The wicked witch gave the step-mother some poisoned slippers. "These will cause the immediate death of any person who puts them on," said the wicked witch. Then she showed the step-mother just how to reach the palace where Angelita lived in the depths of the jungle with the three giants.

Angelita's step-mother followed the directions which the witch had given her and easily found the giants' palace. Angelita was so happy living with the giants and keeping house for them that she had forgotten what fear was like. She was not frightened at all when she heard some one clap hands before the door one day when the giants were away. She went to the door; and, though she was very much surprised to see her step-mother, she invited her into the house. Her step-mother gave her a loving embrace and kissed her upon both cheeks. "Dear child, it is a long time since I have seen you," she said. "I have brought you a little gift to show you that I have not forgotten you.

It is only a poor, mean little gift, but it is the best I could bring."

Angelita was touched at her step-mother's gift and accepted it with hearty thanks. As soon as her step-mother had gone she untied the red ribbon around the package and opened it. Inside was a pair of leather slippers. Angelita looked at the little slippers. They were like the slippers which her dear father, the image-maker, had once brought home to her. "How kind it was in my step-mother to bring these slippers to me," she said as she put them on.

As soon as the slippers were on Angelita's feet, she fell dead just as the wicked witch had promised the step-mother she would do. Her step-mother was watching through the window, and when she saw Angelita dead she hurried home in joy. "Now I, alone, am the peerless beauty,"

she said.

When the three giants came home to dinner they knew at once that there was something wrong. There were dirty tracks on the floor and dirty finger prints upon the door. "Who made these dirty marks?" said the biggest giant.

"What has happened to our dear little sister that she has not cleaned them away?" asked the middle-sized giant.

"I am afraid there is something wrong with little sister," said the littlest giant who was not little at all.

They clapped their big hands before the door, but no smiling little sister ran to meet them. They entered the big hall of the palace with a bound. There in the middle of the floor lay Angelita, just as she had fallen when she put on the poisoned slippers which her step-mother had given her.

"What evil, has befallen our dear little sister?" said the biggest giant.

"Who could have slain our little sister whom we loved so much?" said the middle-sized giant.

"Who will keep house for us now that our dear little sister is dead?"

asked the littlest giant.

Then the biggest giant and the middle-sized giant and the littlest giant all began to sob so loud that it shook the earth. "Our dear little sister is dead! What shall we do! What shall we do!"

The giants could not go into the city to give their little sister Christian burial, but they built a beautiful casket out of silver and carried it to the path which led to the city. Then they hid themselves to watch and make sure that some one found it to carry to the burying place.

Soon a handsome prince pa.s.sed by on horseback. He noticed the silver casket at once and opened it. The girl whose still form lay inside was the most beautiful maid he had ever gazed upon. "This dead maid is my own true love," he said and he carried the silver casket home to his own palace.

He commanded that no one should enter the room where he placed the silver casket, and this aroused the curiosity of his little sister at once. At the very first opportunity she slipped into the room. She opened the casket and was surprised to see the beautiful quiet maid.

"You are very lovely," she said to the still form, "all except your slippers. I think they are very ugly." With these words she pulled off the leather slippers.

Angelita gave a deep sigh, opened her beautiful eyes, and asked for a drink of water.

The little sister called the prince at once. When he saw Angelita was really alive he could hardly believe the good fortune. He asked that the wedding night be celebrated immediately.

Angelita begged that she might go back into the deep jungle and invite the three giants to the wedding. The biggest giant, the middle-sized giant, and the littlest giant who was not little at all, came to the wedding feast. After that they visited their little sister often at her new home; and, when she had children of her own, it was the funniest sight one ever saw to see the biggest giant hold the tiny babes upon his knee.

VI

THE FOREST LAD AND THE WICKED GIANT

Once upon a time there was a man who took his wife and tiny baby son into the deep forest to make their home. With his own hands he built the house out of mud, and he made for it a thatched roof from the gra.s.s of the forest. For food they depended upon the fruits of the forest and the beasts which they killed in the hunt. They lived like hermits, seeing no one.

As the baby son grew into a large strong boy he learned from his father all the secrets of the forest. He grew wise as well as strong.

From his mother he heard stories of their former life in the great city which had been their home before they went to live in the forest.

These were the tales he loved to hear best of all. Very often when his father went out into the forest to hunt the boy would beg to remain at home with his mother. While his father was away she would sit on the ground before their hut and unfold to the boy all her memories of their old life.

"Father," said the lad one day after his father had returned from his hunting trip, "I am tired of living here in the forest all by ourselves. Let us return to the city to live."

"Your mother has been telling tales to you," replied his father. "I will see to it that she never mentions the city to you again. We left the city to save our lives. Let me never hear from you another word about returning to the city."

After that the lad was made to accompany his father when he went out hunting. There was no more opportunity to hear the tales he loved from his mother's lips. Nevertheless he hid away in his mind all that his mother had told him of their old life; and at night, when the fierce storms in the forest or the sound of the wild beasts would not let him sleep, he often lay awake upon his mat on the floor of the hut, pondering over the stories she had told.

At last the father grew sick of a fever and died. Now that the lad and his mother were left alone in the forest the lad said, "Come, let us return to our home in the city. Let us not stay here alone in the forest any longer. I must live in my own life the tales you have told me of the _festas_ and the dancing, the great tournaments, and the songs at night under the balconies of the fair maidens."

The lad's request was so urgent that his mother could not have refused him, even if she, in her own heart, was not longing for a return to the life of the city. Accordingly, they took all their possessions, which consisted only of a horse and a sword, and set out for the city.

The lad and his mother reached the city at nightfall. They went from one street to another, but saw no living being. They knocked and clapped their hands before all the doors of the city, but no one responded. At last they reached the street where their old home had been. The lad was delighted to see what a big handsome house it was.

"No wonder my mother longed to return to a home like this," he thought. "How could she ever have endured the rude hut in the depths of the forest?"

The doors of the beautiful house stood wide open. The lad and his mother entered, and pa.s.sed from one room to another. His mother saw one room after another with everything unchanged. She recognized one object after another just as she had left it. There was one room in the house which was securely barred on the inside, however.

The lad and his mother spent the night in their old home. In the morning they again walked about the deserted streets of the city. They saw no one and heard no living sound. It was like a city of the dead.

They grew hungry at length; and the lad went outside the city to seek for food in the forest, according to the custom which he had known all his life.

The mother returned to her old home to await the coming of her son. As soon as she went upstairs she saw that the barred door was wide open.

There in the hall stood the most enormous giant she had ever seen. The great halls of the house were high, but the giant could not stand up in them without stooping.

[Ill.u.s.tration: There in the hall stood the most enormous giant she had ever seen]

"Who are you and what are you doing in my house?" roared the giant in such a terrible voice that the house trembled.

The woman who had lived so many years in the forest was not easily frightened. "Who are you and what are you doing in my house?" she shouted at the giant in the loudest tones she could muster.

One might have expected that the giant would have killed her instantly, but on the contrary her bold answer pleased him exceedingly. He laughed so hard that he had to lean against the wall to keep from falling.

"So you think that this is your house, do you?" said the giant as soon as he could regain his voice. "Well, I'll tell you what we can do. I like you, and we can share this house if you will consent to be my wife."

"I am not alone," said the lad's mother as soon as she could recover from her surprise sufficiently to find words. "My son is with me and I am expecting him any moment to return from the forest whither he has gone to procure food for us."

"I can dispose of your son very quickly, just as I have destroyed all the inhabitants of this city," said the giant with a frown.

"You cannot dispose of my son so easily as you may think," replied his mother. "He has grown in the deep forest and is very strong, far stronger than the city dwellers. Besides his great strength, he is surrounded by the magic circle of his mother's love."

"I do not know what the magic circle of a mother's love is like," said the giant. "I don't remember having seen one anywhere. Nevertheless I like you, and because I like you I will endeavour to dispose of your son as painlessly as possible. I believe you say you are expecting him any moment. Just lie down here and pretend that you are sick. When the boy comes in tell him that you have a terrible pain in your eyes. As you have lived long in the forest you will know that the best remedy for a pain in your eyes is the oil of the deadly _cobra_ of the jungle. Send the lad out into the jungle to obtain this oil for you, and I promise you he will never return alive. I'll go back into my room and bar the door so the boy will never see me, but I shall listen through the wall to know whether you carry out my command."

At that very moment they heard the lad's footsteps and his gay voice at the door. The giant went inside his room and barred the door. The lad's mother lay down with a cloth over her eyes, moaning in loud tones. "The giant little knows the strength and skill of the lad whose mother I am," she said to herself as she smiled amidst her moans and groans.

"O dear little mother, what evil has befallen you during my absence?"

asked the boy as he entered the room.

His mother complained of the pain in her eyes just as the giant had instructed. "The only thing which will cure me of this terrible affliction is the oil of the _cobra_," she said.