But the roses would shake their heads, and say,"Eliza is." And when the old woman sat at the cottage door onSunday, and read her hymn-book, the wind would flutter the leaves, andsay to the book, "Who can be more pious than you?" and then thehymn-book would answer "Eliza." And the roses and the hymn-book toldthe real truth. At fifteen she returned home, but when the queen sawhow beautiful she was, she became full of spite and hatred towardsher. Willingly would she have turned her into a swan, like herbrothers, but she did not dare to do so yet, because the king wishedto see his daughter. Early one morning the queen went into thebath-room; it was built of marble, and had soft cushions, trimmed withthe most beautiful tapestry. She took three toads with her, and kissedthem, and said to one, "When Eliza comes to the bath, seat yourselfupon her head, that she may become as stupid as you are." Then shesaid to another, "Place yourself on her forehead, that she maybecome as ugly as you are, and that her father may not know her.""Rest on her heart," she whispered to the third, "then she will haveevil inclinations, and suffer in consequence." So she put the toadsinto the clear water, and they turned green immediately. She nextcalled Eliza, and helped her to undress and get into the bath. AsEliza dipped her head under the water, one of the toads sat on herhair, a second on her forehead, and a third on her breast, but she didnot seem to notice them, and when she rose out of the water, therewere three red poppies floating upon it. Had not the creatures beenvenomous or been kissed by the witch, they would have been changedinto red roses. At all events they became flowers, because they hadrested on Eliza's head, and on her heart. She was too good and tooinnocent for witchcraft to have any power over her. When the wickedqueen saw this, she rubbed her face with walnut-juice, so that she wasquite brown; then she tangled her beautiful hair and smeared it withdisgusting ointment, till it was quite impossible to recognize thebeautiful Eliza.
  When her father saw her, he was much shocked, and declared she wasnot his daughter. No one but the watch-dog and the swallows knewher; and they were only poor animals, and could say nothing. Then poorEliza wept, and thought of her eleven brothers, who were all away.Sorrowfully, she stole away from the palace, and walked, the wholeday, over fields and moors, till she came to the great forest. Sheknew not in what direction to go; but she was so unhappy, and longedso for her brothers, who had been, like herself, driven out into theworld, that she was determined to seek them. She had been but ashort time in the wood when night came on, and she quite lost thepath; so she laid herself down on the soft moss, offered up herevening prayer, and leaned her head against the stump of a tree. Allnature was still, and the soft, mild air fanned her forehead. Thelight of hundreds of glow-worms shone amidst the grass and the moss,like green fire; and if she touched a twig with her hand, ever solightly, the brilliant insects fell down around her, likeshooting-stars.
  All night long she dreamt of her brothers. She and they werechildren again, playing together. She saw them writing with theirdiamond pencils on golden slates, while she looked at the beautifulpicture-book which had cost half a kingdom. They were not writinglines and letters, as they used to do; but descriptions of the nobledeeds they had performed, and of all they had discovered and seen.In the picture-book, too, everything was living. The birds sang, andthe people came out of the book, and spoke to Eliza and herbrothers; but, as the leaves turned over, they darted back again totheir places, that all might be in order.
  When she awoke, the sun was high in the heavens; yet she could notsee him, for the lofty trees spread their branches thickly over herhead; but his beams were glancing through the leaves here and there,like a golden mist. There was a sweet fragrance from the fresh greenverdure, and the birds almost perched upon her shoulders. She heardwater rippling from a number of springs, all flowing in a lake withgolden sands. Bushes grew thickly round the lake, and at one spot anopening had been made by a deer, through which Eliza went down tothe water. The lake was so clear that, had not the wind rustled thebranches of the trees and the bushes, so that they moved, they wouldhave appeared as if painted in the depths of the lake; for everyleaf was reflected in the water, whether it stood in the shade orthe sunshine. As soon as Eliza saw her own face, she was quiteterrified at finding it so brown and ugly; but when she wetted herlittle hand, and rubbed her eyes and forehead, the white skingleamed forth once more; and, after she had undressed, and dippedherself in the fresh water, a more beautiful king's daughter could notbe found in the wide world. As soon as she had dressed herselfagain, and braided her long hair, she went to the bubbling spring, anddrank some water out of the hollow of her hand. Then she wanderedfar into the forest, not knowing whither she went. She thought ofher brothers, and felt sure that God would not forsake her. It isGod who makes the wild apples grow in the wood, to satisfy the hungry,and He now led her to one of these trees, which was so loaded withfruit, that the boughs bent beneath the weight. Here she held hernoonday repast, placed props under the boughs, and then went intothe gloomiest depths of the forest. It was so still that she couldhear the sound of her own footsteps, as well as the rustling ofevery withered leaf which she crushed under her feet. Not a bird wasto be seen, not a sunbeam could penetrate through the large, darkboughs of the trees. Their lofty trunks stood so close together, that,when she looked before her, it seemed as if she were enclosed withintrellis-work. Such solitude she had never known before. The nightwas very dark. Not a single glow-worm glittered in the moss.
  Sorrowfully she laid herself down to sleep; and, after a while, itseemed to her as if the branches of the trees parted over her head,and that the mild eyes of angels looked down upon her from heaven.When she awoke in the morning, she knew not whether she had dreamtthis, or if it had really been so. Then she continued her wandering;but she had not gone many steps forward, when she met an old womanwith berries in her basket, and she gave her a few to eat. ThenEliza asked her if she had not seen eleven princes riding throughthe forest.
  "No," replied the old woman, "But I saw yesterday eleven swans,with gold crowns on their heads, swimming on the river close by." Thenshe led Eliza a little distance farther to a sloping bank, and atthe foot of it wound a little river. The trees on its banksstretched their long leafy branches across the water towards eachother, and where the growth prevented them from meeting naturally, theroots had torn themselves away from the ground, so that the branchesmight mingle their foliage as they hung over the water. Eliza bade theold woman farewell, and walked by the flowing river, till shereached the shore of the open sea. And there, before the youngmaiden's eyes, lay the glorious ocean, but not a sail appeared onits surface, not even a boat could be seen. How was she to go farther?