So the step-mother called her men, and she and they forced the
children out of the chariot and pushed them into the water. Then she
touched each of them on the head with the Druid's wand, and they were
changed into four beautiful white swans.
"After she had done that, she went on to her father's castle. When her
father had welcomed her, he said, 'Where are your husband's children?'
"'They are at home,' she answered, 'in their father's castle.'
"'And are they well?'
"'They are well.'
"Now the King himself was a Druid, and more powerful than the one who
had given his daughter the wand. More than that, he was a good man,
and the other was a wicked one. He did not believe what his daughter
told him about the children, and so he put her into a magic sleep.
When she was asleep he said to her, 'Where are your husband's
children?'
"And she answered, 'They are in the lake which we passed by the way as
we came here.'
"'And what did you do to them?'
"'I changed them into white swans.'
"'Why did you do that?'
"'Because my husband loved them more than he loved me.
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