Little Brother and Little Sister

"They'll kill you, and I'll be here in the woods all alone and abandoned." - "Little Brother and Little Sister" Brothers Grimm

"Little Brother and Little Sister" follows the trials and tribulations of a motherless young brother and sister. Their cruel stepmother's behavior caused them to run away. The siblings traveled as far as they could without stopping, but eventually came to a forest in which they were finally forced to rest. Upon awakening, the brother noticed his crippling thirst, and they decided to set out in search of a spring to drink from. Little did they know, their wicked stepmother was a witch and had been following the siblings ever since they set out. She followed them to a spring, where the little sister noticed a strange noise coming from the spring: "Who drinks from me will a deer be. Who drinks from me will a deer be." It so happened that the stepmother placed a curse on all of the springs in the forest. The little sister warned her brother not to drink, but his thirst was too great. The second the water touched his lips he turned into a fawn. The two of them eventually found their way to an abandoned house where they lived for some time in peace, until one day they heard the sounds of horns and shouting throughout the forest. The King of the land was holding a great hunt within the forest. The little brother could barely contain his excitement and wished to go out and play in the forest with the hunters. After several days of this, the King came to know of this strange deer and also the young girl who kept watch over him. He was so taken with her grace and beauty that he asked her to be his wife. The young girl wholeheartedly agreed under the condition that the deer come with her. The King happily agreed, and the three of them lived for some time in great happiness. The day came where the girl, now the Queen, gave birth to a beautiful baby boy. All was well except for the evil stepmother who had gained word of the Queen's origins. She immediately hatched an evil plan against the Queen with hopes of replacing her with her own disfigured daughter. The two of them crept their way into the castle and managed to conjure up a sulfur hellfire, which suffocated the Queen. Then the stepmother was able to put her daughter in the Queen's place through a transformation spell. Yet every night, the Queen came back to care for her newborn baby and beautiful deer. The King began to suspect something was amiss and spoke directly to the Queen's apparition. Instantly, the Queen came back to life, and the evil stepmother and daughter where put to death. Upon the stepmother's death, the deer turned back into human form and the Queen, her brother and the King all lived happily ever after.