She knew the cruel order of her
father, and she said at once, "This is one
of the Hebrews' children."
At that moment the baby's sister came
to the princess and said, "Shall I go and
find thee a nurse from the Hebrew women,
so that she may nurse the child for thee?"
Not a word did she say about whose child
it was, but perhaps the princess guessed;
I don't know. At all events, she told the
little girl to go.
So the maiden went, and brought her
mother!
Then the king's daughter said to the
baby's mother, "Take this child away and
nurse it for me, and I will give thee wages."
Was not that a strange thing? And can
you think how happy the baby's mother
was? For now the baby would be known
only as the princess's adopted child, and
would be safe.
And it was so. The mother kept him
until he was old enough to be taken to the
princess's palace. Then he was brought
and given to the king's daughter, and he
became her son. And she named him Moses.
But the strangest part of the whole story
is, that when Moses grew to be a man he
became so strong and wise that it was he
who at last saved his people from the king
and conquered the Egyptians. The one
child saved by the king's own daughter
was the very one the king would most have
wanted to kill, if he had known.
THE TEN FAIRIES[1]
[1] Adapted from the facts given in the German of Die Zehn
{Feeen?}, by H.
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