Little Brother, Little Sister

Little brother, little sister story

Maltreated by their stepmother, who was a witch, a little brother and sister fled into the woods. After running for a while,

the brother said: 'I'm so thirsty. Let's find a spring and have a drink.'

           As the young boy bent down to drink, his sister heard a voice which said: 'Who drinks from me will turn into a fawn.' it was the witch! Too late, the sister tried to prevent her brother from drinking. The young boy changed at once into a fawn. In tears, the little girl made a lead and collar out of her belt, and led the fawn off into the woods. There they found an abandoned cottage and lived together, far from any danger.

          One day, however, the king was hunting in the woods, and he spied the fawn, which could not resist the urge to wander away from the cottage. The king and his hunters chased the fawn all the way back home. There, the king followed it into the cottage, where he found a young girl stroking the frightened animal. She was so beautiful and gentle that the king fell in love with her at once. He asked her to be his wife, and his words caused the maiden to cry for joy. When one of her tears fell on the fawn, it changed back to her brother once more. Their goodness and love had overcome the witch's evil spell, and they lived safely and happily with the king for ever after.

Taken from 366 and More Fairy Tales, 1990