the horses, and the
shouts of the soldiers. And, stepping to the window, he saw the lances
gleam in the sunlight and the armour and weapons glitter. And the proud
monarch said to himself, 'I am powerless in comparison with this man.'
So he sent him royal robes and costly jewels, and commanded him to come
to the palace to be married to the Princess. And his son-in-law put
on the royal robes, and he looked so grand and stately that it was
impossible to recognise the poor Simpleton, so changed was he; and the
Princess fell in love with him as soon as ever she saw him.

Never before had so grand a wedding been seen, and there was so much
food and wine that even the glutton and the thirsty comrade had enough
to eat and drink.

THE SNOW-DAUGHTER AND THE FIRE-SON(25)

(25) From the Bukowinaer Tales and Legends. Von Wliolocki.

There was once upon a time a man and his wife, and they had no children,
which was a great grief to them. One winter's day, when the sun was
shining brightly, the couple were standing outside their cottage, and
the woman was looking at all the little icicles which hung from the
roof. She sighed, and turning to her husband said, 'I wish I had as many
children as there are icicles hanging there.' 'Nothing would please me
more either,' replied her husband. Then a tiny icicle detached itself
from the roof, and dropped into the woman's mouth, who swallowed it with
a smile, and said, 'Perhaps I shall give birth to a snow child now!' Her
husband laughed at his wife's strange idea, and they went back into the
house.

But after a short time the woman gave birth to a little girl, who was
as white as snow and as cold as ice. If they brought the child anywhere
near the fire, it screamed loudly till they put it back into some cool
place. The little maid throve wonderfully, and in a few months she could
run about and speak. But she was not altogether easy to bring up, and
gave her parents much trouble and anxiety, for all summer she insisted
on spending in the cellar, and in the winter she would sleep outside in
the snow, and the colder it was the happier she seemed to be. Her father
and mother called her simply 'Our Snow-daughter,' and this name stuck to
her all her life.

One day her parents sat by the fire, talking over the extraordinary
behaviour of their daughter, who was disporting herself in the snowstorm
that raged outside. The woman sighed deeply and said, 'I wish I had
given birth to a Fire-son