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THE TWIN BROTHERS. |
245 |
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Then the marshal said, " I have killed the dragon, and freed the king's daughter, therefore I demand her for my wife, according to the king's promise."
"Is this all true?" asked the king of his daughter.
"Ah, yes," she replied, " I suppose it is true; but I shall refuse to allow the marriage to take place for one year and a day. For." thought she, "in that time I may hear something of my dear hunter."
All this while on the dragon's mountain the animals lay sleeping near their dead master. At last a large humble-bee settled on the hare's nose, but she only whisked it off with her paw, and slept again. The bee came a second time, but the hare again shook him off, and slept as soundly as before. Then came the humble-bee a third time, and stung the hare in the nose, thereupon she woke. As soon as she was quite aroused, she woke the fox; the fox, the wolf; the wolf, the bear; and the bear, the lion.
But when the lion roused himself, and saw that the maiden was gone, and his master dead, he gave a terrible roar, and cried, " Whose doing is this ? Bear, why did you not wake me ?"
Then said the bear to the wolf, " Wolf, why did you not wake me?"
" Fox," cried the wolf, " why did you not wake me ?"
" Hare," said the fox, " and why did you not wake me ?"
The poor hare had no one to ask why they did not wake her, and she knew she must bear all the blame. Indeed, they were all ready to tear her to pieces, but she cried, " Don't destroy my life; I will restore our master, I know a mountain on which grows a root that will cure every wound and every disease, if it is placed in the person's mouth, but the mountain on which it grows lies two hundred miles from here."
"Then," said the lion, "we will give you twenty-four hours, but not longer, to find this root and bring it to us."
Away sprang the hare very fast, and in four-and-twenty hours she returned with the root As soon as they saw her, the lion quickly placed the head of the hunter on the neck; and the hare, when she had joined the wounded parts together, put the root into the mouth, and in a few moments the heart began to beat, and life came back to the hunter.
On awaking, he was terribly alarmed to find that the maiden |
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