not save her dear Falada from his
doom, but with the aid of a gold piece she persuaded the slaughterer
to nail his head over the great gate through which she had to pass on
her way to and from the goose-pasture.

The next morning, when she and Curdken drove their geese under the
gate, the Princess wrung her hands and cried:

"O Falada, hang you there?"

And the head replied to her:

"'Tis Falada, Princess fair.
If she knew this, for thy sake
Thy queen-mother's heart would break."

When she had driven the geese to the field, she sat down and loosed
her golden hair. Curdken, seeing it shining in the sun, caught at it
to pull some out. Whereupon she sang:

"Wind, blow gently here, I pray,
And take Curdken's hat away.
Keep him chasing o'er the wold,
While I bind my hair of gold."

When Curdken had recovered his hat and returned to where she was
sitting, her hair was plaited, and he could get none of it. This made
him very angry all day.

The next morning they again came to the gate where Falada's head was
nailed, and the goose-girl said as before:

"O Falada, hang you there?"

And the head as before replied to her:

"'Tis Falada, Princess fair.
If she knew this, for thy sake
Thy queen-mother's heart would break."

Again she passed on with the geese and Curdken under the gate, and
when she came to the field where they were herded, sat down and loosed
her hair. The sun shone upon it, and Curdken again caught at its
golden threads. The goose-girl called to the wind:

"Wind, blow gently here, I pray,
And take Curdken's hat away.
Keep him chasing o'er the wold,
While I bind my hair of gold."

The wind did as she asked, and Curdken ran so far for his hat that
when he returned the golden hair was plaited and bound about her head.

Curdken was sullen all day long, and when at night they had driven the
geese home, he complained to the King:

"The goose-girl so teases me that I will no longer herd the geese with
her."

When asked how she had offended, he told the King that she spoke every
morning to the horse's head that was over the gate, and that the head
replied and called her Princess. He also related how the goose-girl
sat in the sun and combed her golden hair, while she sent him chasing
for his hat.

The King bade Curdken go the next day with his flock as usual. When
morning came the King arose early and stood in the shadow of the
town-gate. He heard the goose-girl