They are wont, during work-time, to lay the child under the
hedge in the shade; you lay yourself there too, just as if you wished
to guard it. Then I will come out of the wood, and carry off the child. You must rush swiftly after me, as if you would seize it again from me. I will let it fall, and you will take it back to its parents, who will
think that you have saved it, and will be far too grateful to do you
any harm; on the contrary, you will be in high favor, and they will
never let you want for anything again.”

The plan pleased the dog, and it was carried out just as it was
arranged. The father screamed when he saw the Wolf running across the
field with his child, but when Old Sultan brought it back, then he was
full of joy, and stroked him and said, “Not a hair of yours shall be
hurt, you shall eat my bread free as long as you live.” And to his wife
he said, “Go home at once and make Old Sultan some bread-sop that he
will not have to bite, and bring the pillow out of my bed, I will give
him that to lie upon.”

Henceforth Old Sultan was as well off as he could wish to be. Soon afterwards the wolf visited him, and was pleased that everything
had succeeded so well. “But, gossip,” said he, “you will just wink an
eye if when I have a chance, I carry off one of your master’s fat
sheep.” “Do not reckon upon that,” answered the dog; “I will remain
true to my master; I cannot agree to that.” The wolf, who thought that
this could not be spoken in earnest, came creeping about in the night
and was going to take away the sheep. But the farmer, to whom the
faithful Sultan had told the wolf’s plan, caught him and dressed his
hide soundly with the flail. The wolf had to pack off, but he cried out
to the dog, “Wait a bit, you scoundrel, you shall pay for this.”

The next morning the wolf sent the boar to challenge the dog to come
out into the forest so that they might settle the affair. Old Sultan
could find no one to stand by him but a cat with only three legs, and
as they went out together the poor cat limped along, and at the same
time stretched out her tail into the air with pain. The wolf and his friend were already on the spot appointed, but when
they saw their enemy coming they thought that he was bringing a sabre
with him, for they mistook the outstretched tail of the cat for one. And when the poor beast hopped on its three legs, they could only think
every time that it was picking up a stone to throw at them. So they
were both afraid; the wild boar crept into the under-wood and the wolf
jumped up a tree. The dog and the cat, when they came up, wondered that there was no one
to be seen. The wild boar, however, had not been able to hide himself
altogether; and one of his ears was still to be seen. Whilst the cat
was looking carefully about, the boar moved his ear; the cat, who
thought it was a mouse moving there, jumped upon it and bit it hard. The boar made a fearful noise and ran away, crying out, “The guilty one
is up in the tree.” The dog and cat looked up and saw the wolf, who was
ashamed of having shown himself so timid, and made friends with the
dog. 49 The Six Swans

Once upon a time, a certain King was hunting in a great forest, and he
chased a wild beast so eagerly that none of his attendants could follow
him. When evening drew near he stopped and looked around him, and then
he saw that he had lost his way. He sought a way out, but could find
none. Then he perceived an aged woman with a head which nodded
perpetually, who came towards him, but she was a witch. “Good woman,”
said he to her, “Can you not show me the way through the forest?” “Oh,
yes, Lord King,” she answered, “that I certainly can, but on one
condition, and if you do not fulfil that, you will never get out of the
forest, and will die of hunger in it.”

“What kind of condition is it?” asked the King. “I have a daughter,” said the old woman, “who is as beautiful as any
one in the world, and well deserves to be your consort, and if you will
make her your Queen, I will show you the way out of the forest.” In the
anguish of his heart the King consented, and the old woman led him to
her little hut, where her daughter was sitting by the fire. She
received the King as if she had been expecting him, and he saw that she
was very beautiful, but still she did not please him, and he could not
look at her without secret horror. After he had taken the maiden up on
his horse, the old woman showed him the way, and the King reached his
royal palace again, where the wedding was celebrated. The King had already been married once, and had by his first wife,
seven children, six boys and a girl, whom he loved better than anything
else in the world. As he now feared that the step-mother might not
treat them well, and even do them some injury, he took them to a lonely
castle which stood in the midst of a forest. It lay so concealed, and
the way was so difficult to find that he himself would not have found
it, if a wise woman had not given him a ball of yarn with wonderful
properties. When he threw it down before him, it unrolled itself and
showed him his path. The King, however, went so frequently away to his
dear children that the Queen observed his absence; she was curious and
wanted to know what he did when he was quite alone in the forest. She
gave a great deal of money to his servants, and they betrayed the
secret to her, and told her likewise of the ball which alone could
point out the way. And now she knew no rest until she had learnt where
the King kept the ball of yarn, and then she made little shirts of
white silk, and as she had learnt the art of witchcraft from her
mother, she sewed a charm inside them. And once when the King had
ridden forth to hunt, she took the little shirts and went into the
forest, and the ball showed her the way. The children, who saw from a
distance that some one was approaching, thought that their dear father
was coming to them, and full of joy, ran to meet him. Then she threw
one of the little shirts over each of them, and no sooner had the
shirts touched their bodies than they were changed into swans, and flew
away over the forest. The Queen went home quite delighted, and thought
she had got rid of her step-children, but the girl had not run out with
her brothers, and the Queen knew nothing about her. Next day the King
went to visit his children, but he found no one but the little girl. “Where are thy brothers?” asked the King. “Alas, dear father,” she
answered, “they have gone away and left me alone!” and she told him
that she had seen from her little window how her brothers had flown
away over the forest in the shape of swans, and she showed him the
feathers, which they had let fall in the courtyard, and which she had
picked up. The King mourned, but he did not think that the Queen had
done this wicked deed, and as he feared that the girl would also be
stolen away from him, he wanted to take her away with him.