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 166 alive again. Then they kissed and embraced each other in their great joy.

As soon as the wizard returned he asked for the key and the egg, and when he saw that there was no trace of blood upon this, he said, "You have stood the test, you shall be my wife."

He had now lost all power over her, and was obliged in his turn to do whatever she wished.

"Very well," she answered, "but you must first take a basketful of gold to my father and mother, and carry it to them yourself; meanwhile I will prepare for our marriage."

Then she ran to the little room where she had hidden her sisters, and cried, "The moment has come for me to save you; the villain shall carry you home himself; but be sure you send someone to help me as soon as you get there." She put them both in a basket and covered them with gold, so that nothing of them could be seen. Then she called the wizard, and said to him, "Now carry away this basket, and mind you do not stop on the way to rest, for I shall be watching you from my little window." The wizard slung the basket over his shoulder and went off, but he found it such a weight to carry that the perspiration ran down his face, and he felt ready to die of exhaustion. He longed so to rest, that he stopped and sat down, but immediately a voice called out from the basket, "I am watching from my little window; I can see you stopping to rest; will you please to go on!" He thought it was his bride calling after him, so he got up and went on. Presently he sat down again, but the same voice called out, "I am watching you from my little window; I can see you stopping to rest; will you please to go on at once!" And as often as he stopped to rest, he heard