Then a hunter crept after him to the
cottage and heard how he said, "My little sister, let me in," and saw that the
door was opened for him, and was shut again at once. The huntsman took notice of it all,
and went to the king and told him what he had seen and heard. Then the king said,
"To-morrow we will hunt once more."
The little sister, however, was dreadfully frightened when she saw
that her fawn was hurt. She washed the blood off him, laid herbs on the wound, and said,
"Go to your bed, dear roe, that you may get well again." But the wound was so
slight that the roebuck, next morning, did not feel it any more. And when he again heard
the sport outside, he said, "I cannot bear it, I must be there. They shall not find
it so easy to catch me."
The sister cried, and said, "This time they will kill you,
and here am I alone in the forest and forsaken by all the world. I will not let you
out."
"Then you will have me die of grief," answered the roe.
"When I hear the bugle-horns I feel as if I must jump out of my skin."
Then the sister could not do otherwise, but opened the door for
him with a heavy heart, and the roebuck, full of health and joy, bounded into the forest.
When the king saw him, he said to his huntsmen, "Now chase him all
day long till night-fall, but take care that no one does him any harm." As soon as
the sun had set, the king said to the huntsman, "Now come and show me the cottage in
the wood." And when he was at the door, he knocked and called out, "Dear little
sister, let me in."
Then the door opened, and the king walked in, and there stood a
maiden more lovely than any he had ever seen. The maiden was frightened when she saw, not
her little roe, but a man come in who wore a golden crown upon his head. But the king
looked kindly at her, stretched out his hand, and said, "Will you go with me to my
palace and be my dear wife."
"Yes, indeed," answered the maiden, "but the little
roe must go with me, I cannot leave him."
The king said, "It shall stay with you as long as you live,
and shall want nothing." Just then he came running in, and the sister again tied him
with the cord of rushes, took it in her own hand, and went away with the king from the
cottage. The king took the lovely maiden upon his horse and carried her to his palace,
where the wedding was held with great pomp. She was now the queen, and they lived for a
long time happily together. The roebuck was tended and cherished, and ran about in the
palace-garden.
But the wicked step-mother, because of whom the
children had gone out into the world, had never thought but that the sister had been torn
to pieces by the wild beasts in the wood, and that the brother had been shot for a roebuck
by the huntsmen. Now when she heard that they were so happy, and so well off,
envy and jealousy rose in her heart and left her no peace, and she thought of nothing but
how she could bring them again to misfortune.
Her own daughter, who was ugly as night, and had
only one eye, reproached her and said, "A queen, that ought to have been my
luck."
"Just be quiet," answered the old woman, and comforted
her by saying, "when the time comes I shall be ready."
As time went on the queen had a pretty little boy, and it happened
that the king was out hunting. So the old witch took the form of the chamber maid, went
into the room where the queen lay, and said to her, "Come the bath is ready. It will
do you good, and give you fresh strength. Make haste before it gets cold." Her
daughter also was close by. So they carried the weakly queen into the bath-room, and put
her into the bath. Then they shut the door and ran away. But in the bath-room they had
made a fire of such hellish heat that the beautiful young queen was soon suffocated.
When this was done the old woman took her daughter, put a nightcap
on her head, and laid her in bed in place of the queen. She gave her too the shape and
look of the queen, only she could not make good the lost eye. But in order that the king
might not see it, she was to lie on the side on which she had no eye. In the evening when
he came home and heard that he had a son he was heartily glad, and was going to the bed of
his dear wife to see how she was. But the old woman quickly called out, "For your
life leave the curtains closed. The queen ought not to see the light yet, and must have
rest." The king went away, and did not find out that a false queen was lying in the
bed.
But at midnight, when all slept, the nurse, who was
sitting in the nursery by the cradle, and who was the only person awake, saw the door open
and the true queen walk in. She took the child out of the cradle, laid it
on her arm, and suckled it. Then she shook up its pillow, laid the child down again, and
covered it with the little quilt. And she did not forget the roebuck, but went into the
corner where it lay, and stroked its back. Then she went quite silently out of the door
again. The next morning the nurse asked the guards whether anyone had come into the palace
during the night, but they answered, "No, we have seen no one." She came thus
many nights and never spoke a word. The nurse always saw her, but she did not dare to tell
anyone about it.
When some time had passed in this manner, the queen began to speak
in the night, and said,
"How fares my child,
How fares my roe?
Twice shall I come,
Then never more."
The nurse did not answer, but when the queen had gone again, went
to the king and told him all. The king said, "Ah, God. What is this? To-morrow night
I will watch by the child." In the evening he went into the nursery, and at midnight
the queen again appeared and said,
"How fares my child,
How fares my roe?
Once will I come,
Then never more."
And she nursed the child as she was wont to do before she
disappeared. The king dared not speak to her, but on the next night he watched again. Then
she said,
"How fares my child,
How fares my roe?
This time I come,
Then never more."
Then the king could not restrain himself. He sprang towards her,
and said, "You can be none other than my dear wife." She answered, "Yes, I
am your dear wife," and at the same moment she received life again, and by God's
grace became fresh, rosy and full of health.
Then she told the king the evil deed
which the wicked witch and her daughter had been guilty of towards her.
The king ordered both to be led before the judge, and the judgment was delivered against
them. The daughter was taken into the forest where she was torn to pieces by wild beasts,
but the witch was cast into the fire and miserably burnt. And as soon as she was burnt to
ashes, the roebuck changed his shape, and received his human form again, so the sister and
brother lived happily together all their lives.
Little brother took his little sister by
the hand and said, "Since our mother died we have had no happiness. Our step-mother
beats us every day, and if we come near her she kicks us away with her foot. Our meals are
the hard crusts of bread that are left over. And the little dog under the table is better
off, for she often throws it a choice morsel. God pity us, if our mother only
knew. Come, we will go forth together into the wide world." 
Now
when they found a little brook leaping brightly over the stones, the brother was going to
drink out of it, but the sister heard how it said as it ran, 
And when they had gone a very long way
they came at last to a little house, and the girl looked in. And as it was empty, she
thought, "We can stay here and live." Then she sought for leaves and moss to
make a soft bed for the roe. And every morning she went out and gathered roots and berries
and nuts for herself, and brought tender grass for the roe, who ate out of her hand, and
was content and played round about her. In the evening, when the sister was tired, and had
said her prayer, she laid her head upon the roebuck's back - that was her pillow, and she
slept softly on it. And if only the brother had had his human form it would have been
a delightful life. 
"Oh," said he, to
his sister, "let me be off to the hunt, I cannot bear it any
longer," and he begged so much that at last she agreed.
"But," said she to him, "come back to me in the evening. I must shut my
door for fear of the rough huntsmen, so knock and say, 'My little sister, let me in,' that
I may know you. And if you do not say that, I shall not open the door."