The Sister and the Brother
Once upon a time, at the edge of an old forest where cool waters flowed, there lived two children who had fled from their stepmother. The little sister was clever and merciful, and the brother was a curious and excitable child. The cruel stepmother had used her magic powers and bewitched all the sweet-water springs in the forest. While the two children walked hand in hand towards the unknown, the whisper of the leaves guided them. As the journey grew longer the air became warm, and the little brother's throat began to dry with thirst. After a while a clear spring came into sight, babbling out from among the bushes. When the sister listened to the sound of the water, the stream whispered, "Whoever drinks me becomes a tiger!"
The elder sister warned her brother and stopped him, and they went on walking together. When they came to the second spring, the water called out this time, "Whoever drinks me becomes a wolf!" Though her brother grew impatient, the clever sister once more talked him out of drinking. But at the third spring the brother could bear it no longer; he did not listen to his sister's warnings and bent down at once and drank from the water. At that moment the child turned into a lovely, timid deer with silver fur. The sister embraced her deer brother in tears and promised him that they would never be parted. The two children took shelter in a small, abandoned hut in the heart of the forest and began to live there in peace.
One day the just king of the land noticed this lovely deer while hunting in the forest. Following the deer, the king met the beautiful sister in the hut and fell in love with her at first sight. The king invited the young girl and her deer brother to his palace and married her with a splendid wedding. When the king learned of the spell cast by the evil-hearted stepmother, he called the witch to the palace and gave her punishment. As the spell was broken, the lovely deer returned to his old human shape. There was great joy in the palace, and the brother and sister embraced each other happily. Love, patience and the bond of family are enough to break even the darkest spell. Patience is bitter, but its fruit is sweet.