The father became alarmed, and promised to obey him. So he went to the girl and said, my child, if I do not cut off both your hands, the devil will carry me away, and in my terror I have promised to do it. Help me in my need, and forgive me the harm I do you. She replied, dear father, do with me what you will, I am your child. Thereupon she laid down both her hands, and let them be cut off. The devil came for the third time, but she had wept so long and so much on the stumps, that after all they were quite clean. Then he had to give in, and had lost all right over her.
The miller said to her, I have by means of you received such great wealth that I will keep you most handsomely as long as you live. But she replied, here I cannot stay, I will go forth, compassionate people will give me as much as I require.
Thereupon she caused her maimed arms to be bound to her back, and by sunrise she set out on her way, and walked the whole day until night fell. Then she came to a royal garden, and by the shimmering of the moon she saw that trees covered with beautiful fruits grew in it, but she could not enter, for it was surrounded by water.
And as she had walked the whole day and not eaten one mouthful, and hunger tormented her, she thought, ah, if I were but inside, that I might eat of the fruit, else must I die of hunger. Then she knelt down, called on God the Lord, and prayed. And suddenly an angel came towards her, who made a dam in the water, so that the moat became dry and she could walk through it. And now she went into the garden and the angel went with her. She saw a tree covered with beautiful pears, but they were all counted. Then she went to them, and to still her hunger, ate one with her mouth from the tree, but no more. The gardener was watching, but as the angel was standing by, he was afraid and thought the maiden was a spirit, and was silent, neither did he dare to cry out, or to speak to the spirit. When she had eaten the pear, she was satisfied, and went and concealed herself among the bushes. The king to whom the garden belonged, came down to it next morning, and counted, and saw that one of the pears was missing, and asked the gardener what had become of it, as it was not lying beneath the tree, but was gone. Then answered the gardener, last night, a spirit came in, who had no hands, and ate off one of the pears with its mouth. The king said, how did the spirit get over the water, and where did it go after it had eaten the pear. The gardener answered, someone came in a snow-white garment from heaven who made a dam, and kept back the water, that the spirit might walk through the moat.
And as it must have been an angel, I was afraid, and asked no questions, and did not cry out. When the spirit had eaten the pear, it went back again. The king said, if it be as you say, I will watch with you to-night.
When it grew dark the king came into the garden and brought a priest with him, who was to speak to the spirit. All three seated themselves beneath the tree and watched. At midnight the maiden came creeping out of the thicket, went to the tree, and again ate one pear off it with her mouth, and beside her stood the angel in white garments. Then the priest went out to them and said, "Do you come from heaven or from earth? Are you a spirit, or a human being?" She replied, "I am no spirit, but an unhappy mortal deserted by all but God." The king said, "If you are forsaken by all the world, yet will I not forsake you." He took her with him into his royal palace, and as she was so beautiful and good, he loved her with all his heart, had silver hands made for her, and took her to wife.
After a year the king had to go on a journey, so he commended his young queen to the care of his mother and said, if she is brought to child-bed take care of her, nurse her well, and tell me of it at once in a letter. Then she gave birth to a fine boy. So the old mother made haste to write and announce the joyful news to him. But the messenger rested by a brook on the way, and as he was fatigued by the great distance, he fell asleep. Then came the devil, who was always seeking to injure the good queen, and exchanged the letter for another, in which was written that the queen had brought a monster into the world. When the king read the letter he was shocked and much troubled, but he wrote in answer that they were to take great care of the queen and nurse her well until his arrival.
The messenger went back with the letter, but rested at the same place and again fell asleep. Then came the devil once more, and put a different letter in his pocket, in which it was written that they were to put the queen and her child to death. The old mother was terribly shocked when she received the letter, and could not believe it. She wrote back again to the king, but received no other answer, because each time the devil substituted a false letter, and in the last letter it was also written that she was to preserve the queen's tongue and eyes as a token that she had obeyed.
But the old mother wept to think such innocent blood was to be shed, and had a hind brought by night and cut out her tongue and eyes, and kept them. Then said she to the queen, "I cannot have you killed as the king commands, but here you may stay no longer. Go forth into the wide world with your child, and never come here again." The poor woman tied her child on her back, and went away with eyes full of tears. She came into a great wild forest, and then she fell on her knees and prayed to God, and the angel of the Lord appeared to her and led her to a little house on which was a sign with the words, here all dwell free. Asnow-white maiden came out of the little house and said, welcome, lady queen, and conducted her inside. Then she unbound the little boy from her back, and held him to her breast that he might feed, and laid him in a beautifully-made little bed. Then said the poor woman, "From whence do you know that I was a queen?"The white maiden answered, "I am an angel sent by God, to watch over you and your child." The queen stayed seven years in the little house, and was well cared for, and by God's grace, because of her piety, her hands which had been cut off, grew once more.
