pstairs; but be sure that you
do not let a hair fall into it, otherwise you will get nothing to eat in
future!' So the cook went away, and the Many-furred Creature cooked the
soup for the King. She made a bread-soup as well as she possibly could,
and when it was done, she fetched her gold ring from her little room,
and laid it in the tureen in which the soup was to be served up.

When the dance was ended, the King had his soup brought to him and ate
it, and it was so good that he thought he had never tasted such soup in
his life. But when he came to the bottom of the dish he saw a gold ring
lying there, and he could not imagine how it got in. Then he commanded
the cook to be brought before him. The cook was terrified when he heard
the command, and said to the Many-furred Creature, 'You must have let a
hair fall into the soup, and if you have you deserve a good beating!'
When he came before the King, the King asked who had cooked the soup.
The cook answered, 'I cooked it.' But the King said, 'That's not true,
for it was quite different and much better soup than you have ever
cooked.' Then the cook said, 'I must confess; _I_ did not cook the soup;
the Many-furred Creature did.' 'Let her be brought before me,' said the
King. When the Many-furred Creature came, the King asked her who she
was. 'I am a poor child without father or mother.' Then he asked her,
'What do you do in my palace?' 'I am of no use except to have boots
thrown at my head.' 'How did you get the ring which was in the soup?' he
asked. 'I know nothing at all about the ring,' she answered. So the King
could find out nothing, and was obliged to send her away.

After a time there was another feast, and the Many-furred Creature
begged the cook as at the last one to let her go and look on. He
answered, 'Yes, but come back again in half-an-hour and cook the King
the bread-soup that he likes so much.' So she ran away to her little
room, washed herself quickly, took out of the nut the dress as silver as
the moon and put it on. Then she went upstairs looking just like a
King's daughter, and the King came towards her, delighted to see her
again, and as the dance had just begun, they danced together. But when
the dance was ended, she disappeared again so quickly that the King
could not see which way she went. She ran to her little room and changed
herself once more into the Many-furred Creature, and went into the
kitchen to cook the bread-soup. When the cook was upstai