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Tale Summary

One day, after being treated wickedly by their stepmother, a brother and sister ran away together to start a better life. They ran the whole day and fell asleep in a hollow tree, exhausted from their travels. The next day was very hot and the brother dragged his sister to a stream for a drink, but the water had been enchanted by their stepmother, who was a wicked witch. The girl heard the stream murmur that whoever drank of it would turn into a tiger, so she stopped her brother from taking a sip. They came upon another stream, which was also under a spell and said that whoever drank from it would become a wolf. The boy was incredibly thirsty, and when they reached a third stream he could not help but drink even though the water warned that he would be transformed, and immediately he became a white roe. His sister promised never to forsake him, and after they found a little empty house in the woods they lived together happily for a long time. One day, the king held a great hunt in the forest which the little roe desperately wanted to see, and after begging his sister consented, but told him that when he returned home he must say: “My little sister, let me in” so that she could unlock the door for him. He sprang off and enjoyed a day of being chased, and the next morning again left to resume the hunt under the same condition as before. All the huntsmen desperately wanted the white roe but could not catch him, and could only scrape his foot with an arrow. One of the hunters followed the limping roe to the house, and observed that when he said “My sister, let me in,” the door opened for him. He told the king what he had seen, and the next day the men were ordered to not wound but only chase the roe. That evening the king came to the little house and said “Dear little sister, let me in,” and the door opened to reveal the most beautiful maiden he had ever seen. She consented to marry him, and went with her brother to live in his palace, where they were both very content. The evil stepmother heard about the wedding and their happiness, and set out to ruin it. She had a very ugly and jealous daughter with only one eye who wished that it was she who married the king instead, so the witch devised a plan. The queen gave birth to a baby boy while the king was away on a hunt, when the witch and her daughter entered her chambers pretending to be ladies-in-waiting. The witch brought the weak queen to a bath, which she had lit a furnace-fire under, so that the maiden was scorched alive. The witch transformed her ugly daughter to assume the form of the queen, but because she could not manage to give her a second eye, the girl was instructed to only lay on her side so it was unnoticeable. The king came home that evening and was delighted to learn of his son, and did not notice that he slept next to a false queen. At midnight, a nurse looking after the boy saw the true queen come through the door and tend to both her child and the roe before disappearing. This happened for several nights, until one night she spoke:

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“How is my baby? How is my roe?

I can come again twice, then for ever must go.”

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The nurse told the king of this, and that night he stayed up to see the dead queen and hear her say:

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“How is my baby? How is my roe?

I can come but once more, then for ever must go”

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He did not dare address her, and the next night he heard her say:

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“How is my baby? How is my roe?

I can come but this once, then for ever must go.”

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He could not contain himself and called out to her, saying that she must be his true wife. She answered that, yes, she was his dear wife, and immediately was restored back to life. She told her husband about the witch, who was then burnt, and the daughter, who was torn apart by wild beasts. As soon as the witch was dead, the white roe resumed his human form, and they all lived happily together until the end of their lives.

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