Maltreated by their
stepmother, who was a witch, a little brother and sister fled into the woods.
After running for a while, the brother said, “I’m so thirsty. Let’s find a
spring and have a drink.”
However, as the young boy bent down to
drink, his sister heard a voice which said, “Who drinks from me will turn into
a fawn.” It was the witch! Too late, the sister tried to prevent her brother
from drinking. The young boy hanged at once into a fawn. In tears, the little
girl made a lead and collar out of her belt, and led the fawn off into the
woods. There they found an abandoned cottage and lived together, far from any
danger.
One day, however, the king was hunting
in he woods, and he spied the fawn, which could not resist the urge to wander
away from the cottage. The king and his hunters chased the fawn all the way
back home. There, the king followed it into he cottage, where he found a young
girl stroking the frightened animal. She was so beautiful and gentle that the
king fell in love with her at once. He asked her to be his wife, and his words
caused the maiden to cry for joy. When one of her tears fell on the fawn, it
changed back to her brother once more. Their goodness and love had overcome the
witch’s evil spell, and they lived safely and happily with the king for ever
after.
Taken
from “366 and More Fairy Tales”, 1990.
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