All The Days of May...

       Kids can celebrate all the days of May here by using our family blog posts. I will highlight the days of celebration in the United States/Canada with a pale orange color and the world days of observation with a pale lavender highlight. Sometimes the themes repeat themselves and so I will choose to list a topic under a month that has less content in order to spread things out a bit. I will be covering all of the months of the year. Readers will notice that I make additions to the listings over time and that I also choose content that is age appropriate in order to maintain my certifications.

1.) May Day and National Mother Goose Day

2.) World Tuna Day - Make tuna for your doll's kitten on this day here.

3.) Space Day - Explore outer space with doll, Luciana Vega on this day!

4.) National Star Wars Day - Read about baby Grogu here.

5.) Cinco De Mayo Day

6.) National Nurses Day (moves)

7.) National Day of Prayer - Prayers for children listed...

8.) Remembrance of WWII in Europe

9.) World Migratory Bird Day - Read about bird migrations.

10.) International Mother's Day and National Shrimp Day

11.) Hostess CupCake Day and Public Service Recognition Week

12.) Mother's Day U. S. (moves)

13.) Tulip Day - Craft miniature tulips using sea shells . . . 

14.) National Civility Day and National Buttermilk Biscuit Day

15.) International Day of Families

16.) Wear Purple for Peace Day

17.) Armed Forces Day and National Walnuts and Cherries food Day

18.) International Museum Day

19.) Citrus Day - Learn to craft grapefruit from caps...

20.) World Bee Day - Craft an old-fashioned skep hive for your dolls... or Dress like a bee...

21.) Victoria Day (Canada) and Red Cross Day - Render first-aid with a red cross paper doll and color a red cross nurse here.

22.) National Maritime Day

23.) Lucky Penny Day - Craft a wool penny rug for a doll's house. and read the "Stolen Pennies Fairy Tale" here.

24.) National Scavenger Hunt Day

25.) National Brown Bag It Day and Memorial Day in U.S.

26.) World Red Head Day and National Paper Airplane Day in U.S. - Hand sew the world's most famous red head doll, Raggedy Ann.

27.) Masking Tape Day and National Flip Flop Day - make doll flip flops here.

28.) National Hamburger Day - Painted Sculpey hamburgers pictured here.

29.) International Day of the Potato - A doll made with a potato?

30.) Water a Flower Day - A watering can craft for dolls here.

31.) National Smile Day and National Macaroon Day

Elementary school children may also celebrate general monthly themes of August that include: Transportation Month, labour, and mental health.

First O'May

A Maypole seen from beneath.

First O'May

(Music "Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush," adapted

Now a-Maying let us go,

Let us go,

Let ys go,

Now, a-Maying let us go

The First o' May in the morning!

Soon a little Queen we'll choose,

We will choose,

We will choose,

Soon a little Queen we'll choose,

The First o' May in the morning!

Then, out little Pole we'll raise,

We will raise,

We will raide,

Then our little pole we'll raise,

The First o' May in the morning!

Soon, our little dance begins,

Dance begins,

Dance begins,

Soon our little dance begins

The First o' May in the morning!

Oh, this is the merriest day,

Merriest day,

Merriest day,

Oh, this is the merriest day

The first o' My in the morning!

A-Maying by Maude Radford Warren

Robin Dadd watercolor of Robin Hood.

       The end of April had come in Robin Hood's forest. The crocuses were gone, and the cowslips and primroses were showing their yellow heads in the grass. The leaves on the trees were long; even the oaks were thickly enough clad to cast a shade. The young birds were almost large enough to fly, and every morning they woke Marian with their chirping. 

       "In my father's castle," said Marian, "they are beginning to think of May Day." 

       "Do you miss May Day?" asked Robin Hood. "Shall we go to Nottingham town and see the celebrations there?" 

       "Nay, then," said Marian, "let us have our own May-day games, Robin. Much shall sing for us; George-a-Green shall whistle; Little John shall dance ; some of the young men must wrestle ; and you and I shall be crowned King and Queen of the May." 

       "That is a good plan," Robin said. 

       They were sitting under Robin's favorite oak. Marian was embroidering a green jacket for him, and he had been reading to her from a beautifully illuminated manuscript. Just as he was about to continue, Friar Tuck came hurrying across the clearing, his rosy face beaming with excitement, his plump cheeks shaking at each step. 

      ''Hark you, Robin!" he said; "I have heard that the queen and her ladies, her pages, her guards, and some of the courtiers are to reach Nottingham to-morrow." 

       "Say you so, indeed?" cried Robin. 

      "I suppose they will lodge with the sheriff," said Marian, "for none other has so large a house. I warrant his lady will be vastly excited."

       "But this is not all," went on Friar Tuck. "The sheriff is anxious that there shall be a splendid May-day celebration for Her Majesty. The great square of Nottingham is not sylvan enough, it seems. Despite the possible danger from us, he says, he intends to hold the games and dancing in the clearing by the yew trees." 

       "The sheriff knows there is no danger from us," Robin said. "I am a loyal subject who will always protect my Queen, though I am an outlaw." 

       "He probably supposes you are as base as himself," remarked Friar Tuck; "but he thinks that with his soldiers and because of the queen, the royal party will be safe." 

       "Oh!" cried Marian, clapping her hands. "Robin, let us hide in the thick woods about the clearing and watch their games!" 

       "And give up our own?" he asked. 

       "No, no; have both!" she said. "Let us see theirs first, and then have our own. As ours will be much better, they should be last." "You are very loyal to our own, Marian," Robin Hood said, smiling. "It shall be as you wish." 

       When Robin Hood's bowmen heard that the queen with part of her court was coming to Nottingham, they were much interested. At various times during the next day or two, some of them went in disguise to Nottingham to see what they might of the royal party. 

       They could scarcely recognize the place. A great triumphal arch had been built at the entrance of the town over the road along which the queen was to pass. It was entirely covered with green boughs, and across the top was the word, "Welcome," made of white roses. There was another arch, in front of the sheriff's house, painted blue and gold. From the windows of the other houses hung flags and banners — scarlet and purple and crimson. Even the very poor people had managed to decorate in some way. Those who could not afford a banner of cloth had woven mats of rushes to hang from their windows, and had placed green boughs over the doorways. 

       The clearing by the yew trees was full of busy workmen engaged in making a pavilion of green wood and boughs. In the center was placed the sheriff's own carved chair, over which was draped a robe of ermine. Robin and Marian peeped at it from behind the trees. 

       "Would you rather be a real queen than Queen of the May?" Robin asked Marian. 

       "I prefer to be Queen of the Greenwood, as I am," she replied. 

       Early on the first of May the queen was awakened by the sound of singing outside the sheriff's house. The people of Nottingham were giving her a May-day greeting. After she had dressed and breakfasted, her white palfrey was brought to the door. It had scarlet trappings, and a bridle decorated with emeralds and jingling with golden bells. The queen wore a pale green robe in honor of the day. After her favorite page, Richard Partington, had helped her to mount, he walked at her horse's head. Then two score horsemen in coats of mail galloped to the front, while just behind the queen rode half a dozen ladies-in-waiting on brown and black palfreys led by handsome pages. Next came a score of knights beautifully dressed in green; then twenty more horsemen, and, after them, the Lord Sheriff.

       All these set off down the road, followed by the bowmen, dancers, and wrestlers who were to provide the entertainment for the queen, and two stout boys carrying the Maypole. 

       This Maypole was a tall, slim, tapering tree trunk, all trimmed about with green leaves and spring flowers, and with a dozen long green ribbons hanging from the top of it almost to the ground. 

       The people of the town followed the procession as far as they dared, but as they were not invited to see the entertainment they did not enter the greenwood. When the party had reached the clearing by the yew trees the sheriff assisted the queen to dismount and led her to the chair of state.

       Meantime, Robin Hood, Marian, and the bow- men had gathered a few paces distant in the woods. They watched the ladies and courtiers group themselves about the queen, while the guards stood a little farther back. 

       "Do you see the bowmen, master?" asked Little John. "They are clad just like ourselves, in Lincoln green." 

      ''The sheriff has a good memory," said Robin Hood. 

       "I fear that being clad like us will not give them our skill," remarked Little John. 

      ''Hush," said Robin; "the sports now begin." 

       The Maypole was set up several yards from the pavilion. Then half a dozen men and maidens came forward, and curtsied to the queen; and, each taking one of the long green ribbons, they began to dance. Backward and forward they stepped, the ribbons in their hands, a fiddler making a rude kind of music to which they all kept time. 

       When the dance was over, the queen applauded, but Marian smiled. She knew that her bowmen could dance more gracefully than that. Then stakes were set up at one end of the clearing, and some young men threw quoits. This game did not interest the queen particularly, for she was too far away to see when the quoits encircled the stakes. After that, other young men wrestled, and again Marian smiled as she thought how much more skillful the men of the greenwood were. Last of all, the twenty men in green stepped forward.

       "These, Your Majesty," said the sheriff, "are the best bowmen in the country, bar none." At that Robin shrugged his shoulders. "In faith, that is hard to bear!" he said. 

       ' ' Nay, then, Lord Sheriff, ' ' said the queen. ' ' I did not know you had the best archers in England."  

      "Your Majesty shall judge," replied the sheriff.

       A row of targets was set up at one end of the clearing, and the twenty archers stepped forward and raised their bows. They had been practicing diligently and they shot well, most of them coming within the bull's eye. 

       "Well done!" cried the queen. "But the sport has been very short. Have you anything more to show me, my Lord Sheriff?" 

       "I had thought that more would tire Your Majesty," replied the sheriff. 

       "Nay, then, I would gladly see more," said the queen; "but since there is no more, I thank you heartily for the pleasure you have given me and my court."

       At this moment Robin Hood stepped forward. He was clad in his usual Lincoln green, and wore, in honor of the day, a long mantle embroidered in gold. He fell on one knee before the queen.

       ''Whom have we here?" said she. 

       ''Your Majesty, a most loyal subject," he replied, "who craves leave to show you some May-day sport." 

       "Gladly," said the queen. 

       Robin Hood waved his hand, and his hundred bowmen marched two and two out of the woods and took their places, bows raised, before the targets at the end of the clearing. 

       The queen's men looked at one another uneasily, and felt for their weapons.

       "Fear nothing!" cried Robin Hood loudly.

       "We are loyal men."

       Then Marian, all in white, rode forward on her white palfrey. She dismounted at the pavilion and bowed low to the queen. 

       "Come you here, my pretty child," said the queen, "and sit on the footstool at my feet."

       While Marian obeyed, a band of dancers came from the woods, Little John at their head, carrying a Maypole. It was far more beautiful than the sheriff's pole, for it was covered with the rarest of wild flowers and little delicate ferns. The long ribbons which hung from it were deco- rated with shining gold coins. 

       The dancers stepped before the queen and did a morris dance, weaving backward and forward, leaning and turning as lightly as if the green grass had been a waxed floor. As they danced, they sang this song: 

 Trip and go, heave and ho, 

 Up and down, to and fro;

 From the town to the grove, 

 Two and two let us rove. 

 A-Maying, a-playing, 

 Love hath no gainsaying. 

 So trip and go, trip and go, 

 Merrily trip and go. 

       "Wonderful dancing!" cried the queen. "Again!" 

       After the dance had been repeated, six wrestlers took their places and showed their skill. Next six tumblers performed most difficult feats of tumbling and leaping. Lastly, after the queen had applauded, Robin Hood called his archers. 

       "Your Majesty," he said, bowing low to the queen, "my Lord Sheriff has shown you what his archers can do. Give me leave to present mine."

       "Let the men shoot," said the queen. "Archery is my favorite sport, as it is the king's." 

       Robin Hood whistled. At the signal, the archers came forward, and ranged themselves in front of the pavilion. He whistled again, and they got into position and lifted their bows. At the third whistle, they sped their gray-goose shafts, and at once the bull's-eye was full. Again Robin whistled, and this time each archer split an arrow. 

       Then Robin took his bow, and stepping a little to one side, shot diagonally, sending an arrow through three of those quivering in the bull's-eye. 

       The queen rose and extended her hand. "My good subject, this is unbelievable," she said. 

       "Accept this gold ring as a token of my favor." 

       Robin took off his embroidered mantle. 

       ''Your Majesty," he said, "if you will accept this mantle in return." 

       The queen took it, and then handed him the ring, "Accept this gold ring as a token of my favor." 

"Accept this gold ring as a token of my favor"

        Meantime, the sheriff was looking uneasily at Robin. He did not know whether or not he dared tell the queen who Robin was. 

       "And now, my good subject," said the queen, "tell me your name, that I may speak of you and your wonderful shooting to my lord, the king." 

       "Your Majesty," he said, "have I your good leave to depart unscathed, I and all my men, and with your good favor, whoever I am?" 

       "Assuredly, since you are my true subject," she replied. 

       "Then, Your Majesty, I stand here, Robin Hood, outlaw of Sherwood Forest." 

       At that the courtiers and men-at-arms put their hands on their weapons. One or two took a step forward. The ladies clung together in fear. The queen grew pale; then she turned to her followers and said; "Silence, all! Make no movement. Do not harm this man." 

       "Humph!" whispered Little John. " Tis more like that we could harm them." 

       "Your Majesty," said one lord, "do you not know that there is a price on this man's head- the king has commanded - 

       "Sir," cried the queen, "you forget yourself! While the king is at war, as he is now, I am king. I command that this man, to whom I have given my word, shall go free." 

       Robin Hood took Marian's hand, and led her to her palfrey. He beckoned his men to withdraw into the wood. Then he turned to the queen. 

       "Your Majesty," he said, "do you wish now to take back your ring?"

       "Nay," said the queen, "a gift is a gift, and you are a true subject. Yet come not near my court again, Robin Hood. I may not always have the power to protect you. And now farewell."

       Robin Hood bent and kissed her hand, then turning his back on all that silent company took his way to his own green kingdom. He spoke not at all, but the others were merry, especially George-a-Green, who whistled and danced, and Much, the miller's son, who sang this song: 

 Joan, to the Maypole along let us on, 

 The time is swift and will be gone;

 There go the lasses, away to the green,

 Where their beauties may be seen.

The Endless Story

       There was once a child who lived in a little hut, and in the hut there was nothing but a little bed, and a looking-glass which hung in a dark corner. Now the child cared nothing at all about the looking-glass, but as soon as the first sunbeam glided softly through the casement and kissed his eyelids, and the finch and the linnet waked him merrily with their morning songs, he jumped out of bed and, dressing quickly, ran out into the green meadow. There he begged flour of the primrose, and sugar of the violet, and butter of the buttercup; he shook the dewdrops from the cowslip into the cup of a harebell; spread out a large lime-leaf, set his breakfast upon it, and feasted daintily. Sometimes he invited a humming bee, oftener a gay butterfly, to share his feast; but his favorite guest was the blue dragonfly. The bee murmured a good deal, in a solemn tone, about his riches; but the child thought that if he were a bee, heaps of treasure would not make him gay and happy; and that it must be much more delightful and glorious to float about in the free and fresh breezes of spring, and to hum joyously in the web of the sunbeams, than, with heavy feet and heavy heart, to stow the silver wax and the golden honey into cells. 

        To this the butterfly agreed, and he told how, once on a time, he too had been greedy and sordid; how he had thought of nothing but eating, and had never once turned his eyes upwards to the blue heavens. At length, however, a complete change had come over him and, instead of crawling spiritless about the earth, half dreaming, he all at once awakened as out of a deep sleep. And now he could rise into the air and play with the light, reflect the heavens in the bright eyes of his wings, and listen to the soft language of the flowers, and catch their secrets. Such stories delighted the child, and his breakfast was the sweeter to him, and the sunshine on leaf and flower seemed to him more bright and cheering. But when the bee had flown off to beg from flower to flower, and the butterfly had fluttered away to his playfellows, the dragonfly still remained poised on a blade of grass. Her slender and burnished body, more brightly and deeply blue than the deep blue sky, glistened in the sunbeam, and her netlike wings laughed at the flowers because they could not fly, but must stand still and abide the wind and rain. The dragonfly sipped a little of the child's clear dewdrops and blue-violet honey, and then whispered her winged words. And the child made an end of his repast, closed his dark blue eyes, bent down his beautiful head, and listened to the sweet prattle. 

       Then the dragonfly told much of the merry life in the green wood — how sometimes she played hide-and-seek with her playfellows under the broad leaves of the oak and the beech trees or hunt-the-hare along the surface of the still waters, or sometimes quietly watched the sunbeams as they flew busily from moss to flower, and from flower to bush, and shed life and warmth over all. But at night, she said, the moonbeams Then the dragonfly told of the merry life in the green wood glided softly around the wood, and dropped dew into the mouths of all the thirsty plants ; and when the dawn pelted the slumberers with the soft roses of heaven, some of the flowers looked up and smiled, but most of them could not so much as raise their heads for a long, long time. 

       Such stories did the dragon-fly tell. And as the child sat motionless, with his eyes shut and his head rested on his little hand, she thought he had fallen asleep, so she poised her double wings and flew into the rustling wood. 

       But the child was only sunk into a dream of delight, and was wishing he were a sunbeam or a moonbeam; and he would have been glad to hear more and more, and forever. Then as all was still, he opened his eyes and looked around for his dear guest, but she had flown far away. He could not bear to sit there any longer alone, so he rose and went to the gurgling brook. It gushed and rolled so merrily, and tumbled so wildly along as it hurried to throw itself head-over-heels into the river, just as if the great massy rock out of which it sprang were close behind it, and could only be escaped by a break-neck leap. 

Then the dragonfly told of the merry life in
the green wood.

       Then the child began to talk to the little waves and asked them whence they came. They would not stay to give him an answer, but danced away, one over another, till at last, that the sweet child might not be grieved, a drop of water stopped behind a piece of rock. From her the child heard strange histories; but he could not understand them all, for she told him about her former life, about the depths of the mountain. 

       "A long while ago," said the drop of water, "I lived with my countless sisters in the great ocean, in peace and unity. We had all sorts of pastimes; sometimes we mounted up high on the crest of the wave and peeped at the stars; then we sank deep, deep below, and watched how the coral builders work till they are tired, that they may reach the light of day at last. But by and by I longed to go farther and to know all that lay beyond my ocean home. So one day, when the sun rose out of the sea, I clung fast to one of his hot beams, and thought that now I should reach the stars and become one of them. But I had not ascended far, when the sunbeam shook me off and, in spite of all I could say or do, let me fall into a dark cloud. Soon a flash of fire darted through the cloud, and now I thought I must surely die; but the whole cloud laid itself softly down on the top of a mountain, and so I escaped. Now I thought I should remain hidden, when all of a sudden I slipped over a round pebble, fell from one stone to another, down into the depths of the mountain; till at last it was pitch dark, and I could neither see nor hear anything. 

      "'What,' thought I, 'will become of me now? There is nothing here but death.' Yet soon I knew that all about me were other drops working in the darkness, moistening the dry earth. In the clouds I had learned humility, so now I learned how to work in the darkness and the hidden places. I saw little roots reaching down into the dark earth for moisture from which they could feed the flowers and trees. I learned that one may find life even in the dark. Then one day I found myself emerging into the free, cheerful air in a tiny woodland spring. Now the brook has tossed me here, and I wait until I am called to something better." 

       But hardly had she done, when the root of a forget-me-not caught the drop of water by her hair, and sucked her in, that she might become a floweret and twinkle brightly as a blue star on the green firmament of earth. by Friedrich Wilhelm Carove.

The Fairy Steeds

Carl Millner landscape painter from Munich, Germany. A Maypole in Bavaria, 1848.

       It was May Day Eve. Down in fairyland there was a whirring and fluttering of wings, and a soft tinkling of fairy voices that sounded like little bluebells ringing in the breeze. "Ho, Peaseblossom! bring the Fairy Queen's May Day mantle," cried the first lady-in-waiting. 

       In fluttered Peaseblossom bearing the mantle. It was made of cobweb that had been dyed by dipping it in the first rainbow of spring. So dainty it was that it seemed ready to vanish like a bubble blown into the air. 

       "Now let the keeper of the May Day crown appear!" There was a soft ripple of excitement as the chief keeper of the royal jewels brought in the crown. It had been made by the flower fairies and fashioned like a tiny flower garland. The gold had been taken from the first marsh marigolds and was set with many flower jewels, sapphires gathered from the blue gentians, diamonds of dewdrops that had been touched by fairy wands, emeralds made from the early green of the woodland moss, all wrought into tiny sparkling flowers. 

       Then the Queen, attended by her ladies- in-waiting and followed by the keeper of the jewels, who bore the crown, flew to the throne room. There the King, dressed in his most magnificent robes, set the crown upon Her Majesty's head while all the ladies-in-waiting fluttered their wings in admiration. 

       "Now," cried the King, "all is ready! Call the May Day chariot." 

       Away fluttered Peaseblossom to the royal stables where the steeds, two magnificent green beetles, were kept. In a few minutes he came flying back in great distress. "Your Majesty!" he cried, "the fairy steeds are gone!" 

        "Gone!" repeated the King, "gone! It is impossible! Where is the keeper of the royal beetles?" 

        "Asleep, your Majesty," answered Peaseblossom, "so sound asleep that even I could not waken him."

       "Bring him hither," said the King in an awful voice.

       "It is the goblins, oh, I am sure it is the goblins!" cried the Queen. 'They have thrown goblin sleep-powder in his eyes. I am sure he could not help it. Oh, your Majesty, pray consider the goblins."

       "My dear," said the King, "I believe you are right. Let him be given a bath of sweet fern to undo the work of the goblin powder. Then when the spell is broken, the steeds will return of themselves." 

       Two fairies immediately flew to execute the royal commands.

       ''But, your Majesty," cried the first lord-in-waiting, "think of the May Day revels. It is now nearing the hour of eleven, and if we do not start within half an hour surely we shall not be in the land of mortals to greet the coming of May Day." 

        'Tis true," answered the King. "We must be on earth when midnight strikes, for otherwise the goblins would have power to creep into woodland and meadow, and for a whole summer the land would lie beneath their spell." 

        "Ah," sighed the Queen, "think of the barrenness of woodland and meadow which had not been blessed with fairy blessing on May Day Eve!" 

       ''It is quite plain," said the King, "that, steeds or no steeds, we must start for earth in exactly twenty-four minutes. My dear," he continued, turning to the Queen, "I think we shall have to dispense with the May Day chariot and take to our wings." 

        "Nay, your Majesty," said Peaseblossom, "you forget the blessings with which the royal chariot is filled. They must be scattered over the earth. I will fly quick as a spring breeze to the world and back. Perchance by the banqueting place I may find the green beetles' cousins, the black beetles, who often come to have a word with them while we dance in the fairy ring. They are clumsy, but they are kind-hearted fellows and would do their best, I am sure. I will be back before the dandelion clocks have struck the quarter-hour." 

 "Go!" said the King, and Peaseblossom vanished quick as a passing thought. 

        Straight to the mortal world flew Peaseblossom. And there, on a bank of softest moss, the fairy banquet was set, but no beetles were to be seen. "Ah," cried Peaseblossom, "what shall I do!" 

       "What is it, dear Peaseblossom?" asked a soft voice. It was a little Wind Lily that grew by the brook near by. 

       "Alas," said Peaseblossom, "the fairy steeds have been stolen ! How can the King and Queen come to the revels in the May Day car, the wonderful car that bears the seeds of beauty and joy which the fairies scatter over the earth this eve?" 

       "Oh, Peaseblossom!" said the Lily. "Often I have longed to spread my petals like wings and fly like a bird into the blue sky. I know I could do it. Touch me with your wand, dear Pease- blossom, and let me fly. Then I will draw the chariot of the fairy Queen." "And I, I ' - floated soft voices from the Wind Lilies near by. 

       Peaseblossom waved his wand, and suddenly the Wind Lilies spread their dainty petals like wings and flew high up in the moonlit sky and away to fairyland. 

       Just as the dandelion clocks struck the quarter- hour Peaseblossom appeared driving the fairy chariot. Instead of beetles the steeds were eight dainty, winged creatures the like of which no one had ever seen. The fairies laughed with joy, and the fairy bells all tinkled a merry May song. 

       "Who are you, beautiful creatures?" cried the Fairy Queen, clapping her hands for joy. 

       "Your Majesty," answered the first, "only an hour ago we were flowers. Now we know not what we are, but we do know that we wish we might always fly as now and always serve your Majesty." 

       "It shall be done!" cried the Queen. "Every May Day you shall draw the fairy car, and all summer you shall fly over the fields and in the sunny gardens, and mortals shall love you and shall call you — Butterflies. by Frances G. Wickes

 Old English Country Rime 

 Spring is coming, spring is coming, 

 Birdies, build your nest; 

 Weave together straw and feather, 

 Doing each your best. 

 Spring is coming, spring is coming, 

 Flowers are coming too : 

 Pansies, lilies, daffodillies, 

 Now are coming through. 

 Spring is coming, spring is coming, 

 All around is fair; 

 Shimmer and quiver on the river, 

 Joy is everywhere. 

 We wish you a happy May.

The Royal Ballet demonstrates the Maypole Dance!

Thumblelisa or Thumbelina

In the United States we know this story as the one with the tiny girl named "Thumbelina." 
However, in other countries she is sometimes called "Thumbelisa" thus, the reason for
the title graphic, this story is transcribed from a Danish version.

       There was once a woman who had the greatest longing for a little tiny child, but she had no idea where to get one; so she went to an old witch and said to her, "I do so long to have a little child, will you tell me where I can get one?"

        "Oh, we shall be able to manage that," said the witch. "Here is a barley corn for you; it is not at all the same kind as that which grows in the peasant's field, or with which chickens are fed; plant it in a flower pot and you will see what will appear." 

         "Thank you, oh, thank you!" said the woman, and she gave the witch twelve pennies, then went home and planted the barley corn, and a large, handsome flower sprang up at once; it looked exactly like a tulip, but the petals were tightly shut up, just as if they were still in bud. "That is a lovely flower," said the woman, and she kissed the pretty red and yellow petals; as she kissed it the flower burst open with a loud snap. It was a real tulip, you could see that; but right in the middle of the flower on the green stool sat a little tiny  girl, most lovely and delicate; she was not more than an inch in height, so she was called Thumbelina. 

        Her cradle was a smartly varnished walnut shell, with the blue petals of violets for a mattress and a rose-leaf to cover her; she slept in it at night, but during the day she played about on the table where the woman had placed a plate, sur- rounded by a wreath of flowers on the outer edge with their stalks in water. A large tulip petal floated on the water and on this little Thumbelina sat and sailed about from one side of the plate to the other; she had two white horsehairs for oars. It was a pretty sight. She could sing, too, with such delicacy and charm as was never heard before. 

        One night as she lay in her pretty bed, a great ugly toad hopped in at the window for there was a broken pane. Ugh! how hideous that great wet toad was; it hopped right down on to the table where Thumbelina lay fast asleep, under the red rose-leaf. 

        "Here is a lovely wife for my son," said the toad, and then she took up the walnut shell where Thumbelina slept and hopped away with it through the window, down into the garden. A great broad stream ran through it, but just at the edge it was swampy and muddy, and it was here that the toad lived with her son. Ugh ! how ugly and hideous he was too, exactly like his mother. "Koax, koax, brekke-ke-kex," that was all he had to say when he saw the lovely little girl in the walnut shell. 

         "Do not talk so loud or you will wake her," said the old toad; "she might escape us yet, for she is as light as thistle- dow^n! We will put her on one of the broad water-lily leaves out in the stream; it will be just like an island to her, she is so small and light. She won't be able to run away from there while we get the stateroom ready down under the mud, which you are to inhabit." 

        A great many water lilies grew in the stream, their broad green leaves looked as if they were floating on the surface of the water. The leaf which was farthest from the shore was also the biggest and to this one the old toad swam out with the walnut shell in which little Thumbelina lay. 

         The poor, tiny little creature woke up quite early in the morning, and when she saw where she was she began to cry most bitterly, for there was water on every side of the big green leaf, and she could not reach the land at any point. 

         The old toad sat in the mud decking out her abode with grasses and the buds of the yellow water lilies, so as to have it very nice for the new daughter-in-law, and then she swam out with her ugly son to the leaf where Thumbelina stood; they wanted to fetch her pretty bed to place it in the bridal chamber before they took her there. The old toad made a deep curtsey in the water before her, and said, "Here is my son, who is to be your husband, and you are to live together most comfortably down in the nmd." 

        "Koax, koax, brekke-ke-kex," that was all the son could say. 

        Then they took the pretty little bed and swam away with it, but Thumbelina sat quite alone on the green leaf and cried because she did not want to live with the ugly toad, or have her horrid son for a husband. The little fish which swam about in the water had no doubt seen the toad and heard what she said, so they stuck their heads up, wishing, I suppose, to see the little girl. As soon as they saw her, they were delighted with her, and were quite grieved to think that she was to go down to live with the ugly toad. No, that should never happen. They flocked together down in the water round about the green stem which held the leaf she stood upon, and gnawed at it with their teeth till it floated away down the stream carrying Thumbelina away where the toad could not follow her. 

        Thumbelina sailed past place after place, and the little birds in the bushes saw her and sang, "what a lovely little maid." The leaf with her on it floated farther and farther away and in this manner reached foreign lands.  

Thumbelina floats away from the toad...

       A pretty little white butterfly fluttered round and round her for some time and at last settled on the leaf, for it had taken quite a fancy to Thumbelina: she was so happy now, because the toad could not reach her and she was sailing through such lovely scenes; the sun shone on the water and it looked like liquid gold. Then she took her sash and tied one end round the butterfly, and the other she made fast to the leaf which went gliding on quicker and quicker, and she with it, for she was standing on the leaf.

        At this moment a big cockchafer came flying along; he caught sight of her and in an instant he fixed his claw round her slender waist and flew off with her up into a tree, but the green leaf floated down the stream and the butterfly with it, for he was tied to it and could not get loose. 

        Heavens! how frightened poor little Thumbelina was when the cockchafer carried her up into the tree, but she was most of all grieved about the pretty white butterfly which she had fastened to the leaf; if he could not succeed in getting loose he would be starved to death. 

        But the cockchafer cared nothing for that. He settled with her on the largest leaf on the tree, and fed her with honey from the flowers, and he said that she was lovely although she was not a bit like a chafer. Presently all the other chafers which lived in the tree came to visit them; they looked at Thumbelina and the young lady chafers twitched their feelers and said, "She has also got two legs, what a good effect it has." "She has no feelers," said another. "She is so slender in the waist, fie, she looks like a human being." "How ugly she is," said all the mother chafers, and yet little Thumbelina was so pretty. That was certainly also the opinion of the cockchafer who had captured her, but when all the others said she was ugly, he at last began to believe it, too, and would not have anything more to do with her, she might go wherever she liked! They flew down from the tree with her and placed her on a daisy, where she cried because she was so ugly that the chafers would She was so happy now, because the toad could not reach her and she was sailing through such lovely scenes  have nothing to do with her; and, after all, she was more beautiful than anything you could imagine, as delicate and trans- parent as the finest rose-leaf. 

        Poor little Thumbelina lived all the summer quite alone in the wood. She plaited a bed of grass for herself and hung it up under a big dock-leaf which sheltered her from the rain; she sucked the honey from the flowers for her food, and her drink was" the dew which lay on the leaves in the morning. In this way the summer and autumn passed, but then came the winter. All the birds which used to sing so sweetly to her flew away, the great dock-leaf under which she had lived shriveled up, leaving nothing but a dead yellow stalk, and she shivered with the cold, for her clothes were worn out; she was such a tiny creature, poor little Thumbelina, she certainly must be frozen to death. It began to snow and every snowflake which fell upon her was like a whole shovelful upon one of us, for we are big and she was only one inch in height. Then she wrapped herself up in a withered leaf, but that did not warm her much, she trembled with the cold. 

        Close to the wood in which she had been living lay a large cornfield, but the corn had long ago been carried away and nothing remained but the bare, dry stubble which stood up out of the frozen ground. The stubble was quite a forest for her to walk about in: oh, how she shook with the cold. Then she came to the door of a field-mouse's home. It was a little hole down under the stubble. The field-mouse lived so cosily and warm there, her whole room was full of corn, and she had a beautiful kitchen and larder besides. Poor Thumbelina stood just inside the door like any other poor beggar child and begged for a little piece of barley corn, for she had had nothing to eat for two whole days. 

        "You poor little thing," said the field-mouse, for she was at bottom a good old field-mouse. "Come into my warm room and dine with me." Then, as she took a fancy to Thumbelina, she said, "You may with pleasure stay with me for the winter, but you must keep my room clean and tidy and tell me stories, for I am very fond of them," and Thumbelina did what the good old field-mouse desired and was on the whole very comfortable. 

        "Now we shall soon have a visitor," said the field-mouse; "my neighbor generally comes to see me every week-day. He is even better housed than I am; his rooms are very large, and he wears a most beautiful black velvet coat; if only you could get him for husband you would indeed be well settled, but he can't see. You must tell him all the most beautiful stories you know." 

        But Thumbelina did not like this, and she would have nothing to say to the neighbor, for he was a mole. He came and paid a visit in his black velvet coat. He was very rich and wise, said the field-mouse, and his home was twenty times as large as hers; and he had much learning, but he did not like the sun or the beautiful flowers, in fact he spoke slightingly of them, for he had never seen them. Thumbelina had to sing to him, and she sang both "Fly away, cockchafer" and "A monk, he wandered through the meadow," then the mole fell in love with her because of her sweet voice, but he did not say anything, for he was of a discreet turn of mind. 

        He had just made a long tunnel through the ground from his house to theirs, and he gave the field-mouse and Thumbelina leave to walk in it whenever they liked. He told them not to be afraid of the dead bird which was lying in the passage. It was a whole bird with feathers and beak which had probably died quite recently at the beginning of the winter and was now entombed just where he had made his tunnel. 

        The mole took a piece of tinder-wood in his mouth, for that shines like fire in the dark, and walked in front of them to light them in the long dark passage; when they came to the place where the dead bird lay, the mole thrust his broad nose up to the roof and pushed the earth up so as to make a big hole through which the daylight shone. In the middle of the floor lay a dead swallow, with its pretty wings closely pressed to its sides, and the legs and head drawn in under the feathers; no doubt the poor bird had died of cold. Thumbelina was so sorry for it; she loved all the little birds, for they had twittered and sung so sweetly to her during the whole summer; but the mole kicked it with his short legs and said, "Now it will pipe no more! It must be a miserable fate to be born a little bird! Thank heaven! no child of mine can be a bird; a bird like that has nothing but its twitter and dies of hunger in the winter." 

        "Yes, as a sensible man, you may well say that," said the field-mouse. "What has a bird for all its twittering when the cold weather comes.  It has to hunger and freeze, but then it must cut a dash." 

        Thumbelina did not say anything, but when the others turned their backs to the bird, she stooped down and stroked aside the feathers which lay over its head, and kissed its closed eyes. "Perhaps it was this very bird which sang so sweetly to me in the summer," she thought; "what pleasure it gave me, the dear pretty bird."

        The mole now closed up the hole which let in the daylight and conducted the ladies to their home. Thumbelina could not sleep at all in the night, so she got up out of her bed and plaited a large handsome mat of hay and then she carried it down and spread it all over the dead bird, and laid some soft cotton wool which she had found in the field-mouse's room close round its sides, so that it might have a warm bed on the cold ground. 

        "Good-bye, you sweet little bird," said she, "good-bye, and thank you for your sweet song through the summer when all the trees were green and the sun shone warmly upon us." Then she laid her head close up to the bird's breast, but was quite startled at a sound, as if something was thumping inside it. It was the bird's heart. It was not dead but lay in a swoon, and now that it had been warmed it began to revive.  

The fairy prince renames Thumbelina, "May."

       In the autumn all the swallows fly away to warm countries, but if one happens to be belated, it feels the cold so much that it falls down like a dead thing, and remains lying where it falls till the snow covers it up. Thumbelina quite shook with fright, for the bird was very, very big beside her, who was only one inch high; but she gathered up her courage, packed the wool closer round the poor bird, and fetched a leaf of mint which she had herself for a, coverlet, and laid it over the bird's head. The next night she stole down again to it and found it alive but so feeble that it could only just open its eyes for a moment to look at Thumbelina who stood with a bit of tinder- wood in her hand, for she had no other lantern.

        "Many, many thanks, you sweet child," said the sick swallow to her; "you have warmed me beautifully. I shall soon have strength to fly out into the warm sun again." 

        "Oh!" said she, "it is so cold outside, it snows and freezes, stay in your warm bed, I will tend you." Then she brought water to the swallow in a leaf, and when it had drunk some it told her how it had torn its wing on a blackthorn bush, and therefore could not fly as fast as the other swallows which were taking flight then for the distant warm lands. At last it fell down on the ground, but after that it remembered nothing and did not in the least know how it had got into the tunnel.

        It stayed there all the winter, and Thumbelina was good to it and grew very fond of it. She did not tell either the mole or the field-mouse anything about it, for they did not like the poor unfortunate swallow. 

        As soon as the spring came and the warmth of the sun penetrated the ground, the swallow said good-bye to Thumbelina, who opened the hole which the mole had made above. The sun streamed in deliciously upon them, and the swallow asked if she would not go with him; she could sit upon his back and they would fly far away into the green wood. But Thumbelina knew that it would grieve the old field-mouse if she left her like that. 

       'No, I can't," said Thumbelina. 

        "Good-bye, good-bye, then, you kind pretty girl," said the swallow, and flew out into the sunshine. Thumbelina looked after him and her eyes filled with tears, for she was very fond of the poor swallow. 

        "Tweet, tweet," sang the bird, and flew into the green wood. 

        Thumbelina was very sad. She was not allowed to go out into the warm sunshine at all; the corn which was sown in the field near the field-mouse's house grew quite long; it was a thick forest for the poor little girl who was only an inch high. 

        "You must work at your trousseau this summer," said the field-mouse to her, for their neighbor the tiresome mole in his black velvet coat had asked her to marry him. "You shall have both woolen and linen, you shall have wherewith to clothe and cover yourself when you become the mole's wife." Thumbelina had to turn the distaff and the field-mouse hired four spiders to spin and weave day and night. The mole paid a visit every evening, and he was always saying that when the summer came to an end the sun would not shine nearly so warmly, now it burnt the ground as hard as a stone. Yes, when the summer was over he would celebrate his marriage; but Thumbelina was not at all pleased, for she did not care a bit for the tiresome mole. Every morning at sunrise and every evening at sunset she used to steal out to the door, and when the wind blew aside the tops of the cornstalks so that she could see the blue sky, she thought how bright and lovely it was out there, and wished so much to see the dear swallow again; but it never came back; no doubt it was a long way off, flying about in the beautiful green woods. 

        When the autumn came all Thumbelina's outfit was ready.    

        "In four weeks you must be married," said the field- mouse to her. But Thumbelina cried and said that she would not have the tiresome mole for a husband. 

        "Fiddle-dee-dee," said the field-mouse: "don't be obstinate or I shall bite you with my white tooth. You are going to have a splendid husband; the queen herself hasn't the equal of his black velvet coat; both his kitchen and his cellar are full. You should thank heaven for such a husband!" 

        So they were to be married; the mole had come to fetch Thumbelina; she was to live deep down under the ground with him, and never to go out into the warm sunshine, for he could not bear it. The poor child was very sad at the thought of bidding good-bye to the beautiful sun; while she had been with the field-mouse she had at least been allowed to look at it from the door. "Good-bye, you bright sun," she said as she stretched out her arms toward it and went a little way outside the field- mouse's house, for now the harvest was over and only the stubble remained. 

        "Good-bye, good-bye!" she said, and threw her tiny arms round a little red flower growing there. "Give my love to the dear swallow if you happen to see him." 

        "Tweet, tweet," she heard at this moment above her head. She looked up; it was the swallow just passing. As soon as it saw Thumbelina it was delighted; she told it how unwilling she was to have the ugly mole for a husband, and that she was to live deep down underground where the sun never shone. She could not help crying about it. 

        "The cold winter is coming," said the swallow, "and I am going to fly away to warm countries. Will you go with me? You can sit upon my back! Tie yourself on with your sash; then we will fly away from the ugly mole and his dark cavern, far away over the mountains to those warm countries where the sun shines with greater splendor than here, where it is always summer and there are heaps of flowers. Do fly with me, you sweet little Thumbelina, who saved my life when I lay frozen in the dark earthy passage." 

        "Yes, I will go with you," said Thumbelina, seating her- self on the bird's back, with her feet on its outspread wings.  She tied her band tightly to one of the strongest feathers, and then the swallow flew away, high up in the air above forests and lakes, high up above the biggest mountains where the snow never melts; and Thumbelina shivered in the cold air, but then she crept under the bird's warm feathers, and only stuck out her little head to look at the beautiful sights beneath her. 

        Then at last they reached the warm countries. The sun shone with a warmer glow than here; the sky was twice as high, and the most beautiful green and blue grapes grew in clusters on the banks and hedgerows. Oranges and lemons hung in the woods, which were fragrant with myrtles and sweet herbs, and beautiful children ran about the roads play- ing with the large gorgeously colored butterflies. But the swallow flew on and on, and the country grew more and more beautiful. Under magnificent green trees on the shores of the blue sea stood a dazzling white marble palace of ancient date; vines wreathed themselves round the stately pillars. At the head of these there were countless nests, and the swallow who carried Thumbelina lived in one of them. 

        "Here is my house," said the swallow; "but if you will choose one of the gorgeous flowers growing down there, I will place you in it, and you will live as happily as you can wish." 

        "That would be delightful," she said, and clapped her little hands.

        A great white marble column had fallen to the ground and lay there broken in three pieces, but between these the most lovely white flowers grew. The swallow flew down with Thumbelina and put her upon one of the broad leaves; what was her astonishment to find a little man in the middle of the flower, as bright and transparent as if he had been made of glass. He had a lovely golden crown upon his head and the most beautiful bright wings upon his shoulders; he was no bigger than Thumbelina. He was the angel of the flowers. There was a similar little man or woman in every flower, but he was the king of them all. 

        "Heavens, how beautiful he is," whispered Thumbelina to the swallow. The little prince was quite frightened by the swallow, for it was a perfect giant of a bird to him, he who was so small and delicate, but when he saw Thumbelina he was delighted; she was the very prettiest girl he had ever seen. He therefore took the golden crown off his own head and placed it on hers, and asked her name, and if she would be his wife, and then she would be queen of the flowers! Yes, he was certainly a very different kind of husband from the toad's son, or the mole with his black velvet coat. So she accepted the beautiful prince, and out of every flower stepped a little lady or a gentleman so lovely that it was a pleasure to look at them. Each one brought a gift to Thumbelina, but the best of all was a pair of pretty wings from a large white fly; they were fastened on to her back, and then she too could fly from flower to flower. All was then delight and happiness, but the swallow sat alone in his nest and sang to them as well as he could, for his heart was heavy, he was so fond of Thumbelina himself, and would have wished never to part from her.

        "You shall not be called Thumbelina," said the angel of the flower to her; "that is such an ugly name, and you are so pretty. "We will call you May."

        "Good-bye, good-bye," said the swallow, and flew away again from the warm countries, far away back to Denmark; there he had a little nest above the window where the man lived who wrote this story, and he sang his "tweet, tweet," to the man, and so we have the whole story. by Hans Christian Andersen.

• Watch the "Thumbelina" movie in English here at the GEM: Film Library
• Read "The Little Mermaid" another fairytale by Hans Christian Andersen

Maid Maleen

The Prince marries his true bride.

       There was once a King who had a son who asked in marriage the daughter of a mighty King. She was called Maid Maleen, and was very beautiful. As her father wished to give her to another, the Prince was rejected. But since they both loved each other with all their hearts, they would not give each other up, and Maid Maleen said to her father, "I can and will take no other for my husband." 

        Then the King flew into a passion, and ordered a dark tower to be built, into which no ray of sunlight or moonlight should enter. When it was finished, he said, "Therein shall you be imprisoned for seven years, and then I will come and see if your perverse spirit is broken." 

        Meat and drink for the seven years were carried into the tower; and then she and her waiting-woman were led into it and walled up, and thus cut off from the sky and from the earth. There they sat in the darkness, and knew not when day or night began.

        The King's Son often went round and round the tower, and called their names, but no sound from without pierced through the thick walls. What else could they do but lament and complain? Meanwhile, the time passed, and by the small amount of food and drink left they knew that the seven years were coming to an end. They thought the moment of their deliverance was come. But no stroke of the hammer was heard, no stone fell out of the wall, and it seemed to Maid Maleen that her father had forgotten her. 

        As they had food for only a short time longer, and saw a miserable death awaiting them, Maid Maleen said, "We must try our last chance, and see if we can break through the wall." She took the bread-knife, and picked and bored at the mortar of a stone, and when she was tired, the waiting-maid took her turn. With great labor they succeeded in getting out one stone, then a second, and third. And when three days were over, the first ray of light fell on their darkness, and at last the opening was so large that they could look out. 

        The sky was blue, and a fresh breeze played on their faces; but how melancholy everything looked all around! Her father's castle lay in ruins, the town and the villages were, so far as could be seen, destroyed by fire, the fields far and wide laid to waste, and no human being was visible. 

        When the opening in the wall was large enough for them to slip through, the waiting-maid sprang down first, and then Maid Maleen followed. But where were they to go? The enemy had ravaged the whole kingdom, driven away the King, and slain all the inhabitants. 

        They wandered forth to seek another country, but nowhere did they find a shelter, or a human being to give them a mouthful of bread. Their need was so great that they were forced to appease their hunger with nettle-plants. When, after long journeying, they came into another country, they tried to get work everywhere. But wherever they knocked they were turned away, and no one would have pity on them.

        At last they arrived in a large city and went to the royal palace. There also they were ordered to go away, but at last the cook said that they might stay in the kitchen and be scullions. The King's Son in whose kingdom they were, was, however, the very man who had been betrothed to Maid Maleen. His father had chosen another Bride for him, whose face was as ugly as her heart was wicked.

        The wedding was fixed, and the girl had already arrived. Because of her great ugliness, however, she shut herself in her room, and allowed no one to see her, and Maid Maleen had to take her her meals from the kitchen. When the day came for the Bride and the Bridegroom to go to church, she was ashamed of her ugliness, and afraid that if she showed herself in the streets, she would be mocked and laughed at by the people. Then said she to Maid Maleen, "A great piece of luck has befallen you. I have sprained my foot, and cannot walk through the streets. You shall put on my wedding-clothes and take my place. A greater honor than that you cannot have."

       Maid Maleen, however, refused it, and said, "I wish for no honor which is not suitable for me." It was in vain, too, that the Bride offered her gold. At last she said angrly "If you do not obey me, it shall cost you your life. I have but to speak the word, and your head will lie at your feet." 

        Then she was forced to obey, and put on the Bride's magnificent clothes and all her jewels. When she entered the royal hall, every one was amazed at her great beauty, and the King said to his son, "This is the Bride whom I have chosen for you, and whom you must lead to church." 

        The Bridegroom was astonished, and thought, "She is like my Maid Maleen, and I should believe that it was she herself, but she has long been shut up in the tower or dead." He took her by the hand and led her to church. 

        On the way was a nettle-plant, and the maiden said: "Nettle-plant, Nettle-plant, Nettle-plant so small! What are you doing here, Alone by the wall if I have the time known, When unroasted, unboiled, I ate thee alone!" 

        "What are you saying?" asked the King's Son. 

        "Nothing," she replied, "I was only thinking of Maid Maleen." He was surprised that she knew about her, but kept silence. When they came to the 'foot-plank into the churchyard, she said: "Foot-bridge, break not, I am not the true Bride." 

        "What are you saying there?" asked the King's Son. 

        "Nothing," she replied, " I was only thinking of Maid Maleen." When they came to the church-door, she said once more: "Church-door, break not, I am not the true Bride." 

        "What are you saying there? " asked he.

        "Ah," she answered, " I was only thinking of Maid Maleen." 

        Then he took out a precious chain, put it round her neck, and fastened the clasp. Thereupon they entered the church, and the priest joined their hands together before the altar, and married them. He led her home, but she did not speak a single word the whole way. When they got back to the royal palace, she hurried into the Bride's chamber, put off the magnificent clothes and the jewels, dressed herself in her gray gown, and kept nothing but the jewel on her neck, which she had received from the Bridegroom. 

        When the night came, and the ugly Bride was to be led into the apartment of the King's Son, she let her veil fall over her face, that he might not observe the deception. As soon as every one had gone away, he said to her, "What did you say to the nettle-plant which was growing by the way-side?" 

        "To which nettle-plant? " asked she; "I don't talk to nettle- plants." 

        "If you did not do it, then you are not the true Bride," said he. 

        So she bethought herself, and said: "I must go my maid to see, Who keeps my secret thoughts for me." She went out and sought Maid Maleen. "Girl, what have you been saying to the nettle? " 

        "I said nothing but: "Nettle-plant, Nettle-plant, Nettle-plant so small! What are you doing here, Alone by the wall? I have the time known, When unroasted, unboiled, I ate thee alone!" 

        The ugly Bride ran back into the chamber, and said, " I know now what I said to the nettle," and she repeated the words which she had just heard. 

        "But what did you say to the foot-bridge when we went over it? " asked the King's Son. 

        "To the foot-bridge?" she answered. "I don't talk to foot-bridges." 

        "Then you are not the true Bride." She again said: "I must go my maid to see, Who keeps my secret thoughts for me," and ran out and found Maid Maleen. " Girl, what did you say to the foot-bridge?" 

        "I said nothing but: "Foot-bridge, break not, I am not the true Bride." 

        "That costs you your life!" cried the ugly Bride, but she hurried into the room, and said, "I know now what I said to the foot-bridge," and she repeated the words. 

        "But what did you say to the church-door? " 

        "To the church-door? " she replied; " I don't talk to church- doors." 

        " Then you are not the true Bride." 

        She went out and found Maid Maleen, and said, "Girl, what did you say to the church-door?"

        "I said nothing but: "Church-door, break not, I am not the true Bride." 

       "That will break your neck for you! "cried the Bride, and flew into a terrible passion, but she hastened back into the room, and said, "I know now what I said to the church-door," and she repeated the words." 

        But where have you the jewel which I gave you at the church-door?" 

        "What jewel?" she answered; "you did not give me any jewel." 

        "I myself put it round your neck, and I myself fastened it. If you do not know that, you are not the true Bride." He drew the veil from her face, and when he saw her ugliness, he sprang back terrified, and said, "How come you here? Who are you? " 

        "I am your betrothed Bride, but because I feared lest the people should mock me when they saw me out of doors, I commanded the scullery-maid to dress herself in my clothes, and to go to church instead of me." 

        "Where is the girl? " said he; "I want to see her, go and bring her here." She went out and told the servants that the scullery-maid was an impostor, and that they must take her out into the courtyard and strike off her head. The servants laid hold of Maid Maleen and wanted to drag her out, but she screamed so loudly for help, that the King's Son heard her voice, hurried out of his chamber and ordered them to set the maiden free. Lights were brought, and then he saw on her neck the gold chain which he had given her at the church-door. ' 'You are the true Bride," said he," who went with me to church. Come with me now to my room." When they were both alone, he said, "On the way to the church you did name Maid Maleen, who was my betrothed Bride. If I could believe it possible, I should think she was standing before me — you are like her in every respect." 

        She answered, "I am Maid Maleen, who for your sake was imprisoned seven years in the darkness, who suffered hunger and thirst, and has lived so long in want and poverty. Today, however, the sun is shining on me once more. I was married to you in the church, and I am your lawful wife." 

        Then they kissed each other, and were happy all the days of their lives. The false Bride was rewarded for what she had done by having her head cut off. The tower in which Maid Maleen had been imprisoned remained standing for a long time, and when the children passed by it, they sang:

 

"Eling, klang, gloria.

 Who sits within this tower? 

 A King's Daughter, she sits within, 

 A sight of her I cannot win, 

 The wall it will not break, 

 The stone cannot be pierced. 

 Little Hans, with your coat so gay, 

 Follow me, follow me, 

 fast as you may.