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Little by little everything in the village grew better. The fever went, and the thick fogs cleared away; the cottages were rebuilt, and fresh rains fell and revived the parched grass. Still, though all soon looked bright and cheerful as ever, the people knew that it could never be the same as before the old man came to it. They knew that the charm was broken, and that theirs was no better than all the other villages in the world, But it always was a very happy home to Siegfrid, who, when he grew up, was the village shoemaker, and married Handa, and lived happily to the end of his days.