Page:Turkish fairy tales and folk tales (1901).djvu/27

 "This little foot is for my sister, And this little foot is for my brother."

Then it became the one wish of the slave-girl's heart to be rid of the little stag as quickly as possible, lest it should betray her.

So after a little thought she made herself sick, and sent for the doctors, and gave them much money to say to the Padishah that the only thing that could save her was the heart of the little stag to eat. So the doctors went and told the Padishah that the sick woman must swallow the heart of the little stag, or there was no hope for her. Then the Padishah went to the slave-girl whom he fancied to be his pet damsel, and asked her if it did not go against her to eat the heart of her own brother?

"What can I do?" sighed the impostor; "if I die, what will become of my poor little pet? If he be cut up I shall live, while he will be spared the torments of those poor beasts that grow old and sick." Then the Padishah gave orders that a butcher's knife should be whetted, and a fire lighted, and a cauldron of water put over the fire.

The poor little stag perceived all the bustling about and ran down into the garden to the fountain, and called out three times to his sister—

"The knife is on the stone, The water's on the boil, Haste, little sister, hasten!"