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witch, and how no one could have delivered him from the well but
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herself, and that to-morrow they would go together into his kingdom.
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Then they went to sleep, and next morning when the sun awoke them, a
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carriage came driving up with eight white horses, which had white
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ostrich feathers on their heads, and were harnessed with golden
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chains, and behind stood the young king's servant Faithful Henry.
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Faithful Henry had been so unhappy when his master was changed into a
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frog, that he had caused three iron bands to be laid round his heart,
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lest it should burst with grief and sadness. The carriage was to
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conduct the young king into his kingdom. Faithful Henry helped them
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both in, and placed himself behind again, and was full of joy because
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of this deliverance. And when they had driven a part of the way the
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king's son heard a cracking behind him as if something had broken.
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So he turned round and cried, "Henry, the carriage is breaking."
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"No, master, it is not the carriage. It is a band from my heart,
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which was put there in my great pain when you were a frog and
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imprisoned in the well." Again and once again while they were on
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their way something cracked, and each time the king's son thought the
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carriage was breaking, but it was only the bands which were springing
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from the heart of Faithful Henry because his master was set free and
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was happy.
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Hard by a great forest dwelt a wood-cutter with his wife, who had an
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only child, a little girl three years old. They were so poor,
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however, that they no longer had daily bread, and did not know how to
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get food for her. One morning the wood-cutter went out sorrowfully
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to his work in the forest, and while he was cutting wood, suddenly
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there stood before him a tall and beautiful woman with a crown of
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shining stars on her head, who said to him 'I am the virgin mary,
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mother of the child jesus. You are poor and needy, bring your child
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to me, I will take her with me and be her mother, and care for her.'
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The wood-cutter obeyed, brought his child, and gave her to the virgin
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mary, who took her up to heaven with her. There the child fared
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well, ate sugar-cakes, and drank sweet milk, and her clothes were of
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gold, and the little angels played with her. And when she was
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fourteen years of age, the virgin mary called her one day and said
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'dear child, I am about to make a long journey, so take into your
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keeping the keys of the thirteen doors of heaven. Twelve of these
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you may open, and behold the glory which is within them, but the
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thirteenth, to which this little key belongs, is forbidden you. Take
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care not to open it, or you will be unhappy.' The girl promised to be
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obedient, and when the virgin mary was gone, she began to examine the
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dwellings of the kingdom of heaven. Each day she opened one of them,
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until she had made the round of the twelve. In each of them sat one
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of the apostles in the midst of a great light, and she rejoiced in
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all the magnificence and splendor, and the little angels who always
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accompanied her rejoiced with her. Then the forbidden door alone
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remained, and she felt a great desire to know what could be hidden
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behind it, and said to the angels 'I will not open it entirely, and I
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will not go inside, but I will unlock it so that we can see just a
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little through the opening.' 'Oh'no, said the little angels, 'that
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would be a sin. The virgin mary has forbidden it, and it might
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easily cause your unhappiness.' Then she was silent, but the desire
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in her heart was not stilled, but gnawed there and tormented her, and
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let her have no rest. And once when the angels had all gone out, she
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thought 'now I am quite alone, and I could peep in. If I do, no one
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will ever know.' She sought out the key, and when she had got it in
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her hand, she put it in the lock, and when she had put it in, she
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turned it round as well. Then the door sprang open, and she saw
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there the trinity sitting in fire and splendor. She stayed there
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awhile, and looked at everything in amazement, then she touched the
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light a little with her finger, and her finger became quite golden.
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Immediately a great fear fell on her. She shut the door violently,
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and ran hi there. But her terror would not quit her, let her do what she
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'Yes, said the girl, for the second time. Then she perceived the
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finger which had become golden from touching the fire of heaven, and
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saw well that the child had sinned, and said for the third time 'have
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you not done it.' 'No, said the girl for the third time. Then said
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the virgin mary 'you have not obeyed me, and besides that you have
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lied, you are no longer worthy to be in heaven.' Then the girl fell
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into a deep sleep, and when she awoke she lay on the earth below, and
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in the midst of a wilderness. She wanted to cry out, but she could
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bring forth no sound. She sprang up and wanted to run away, but
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whithersoever she turned herself, she was continually held back by
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thick hedges of thorns through which she could not break. In the
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desert, in which she was imprisoned, there stood an old hollow tree,
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and this had to be her dwelling-place. Into this she crept when
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night came, and here she slept. Here, too, she found a shelter from
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might, and her heart beat continually and would not be still, the gold too
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stayed on her finger, and would not go away, let her rub it and wash it
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never so much. It was not long before the virgin mary came back from her
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journey. She called the girl before her, and asked to have the keys of
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heaven back. When the maiden gave her the bunch, the virgin looked into
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her eyes and said 'have you not opened the thirteenth door also.' 'No, she
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replied. Then she laid her hand on the girl's heart, and felt how it beat
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and beat, and saw right well that she had disobeyed her order and had
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opened the door. Then she said once again 'are you certain that you have
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not done it.'
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storm and rain, but it was a miserable life, and bitterly did she
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weep when she remembered how happy she had been in heaven, and how
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the angels had played with her. Roots and wild berries were her only
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food, and for these she sought as far as she could go. In the autumn
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she picked up the fallen nuts and leaves, and carried them into the
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hole. The nuts were her food in winter, and when snow and ice came,
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she crept amongst the leaves like a poor little animal that she might
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not freeze. Before long her clothes were all torn, and one bit of
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them after another fell off her. As soon, however, as the sun shone
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warm again, she went out and sat in front of the tree, and her long
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hair covered her on all sides like a mantle. Thus she sat year after
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year, and felt the pain and the misery of the world. One day, when
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