So the King himself stepped down amongst them , and instantly the duck fluttered down into his hands . And as he stroked her wings she was changed into a beautiful woman , and he recognised his dear wife . And she told him that a bottle would be found in her nest in the garden , containing some drops from the spring of healing . And it was brought to her ; and the ducklings and little drake were sprinkled with the water , and from the little dead bodies three lovely children arose . And the King and Queen were overjoyed when they saw their children , and they all lived happily together in the beautiful palace . But the wicked witch was taken by the King 's command , and she came to no good end . THE WITCH AND HER SERVANTS -LRB- 22 -RRB- -LRB- 22 -RRB- From the Russian . Kletke . Long time ago there lived a King who had three sons ; the eldest was called Szabo , the second Warza , and the youngest Iwanich . One beautiful spring morning the King was walking through his gardens with these three sons , gazing with admiration at the various fruit-trees , some of which were a mass of blossom , whilst others were bowed to the ground laden with rich fruit . During their wanderings they came unperceived on a piece of waste land where three splendid trees grew . The King looked on them for a moment , and then , shaking his head sadly , he passed on in silence . The sons , who could not understand why he did this , asked him the reason of his dejection , and the King told them as follows : ` These three trees , which I can not see without sorrow , were planted by me on this spot when I was a youth of twenty . A celebrated magician , who had given the seed to my father , promised him that they would grow into the three finest trees the world had ever seen . My father did not live to see his words come true ; but on his death-bed he bade me transplant them here , and to look after them with the greatest care , which I accordingly did . At last , after the lapse of five long years , I noticed some blossoms on the branches , and a few days later the most exquisite fruit my eyes had ever seen . ' I gave my head-gardener the strictest orders to watch the trees carefully , for the magician had warned my father that if one unripe fruit were plucked from the tree , all the rest would become rotten at once . When it was quite ripe the fruit would become a golden yellow . ` Every day I gazed on the lovely fruit , which became gradually more and more tempting-looking , and it was all I could do not to break the magician 's commands . ` One night I dreamt that the fruit was perfectly ripe ; I ate some of it , and it was more delicious than anything I had ever tasted in real life .
As soon as I awoke I sent for the gardener and asked him if the fruit on the three trees had not ripened in the night XXXXX perfection .
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