The Violet Fairy Book | Page 6

and that was 'Kisika.' Elsa asked what it meant, and the girl
replied that it was her name.
It was all so pleasant that they might have stayed there for ever had not
a voice cried out to them, 'Children, it is time for you to come home!'
So Kisika took the little box out of her pocket, with the piece of cloth
lying in it, and dipped the cloth in the water, and lo! they were standing
close to a splendid house in the middle of the garden. Everything round
them was dry and firm, and there was no water anywhere. The mussel
shell and the fish scales were put back in the box, and the girls went in.
They entered a large hall, where four and twenty richly dressed women
were sitting round a table, looking as if they were about to attend a
wedding. At the head of the table sat the lady of the house in a golden
chair.
Elsa did not know which way to look, for everything that met her eyes
was more beautiful than she could have dreamed possible. But she sat
down with the rest, and ate some delicious fruit, and thought she must
be in heaven. The guests talked softly, but their speech was strange to
Elsa, and she understood nothing of what was said. Then the hostess
turned round and whispered something to a maid behind her chair, and
the maid left the hall, and when she came back she brought a little old
man with her, who had a beard longer than himself. He bowed low to
the lady and then stood quietly near the door.
'Do you see this girl?' said the lady of the house, pointing to Elsa. 'I
wish to adopt her for my daughter. Make me a copy of her, which we

can send to her native village instead of herself.'
The old man looked Elsa all up and down, as if he was taking her
measure, bowed again to the lady, and left the hall. After dinner the
lady said kindly to Elsa, 'Kisika has begged me to let you stay with her,
and you have told her you would like to live here. Is that so?'
At these words Elsa fell on her knees, and kissed the lady's hands and
feet in gratitude for her escape from her cruel stepmother; but her
hostess raised her from the ground and patted her head, saying, 'All will
go well as long as you are a good, obedient child, and I will take care of
you and see that you want for nothing till you are grown up and can
look after yourself. My waiting-maid, who teaches Kisika all sorts of
fine handiwork, shall teach you too.'
Not long after the old man came back with a mould full of clay on his
shoulders, and a little covered basket in his left hand. He put down his
mould and his basket on the ground, took up a handful of clay, and
made a doll as large as life. When it was finished he bored a hole in the
doll's breast and put a bit of bread inside; then, drawing a snake out of
the basket, forced it to enter the hollow body.
'Now,' he said to the lady, 'all we want is a drop of the maiden's blood.'
When she heard this Elsa grew white with horror, for she thought she
was selling her soul to the evil one.
'Do not be afraid!' the lady hastened to say; 'we do not want your blood
for any bad purpose, but rather to give you freedom and happiness.'
Then she took a tiny golden needle, pricked Elsa in the arm, and gave
the needle to the old man, who stuck it into the heart of the doll. When
this was done he placed the figure in the basket, promising that the next
day they should all see what a beautiful piece of work he had finished.
When Elsa awoke the next morning in her silken bed, with its soft
white pillows, she saw a beautiful dress lying over the back of a chair,
ready for her to put on. A maid came in to comb out her long hair, and

brought the finest linen for her use; but nothing gave Elsa so much joy
as the little pair of embroidered shoes that she held in her hand, for the
girl had hitherto been forced to run about barefoot by her cruel
stepmother. In her excitement she never gave a thought to the rough
clothes she had worn the day before, which had disappeared as if by
magic during the night. Who could have taken them? Well, she was to
know that by-and-by. But WE can guess that the doll had