Query any story you want.

There was once a little brother who took his Sister by the hand,

and said, "Since our own dear mother's death we have not had one

happy hour; our stepmother beats us every day, and, when we come

near her, kicks us away with her foot. Come, let us wander forth

into the wide world." So all day long they travelled over meadows,

fields, and stony roads. By the evening they came into a large

forest, and laid themselves down in a hollow tree, and went to

sleep. When they awoke the next morning, the sun had already risen

high in the heavens, and its beams made the tree so hot that the

little boy said to his sister, "I am so very thirsty, that if I

knew where there was a brook, I would go and drink. Ah! I think I

hear one running;" and so saying, he got up, and taking his

Sister's hand they went to look for the brook.

The wicked stepmother, however, was a witch, and had witnessed

the departure of the two children: so, sneaking after them

secretly, as is the habit of witches, she had enchanted all the

springs in the forest.

Presently they found a brook, which ran trippingly over the

pebbles, and the Brother would have drunk out of it, but the Sister

heard how it said as it ran along, "Who drinks of me will become a

tiger!" So the Sister exclaimed, "I pray you, Brother, drink not,

or you will become a tiger, and tear me to pieces!" So the Brother

did not drink, although his thirst was very great, and he said, "I

will wait till the next brook." As they came to the second, the

Sister heard it say, "Who drinks of me becomes a wolf!" The Sister

ran up crying, "Brother, do not, pray do not drink, or you will

become a wolf and eat me up!" Then the Brother did not drink,

saying, "I will wait until we come to the next spring, but then I

must drink, you may say what you will; my thirst is much too

great." Just as they reached the third brook, the Sister heard the

voice saying, "Who drinks of me will become a fawn—who drinks

of me will become a fawn!" So the Sister said, "Oh, my Brother do

not drink, or you will be changed into a fawn, and run away from

me!" But he had already kneeled down, and he drank of the water,

and, as the first drops passed his lips, his shape took that of a

fawn.

At first the Sister wept over her little, changed Brother, and

he wept too, and knelt by her, very sorrowful; but at last the

maiden said, "Be still, dear little fawn, and I will never forsake

you!" and, taking off her golden garter, she placed it around his

neck, and, weaving rushes, made a girdle to lead him with. This she

tied to him, and taking the other end in her hand, she led him

away, and they travelled deeper and deeper into the forest. After

they had gone a long distance they came to a little hut, and the

maiden, peeping in, found it empty, and thought, "Here we can stay

and dwell." Then she looked for leaves and moss to make a soft

couch for the Fawn, and every morning she went out and collected

roots and berries and nuts for herself, and tender grass for the

Fawn. In the evening when the Sister was tired, and had said her

prayers, she laid her head upon the back of the Fawn, which served

for a pillow, on which she slept soundly. Had but the Brother

regained his own proper form, their lives would have been happy

indeed.

Thus they dwelt in this wilderness, and some time had elapsed

when it happened that the King of the country had a great hunt in

the forest; and now sounded through the trees the blowing of horns,

the barking of dogs, and the lusty cry of the hunters, so that the

little Fawn heard them, and wanted very much to join in. "Ah!" said

he to his Sister, "let me go to the hunt, I cannot restrain myself

any longer;" and he begged so hard that at last she consented.

"But," she told him," "return again in the evening, for I shall

shut my door against the wild huntsmen, and, that I may know you,

do you knock, and say, 'Sister, dear, let me in,' and if you do not

speak I shall not open the door."

As soon as she had said this, the little Fawn sprang off quite

glad and merry in the fresh breeze. The King and his huntsmen

perceived the beautiful animal, and pursued him; but they could not

catch him, and when they thought they certainly had him, he sprang

away over the bushes, and got out of sight. Just as it was getting

dark, he ran up to the hut, and, knocking, said, "Sister mine, let

me in." Then she unfastened the little door, and he went in, and

rested all night long upon his soft couch. The next morning the

hunt was commenced again, and as soon as the little Fawn heard the

horns and the tally-ho of the sportsmen he could not rest, and

said, "Sister, dear, open the door; I must be off." The Sister

opened it, saying, "Return at evening, mind, and say the words as

before." When the King and his huntsmen saw him again, the Fawn

with the golden necklace, they followed him, close, but he was too

nimble and quick for them. The whole day long they kept up with

him, but towards evening the huntsmen made a circle around him, and

one wounded him slightly in the hinder foot, so that he could run

but slowly. Then one of them slipped after him to the little hut,

and heard him say, "Sister, dear, open the door," and saw that the

door was opened and immediately shut behind him. The huntsman,

having observed all this, went and told the King what he had seen

and heard, and he said, "On the morrow I will pursue him once

again."

The Sister, however, was terribly afraid when she saw that her

Fawn was wounded, and, washing off the blood, she put herbs upon

the foot, and said, "Go and rest upon your bed, dear Fawn, that

your wound may heal." It was so slight, that the next morning he

felt nothing of it, and when he heard the hunting cries outside, he

exclaimed, "I cannot stop away—I must be there, and none

shall catch me so easily again!" The Sister wept very much and told

him, "Soon will they kill you, and I shall be here alone in this

forest, forsaken by all the world: I cannot let you go."

"I shall die here in vexation," answered the Fawn, "if you do

not, for when I hear the horn, I think I shall jump out of my

skin." The Sister, finding she could not prevent him, opened the

door, with a heavy heart, and the Fawn jumped out, quite delighted,

into the forest. As soon as the King perceived him, he said to his

huntsmen, "Follow him all day long till the evening, but let no one

do him any harm." Then when the sun had set, the King asked his

huntsman to show him the hut; and as they came to it he knocked at

the door and said, "Let me in, dear Sister." Upon this the door

opened, and, stepping in, the King saw a maiden more beautiful than

he had ever beheld before. She was frightened when she saw not her

Fawn, but a man enter, who had a golden crown upon his head. But

the King, looking at her with a kindly glance, held out to her his

hand, saying, "Will you go with me to my castle, and be my dear

wife?" "Oh, yes," replied the maiden; "but the Fawn must go too:

him I will never forsake." The King replied, "He shall remain with

you as long as you live, and shall never want."

The King took the beautiful maiden upon his horse, and rode to

his castle, where the wedding was celebrated with great splendor

and she became Queen, and they lived together a long time; while

the Fawn was taken care of and played about the castle garden.

The wicked stepmother, however, on whose account the children

had wandered forth into the world, had supposed that long ago the

Sister had been torn into pieces by the wild beasts, and the little

Brother in his Fawn's shape hunted to death by the hunters. As

soon, therefore, as she heard how happy they had become, and how

everything prospered with them, envy and jealousy were aroused in

her wicked heart, and left her no peace; and she was always

thinking in what way she could bring misfortune upon them.

Her own daughter, who was as ugly as night, and had but one eye,

for which she was continually reproached, said, "The luck of being

a Queen has never happened to me." "Be quiet, now," replied the old

woman, "and make yourself contented: when the time comes I will

help and assist you." As soon, then, as the time came when the

Queen gave birth to a beautiful little boy, which happened when the

King was out hunting, the old witch took the form of a chambermaid,

and got into the room where the Queen was lying, and said to her,

"The bath is ready, which will restore you and give you fresh

strength; be quick before it gets cold." Her daughter being at

hand, they carried the weak Queen between them into the room, and

laid her in the bath, and then, shutting the door, they ran off;

but first they made up an immense fire in the stove, which must

soon suffocate the poor young Queen.

When this was done, the old woman took her daughter, and,

putting a cap upon her head, laid her in the bed in the Queen's

place. She gave her, too, the form and appearance of the real

Queen, as far as she was able; but she could not restore the lost

eye, and, so that the King might not notice it, she turned her upon

that side where there was no eye.

When midnight came, and every one was asleep, the nurse, who sat

by herself, wide awake, near the cradle, in the nursery, saw the

door open and the true Queen come in. She took the child in her

arms, and rocked it a while, and then, shaking up its pillow, laid

it down in its cradle, and covered it over again. She did not

forget the Fawn, either, but going to the corner where he was,

stroked his head, and then went silently out of the door. The nurse

asked in the morning of the guards if any one had passed into the

castle during the night; but they answered, "No, we have not seen

anybody." For many nights afterwards she came constantly, but never

spoke a word; and the nurse saw her always, but she would not trust

herself to speak about it to any one.

When some time had passed away, the Queen one night began to

speak, and said—

"How fares my child! how fares my fawn?

Twice more will I come, but never again."

The nurse made no reply; but, when she had disappeared, went to

the King, and told him. The King exclaimed, "Oh, mercy! what does

this mean?—the next night I will watch myself by the child."

So in the evening he went into the nursery, and about midnight the

Queen appeared, and said—

"How fares my child! how fares my fawn?

Once more will I come, but never again."

And she nursed the child, as she usually did, and then

disappeared. The King dared not speak; but he watched the following

night, and this time she said—

"How fares my child! how fares my fawn?

This time have I come, but never again."

At these words the King could hold back no longer, but,

springing up, cried, "You can be no other than my dear wife!" Then

she answered, "Yes, I am your dear wife;" and at that moment her

life was restored by God's mercy, and she was again as beautiful

and charming as ever. She told the King the fraud which the witch

and her daughter had practised upon him, and he had them both

tried, and sentence was pronounced against them. The little Fawn

was disenchanted, and received once more his human form; and the

Brother and Sister lived happily together to the end of their

days.