And now the magnificent castle belonged to the girl alone.
She at first did not
know how to reconcile herself to her good fortune.
Beautiful dresses were
hanging in the wardrobes,
the chests were filled with gold and silver, or with
pearls and jewels,
and she never felt a desire that she was not able to gratify.
And soon the fame of the beauty and riches of the maiden went over all the
world.
Wooers presented themselves daily but none pleased her.
At length the son
of the king came and he knew how to touch her heart,
and she betrothed herself
to him.
In the garden of the castle was a lime-tree, under which they were one
day sitting together,
when he said to her, "I will go home and obtain my father's
consent to our marriage.
I entreat you to wait for me under this lime-tree, I
shall be back with you in a few hours."
The maiden kissed him on his left cheek,
and said,
"Keep true to me, and never let any one else kiss you on this cheek.
I
will wait here under the lime-tree until you return."
The maid stayed beneath the
lime-tree until sunset, but he did not return.
She sat three days from morning
till evening, waiting for him, but in vain.
As he still was not there by the
fourth day, she said, "Some accident has assuredly befallen him.
I will go out
and seek him, and will not come back until I have found him."
She packed up three
of her most beautiful dresses, one embroidered with bright stars,
the second
with silver moons, the third with golden suns.
Then she tied up a handful of jewels in
her handkerchief, and set out.
She inquired everywhere for her betrothed,
but no
one had seen him, no one knew anything about him.
Far and wide did she wander
through the world, but she found him not.
At last she hired herself to a farmer
as a cowherd,
and buried her dresses and jewels beneath a stone.
And now she
lived as a herdswoman, guarded her herd,
and was very sad and full of longing
for her beloved.
She had a little calf which she taught to know her,
and fed it
out of her own hand,
and when she said,
"Little calf, little calf, kneel by my
side, and do not forget your cowherd-maid,
as the prince forgot his betrothed
bride, who waited for him 'neath the lime-tree's shade."
The little calf knelt down, and she stroked it.
And when she had lived for a couple of years alone and
full of grief,
a report was spread over all the land that the king's daughter
was about to celebrate her marriage.
The road to the town passed through the
village where the maiden was living,
and it came to pass that once when the
maiden was driving out her herd,
the bridegroom traveled by.
He was sitting
proudly on his horse, and never looked round,
but when she saw him she
recognized her beloved,
and it was just as if a sharp knife had pierced her
heart.
"Alas", said she, "I believed him true to me, but he has forgotten me."
Next
day he again came along the road. When he was near her she said to the little
calf,
"Little calf, little calf, kneel by my side, and do not forget your
cowherd-maid,
as the prince forgot his betrothed bride, who waited for him 'neath
the lime-tree's shade."
When he was aware of the voice, he looked down and reined
in his horse.
He looked into the girl's face and then put his hands before his
eyes,
as if he were trying to remember something, but he soon rode onwards and
was out of sight.
"Alas", said she, "He no longer knows me." And her grief was ever greater.