The Spellbook in the Forbidden Room

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It was easy enough to agree to that, and the eldest daughter promised she would never do such a thing. Yet as days passed, after the thrill of dressing up wore off - after all, who was there to dress for? - the idea of taking just the tinest peek at the room took hold on her. Before long there was nothing else she could think of, until she absolutely had to venture to the room.

But the moment she pushed open the door the smallest crack, it flung wide open and she was pulled in, much against her will. Then the door slammed shut behind her and she realized she was locked inside. When the enchanter returned, he knew instantly what had happened while he had been gone. He stormed inside the room. "You disobeyed me!" he thundered, pointing at her, "You are no longer my wife!" The next instant, the eldest daughter was transformed into a yellow songbird trapped in a gilded birdcage.

Back to the village went the evil enchanter. When the middle daughter saw him gallop toward the town square, she ran to him eagerly and asked for news of her big sister. "Why not visit and see for yourself?" said he. "In my castle, you may be interested to know, I have the finest selection of musical instruments in all the land."

She happily agreed, and said goodbye to her family. When the enchanter arrived with his new charge, he told her that her big sister was at market for a short while but would soon return. In the meantime, she was welcome to amuse herself all she liked with the musical instruments in his castle. He had business to attend to, he told her, and must leave, and gave the middle daughter the same instructions he had given her older sister. She could roam anywhere in the castle and indulge her heart's content at the magical dining room table, but must not, under any circumstance, enter the room at the end of the corridor.

At first the middle sister was content to admire and play the gleaming fiddles and violins, accordions and flutes.