Once upon a time there was a king and a queen,
as in many lands have been. The king had a daughter, Anne, and the queen had
one, named Kate, but Anne was far bonnier than the queen's daughter though
they loved one another like real sisters. The queen was, jealous of the king's
daughter being bonnier than her own, and cast about to spoil her beauty. So
she took counsel of the henwife who told her to send the lassie to her next
morning fasting.
So next morning , the queen said to Anne, " Go,
my dear, to the henwife in the glen, and ask her for some eggs." So Anne set
out but as she passed through the kitchen she saw a crust, and she took and
munched it a, she went along
When she came to the henwife's she asked for
eggs, as she had been told to do; the henwife said to her, " Lift the lid
off that pot there and see." The lassie did so, but nothing happened. "Go
home to your minnie and tell her to keep her larder door better locked," said
the henwife. So she went home to the queen and told her what the henwife had
said. The queen knew from this that the lassie had had something to eat, so
watched the next morning and sent her away fasting; but the princess saw some
country-folk picking peas by the roadside, and being kind she spoke to them
and took a handful of the peas which she eat by the way.
When she came to the henwife's, she said, "Lift
the lid off the pot and you'll see." So Anne lifted the lid but nothing happened.
Then the henwife was rare angry and said to Anne, "Tell your minnie the pot
won't boil if the fire's away." So Anne went home and told the queen.
The third day the queen goes along with the girl
herself to the henwife. Now, this time, when Anne lifted the lid off the pot,
off falls her own pretty head, and on jumps a sheep's head.
So the queen was now quite satisfied, and went
back home.
Her own daughter, Kate, however, took a fine
linen cloth and wrapped it round her sister's head and took her by the hand
and they both went out to seek their fortune. They went on, and they went
on, and they went on, till they came to a castle. Kate knocked at the door
and asked for a night's lodging for herself and a sick sister. They went in
and found it was a king's castle, who had two sons, and one of them was sickening
away to death and no one could find out what ailed him. And the curious thing
was that whoever watched him at night was never seen any more. So the king
had offered a peck of silver to any one who would stop up with him. Now Katie
was a very brave brave girl, so she offered to sit up with him.
Till midnight all went well. As twelve o'clock
rang, however, the sick prince rose, dressed himself, and slipped downstairs.
Kate followed, but he didn't seem to notice her. The prince went to the stable,
saddled his horse, called his hound, jumped into the saddle, and Kate leapt
lightly up behind him. Away rode the prince and Kate through the greenwood,
Kate, as they pass, plucking nuts from the trees and filling her apron with
them. They rode on and on till they came to a green hill. The prince here
drew bridle and spoke, " Open, open, green hill, and let the young prince
in with his horse and his hound," and Kate added, " and his lady him behind."
Immediately the green hill opened and they passed
in. The prince entered a magnificent hall, brightly lighted up, and many beautiful
fairies surrounded the prince and led him off to the dance. Meanwhile, Kate,
without being noticed, hid herself behind the door. There she saw the prince
dancing, and dancing, and dancing, till he could dance no longer and fell
upon a couch. Then the fairies would fan him till he could rise again and
go on dancing.
At last the cock crew, and the prince made all
haste to get on horseback; Kate jumped up behind, and home they rode. When
the morning sun rose they came in and found Kate sitting down by the fire
and cracking her nuts. Kate said the prince had a good night; but she would
not sit up another night unless she was to get a peck of gold. The second
night passed as the first had done. The prince got up at midnight and rode
away to the green hill and the fairy ball, and Kate went with him, gathering
nuts as they rode through the forest. This time she did not watch the prince,
for she knew he would dance, and dance, and dance. But she saw a fairy baby
playing with a wand, and overheard one of the fairies say: " Three strokes
of that wand would make Kate's sick sister as bonnie as ever she was." So
Kate rolled nuts to the fairy baby, and rolled nuts till the baby toddled
after the nuts and let fall the wand, and Kate took it up and put it in her
apron. And at cock crow they rode home as before, and the moment Kate got
home to her room she rushed and touched Anne three times with the wand, and
the nasty sheep's head fell off and she was her own pretty self again. The
third night Kate consented to watch, only if she should marry the sick prince.
All went on as on the first two nights. This time the fairy baby was playing
with a birdie; Kate heard one of the fairies say: " Three bites of that birdie
would make the sick prince as well as ever he was." Kate rolled all the nuts
she had to the fairy baby till the birdie was dropped, and Kate put it in
her apron.
At cockcrow they set off again, but instead of
cracking her nuts as she used to do, this time Kate plucked the feathers off
and cooked the birdie. Soon there arose a very savoury smell. "Oh!" said the
sick prince, " I wish I had a bite of that birdie," so Kate gave him a bite
of the birdie, and he rose up on his elbow. By-and-by he cried out again:
" Oh, if I had another bite of that birdie!" so Kate gave him another bite,
and he sat up on his bed. Then he said again: "Oh! if I but had a third bite
of that birdie!" So Kate gave him a third bite, and he rose hale and strong,
dressed himself, and sat down by the fire, and when the folk came in next
morning they found Kate and the young prince cracking nuts together. Meanwhile
his brother had seen Annie and had fallen in love with her, as everybody did
who saw her sweet pretty face. So the sick son married the well sister, and
the well son married the sick sister, and they all lived happy and died happy,
and never drank out of a dry cappy.
Source : "English Fairy
Tales" by Joseph Jacobs