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So now the wretch went for the third time to the house-door, knocked
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at it and said, open the door for me, children, your dear little
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mother has come home, and has brought every one of you something back
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from the forest with her. The little kids cried, first show us your
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paws that we may know if you are our dear little mother. Then he put
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his paws in through the window, and when the kids saw that they were
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white, they believed that all he said was true, and opened the door.
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But who should come in but the wolf they were terrified and wanted to
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hide themselves. One sprang under the table, the second into the
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bed, the third into the stove, the fourth into the kitchen, the fifth
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into the cupboard, the sixth under the washing-bowl, and the seventh
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into the clock-case. But the wolf found them all, and used no great
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ceremony, one after the other he swallowed them down his throat. The
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youngest, who was in the clock-case, was the only one he did not
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find. When the wolf had satisfied his appetite he took himself off,
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laid himself down under a tree in the green meadow outside, and began
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to sleep. Soon afterwards the old goat came home again from the
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forest. Ah. What a sight she saw there. The house-door stood wide
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open. The table, chairs, and benches were thrown down, the
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washing-bowl lay broken to pieces, and the quilts and pillows were
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pulled off the bed. She sought her children, but they were nowhere
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to be found. She called them one after another by name, but no one
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answered. At last, when she caame to the youngest, a soft voice
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cried, dear mother, I am in the clock-case. She took the kid out,
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and it told her that the wolf had come and had eaten all the others.
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Then you may imagine how she wept over her poor children.
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At length in her grief she went out, and the youngest kid ran with
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her. When they came to the meadow, there lay the wolf by the tree
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and snored so loud that the branches shook. She looked at him on
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every side and saw that something was moving and struggling in his
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gorged belly. Ah, heavens, she said, is it possible that my poor
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children whom he has swallowed down for his supper, can be still
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alive. Then the kid had to run home and fetch scissors, and a needle
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and thread and the goat cut open the monster's stomach, and hardly
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had she make one cut, than one little kid thrust its head out, and
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when she cut farther, all six sprang out one after another, and were
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all still alive, and had suffered no injury whatever, for in his
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greediness the monster had swallowed them down whole. What rejoicing
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there was. They embraced their dear mother, and jumped like a sailor
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at his wedding. The mother, however, said, now go and look for some
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big stones, and we will fill the wicked beast's stomach with them
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while he is still asleep. Then the seven kids dragged the stones
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thither with all speed, and put as many of them into his stomach as
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they could get in, and the mother sewed him up again in the greatest
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haste, so that he was not aware of anything and never once stirred.
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When the wolf at length had had his fill of sleep, he got on his
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legs, and as the stones in his stomach made him very thirsty, he
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wanted to go to a well to drink. But when he began to walk and move
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about, the stones in his stomach knocked against each other and
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rattled. Then cried he, what rumbles and tumbles against my poor
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bones. I thought 'twas six kids, but it feels like big stones. And
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when he got to the well and stooped over the water to drink, the
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heavy stones made him fall in, and he had to drown miserably. When
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the seven kids saw that, they came running to the spot and cried
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aloud, the wolf is dead. The wolf is dead, and danced for joy round
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about the well with their mother.
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There was once upon a time an old king who was ill and thought to
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himself 'I am lying on what must be my deathbed.' Then said he 'tell
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faithful John to come to me.' Faithful John was his favorite servant,
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and was so called, because he had for his whole life long been so
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true to him. When therefore he came beside the bed, the king said to
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him 'most faithful John, I feel my end approaching, and have no
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anxiety except about my son. He is still of tender age, and cannot
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always know how to guide himself. If you do not promise me to teach
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him everything that he ought to know, and to be his foster-father, I
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cannot close my eyes in peace.' Then answered faithful John 'I will
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not forsake him, and will serve him with fidelity, even if it should
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cost me my life.' At this, the old king said 'now I die in comfort
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and peace.' Then he added 'after my death, you shall show him the
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whole castle - all the chambers, halls, and vaults, and all the
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treasures which lie therein, but the last chamber in the long
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gallery, in which is the picture of the princess of the golden
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dwelling, shall you not show. If he sees that picture, he will fall
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violently in love with her, and will drop down in a swoon, and go
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through great danger for her sake, therefore you must protect him
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from that.' And when faithful John had once more given his promise to
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the old king about this, the king said no more, but laid his head on
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his pillow, and died.
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When the old king had been carried to his grave, faithful John told
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the young king all that he had promised his father on his deathbed,
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and said 'this will I assuredly keep, and will be faithful to you as
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I have been faithful to him, even if it should cost me my life.' When
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the mourning was over, faithful John said to him 'it is now time that
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you should see your inheritance. I will show you your father's
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palace.' Then he took him about everywhere, up and down, and let him
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see all the riches, and the magnificent apartments, only there was
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one room which he did not open, that in which hung the dangerous
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picture. The picture, however, was so placed that when the door was
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opened you looked straight on it, and it was so admirably painted
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that it seemed to breathe and live, and there was nothing more
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charming or more beautiful in the whole world. The young king
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noticed, however, that faithful John always walked past this one
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door, and said 'why do you never open this one for me.' 'There is
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something within it, he replied, 'which would terrify you.' But the
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king answered 'I have seen all the palace, and I want to know what is
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in this room also, and he went and tried to break open the door by
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