THE STORY OF THE WHITE LAMB.
There was once a queen who was very sad because she had no children.
She had in her oratory an image of the Virgin of the Incarnation, which she reverenced much; and she often knelt before it, with tears in her eyes, praying for the favour of a son:—
O Lady of the Incarnation;
Though he be but a lion,
Give me a son.
One day, as she stood looking out of the window, she saw a shepherd pass with a flock of white lambs, and she hastened to the oratory, and kneeling down, prayed the virgin thus:—
Give me a son,
O Lady of the Incarnation,
Though he be but a lamb.
In due time the queen gave birth to a son, who was instantly turned into a lamb.
When the white lamb was two years old, it went up to its mother, and said: "Dear mother, I wish to marry the daughter of the king, the Lord of the Great Council."
