answered her daughter . ` Do n't speak to me like that ! What do you mean ? ' asked the mother again . ` Dirty creatures ! ' repeated the daughter , and nothing else could she say . Then the woman saw that something evil had befallen her , and turned in her rage to her stepdaughter . ` You are at the bottom of this , I know , ' she cried ; and as the father was out of the way she took a stick and beat the girl till she screamed with pain and went to bed sobbing . If the poor girl 's life had been miserable before , it was ten times worse now , for the moment her father 's back was turned the others teased and tormented her from morning till night ; and their fury was increased by the sight of her wreath , which the doves had placed again on her head . Things went on like this for some weeks , when , one day , as the king 's son was riding through the forest , he heard some strange birds singing more sweetly than birds had ever sung before . He tied his horse to a tree , and followed where the sound led him , and , to his surprise , he saw before him a beautiful girl chopping wood , with a wreath of pink rose-buds , out of which the singing came . Standing in the shelter of a tree , he watched her a long while , and then , hat in hand , he went up and spoke to her . ` Fair maiden , who are you , and who gave you that wreath of singing roses ? ' asked he , for the birds were so tiny that till you looked closely you never saw them . ' I live in a hut on the edge of the forest , ' she answered , blushing , for she had never spoken to a prince before . ` As to the wreath , I know not how it came there , unless it may be the gift of some doves whom I fed when they were starving ! The prince was delighted with this answer , which showed the goodness of the girl 's heart , and besides he had fallen in love with her beauty , and would not be content till she promised to return with him to the palace , and become his bride . The old king was naturally disappointed at his son 's choice of a wife , as he wished him to marry a neighbouring princess ; but as from his birth the prince had always done exactly as he like , nothing was said and a splendid wedding feast was got ready . The day after her marriage the bride sent a messenger , bearing handsome presents to her father , and telling him of the good fortune which had befallen her . As may be imagined , the stepmother and her daughter were so filled with envy that they grew quite ill , and had to take to their beds , and nobody would have been sorry it they had never got up again ; but that did not happen .
At length , however , they began to feel better , XXXXX the mother invented a plan by which she could be revenged on the girl who had never done her any harm .
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