214 lines
11 KiB
Text
214 lines
11 KiB
Text
Maid Maleen
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There was once a King who had a son who asked in marriage the daughter
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of a mighty King; she was called Maid Maleen, and was very beautiful.
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As her father wished to give her to another, the prince was rejected;
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but as they both loved each other with all their hearts, they would not
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give each other up, and Maid Maleen said to her father, “I can and will
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take no other for my husband.” Then the King flew into a passion, and
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ordered a dark tower to be built, into which no ray of sunlight or
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moonlight should enter. When it was finished, he said, “Therein shalt
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thou be imprisoned for seven years, and then I will come and see if thy
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perverse spirit is broken.” Meat and drink for the seven years were
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carried into the tower, and then she and her waiting-woman were led
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into it and walled up, and thus cut off from the sky and from the
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earth. There they sat in the darkness, and knew not when day or night
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began. The King’s son often went round and round the tower, and called
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their names, but no sound from without pierced through the thick walls.
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What else could they do but lament and complain? Meanwhile the time
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passed, and by the diminution of the food and drink they knew that the
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seven years were coming to an end. They thought the moment of their
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deliverance was come; but no stroke of the hammer was heard, no stone
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fell out of the wall, and it seemed to Maid Maleen that her father had
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forgotten her. As they only had food for a short time longer, and saw a
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miserable death awaiting them, Maid Maleen said, “We must try our last
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chance, and see if we can break through the wall.” She took the
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bread-knife, and picked and bored at the mortar of a stone, and when
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she was tired, the waiting-maid took her turn. With great labour they
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succeeded in getting out one stone, and then a second, and a third, and
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when three days were over the first ray of light fell on their
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darkness, and at last the opening was so large that they could look
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out. The sky was blue, and a fresh breeze played on their faces; but
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how melancholy everything looked all around! Her father’s castle lay in
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ruins, the town and the villages were, so far as could be seen,
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destroyed by fire, the fields far and wide laid to waste, and no human
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being was visible. When the opening in the wall was large enough for
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them to slip through, the waiting-maid sprang down first, and then Maid
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Maleen followed. But where were they to go? The enemy had ravaged the
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whole kingdom, driven away the King, and slain all the inhabitants.
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They wandered forth to seek another country, but nowhere did they find
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a shelter, or a human being to give them a mouthful of bread, and their
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need was so great that they were forced to appease their hunger with
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nettles. When, after long journeying, they came into another country,
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they tried to get work everywhere; but wherever they knocked they were
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turned away, and no one would have pity on them. At last they arrived
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in a large city and went to the royal palace. There also they were
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ordered to go away, but at last the cook said that they might stay in
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the kitchen and be scullions.
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The son of the King in whose kingdom they were, was, however, the very
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man who had been betrothed to Maid Maleen. His father had chosen
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another bride for him, whose face was as ugly as her heart was wicked.
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The wedding was fixed, and the maiden had already arrived; but because
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of her great ugliness, however, she shut herself in her room, and
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allowed no one to see her, and Maid Maleen had to take her her meals
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from the kitchen. When the day came for the bride and the bridegroom to
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go to church, she was ashamed of her ugliness, and afraid that if she
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showed herself in the streets, she would be mocked and laughed at by
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the people. Then said she to Maid Maleen, “A great piece of luck has
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befallen thee. I have sprained my foot, and cannot well walk through
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the streets; thou shalt put on my wedding-clothes and take my place; a
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greater honour than that thou canst not have!” Maid Maleen, however,
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refused it, and said, “I wish for no honour which is not suitable for
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me.” It was in vain, too, that the bride offered her gold. At last she
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said angrily, “If thou dost not obey me, it shall cost thee thy life. I
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have but to speak the word, and thy head will lie at thy feet.” Then
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she was forced to obey, and put on the bride’s magnificent clothes and
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all her jewels. When she entered the royal hall, every one was amazed
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at her great beauty, and the King said to his son, “This is the bride
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whom I have chosen for thee, and whom thou must lead to church.” The
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bridegroom was astonished, and thought, “She is like my Maid Maleen,
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and I should believe that it was she herself, but she has long been
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shut up in the tower, or dead.” He took her by the hand and led her to
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church. On the way was a nettle-plant, and she said,
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“Oh, nettle-plant,
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Little nettle-plant,
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What dost thou here alone?
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I have known the time
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When I ate thee unboiled,
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When I ate thee unroasted.”
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“What art thou saying?” asked the King’s son. “Nothing,” she replied,
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“I was only thinking of Maid Maleen.” He was surprised that she knew
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about her, but kept silence. When they came to the foot-plank into the
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churchyard, she said,
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“Foot-bridge, do not break,
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I am not the true bride.”
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“What art thou saying there?” asked the King’s son. “Nothing,” she
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replied, “I was only thinking of Maid Maleen.” “Dost thou know Maid
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Maleen?” “No,” she answered, “how should I know her; I have only heard
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of her.” When they came to the church-door, she said once more,
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“Church-door, break not,
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I am not the true bride.”
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“What art thou saying there?” asked he. “Ah,” she answered, “I was only
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thinking of Maid Maleen.” Then he took out a precious chain, put it
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round her neck, and fastened the clasp. Thereupon they entered the
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church, and the priest joined their hands together before the altar,
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and married them. He led her home, but she did not speak a single word
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the whole way. When they got back to the royal palace, she hurried into
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the bride’s chamber, put off the magnificent clothes and the jewels,
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dressed herself in her gray gown, and kept nothing but the jewel on her
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neck, which she had received from the bridegroom.
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When the night came, and the bride was to be led into the prince’s
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apartment, she let her veil fall over her face, that he might not
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observe the deception. As soon as every one had gone away, he said to
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her, “What didst thou say to the nettle-plant which was growing by the
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wayside?”
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“To which nettle-plant?” asked she; “I don’t talk to nettle-plants.”
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“If thou didst not do it, then thou art not the true bride,” said he.
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So she bethought herself, and said,
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“I must go out unto my maid,
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Who keeps my thoughts for me.”
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She went out and sought Maid Maleen. “Girl, what hast thou been saying
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to the nettle?” “I said nothing but,
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“Oh, nettle-plant,
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Little nettle-plant,
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What dost thou here alone?
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I have known the time
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When I ate thee unboiled,
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When I ate thee unroasted.”
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The bride ran back into the chamber, and said, “I know now what I said
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to the nettle,” and she repeated the words which she had just heard.
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“But what didst thou say to the foot-bridge when we went over it?”
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asked the King’s son. “To the foot-bridge?” she answered. “I don’t talk
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to foot-bridges.” “Then thou art not the true bride.”
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She again said,
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“I must go out unto my maid,
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Who keeps my thoughts for me,”
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And ran out and found Maid Maleen, “Girl, what didst thou say to the
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foot-bridge?”
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“I said nothing but,
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“Foot-bridge, do not break,
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I am not the true bride.”
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“That costs thee thy life!” cried the bride, but she hurried into the
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room, and said, “I know now what I said to the foot-bridge,” and she
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repeated the words. “But what didst thou say to the church-door?” “To
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the church-door?” she replied; “I don’t talk to church-doors.” “Then
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thou art not the true bride.”
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She went out and found Maid Maleen, and said, “Girl, what didst thou
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say to the church-door?”
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“I said nothing but,
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“Church-door, break not,
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I am not the true bride.”
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“That will break thy neck for thee!” cried the bride, and flew into a
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terrible passion, but she hastened back into the room, and said, “I
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know now what I said to the church-door,” and she repeated the words.
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“But where hast thou the jewel which I gave thee at the church-door?”
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“What jewel?” she answered; “thou didst not give me any jewel.” “I
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myself put it round thy neck, and I myself fastened it; if thou dost
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not know that, thou art not the true bride.” He drew the veil from her
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face, and when he saw her immeasurable ugliness, he sprang back
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terrified, and said, “How comest thou here? Who art thou?” “I am thy
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betrothed bride, but because I feared lest the people should mock me
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when they saw me out of doors, I commanded the scullery-maid to dress
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herself in my clothes, and to go to church instead of me.” “Where is
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the girl?” said he; “I want to see her, go and bring her here.” She
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went out and told the servants that the scullery-maid was an impostor,
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and that they must take her out into the court-yard and strike off her
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head. The servants laid hold of Maid Maleen and wanted to drag her out,
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but she screamed so loudly for help, that the King’s son heard her
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voice, hurried out of his chamber and ordered them to set the maiden
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free instantly. Lights were brought, and then he saw on her neck the
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gold chain which he had given her at the church-door. “Thou art the
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true bride,” said he, “who went with me to the church; come with me now
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to my room.” When they were both alone, he said, “On the way to church
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thou didst name Maid Maleen, who was my betrothed bride; if I could
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believe it possible, I should think she was standing before me thou art
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like her in every respect.” She answered, “I am Maid Maleen, who for
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thy sake was imprisoned seven years in the darkness, who suffered
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hunger and thirst, and has lived so long in want and poverty. To-day,
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however, the sun is shining on me once more. I was married to thee in
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the church, and I am thy lawful wife.” Then they kissed each other, and
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were happy all the days of their lives. The false bride was rewarded
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for what she had done by having her head cut off.
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The tower in which Maid Maleen had been imprisoned remained standing
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for a long time, and when the children passed by it they sang,
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“Kling, klang, gloria.
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Who sits within this tower?
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A King’s daughter, she sits within,
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A sight of her I cannot win,
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The wall it will not break,
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The stone cannot be pierced.
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Little Hans, with your coat so gay,
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Follow me, follow me, fast as you may.”
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