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The Maiden who was Wiser than the King.
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somely; but if she cannot hatch them, it will go ill with you."

The poor man went crying back, to his hovel, and related what had passed to his daughter. The maiden saw at once that the eggs had been boiled, but she told her father to go to rest, and assured him that she would see that all went well. The father followed her advice, and went to sleep; the maiden took a pot, filled it with water and beans, and set it on the fire. On the following morning, the beans being quite boiled, she told her father to take a plough and oxen, and to plough along the road where the king would pass.

"And," she added, "when you see the king, take the beans, sow them, and cry, 'Hi! go on, oxen mine! Heaven be with me, and make my boiled beans take root and grow!' And when the king asks you how it is possible for boiled beans to grow, answer him, that it is quite as possible as for boiled eggs to yield chickens."

The poor man hearkened to his daughter, went away, and began to plough. When he saw the king coming he began to cry,—

"Hi! go on, oxen mine! God help me, and make my boiled beans take root and grow!"

The king, hearing these words, stopped on the road, and said to the poor man,—