Page:Granny's Wonderful Chair 1857.pdf/66

hair? They had thinned his oaks every year, cutting firewood for the poor: so the king met them in the likeness of a hunter, and asked them to drink out of his oaken goblet, because the day was warm; and when the two lords drank, they forgot their lands and their tenants, their castles and their children, and minded nothing in all this world but the planting of acorns, which they do day and night, by the power of the spell, in the heart of the forest, and will never cease till some one makes them pause in their work before the sun sets, and then the spell will be broken.’

“‘Ah!’ said Lady Greensleeves, ‘he is a great prince, that king of the forest fairies; and there is worse work in the world than planting acorns.’

“Soon after, the bear, the cat, and the raven, bade Lady Greensleeves good night. She closed the door, put out the light, and went to sleep on the soft moss as usual.

“In the morning Loveleaves told Woodwender what she had heard, and they went to Lady Greensleeves where she milked the does, and said—

“‘We heard what the raven told last night, and we know the two lords are our fathers: tell us how the spell may be broken!’

“‘I fear the king of the forest fairies,’ said Lady