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THE BOY WHO KNEW WHAT THE BIRDS SAID
her step-mother had woven. And every evening she spun on her wheel and there was never a time afterwards when she had not a dozen balls of thread in the house.
The wool is hers and the thread is mine;
For loss of my heart's blood I never will dwine,
And I throw my ball over to you.
It was the Woodpecker that told this story to the Boy Who Knew What the Birds Said.