Long, long ago, some two thousand years or so, there lived a rich manwith a good and beautiful wife. They loved each other dearly, butsorrowed much that they had no children. So greatly did they desire tohave one, that the wife prayed for it day and night, but still theyremained childless.
In front of the house there was a court, in which grew a juniper-tree.One winter’s day the wife stood under the tree to peel some apples, andas she was peeling them, she cut her finger, and the blood fell onthe snow. «Ah,» sighed the woman heavily, «if I had but a child, as redas blood and as white as snow,» and as she spoke the words, her heartgrew light within her, and it seemed to her that her wish was granted,and she returned to the house feeling glad and comforted. A monthpassed, and the snow had all disappeared; then another month went by,and all the earth was green. So the months followed one another, andfirst the trees budded in the woods, and soon the green branchesgrew thickly intertwined, and then the blossoms began to fall. Onceagain the wife stood under the juniper-tree, and it was so full ofsweet scent that her heart leaped for joy, and she was so overcomewith her happiness, that she fell on her knees. Presently the fruitbecame round and firm, and she was glad and at peace; but when theywere fully ripe she picked the berries and ate eagerly of them, andthen she grew sad and ill. A little while later she called herhusband, and said to him, weeping. «If I die, bury me under thejuniper-tree.» Then she felt comforted and happy again, and beforeanother month had passed she had a little child, and when she saw thatit was as white as snow and as red as blood, her joy was so great thatshe died.
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