Page:Lange - The Blue Fairy Book.djvu/311

 Then she went on her way till she came to the common, where she sat down and began to comb out her hair; then Curdken ran up to her and wanted to grasp some of the hair from her head, but she called out hastily:

Then a puff of wind came and blew Curdken’s hat far away, so that he had to run after it; and when he returned she had long finished putting up her golden locks, and he couldn’t get any hair; so they watched the geese till it was dark.

But that evening when they got home Curdken went to the old King, and said: ‘I refuse to herd geese any longer with that girl.’ ‘For what reason?’ asked the old King. ‘Because she does nothing but annoy me all day long,’ replied Curdken; and he proceeded to relate all her iniquities, and said: ‘Every morning as we drive the flock through the dark gate she says to a horse’s head that hangs on the wall:

and the head replies:

And Curdken went on to tell what passed on the common where the geese fed, and how he had always to chase his hat.

The old King bade him go and drive forth his flock as usual next day; and when morning came he himself took up his position behind the dark gate, and heard how the goose-girl greeted Falada. Then he followed her through the field, and hid himself behind a bush on the common. He soon saw with his own eyes how the goose-boy and the goose-girl looked after the geese, and how after a time the maiden sat down and loosed her hair, that glittered like gold, and repeated: