Pagina 279 van 626

All day long she dared not go out of doors, and when bedtime had

come, the witch's daughter got into bed first, so as to lie at

the far side, but when she was asleep, the other pushed her

gently to the front, and took for herself the place at the back,

close by the wall. In the night, the old woman came creeping in,

she held an axe in her right hand, and felt with her left to see

if anyone were lying at the outside, and then she grasped the axe

with both hands, and cut her own child's head off.