A long time ago, a man who worked in the forest found a baby at the top of a very high tree. A large bird had stolen the child from its mother and left it there. The man climbed up, rescued the baby, and took him home to live with his daughter, Lina. He called the boy Fundevogel.
Fundevogel and Lina grew up together and loved each other very much. They never wanted to be apart.
The man had an old cook who was actually a witch. One evening, Lina saw the cook carrying many buckets of water. Lina asked, "Why are you fetching so much water?"
The cook said, "If you promise to keep it a secret, I will tell you. Tomorrow, I am going to boil that water and cook Fundevogel in it."
The next morning, while the father was out hunting, Lina told Fundevogel about the plan. "If you never leave me, I will never leave you," she said.
"I will never leave you," Fundevogel promised.
"Then we must run away now," said Lina.
They dressed quickly and escaped into the forest. When the cook went to the bedroom to find Fundevogel, the children were gone. She was terrified that the father would be angry, so she sent three servants to look for them.
The children were sitting at the edge of the forest when they saw the servants coming. Lina said, "I will become a rose-bush, and you will be the rose on it."
When the servants arrived, they saw only a rose-bush. They didn't think it was important, so they went back and told the cook. The cook was angry. "You fools! You should have broken the rose and brought it back!"
She sent them again. This time, the children saw them coming from far away. Lina said, "I will be a church, and you will be the light inside it." When the servants arrived, they saw only a church. They went home and told the cook, who shouted, "You should have pulled the church apart!"
Finally, the cook decided to go on the search herself. When the children saw her waddling toward them, Lina said, "I will be a pond, and you will be a duck swimming on it."
The cook reached the water and tried to drink the whole pond to catch them. But the duck swam quickly to her, grabbed her head with its beak, and pulled her under the water. The old witch drowned, and the children went home safely. They were happy to be together, and they lived in peace for the rest of their lives.