I will wait for you here, changed into a white stone by the wayside. Pray be prudent. The King of this city and the Queen will come forth to meet you—and with them a charming girl. Take care! if you kiss her, you will immediately forget all that has passed between us; and then I shall die of grief. Go; I will wait for you here three days. If, at the end of those three days, you do not return But go, since it is your wish."
Transformed into a stone she waited as she had said, one day, two days, three days, but Prince Milan did not return.
"He kissed her."
The fatal prediction had been realised. On entering the city he saw the King, the Queen, and a beautiful young girl advance to meet him. Dazzled by the look, by the smile, by the perfect beauty of this young girl, he kissed her on the cheek; and the memory of his dear Wellena instantly fled from his mind.
"Alas!" cried the poor girl, "he has deserted me. I have nothing more to hope for in the world, and have but to die. I will change myself into a little field-flower; I will stay by the wayside, and some passer by will crush me under his foot."
In a moment the transformation was accomplished.
Along the road plodded an old man who paused to look at the flower, on which a tear glistened like a dew-drop. The flower pleased him. He carefully detached it from the ground, and planted it in a pot, and took delight in tending it, without in the least suspecting the return it would make him. From the day it entered his rustic dwelling-place everything in it was each morning punctually set in order. At meal-times, by an invisible hand, his table was spread with a spotless white cloth, and the nicest food was set before him. He enjoyed all these marvels; but he wished to know to whom he owed them, and how they were brought about. He therefore sought an old sorcerer, who said to him:
"Be awake tomorrow before cock-crow, before the break of day. Look carefully around you, and, wherever you see an object moving, throw a handkerchief over it quickly."
Next morning, on the first ray of sun appearing, the little blue flower quitted her pot and flitted from one side of the room to the other, dusting the room and lighting the fire. The old man rose and threw over her a handkerchief which had been given him by the sorcerer, and in place of the little flower, a beautiful young girl appeared before him.
"Why have you recalled me to life?" she cried. "Prince Milan was to have been my husband, and he has completely forgotten me."
"Prince Milan," replied the old man, "is on the eve of being married; from all parts people are flocking to assist at his wedding.
The faithful Wellena wept bitterly, then, with sudden resolution, dried her eyes, and, in the dress of a peasant girl, went to the city. Entering the palace kitchen and modestly accosting one of the head cooks, she said to him in a gentle tone:
