Fundevogel (Grimm)
Division into chapters is editorial.
The foundling and childhood
A forester went hunting in the forest and heard the sound of a child screaming. Following the cries, he discovered a small child sitting at the top of a high tree.
He followed the sound, and at last came to a high tree, and at the top of this a little child was sitting, for...a bird of prey had...snatched it away, and set it on the high tree.
The mother had fallen asleep under the tree with her baby, and a bird of prey had swooped down, seized the child, and placed it high in the branches. The forester climbed up, rescued the child, and decided to take him home to raise alongside his own daughter Lina.
The foundling was named Fundevogel because a bird had carried him away. He and Lina grew up together and loved each other dearly.
The cooks evil plan discovered
The forester had an old cook who one evening began fetching many pails of water from the spring. Lina noticed this unusual behavior and asked why she needed so much water. The cook, named Sanna, made Lina promise never to tell anyone before revealing her sinister plan.
Early tomorrow morning, when the forester is out hunting, I will heat the water, and when it is boiling in the kettle, I will throw in Fundevogel, and will boil him in it.
The next morning, after the forester left for hunting, Lina warned Fundevogel about the cook's murderous intentions. The children made a solemn vow to each other before deciding to flee together. They dressed quickly and escaped before the cook could carry out her evil plan.
When the cook discovered the children were gone, she was terribly alarmed and sent three servants to pursue them and bring them back.
The magical transformations and pursuit
The children sat outside the forest and saw the three servants running toward them from afar. Lina and Fundevogel renewed their vow of loyalty, and then Lina used her magical powers to transform them both.
Do thou become a rose-tree, and I the rose upon it. When the three servants came to the forest, nothing was there but a rose-tree and one rose on it, but the children were nowhere.
The servants found only a rosebush and returned empty-handed. The cook scolded them, saying they should have cut down the rosebush and brought the rose home. She sent them out again. When the children saw them coming a second time, they transformed again.
Then do thou become a church, and I'll be the chandelier in it. So when the three servants came, nothing was there but a church, with a chandelier in it.
Again the servants found nothing but a church with a chandelier and returned home. The cook called them fools for not destroying the church and bringing back the chandelier. Frustrated by their failures, the old cook decided to join the pursuit herself, waddling after the three servants as they set out once more.
The witchs final pursuit and death
When the children saw the cook approaching with her servants, they made their final transformation. Lina declared she would become a fishpond while Fundevogel would be the duck swimming upon it. The cook, determined to capture them, lay down beside the pond and attempted to drink it dry.
Be a fishpond, and I will be the duck upon it. The cook...was about to drink it up. But the duck swam quickly to her, seized her head in its beak and drew her into the water.
The duck swiftly swam to the cook, grasped her head in its beak, and pulled her into the water where the old witch drowned. With their enemy defeated, the children returned home together, heartily delighted by their victory and freedom.
And there the old witch had to drown. Then the children went home together, and were heartily delighted, and if they are not dead, they are living still.