The Old Woman In The Wood

Bewitched, bothered and bewildered - lost in a wood with a wooden prince

Open your ears, I’ve something to tell you.

There was once a poor servant girl who went traveling with her employers through a large forest, and as they were passing through the middle of it they were ambushed. Robbers came and murdered everyone they could find. Everyone was killed except the girl, who’d jumped from the carriage in her fright and hidden behind a tree. After the robbers had departed with their loot, she came out of her hiding place and burst into bitter tears. “What will I do?” she said. “Oh, poor me, I’ll never find my way out of the forest. I don’t see a single house. I’ll starve to death.”

She wandered about searching for a way out of the forest but couldn’t find any. When evening came, she sat down under a tree, resigned to her fate, and planned to stay there no matter what might happen. But, after she’d been sitting there a while, a white dove came flying to her with a little golden key in its beak. It put the key in her hand and said, “See that large tree over there? You’ll find a little lock on it, and if you open it with this key, you’ll find plenty of food inside and then you won’t be hungry anymore.”

So she went to the tree, opened it, and found milk in a small bowl and white bread to dip into it, so she could eat to her heart’s content. When she was full, she sat down and said, “At this time of evening the chickens at home usually go to roost. I’m so tired I wish I could also lie down in my bed too!”

Then the dove flew by again, carrying another little golden key in its beak, and said, “Open that big tree over there, and you’ll find a bed.”

She opened it and found a lovely, big, soft bed. Then she relaxed for the first time since she ran for her life, lay down, and fell asleep.

In the morning the dove came a third time with another little key and said, “Open that tree over there, and you’ll find some clothes.”

When she opened it, she found clothes lined with jewels and gold, more splendid than those of a princess yet suitable for the woods.

This was how she lived for some time, and the dove came every day and took care of everything she needed, and it was a good, quiet life, if lonely.

However, one day the dove came and said, “Would you do a favour for me?”

“Gladly, I thought you’d never ask,” said the maiden.

“I’m going to lead you to a small cottage,” said the dove. “When we get there, go inside, you’ll find an old woman seated right next to the hearth. She’ll say good day to you, but you’re not to answer her, no matter what she does. Go past her to the right, and you’ll come upon a door. Open it, and go through into a room where there’ll be many different kinds of rings lying on a table. You’ll see magnificent ones with glistening stones, but don’t be tempted you’re to leave them alone. There’ll be a simple one lying among them, pick out that one and bring it to me as fast as you can. Don’t look back, whatever you do.”

As the last light of the day was fading the maiden went nervously to the cottage and through the door. There sat the old woman who glared at her and said, “How do, child?”

But the maiden was very focussed, looked straight ahead, didn’t hesitate, didn’t make eye contact, didn’t answer her, just put her head down and proceeded directly toward the door.

“Where are you off?” growled the old woman, who grabbed her skirt and tried to hold on to her. “This is my house. Nobody’s allowed to go in there if I don’t want them to.”

But the maiden kept quiet, broke away from the woman, and went straight into the room. Behind her, the old woman rose slowly and unsteadily from her seat and went quietly to follow.  

Once inside, the maiden saw a large number of rings lying on a table, glistening and glimmering before her eyes. She spread them about with her hands and looked for the simple one but couldn’t find it. While she was looking for the ring, out of the corner of her eye, she noticed the old woman slinking by with a birdcage in her hand. She was making a run for it, the maiden was sure. The woman was about to make off with something that was certain and looked likely to escape, but the maiden went up to her and took the cage out of her hand. When she lifted it up and looked inside, she saw a bird with a simple ring in its beak.

She was chuffed to bits as you can imagine and ran out of the house with it.

She thought the white dove would come and fetch the ring now, but it didn’t appear.

So she leaned against a tree, intending to wait for the dove. As she was standing there, there began a rustling and a creaking of timber, the tree seemed to become soft and flexible, and it lowered its branches. Suddenly the branches wrapped themselves around her and became two arms. When she looked around her, she saw that the tree had turned into a handsome young man, who embraced her and kissed her affectionately.

“You’ve saved me and set me free from the power of the old woman,” he said. “She’s a wicked witch, and she’d turned me into a tree. For a few hours every day I was a white dove, doomed to see the world but play no part in it. As long as she possessed the ring, I couldn’t regain my human form. I’d been standing there for ages and when you came along I couldn’t believe my luck!”

His servants, horses and whole crew had also been released from the magic spell that had also caused them to be changed into trees, and they now lined up beside him. Then they all travelled to his kingdom, for, you’ll be surprised to learn, he was a prince, and the couple were welcomed home in great style and there they lived together, happily, the rest of their days.