Long, long ago, some two thousand years or so, there lived a richman with a good and beautiful wife. They loved each other dearly, butsorrowed much that they had no children. So greatly did they desireto have one, that the wife prayed for it day and night, but still theyremained childless.

In front of the house there was a court, in which grew a juniper-tree.One winter's day the wife stood under the tree to peel some apples, andas she was peeling them, she cut her finger, and the blood fell on thesnow. 'Ah,' sighed the woman heavily, 'if I had but a child, as red asblood and as white as snow,' and as she spoke the words, her heart grewlight within her, and it seemed to her that her wish was granted, andshe returned to the house feeling glad and comforted. A month passed,and the snow had all disappeared; then another month went by, and allthe earth was green. So the months followed one another, and first thetrees budded in the woods, and soon the green branches grew thicklyintertwined, and then the blossoms began to fall. Once again the wifestood under the juniper-tree, and it was so full of sweet scent that herheart leaped for joy, and she was so overcome with her happiness, thatshe fell on her knees. Presently the fruit became round and firm, andshe was glad and at peace; but when they were fully ripe she picked theberries and ate eagerly of them, and then she grew sad and ill. A littlewhile later she called her husband, and said to him, weeping. 'If Idie, bury me under the juniper-tree.' Then she felt comforted and happyagain, and before another month had passed she had a little child, andwhen she saw that it was as white as snow and as red as blood, her joywas so great that she died.

Her husband buried her under the juniper-tree, and wept bitterly forher. By degrees, however, his sorrow grew less, and although at times hestill grieved over his loss, he was able to go about as usual, and lateron he married again.

He now had a little daughter born to him; the child of his first wifewas a boy, who was as red as blood and as white as snow. The motherloved her daughter very much, and when she looked at her and then lookedat the boy, it pierced her heart to think that he would always stand inthe way of her own child, and she was continually thinking how she couldget the whole of the property for her. This evil thought took possessionof her more and more, and made her behave very unkindly to the boy. Shedrove him from place to place with cuffings and buffetings, so that thepoor child went about in fear, and had no peace from the time he leftschool to the time he went back.

One day the little daughter came running to her mother in thestore-room, and said, 'Mother, give me an apple.' 'Yes, my child,' saidthe wife, and she gave her a beautiful apple out of the chest; the chesthad a very heavy lid and a large iron lock.

'Mother,' said the little daughter again, 'may not brother have onetoo?' The mother was angry at this, but she answered, 'Yes, when hecomes out of school.'

Just then she looked out of the window and saw him coming, and it seemedas if an evil spirit entered into her, for she snatched the apple outof her little daughter's hand, and said, 'You shall not have one beforeyour brother.' She threw the apple into the chest and shut it to. Thelittle boy now came in, and the evil spirit in the wife made her saykindly to him, 'My son, will you have an apple?' but she gave him awicked look. 'Mother,' said the boy, 'how dreadful you look! Yes, giveme an apple.' The thought came to her that she would kill him. 'Comewith me,' she said, and she lifted up the lid of the chest; 'take oneout for yourself.' And as he bent over to do so, the evil spirit urgedher, and crash! down went the lid, and off went the little boy's head.Then she was overwhelmed with fear at the thought of what she had done.'If only I can prevent anyone knowing that I did it,' she thought. Soshe went upstairs to her room, and took a white handkerchief out ofher top drawer; then she set the boy's head again on his shoulders, andbound it with the handkerchief so that nothing could be seen, and placedhim on a chair by the door with an apple in his hand.

Soon after this, little Marleen came up to her mother who was stirringa pot of boiling water over the fire, and said, 'Mother, brother issitting by the door with an apple in his hand, and he looks so pale;and when I asked him to give me the apple, he did not answer, and thatfrightened me.'

'Go to him again,' said her mother, 'and if he does not answer, give hima box on the ear.' So little Marleen went, and said, 'Brother, give methat apple,' but he did not say a word; then she gave him a box on theear, and his head rolled off. She was so terrified at this, that she rancrying and screaming to her mother. 'Oh!' she said, 'I have knocked offbrother's head,' and then she wept and wept, and nothing would stop her.

'What have you done!' said her mother, 'but no one must know about it,so you must keep silence; what is done can't be undone; we will makehim into puddings.' And she took the little boy and cut him up, made himinto puddings, and put him in the pot. But Marleen stood looking on,and wept and wept, and her tears fell into the pot, so that there was noneed of salt.

Presently the father came home and sat down to his dinner; he asked,'Where is my son?' The mother said nothing, but gave him a large dish ofblack pudding, and Marleen still wept without ceasing.

The father again asked, 'Where is my son?'

'Oh,' answered the wife, 'he is gone into the country to his mother'sgreat uncle; he is going to stay there some time.'

'What has he gone there for, and he never even said goodbye to me!'

'Well, he likes being there, and he told me he should be away quite sixweeks; he is well looked after there.'

'I feel very unhappy about it,' said the husband, 'in case it should notbe all right, and he ought to have said goodbye to me.'

With this he went on with his dinner, and said, 'Little Marleen, why doyou weep? Brother will soon be back.' Then he asked his wife for morepudding, and as he ate, he threw the bones under the table.

Little Marleen went upstairs and took her best silk handkerchief out ofher bottom drawer, and in it she wrapped all the bones from under thetable and carried them outside, and all the time she did nothing butweep. Then she laid them in the green grass under the juniper-tree, andshe had no sooner done so, then all her sadness seemed to leave her,and she wept no more. And now the juniper-tree began to move, and thebranches waved backwards and forwards, first away from one another, andthen together again, as it might be someone clapping their hands forjoy. After this a mist came round the tree, and in the midst of it therewas a burning as of fire, and out of the fire there flew a beautifulbird, that rose high into the air, singing magnificently, and when itcould no more be seen, the juniper-tree stood there as before, and thesilk handkerchief and the bones were gone.

Little Marleen now felt as lighthearted and happy as if her brother werestill alive, and she went back to the house and sat down cheerfully tothe table and ate.

The bird flew away and alighted on the house of a goldsmith and began tosing:

'My mother killed her little son; My father grieved when I was gone; My sister loved me best of all; She laid her kerchief over me, And took my bones that they might lie Underneath the juniper-tree Kywitt, Kywitt, what a beautiful bird am I!'

The goldsmith was in his workshop making a gold chain, when he heard thesong of the bird on his roof. He thought it so beautiful that he gotup and ran out, and as he crossed the threshold he lost one of hisslippers. But he ran on into the middle of the street, with a slipper onone foot and a sock on the other; he still had on his apron, and stillheld the gold chain and the pincers in his hands, and so he stood gazingup at the bird, while the sun came shining brightly down on the street.

'Bird,' he said, 'how beautifully you sing! Sing me that song again.'

'Nay,' said the bird, 'I do not sing twice for nothing. Give that goldchain, and I will sing it you again.'

'Here is the chain, take it,' said the goldsmith. 'Only sing me thatagain.'

The bird flew down and took the gold chain in his right claw, and thenhe alighted again in front of the goldsmith and sang:

'My mother killed her little son; My father grieved when I was gone; My sister loved me best of all; She laid her kerchief over me, And took my bones that they might lie Underneath the juniper-tree Kywitt, Kywitt, what a beautiful bird am I!'

Then he flew away, and settled on the roof of a shoemaker's house andsang:

'My mother killed her little son; My father grieved when I was gone; My sister loved me best of all; She laid her kerchief over me, And took my bones that they might lie Underneath the juniper-tree Kywitt, Kywitt, what a beautiful bird am I!'

The shoemaker heard him, and he jumped up and ran out in hisshirt-sleeves, and stood looking up at the bird on the roof with hishand over his eyes to keep himself from being blinded by the sun.

'Bird,' he said, 'how beautifully you sing!' Then he called through thedoor to his wife: 'Wife, come out; here is a bird, come and look at itand hear how beautifully it sings.' Then he called his daughter and thechildren, then the apprentices, girls and boys, and they all ran up thestreet to look at the bird, and saw how splendid it was with its redand green feathers, and its neck like burnished gold, and eyes like twobright stars in its head.

'Bird,' said the shoemaker, 'sing me that song again.'

'Nay,' answered the bird, 'I do not sing twice for nothing; you mustgive me something.'

'Wife,' said the man, 'go into the garret; on the upper shelf you willsee a pair of red shoes; bring them to me.' The wife went in and fetchedthe shoes.

'There, bird,' said the shoemaker, 'now sing me that song again.'

The bird flew down and took the red shoes in his left claw, and then hewent back to the roof and sang:

'My mother killed her little son; My father grieved when I was gone; My sister loved me best of all; She laid her kerchief over me, And took my bones that they might lie Underneath the juniper-tree Kywitt, Kywitt, what a beautiful bird am I!'

When he had finished, he flew away. He had the chain in his right clawand the shoes in his left, and he flew right away to a mill, and themill went 'Click clack, click clack, click clack.' Inside the mill weretwenty of the miller's men hewing a stone, and as they went 'Hick hack,hick hack, hick hack,' the mill went 'Click clack, click clack, clickclack.'

The bird settled on a lime-tree in front of the mill and sang:

'My mother killed her little son;

then one of the men left off,

My father grieved when I was gone;

two more men left off and listened,

My sister loved me best of all;

then four more left off,

She laid her kerchief over me, And took my bones that they might lie

now there were only eight at work,

Underneath

And now only five,

the juniper-tree.

And now only one,

Kywitt, Kywitt, what a beautiful bird am I!'

then he looked up and the last one had left off work.

'Bird,' he said, 'what a beautiful song that is you sing! Let me hear ittoo; sing it again.'

'Nay,' answered the bird, 'I do not sing twice for nothing; give me thatmillstone, and I will sing it again.'

'If it belonged to me alone,' said the man, 'you should have it.'

'Yes, yes,' said the others: 'if he will sing again, he can have it.'

The bird came down, and all the twenty millers set to and lifted up thestone with a beam; then the bird put his head through the hole and tookthe stone round his neck like a collar, and flew back with it to thetree and sang--

'My mother killed her little son; My father grieved when I was gone; My sister loved me best of all; She laid her kerchief over me, And took my bones that they might lie Underneath the juniper-tree Kywitt, Kywitt, what a beautiful bird am I!'

And when he had finished his song, he spread his wings, and with thechain in his right claw, the shoes in his left, and the millstone roundhis neck, he flew right away to his father's house.

The father, the mother, and little Marleen were having their dinner.

'How lighthearted I feel,' said the father, 'so pleased and cheerful.'

'And I,' said the mother, 'I feel so uneasy, as if a heavy thunderstormwere coming.'

But little Marleen sat and wept and wept.

Then the bird came flying towards the house and settled on the roof.

'I do feel so happy,' said the father, 'and how beautifully the sunshines; I feel just as if I were going to see an old friend again.'

'Ah!' said the wife, 'and I am so full of distress and uneasiness thatmy teeth chatter, and I feel as if there were a fire in my veins,' andshe tore open her dress; and all the while little Marleen sat in thecorner and wept, and the plate on her knees was wet with her tears.

The bird now flew to the juniper-tree and began singing:

'My mother killed her little son;

the mother shut her eyes and her ears, that she might see and hearnothing, but there was a roaring sound in her ears like that of aviolent storm, and in her eyes a burning and flashing like lightning:

My father grieved when I was gone;

'Look, mother,' said the man, 'at the beautiful bird that is singing somagnificently; and how warm and bright the sun is, and what a deliciousscent of spice in the air!'

My sister loved me best of all;

then little Marleen laid her head down on her knees and sobbed.

'I must go outside and see the bird nearer,' said the man.

'Ah, do not go!' cried the wife. 'I feel as if the whole house were inflames!'

But the man went out and looked at the bird.

She laid her kerchief over me, And took my bones that they might lie Underneath the juniper-tree Kywitt, Kywitt, what a beautiful bird am I!'

With that the bird let fall the gold chain, and it fell just round theman's neck, so that it fitted him exactly.

He went inside, and said, 'See, what a splendid bird that is; he hasgiven me this beautiful gold chain, and looks so beautiful himself.'

But the wife was in such fear and trouble, that she fell on the floor,and her cap fell from her head.

Then the bird began again:

'My mother killed her little son;

'Ah me!' cried the wife, 'if I were but a thousand feet beneath theearth, that I might not hear that song.'

My father grieved when I was gone;

then the woman fell down again as if dead.

My sister loved me best of all;

'Well,' said little Marleen, 'I will go out too and see if the bird willgive me anything.'

So she went out.

She laid her kerchief over me, And took my bones that they might lie

and he threw down the shoes to her,

Underneath the juniper-tree Kywitt, Kywitt, what a beautiful bird am I!'

And she now felt quite happy and lighthearted; she put on the shoes anddanced and jumped about in them. 'I was so miserable,' she said, 'when Icame out, but that has all passed away; that is indeed a splendid bird,and he has given me a pair of red shoes.'

The wife sprang up, with her hair standing out from her head like flamesof fire. 'Then I will go out too,' she said, 'and see if it will lightenmy misery, for I feel as if the world were coming to an end.'

But as she crossed the threshold, crash! the bird threw the millstonedown on her head, and she was crushed to death.

The father and little Marleen heard the sound and ran out, but they onlysaw mist and flame and fire rising from the spot, and when these hadpassed, there stood the little brother, and he took the father andlittle Marleen by the hand; then they all three rejoiced, and wentinside together and sat down to their dinners and ate.