill and no one knew what the matter was. Anyone who watched over him at night vanished in the morning. The King offered a casketful of silver to anyone who could stay up with him and find out what troubled him. Kate bravely offered to sit up. She found that at midnight the Prince got up, saddled his horse and rode through the greenwood. Kate leapt up behind him, unknown to him and collected nuts along the way from the trees. They reached a green hill and the Prince asked to let him in. Kate whispered she would go in, too. They entered into a palatial hall and the Prince danced throughout the night till he was exhausted and then returned to his palace and fell asleep. Kate sat beside him, cracking and munching nuts.
The Wand
Kate asked for a casketful of gold for the second night. She went again and this time she saw a baby fairy playing with a wand. One of the fairies said that one wave of the wand would make Anne well again. Hearing this, Kate gave the baby some nuts to play with and while he was chasing the nuts, he dropped the little wand. Kate picked it up and hid it in her apron. She carried the wand back when she returned secretly with the Prince after he had danced all night. She waved the wand over Anne thrice, and she became her beautiful self again! The sheep’s head had vanished! The third night, Kate was to watch over the Prince again. This time she said she would do it only if the King promised that she would marry the Prince. The King agreed and once more Kate kept watch at night.
The Bird
Kate sat beside the sleeping Prince till midnight and then, as usual, he rode out to the green hill, unaware that Kate was behind him. Once more, he danced all night through. The fairies were there and the baby fairy was playing with a little bird. “Three bites of that bird will cure the Prince’s illness,” whispered one fairy to another. Kate overheard the whisper and gave the nuts to the baby fairy to play with. Then, she picked up the bird and hid it in her apron. That day, she cooked the bird for the Prince and gave him three bites of the dish. He was cured completely! In the morning, the King found him and Kate cracking nuts by the fireside. Both Kate’s Prince and Anne were well now. There was a grand wedding as Kate married one of the Princes and Anne married the other and they all lived happily!
