More than once it happened that when the king was in a bad temper , he let it out on the poor queen , and said that here they were now , getting old , and neither they nor the kingdom had an heir , and it was all her fault . This was hard to listen to , and she went and cried and vexed herself . Finally , the king said to her one day , ` This ca n't be borne any longer . I go about childless , and it 's your fault . I am going on a journey and shall be away for a year . If you have a child when I come back again , all will be well , and I shall love you beyond all measure , and never more say an angry word to you . But if the nest is just as empty when I come home , then I must part with you . ' After the king had set out on his journey , the queen went about in her loneliness , and sorrowed and vexed herself more than ever . At last her maid said to her one day , ' I think that some help could be found , if your majesty would seek it . ' Then she told about a wise old woman in that country , who had helped many in troubles of the same kind , and could no doubt help the queen as well , if she would send for her . The queen did so , and the wise woman came , and to her she confided her sorrow , that she , was childless , and the king and his kingdom had no heir . The wise woman knew help for this . ` Out in the king 's garden , ' said she , ` under the great oak that stands on the left hand , just as one goes out from the castle , is a little bush , rather brown than green , with hairy leaves and long spikes . On that bush there are just at this moment three buds . If your majesty goes out there alone , fasting , before sunrise , and takes the middle one of the three buds , and eats it , then in six months you will bring a princess into the world . As soon as she is born , she must have a nurse , whom I shall provide , and this nurse must live with the child in a secluded part of the palace ; no other person must visit the child ; neither the king nor the queen must see it until it is fourteen years old , for that would cause great sorrow and misfortune . ' The queen rewarded the old woman richly , and next morning , before the sun rose , she was down in the garden , found at once the little bush with the three buds , plucked the middle one and ate it . It was sweet to taste , but afterwards was as bitter as gall . Six months after this , she brought into the world a little girl . There was a nurse in readiness , whom the wise woman had provided , and preparations were made for her living with the child , quite alone , in a secluded wing of the castle , looking out on the pleasure-park .
The queen did as the wise woman had told her ; she gave up the child immediately , and the nurse took it and lived XXXXX it there .
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