My heart answers to your tenderness , and yet I am fearful . A wife can not always charm , and though YOU will never alter , the beauty of mortals is as a flower that fades . How can I be sure that you will always be as loving and charming as you are now ? ' ` Ask some proof , sweetheart , ' said he . ` Put my obedience and my patience to some test by which you can judge of my unalterable love . ' ` Be it so , ' answered the crafty maiden . ` Then give me just one proof of your goodness . Go ! count the turnips in yonder meadow . My wedding feast must not lack guests . They shall provide me with bride-maidens too . But beware lest you deceive me , and do not miss a single one . That shall be the test of your truth towards me . ' Unwilling as the gnome was to lose sight of his beautiful bride for a moment , he obeyed her commands without delay , and hurried off to begin his task . He skipped along among the turnips as nimble as a grasshopper , and had soon counted them all ; but , to be quite certain that he had made no mistake , he thought he would just run over them again . This time , to his great annoyance , the number was different ; so he reckoned them for the third time , but now the number was not the same as either of the previous ones ! And this was hardly to be wondered at , as his mind was full of the princess 's pretty looks and words . As for the maiden , no sooner was her deluded lover fairly out of sight than she began to prepare for flight . She had a fine fresh turnip hidden close at hand , which she changed into a spirited horse , all saddled and bridled , and , springing upon its back , she galloped away over hill and dale till she reached the Thorny Valley , and flung herself into the arms of her beloved Prince Ratibor . Meanwhile the toiling gnome went through his task over and over again till his back ached and his head swam , and he could no longer put two and two together ; but as he felt tolerably certain of the exact number of turnips in the field , big and little together , he hurried back eager to prove to his beloved one what a delightful and submissive husband he would be .
He felt very well satisfied XXXXX himself as he crossed the mossy lawn to the place where he had left her ; but , alas !
at for in into over that through till to with