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 that 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 . Then she soared high in the air , and floated up towards the clouds , as if she had really been hatched an eagle . For several days she flew steadily south , resting from time to time when her wings grew tired , for hunger she never felt . And so it happened that one day she was flying over a dense forest , and below hounds were barking fiercely , because , not having wings themselves , she was out of their reach . Suddenly a sharp pain quivered through her body , and she fell to the ground , pierced by an arrow . When Elsa recovered her senses , she found herself lying under a bush in her own proper form . What had befallen her , and how she got there , lay behind her like a bad dream . As she was wondering what she should do next the king 's son came riding by , and , seeing Elsa , sprang from his horse , and took her by the hand , sawing , ` Ah ! it was a happy chance that brought me here this morning . Every night , for half a year , have I dreamed , dear lady , that I should one day find you in this wood . And although I have passed through it hundreds of times in vain , I have never given up hope . To-day I was going in search of a large eagle that I had shot , and instead of the eagle I have found -- you . ' Then he took Elsa on his horse , and rode with her to the town , where the old king received her graciously . A few days later the wedding took place , and as Elsa was arranging the veil upon her hair fifty carts arrived laden with beautiful things which the lady of the Tontlawald had sent to Elsa . And after the king 's death Elsa became queen , and when she was old she told this story . But that was the last that was ever heard of the Tontlawald . -LRB- From Ehstnische Marchen . -RRB-
THE FINEST LIAR IN THE WORLD At the edge of a wood there lived an old man who had only one son , and one day he called the boy to him and said he wanted some corn ground , but the youth must be sure never XXXXX enter any mill where the miller was beardless .
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