Page:Researches respecting the Book of Sindibad and Portuguese Folk-Tales.djvu/129

 Rh sisters were looking out, one said to the other, "If our sister were at least to marry that handsome knight, who does nothing but look towards us!" And they commenced to abuse and beat her, saying, "You are going to marry a prince with the head of a horse merely to become a princess." The girl at last, being afraid of worse treatment at their hands, said to them, "Do not abuse me or beat me any more, for that knight who was going behind that retinue, and looked towards us, is the prince who I shall marry." At that instant a crow came in at the window and began to flap and beat the girl with its wings, saying, "You ungrateful girl! most ungrateful! You have broken my spell! and if you wish to find me again you will have to wear a pair of iron shoes on your way to the Crows' Tower; you will have to enter and wait a long time for an opportunity to lay hold of my wings, for only then shall I again be yours and you mine; and should you not have sufficient courage to undertake this task, and sufficient perseverance and patience to wait for your opportunity to catch me, you will never see me again!" Having said these words the crow flew out of the window, taking the same direction as when it came. The girl remained very much grieved and began to cry, saying, "I am now wretched and unhappy on account of my sisters!" She then ordered a pair of iron boots to be made, and when she received them she put them on at once and begun her journey without taking leave of any one. She walked and walked and walked all day, and at nightfall she saw a hut and approached it. The door was closed and she could see no one, but taking courage she knocked at the door. She heard the voice of an old woman reply, "Who is there?" The girl answered, "A poor helpless creature who begs for shelter to-night!" The old woman opened the door to her and listened to what the girl had to say in explanation to her, that she had lost her way and entreated her to afford her shelter for the night. The good old