` Oh , my dear child , why was I born ? The king says that , instead of the coat , I must deliver you up to him . ' ` Do not be unhappy , dear father , but get a doll made , exactly like me , with a string attached to its head , which I can pull for `` Yes '' and `` No . '' ' So the old man went out at once to see about it . The king remained patiently in his palace , feeling sure that this time Maria could not escape him ; and he said to his pages , ` If a gentleman should come here with his daughter and ask to be allowed to speak with me , put the young lady in my room and see she does not leave it . ' When the door was shut on Maria , who had concealed the doll under her cloak , she hid herself under the couch , keeping fast hold of the string which was fastened to its head . ` Senhora Maria , I hope you are well , ' said the king when he entered the room . The doll nodded . ` Now we will reckon up accounts , ' continued he , and he began at the beginning , and ended up with the flower-basket , and at each fresh misdeed Maria pulled the string , so that the doll 's head nodded assent . ` Who-so mocks at me merits death , ' declared the king when he had ended , and drawing his sword , cut off the doll 's head . It fell towards him , and as he felt the touch of a kiss , he exclaimed , ` Ah , Maria , Maria , so sweet in death , so hard to me in life ! The man who could kill you deserves to die ! ' And he was about to turn his sword on himself , when the true Maria sprung out from under the bed , and flung herself into his arms . And the next day they were married and lived happily for many years . -LSB- From the Portuguese . -RSB- The Magic Kettle Right in the middle of Japan , high up among the mountains , an old man lived in his little house . He was very proud of it , and never tired of admiring the whiteness of his straw mats , and the pretty papered walls , which in warm weather always slid back , so that the smell of the trees and flowers might come in . One day he was standing looking at the mountain opposite , when he heard a kind of rumbling noise in the room behind him . He turned round , and in the corner he beheld a rusty old iron kettle , which could not have seen the light of day for many years . How the kettle got there the old man did not know , but he took it up and looked it over carefully , and when he found that it was quite whole he cleaned the dust off it and carried it into his kitchen .
` That was a piece of luck , ' he said , smiling XXXXX himself ; ' a good kettle costs money , and it is as well to have a second one at hand in case of need ; mine is getting worn out , and the water is already beginning to come through its bottom . '
So as in like off that to towards under with