"I have brought you a sister," said the king to his sons, when he reached home. The princes came running round their new sister and smothered her with kisses. From that moment Libena was regarded by every one in the palace as a princess. It was only the servant who had travelled with the king about the country who knew it was not so.
Libena grew more beautiful every day, and the princes came to love her more and more; even the queen herself loved her as much as if she had been her own daughter. Among the servants, however, Libena came in the course of time to be looked upon with contempt, because the first one who knew of her place of birth told it to his friend, he to another, and so on, until the whole story was well known to every servant in the palace. The princes alone knew nothing of Libena's origin, although they had grown up to be young men. They, indeed, had no thought on the matter. They were greatly attached to their supposed sister, were always in her company, did whatever she asked of them, and would willingly have died for her sake. One day the youngest prince ordered the coachman to get the carriage ready, as the princess wished to take a short drive. The servant turned towards the stable to do what he was told, and thinking the prince was already out of hearing, grumbled to himself,—
