"When we go in the morning through the dark gate with our flock of
geese, she cries and talks with the head of a horse that hangs upon
the wall, and the head answers her."
And Conrad went on telling the king what had happened in the meadow
where the geese fed; how his hat was blown away, and how he was forced
to run after it and leave his flock of geese to themselves. The old
king told the boy to go out again the next day, and when morning came
he placed himself behind the dark gate, and heard how the princess
spoke to Falada, and how Falada answered. Then he went into the field
and hid himself in a bush by the meadow's side, and he soon saw with
his own eyes how they drove the flock of geese, and how, after a
little time, she let down her hair that glittered in the sun. Then he
heard her call the wind, and soon there came a gust that carried away
Conrad's hat, and away he went after it, while the girl went on
combing and curling her hair. All this the old king saw; so he went
home without having been observed, and when the goose-girl came back
in the evening, he called her aside and asked her why she did so. She
burst into tears, and said--
"That I must not tell you nor any man, or I shall lose my life."
The old king begged hard, but she would tell him nothing. Then he
said--
"If you will not tell me thy story, tell thy grief to the iron stove
there," and then he went away.
Then the princess crept into the stove, and, weeping and lamenting,
she poured forth her whole heart, saying--
"I am alone in the whole world, though I am a king's daughter. A
treacherous waiting-maid has taken my place and compelled me to put
off my royal dress, and even taken my place with my bridegroom, while
I have to work as a goose-girl. If my mother knew it, it would break
her heart."
The old king, however, was standing by the stove, listening to what
the princess said, and overheard it all. He ordered royal clothes to
be put upon her, and gazed at her in wonder, she was so beautiful.
Then he called his son, and told him that he had only a false bride,
for that she was merely the waiting-maid, while the true bride stood
by. The young prince rejoiced when he saw the princess's beauty, and
heard how meek and patient she had been, and the king ordered a great
feast to be got ready for all his court. The bridegroom sat at the top
of the table, with the false princess on one side and the true one on
the other; but the waiting-maid did not recognise the princess, for
her beauty was quite dazzling.
When they had eaten and drunk, and were very merry, the old king said
he would tell them a tale. So he began, and told all the story of the
princess, as if it were a tale he had heard, and he asked the
waiting-woman what she thought ought to be done to any one who behaved
so badly as the servant in the story.
"Nothing better," said the false bride, "than that she should be
thrown into a cask stuck round with sharp nails, and that two white
horses should be put to it, and should drag it from street to street
till she were dead."
"Thou art she," said the old king, "and as thou hast judged thyself,
so it shall be done to thee."
Then the young prince was married to his true wife, and they reigned
over the kingdom in peace and happiness all their lives.