` Do not talk like that , dear child , ' replied the lady ; ` you do not know all that must be done to secure your happiness , however much it costs me . But it has to be . You are only a common mortal , who will have to die one day , and you can not stay here any longer . Though we have the bodies of men , we are not men at all , though it is not easy for you to understand why . 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 XXXXX their daughter .
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