The queen was about to reply , but the old woman was already limping away , and before she had gone two steps she had turned into a young girl , who moved so quickly that she seemed rather to fly than to walk . The queen , watching this transformation , could hardly believe her eyes , and would have taken it all for a dream , had it not been for the basket which she held in her hand . Feeling a different being from the poor sad woman who had wandered into the garden so short a time before , she hastened to her room , and felt carefully in the basket for the egg . There it was , a tiny thing of soft blue with little green spots , and she took it out and kept it in her bosom , which was the warmest place she could think of . A fortnight after the old woman had paid her visit , the king came home , having conquered his enemies . At this proof that the old woman had spoken truth , the queen 's heart bounded , for she now had fresh hopes that the rest of the prophecy might be fulfilled . She cherished the basket and the egg as her chiefest treasures , and had a golden case made for the basket , so that when the time came to lay the egg in it , it might not risk any harm . Three months passed , and , as the old woman had bidden her , the queen took the egg from her bosom , and laid it snugly amidst the warm woollen folds . The next morning she went to look at it , and the first thing she saw was the broken eggshell , and a little doll lying among the pieces . Then she felt happy at last , and leaving the doll in peace to grow , waited , as she had been told , for a baby of her own to lay beside it . In course of time , this came also , and the queen took the little girl out of the basket , and placed it with her son in a golden cradle which glittered with precious stones . Next she sent for the king , who nearly went mad with joy at the sight of the children . Soon there came a day when the whole court was ordered to be present at the christening of the royal babies , and when all was ready the queen softly opened the window a little , and let the goose wing fly out . The guests were coming thick and fast , when suddenly there drove up a splendid coach drawn by six cream-coloured horses , and out of it stepped a young lady dressed in garments that shone like the sun . Her face could not be seen , for a veil covered her head , but as she came up to the place where the queen was standing with the babies she drew the veil aside , and everyone was dazzled with her beauty . She took the little girl in her arms , and holding it up before the assembled company announced that henceforward it would be known by the name of Dotterine -- a name which no one understood but the queen , who knew that the baby had come from the yolk of an egg . The boy was called Willem . After the feast was over and the guests were going away , the godmother laid the baby in the cradle , and said to the queen , ` Whenever the baby goes to sleep , be sure you lay the basket beside her , and leave the eggshells in it . As long as you do that , no evil can come to her ; so guard this treasure as the apple of your eye , and teach your daughter to do so likewise . ' Then , kissing the baby three times , she mounted her coach and drove away .
The children throve well , and XXXXX 's nurse loved her as if she were the baby 's real mother .
Dotterine Willem chiefest day eggshells first fortnight godmother months woollen