Free The Violet Fairy Book by Andrew Lang Page B

prince stepped over the threshold he caught sight of a
maiden of wonderful beauty, with brown eyes and fair curly hair.
'Well!' the young man said to himself, 'if the old fellow has
many daughters like that I should not mind being his son-in-law.
This one is just what I admire'; and he watched her lay the
table, bring in the food, and take her seat by the fire as if she
had never noticed that a strange man was present. Then she took
out a needle and thread, and began to darn her stockings. The
master sat at table alone, and invited neither his new servant
nor the maid to eat with him. Neither was the old grandmother
anywhere to be seen. His appetite was tremendous: he soon
cleared all the dishes, and ate enough to satisfy a dozen men.
When at last he could eat no more he said to the girl, 'Now you
can pick up the pieces, and take what is left in the iron pot for
your own dinner, but give the bones to the dog.'
    The prince did not at all like the idea of dining off scraps,
which he helped the girl to pick up, but, after all, he found
that there was plenty to eat, and that the food was very good.
During the meal he stole many glances at the maiden, and would
even have spoken to her, but she gave him no encouragement.
Every time he opened his mouth for the purpose she looked at him
sternly, as if to say, 'Silence,' so he could only let his eyes
speak for him. Besides, the master was stretched on a bench by
the oven after his huge meal, and would have heard everything.
    After supper that night, the old man said to the prince, 'For two
days you may rest from the fatigues of the journey, and look
about the house. But the day after to-morrow you must come with
me, and I will point out the work you have to do. The maid will
show you where you are to sleep.'
    The prince thought, from this, he had leave to speak, but his
master turned on him with a face of thunder and exclaimed:
    'You dog of a servant! If you disobey the laws of the house you
will soon find yourself a head shorter! Hold your tongue, and
leave me in peace.'
    The girl made a sign to him to follow her, and, throwing open a
door, nodded to him to go in. He would have lingered a moment,
for he thought she looked sad, but dared not do so, for fear of
the old man's anger.
    'It is impossible that she can be his daughter!' he said to
himself, 'for she has a kind heart. I am quite sure she must be
the same girl who was brought here instead of me, so I am bound
to risk my head in this mad adventure.' He got into bed, but it
was long before he fell asleep, and even then his dreams gave him
no rest. He seemed to be surrounded by dangers, and it was only
the power of the maiden who helped him through it all.
    When he woke his first thoughts were for the girl, whom he found
hard at work. He drew water from the well and carried it to the
house for her, kindled the fire under the iron pot, and, in fact,
did everything that came into his head that could be of any use
to her. In the afternoon he went out, in order to learn
something of his new home, and wondered greatly not to come
across the old grandmother. In his rambles he came to the
farmyard, where a beautiful white horse had a stall to itself; in
another was a black cow with two white-faced calves, while the
clucking of geese, ducks, and hens reached him from a distance.
    Breakfast, dinner, and supper were as savoury as before, and the
prince would have been quite content with his quarters had it not
been for the difficulty of keeping silence in the presence of the
maiden. On the evening of the second day he went, as he had been
told, to receive his orders for the following morning.
    'I am going to set you something very easy to do to-morrow,'
said the old man when his servant entered. 'Take this scythe and
cut as much grass as the white horse will want for its day's
feed, and clean out its stall. If I come back and find the
manger empty it will go ill with you. So beware!'
    The prince left the room, rejoicing in his heart, and