as I have already said, considerably startled to hear a
baby serpent talk like that; but she was a kind-hearted woman and very,
very lonely, and she quickly made up her mind to adopt the little
serpent and bring it up as her own.

[Illustration: THE SERPENT PRINCE

When Grannmia saw her strange lover, she alone remained calm and
courageous.

_See page 39_]

The forester, her husband, who was also kind-hearted, agreed to let her
have her own way in the matter, and so the little serpent found a home
and care and affection.

_They kept him warm and fed him well,
And fortune did upon them dwell._

From that time on, peace and contentment and prosperity brightened the
little cottage. Everything went smoothly and comfortably, though whether
the little serpent had really anything to do with it or not, I cannot
say.

Serpents grow up very quickly, and, what with the warmth and the good
food and the affection, the little serpent soon grew to be a big one,
oh, monstrous big! so that when he lay in front of the fire he took up
the whole of the rug, and Sapatella had to scold him in order to make
room so that she could attend to her cooking.

One day when she had nearly tripped over his tail and fallen with a pot
of boiling water in her hands, Sapatella said to it: 'You are grown too
big to be lying about before the fire all day. You must get up and do
something.'

'Very well, mother,' said the serpent--it always called her mother, and
Cola it called father, just as a son would. 'Find me a wife and I will
get married and settle down.'

Sapatella did not very well know how to set about finding a wife for a
serpent, even an adopted one; but she agreed to speak to Matteo her
husband about the matter when he came home that night.

After supper, accordingly, she put the serpent's request to the
forester.

'Our serpent wants to get married, Cola,' she said; 'so you must find
him a wife.'

'Very well,' said Matteo. 'I will hunt through the forest when I am out,
and try and find another serpent for him to mate with.'

'Oh, that will not do at all,' said the serpent, who had been listening
very intently to its adopted parents' conversation, though it seemed to
be sleeping peacefully all over the floor in front of the fire. 'I do
not mate with serpents. You must get the King's daughter for me.
To-morrow you must set out to the palace, and tell the King that I
require his daughter in marriage.'

Naturally Matteo