n she disappeared, and
Little Two-eyes went home, and said to her sisters, 'Dear sisters, do
give me something of my goat; I ask nothing better than its heart.' Then
they laughed and said, 'You can have that if you want nothing more.' And
Little Two-eyes took the heart and buried it in the evening when all was
quiet, as the wise woman had told her, before the house-door. The next
morning when they all awoke and came to the house-door, there stood
a most wonderful tree, which had leaves of silver and fruit of gold
growing on it--you never saw anything more lovely and gorgeous in your
life! But they did not know how the tree had grown up in the night; only
Little Two-eyes knew that it had sprung from the heart of the goat, for
it was standing just where she had buried it in the ground. Then the
mother said to Little One-eye, 'Climb up, my child, and break us off the
fruit from the tree.' Little One-eye climbed up, but just when she was
going to take hold of one of the golden apples the bough sprang out of
her hands; and this happened every time, so that she could not break off
a single apple, however hard she tried. Then the mother said, 'Little
Three-eyes, do you climb up; you with your three eyes can see round
better than Little One-eye.' So Little One-eye slid down, and Little
Three-eyes climbed up; but she was not any more successful; look round
as she might, the golden apples bent themselves back. At last the mother
got impatient and climbed up herself, but she was even less successful
than Little One-eye and Little Three-eyes in catching hold of the fruit,
and only grasped at the empty air. Then Little Two-eyes said, 'I will
just try once, perhaps I shall succeed better.' The sisters called out,
'You with your two eyes will no doubt succeed!' But Little Two-eyes
climbed up, and the golden apples did not jump away from her, but
behaved quite properly, so that she could pluck them off, one after the
other, and brought a whole apron-full down with her. The mother took
them from her, and, instead of behaving better to poor Little Two-eyes,
as they ought to have done, they were jealous that she only could reach
the fruit and behaved still more unkindly to her.

It happened one day that when they were all standing together by the
tree that a young knight came riding along. 'Be quick, Little Two-eyes,'
cried the two sisters, 'creep under this, so that you shall not disgrace
us,' and they put over poor Little Two-eyes as qui