The True Bride

From an early German folk tale. A troll had a daughter, but she left straight off. So the troll took another to replace her to wait on him hand and foot. Her name is Anja and she has no father and she has no mother, so the troll is her other. Trolls are always contradicting themselves and this one used a stick and Anja gets that stick across her back frequently. This troll sets Anja an impossible task of plucking 20 pounds feathers and placing them into sacks without a single one escaping. So Anja tries and cannot do it and thinks if there is anyone who can help her. From her thoughts a lion appears and does the task for her. Shocked, the troll gives her another task to empty a pond with a spoon full of holes. So the lion comes and drinks it dry. Now the troll tells her to build a palace before the end of the day. The lion puts Anja to sleep and when the troll kicks her awake, a palace is there.