The Dancing Water, the Singing Apple, and the Speaking Bird

Thomas Crane was an American scholar and writer, mostly known as a collector and publisher of folk-tales and legends.
 “The Dancing Water, the Singing Apple, and the Speaking Bird” is an Italian fairy tale, entered in the “Italian Popular Tales” collection. The story is about a three poor sisters, who one day talking about a marriage. The oldest says that she would like to marry the royal butler; the second says that she would like to marry the keeper of the royal wardrobe. The youngest says that she would like to marry the king and bear two sons with apples in their hands, and a daughter with a star on her forehead. The King who passing by hears the sisters’s talk and orders the elders sisters to do as they said, and then marries the youngest to himself. But the envy is pushing the eldest sisters to vile deeds and treacherous intrigues…