Some day or other you will find a husband who has been made expressly for you , and will live happily with him till death separates you . It will be very hard for me to part from you , but it has to be , and you must make up your mind to it . ' Then she drew her golden comb gently through Elsa 's hair , and bade her go to bed ; but little sleep had the poor girl ! Life seemed to stretch before her like a dark starless night . Now let us look back a moment , and see what had been going on in Elsa 's native village all these years , and how her double had fared . It is a well-known fact that a bad woman seldom becomes better as she grows older , and Elsa 's stepmother was no exception to the rule ; but as the figure that had taken the girl 's place could feel no pain , the blows that were showered on her night and day made no difference . If the father ever tried to come to his daughter 's help , his wife turned upon him , and things were rather worse than before . One day the stepmother had given the girl a frightful beating , and then threatened to kill her outright . Mad with rage , she seized the figure by the throat with both hands , when out came a black snake from her mouth and stung the woman 's tongue , and she fell dead without a sound . At night , when the husband came home , he found his wife lying dead upon the ground , her body all swollen and disfigured , but the girl was nowhere to be seen . His screams brought the neighbours from their cottages , but they were unable to explain how it had all come about . It was true , they said , that about mid-day they had heard a great noise , but as that was a matter of daily occurrence they did not think much of it . The rest of the day all was still , but no one had seen anything of the daughter . The body of the dead woman was then prepared for burial , and her tired husband went to bed , rejoicing in his heart that he had been delivered from the firebrand who had made his home unpleasant . On the table he saw a slice of bread lying , and , being hungry , he ate it before going to sleep . In the morning he too was found dead , and as swollen as his wife , for the bread had been placed in the body of the figure by the old man who made it . A few days later he was placed in the grave beside his wife , but nothing more was ever heard of their daughter . All night long after her talk with the lady Elsa had wept and wailed her hard fate in being cast out from her home which she loved . Next morning , when she got up , the lady placed a gold seal ring on her finger , strung a little golden box on a ribbon , and placed it round her neck ; then she called the old man , and , forcing back her tears , took leave of Elsa . The girl tried to speak , but before she could sob out her thanks the old man had touched her softly on the head three times with his silver staff .
In an instant Elsa knew XXXXX she was turning into a bird : wings sprang from beneath her arms ; her feet were the feet of eagles , with long claws ; her nose curved itself into a sharp beak , and feathers covered her body .
At In after of that through till to upon without