"Why?" said the king.

"Because she does nothing but tease me all day long."

Then the king made him tell all that had passed.

And Curdken said, "When we go in the morning through the dark gate
with our flock of geese, she weeps, and talks with the head of a horse
that hangs upon the wall, and says--

"'Falada, Falada, there thou art hanging!'"

and the head answers--

"'Bride, bride, there thou art ganging!
Alas! alas! if thy mother knew it,
Sadly, sadly her heart would rue it.'"

And Curdken went on telling the king what had happened upon the meadow
where the geese fed; and how his hat was blown away, and he was forced
to run after it, and leave his flock. But the old king told him to
go out again as usual the next day, and when morning came, the king
placed himself behind the gate, and heard how she spoke to Falada, and
how Falada answered; and then he went into the field and hid himself
in a bush by the meadow's side, and soon saw with his own eyes how
they drove the flock of geese, and how, after a little time, she let
down her hair that glittered in the sun; and then he heard her say--

"Blow, breezes, blow!
Let Curdken's hat go!