wandering far away at the other end of the meadow.

"Elisabeth!" he called, "Elisabeth!" and then she came, her hair
streaming behind her.

"Come here," he said; "our house is finished now. Why, you have got
quite hot! Come in, and let us sit on the new bench. I will tell you a
story."

So they both went in and sat down on the new bench. Elisabeth took the
little seed-rings out of her apron and strung them on long threads.
Reinhard began his tale: "There were once upon a time three spinning-
women..." [Footnote: The beginning of one of the best known of Grimm's
fairy tales.]

"Oh!" said Elisabeth, "I know that off by heart; you really must not
always tell me the same story."

Accordingly Reinhard had to give up the story of the three spinning-
women and tell instead the story of the poor man who was cast into the
den of lions.

"It was now night," he said, "black night, you know, and the lions
were asleep. But every now and then they would yawn in their sleep and
shoot out their red tongues. And then the man would shudder and think
it was morning. All at once a bright light fell all about him, and
when he looked up an angel was standing before him. The angel beckoned
to him with his hand and then went straight into the rocks."

Elisabeth had been listening attentively. "An angel?" she said. "Had