as napkins, cold as clods, lay the brothers side by side. She flew down to them, threw herself on them, spread her wings, pressed close to them, and in a mother's voice cried out:
"Krya! krya! my children sweet!
Krya! krya! my darling dears!
I nurtured you in sorrow deep,
I made you drink my bitter tears,
On darkest nights I did not sleep,
No morsel sweet I took to eat!"
"Wife! Do you hear this marvellous thing?" said the prince to the sorceress. "A duckling is talking!"
"What is wonderful about that?" scoffed the witch. "Order the duckling driven out of the yard."
They drove her out, but she flew back again to her children:
"Krya! krya! my children sweet!
Krya! krya! my darling dears!
A wicked witch has murdered you!
A wicked witch, a cruel snake,
A cruel snake, a viper too!
She robbed you of your loving sire,
Your loving sire, my heart's desire!
She sunk us in the rapid river,
She changed us into ducklings white,
But she lives on and boasts her might!"
