ear her spoke out and said: "Abide with me and be
my bride, and thou shalt have all thy heart desires."

But Anima cried out in fear and trembling: "But who art thou? Who art
thou? Come forth and let me see thee."

But the voice replied: "Nay, nay, that is forbidden. Never must thou
look upon my face or we must part, for my mother, the Queen, wishes
not that I should wed."

So sweet was his voice and so lonely did Anima feel, that she
consented to become his bride, and they lived happily together, though
he never came near her till all was dark, so that she could not see
him. But after a time Anima became weary even with all these
splendours and happiness, and wished to see her own people again, and
said to her husband:

"Please may I go home and see my father and my mother and my dear
sisters?"

"Nay, nay, child," said the voice of her husband, "ill will come of it
if thou seest them again, and thou and I must part."

But she kept on begging him to let her return to her people for a
visit, or at least to let them come and see her, till at last he
consented and sent a message to her father and mother and sisters,
asking them to come and spend some days with her, at a time when he
himself would have to be absent.

So the King and Queen and Anima's two sisters came and wondered at
the splendours of her new home, and, above all, was surprised to find
that they were waited on by invisible hands, who did all for them that
they could wish for. But Anima's sisters soon became both curious and
envious; they could not guess who or what her husband was, and envied
her having so wonderful a household.

So one of them said to her: "But Anima, how marry a man without ever
seeing him? There must be some reason why he will not show himself;
perhaps he is deformed, or maybe he is some beast transformed."

But Anima laughed and said: "He is no beast, that I am sure; and see
how kind he is to me. I do not care if he is not as handsome as he
does."

Still the sisters kept on insisting that there must be something wrong
where there was something concealed, and at last they got their mother
the Queen to say to her as she was leaving: "Now, Anima, I think it
right to know who and what thy husband is. Wait till he is asleep and
light a lamp, and then see what he is."

Soon after this they all departed. And the same night her husband came
to Anima again, but she had already prepared a lamp of oil with a
spark of fire ready to ki