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Then they dressed themselves in the twinkling of an eye, and

danced and capered and sprang about, as merry as could be; till

at last they danced out at the door, and away over the green.

The good couple saw them no more; but everything went well with

them from that time forward, as long as they lived.

THE JUNIPER-TREE

Long, long ago, some two thousand years or so, there lived a rich

man with a good and beautiful wife. They loved each other dearly,

but sorrowed much that they had no children. So greatly did they

desire to have one, that the wife prayed for it day and night,

but still they remained childless.