room; so she just opened the door a tiny bit, when--POP! out flew the
Sun.

But when her foster-mother came back and saw that the sun had flown
away, she was cut to the heart, and said, 'Now, there was no help for
it, the lassie must and should go away; she couldn't hear of her
staying any longer.' Now the lassie cried her eyes out, and begged
and prayed so prettily; but it was all no good.

'Nay! but I must punish you!' said her foster-mother; 'but you may
have your choice, either to be the loveliest woman in the world, and
not to be able to speak, or to keep your speech, and be the ugliest
of all women; but away from me you must go.'

And the lassie said, 'I would sooner be lovely.' So she became all at
once wondrous fair; but from that day forth she was dumb.

So, when she went away from her foster-mother, she walked and
wandered through a great, great wood; but the farther she went, the
farther off the end seemed to be. So, when the evening came on, she
clomb up into a tall tree, which grew over a spring, and there she
made herself up to sleep that night. Close by lay a castle, and from
that castle came early every morning a maid to draw water to make the
Prince's tea, from the spring over which the lassie was sitting. So
the maid looked down into the spring, saw the lovely face in the
water, and thought it was her own; then she flung away the pitcher,
and ran home; and, when she got there, she tossed up her head and
said, 'If I'm so pretty, I'm far too good to go and fetch water.'

So another maid had to go for the water, but the same thing happened