ONCE upon a time there lived a man who was a widower。His wife had died after she had given birth to two children， a son， Florea， and a daughter， Floricica。As it often happens， this man married again， and his second wife had no children， and hated the children of the first wife and did whatever she could to make their lives a misery。This went on for some time until one day she said to the old man：
“Either you take these two children into the forest and leave them there， or we shall not eat salt together any longer。”
At first he would not listen， but as he had now no pleasant days on account of his wife’s nagging， he decided， though with a heavy heart， to take the children away。
He prepared a big cake， and one morning he told the children to get ready and go with him into the forest。He went ahead and the two children followed。Before leaving， Floricica went to the hearth and took some ashes， and as they were walking along she dropped here and there a little of the ashes， so as to be able to find her way back in case of need。But the old man did not see what she was doing， for she was walking behind him。After a while they came to the forest。There they lit a big fire， and he told the children that he was going to catch a few birds to roast， and then they would return home together。But he went away， and taking another turning in the forest went back to his house and left the children alone。
They waited a long time， and as he did not return they ate the cake and laid themselves down to sleep by the fire。
In the morning， when they woke up， they tried to find their way back to the house， hoping to follow the trail of ashes which the girl had made on the previous day； but a high wind had blown them away， and they could not find the path。So they wandered about in the forest。
The boy asked the girl to give him a hair of her head-her hair was very long and beautiful-and with this he made himself a bow wherewith to shoot birds。
One day as they were going along the boy felt very thirsty， and presently they came to a pool which showed the traces of wolves’ feet。It was the Wolves’ Pond。
When the girl saw it she asked her brother not to drink of that water， for should he do so he would turn into a wolf and tear her to pieces。The boy said，“I am parched with thirst，”but he did not drink from it。Further on they came to a pool which was the Bears’ Pond， and the footprints of the bears were seen there。Again the boy wanted to drink， but the sister prevented him。She said，“You would be turned into a bear and would claw me to death。”The boy groaned， but still went on。So they passed the Foxes’ Pond and that of the Wild Boar， and， feeling more and more parched with thirst， the boy could scarcely resist drinking。But each time his sister was able to prevail upon him， and he dragged himself away。
At last they came to a pool where they saw the footprints of roes and stags。The boy said he could not move further。He was too much exhausted， and unless he drank he would die of thirst。Still the sister begged of him to desist， for he would be turned into a stag and gore her with his antlers， and once more she was able to prevail upon him。He did not drink， and after resting a while they went on again。
But the boy felt that he could not stand it any longer， and he resorted to a trick。Before leaving the place he dropped his knife， and as they were walking along he suddenly pretended to miss it， and said to his sister：“Let me go back to that pool where we rested last， for I am sure I dropped my knife there。I will pick it up and return to you。”He ran to the place， picked up his knife， and bending down he drank of the water of the pool。
As soon as he had drunk he was changed into a stag with mighty antlers， and from the top of them was hanging over his back a silken hammock。
When he came to the place where he had left his sister， she was very much frightened and ran away， but， running after her， he picked her up with his antlers， and throwing her into the hammock carried her along。