The queen gave her permission , and the stepmother combed her hair until she fell asleep . Then she took the seal ring off her neck , and exchanged the letter for another , in which she had written that the queen had given birth to two whelps . When the king received . this letter he was greatly distressed , but he remembered how he himself had lived for twenty years as a lindorm , and had been freed from the spell by his young queen . He therefore wrote back to his most trusted retainer that the queen and her two whelps should be taken care of while he was away . The stepmother , however , took this letter as well , and wrote a new one , in which the king ordered that the queen and the two little princes should be burnt at the stake . This she also sealed with the queen 's seal , which was in all respects like the king 's . The retainer was greatly shocked and grieved at the king 's orders , for which he could discover no reason ; but , as he had not the heart to destroy three innocent beings , he had a great fire kindled , and in this he burned a sheep and two lambs , so as to make people believe that he had carried out the king 's commands . The stepmother had made these known to the people , adding that the queen was a wicked sorceress . The faithful servant , however , told the queen that it was the king 's command that during the years he was absent in the war she should keep herself concealed in the castle , so that no one but himself should see her and the little princes . The queen obeyed , and no one knew but that both she and her children had been burned . But when the time came near for King Lindorm to return home from the war the old retainer grew frightened because he had not obeyed his orders . He therefore went to the queen , and told her everything , at the same time showing her the king 's letter containing the command to burn her and the princes . He then begged her to leave the palace before the king returned . The queen now took her two little sons , and wandered out into the wild forest . They walked all day without ending a human habitation , and became very tired . The queen then caught sight of a man who carried some venison . He seemed very poor and wretched , but the queen was glad to see a human being , and asked him whether he knew where she and her little children could get a house over their heads for the night . The man answered that he had a little hut in the forest , and that she could rest there ; but he also said that he was one who lived entirely apart from men , and owned no more than the hut , a horse , and a dog , and supported himself by hunting . The queen followed him to the hut and rested there overnight with her children , and when she awoke in the morning the man had already gone out hunting .
The queen then began XXXXX put the room in order and prepare food , so that when the man came home he found everything neat and tidy , and this seemed to give him some pleasure .
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