asked the old woman , thrusting her head out of the window . ` Oh , let me in , ' answered Maria . ' I have quarrelled with my eldest sister , and as I do not want to fight any more , I have come to beg you to allow me to sleep with you . ' So the old woman opened the door and Maria slept in her house . The king was very angry at her for playing truant , but when she returned home the next day , she found the plants of her sisters withered away , because they had disobeyed their father . Now the window in the room of the eldest overlooked the gardens of the king , and when she saw how fine and ripe the medlars were on the trees , she longed to eat some , and begged Maria to scramble down by a rope and pick her a few , and she would draw her up again . Maria , who was good-natured , swung herself into the garden by the rope , and got the medlars , and was just making the rope fast under her arms so as to be hauled up , when her sister cried : ` Oh , there are such delicious lemons a little farther on . You might bring me one or two . ' Maria turned round to pluck them , and found herself face to face with the gardener , who caught hold of her , exclaiming , ` What are you doing here , you little thief ? ' ` Do n't call me names , ' she said , ` or you will get the worst of it , ' giving him as she spoke such a violent push that he fell panting into the lemon bushes . Then she seized the cord and clambered up to the window . The next day the second sister had a fancy for bananas and begged so hard , that , though Maria had declared she would never do such a thing again , at last she consented , and went down the rope into the king 's garden . This time she met the king , who said to her , ` Ah , here you are again , cunning one ! Now you shall pay for your misdeeds . ' And he began to cross-question her about what she had done . Maria denied nothing , and when she had finished , the king said again , ` Follow me to the house , and there you shall pay the penalty . ' As he spoke , he started for the house , looking back from time to time to make sure that Maria had not run away . All of a sudden , when he glanced round , he found she had vanished completely , without leaving a trace of where she had gone . Search was made all through the town , and there was not a hole or corner which was not ransacked , but there was no sign of her anywhere . This so enraged the king that he became quite ill , and for many months his life was despaired of .
Meanwhile the two elder sisters had married the two friends of the king , and were the mothers XXXXX little daughters .
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