there they went at once to the Lake, and this time the lions did
not stir, nor did the springs flow, and neither did the Lake
speak. So they waited then, and it was not long before the earth
quaked even more terribly than the first time. The Seven-headed
Serpent came without his train of beasts, saw his prey waiting
for him, and devoured it at one mouthful. Then the ship's crew
returned home, and the same thing happened yearly until many
years had passed.

Now the King of this unhappy country was growing old, and so was
the Queen, and they had no children. One day the Queen was
sitting at the window weeping bitterly because she was childless,
and knew that the crown would therefore pass to strangers after
the King's death. Suddenly a little old woman appeared before
her, holding an apple in her hand, and said, 'Why do you weep, my
Queen, and what makes you so unhappy?'

'Alas, good mother,' answered the Queen, 'I am unhappy because I
have no children.'

'Is that what vexes you?' said the old woman. 'Listen to me. I
am a nun from the Spinning Convent,[10] and my mother when she
died left me this apple. Whoever eats this apple shall have a
child.'

[10] Convent Gnothi.


The Queen gave money to the old woman, and bought the apple from
her. Then she peeled it, ate it, and threw the rind out of the