Once upon a time, there lived a little brother and little sister who loved each other dearly. Their mother had died when they were very young, and their father had remarried a woman who proved to be cruel and heartless. This stepmother despised the children and made their lives miserable with harsh words and endless chores.

One morning, as the stepmother scolded them yet again, the little sister whispered to her brother, “We cannot stay here any longer. Let us run away together and seek our fortune in the wide world.”

The little brother nodded solemnly. “You are right, dear sister. Anywhere would be better than this place where we are not wanted.”

That very night, when the house was quiet and their stepmother slept, the two children crept out of their beds, gathered what little they had, and slipped away into the darkness. They walked through the night and into the morning, their feet growing sore and their stomachs empty, but their hearts light with freedom.

As the sun climbed higher, they came upon a clear spring bubbling up from the earth. The little brother, parched with thirst, knelt down to drink.

“Wait!” cried his sister, grabbing his arm. “I heard the water whisper: ‘Who drinks of me becomes a tiger.’ Dear brother, do not drink, or you will become a wild beast and tear me to pieces.”

Though terribly thirsty, the little brother listened to his sister and stood up. “I will wait,” he said. “Perhaps we will find another spring soon.”

They walked on, and by midday they came to another spring. Again the little brother bent to drink, and again his sister heard the water whisper: “Who drinks of me becomes a wolf.”

“Please, dear brother,” she pleaded, “do not drink from this spring either, or you will become a wolf and devour me.”

The little brother sighed but obeyed, though his thirst grew stronger with each step. “I will endure it a little longer,” he promised.

As the afternoon wore on, they discovered a third spring, its water crystal clear and inviting. The little brother could bear his thirst no longer and rushed toward it.

“Brother, wait!” his sister called, but this time she heard the water whisper something different: “Who drinks of me becomes a deer.”

“If you must drink,” she said sadly, “at least a deer will not harm me. You will still be gentle and good.”

The little brother, overcome with thirst, cupped the water in his hands and drank deeply. The moment the water touched his lips, he was transformed into a beautiful young deer with golden antlers and soft, brown eyes.

The little sister wept to see her brother changed, and the deer wept too, laying his head in her lap. “Do not cry, dear sister,” he said, for he could still speak. “I am still your brother in my heart, and I will stay with you always.”

She dried her tears and said, “Come then, dear little deer. We must find shelter before nightfall.” She fashioned a collar from her golden garter and led her brother deeper into the forest, where they found a small, abandoned hut.

For many months, they lived peacefully in the forest. The sister cared for the cottage while the deer roamed the woods by day, always returning to her side by evening. She gathered berries and nuts, and they were content in their simple life.

One day, the sound of hunting horns echoed through the forest. The king and his men were hunting, and the deer’s heart stirred with excitement at the sound.

“Dear sister,” he begged, “let me go and see the hunt. I feel I must run with them.”

Though worried, she could not bear to deny him. “Go then, but be careful,” she said. “Return to me by evening, and when you come to our door, say ‘Little sister, let me in,’ so I will know it is you.”

The deer bounded away and soon caught the attention of the hunters with his grace and beauty. All day they chased him, but he was too swift and clever to be caught. As evening fell, he returned to the cottage and called out, “Little sister, let me in.”

She opened the door and welcomed him home with relief.

The next day, and the day after, the same thing happened. The deer could not resist joining the hunt, and each time he returned safely to his sister. But on the third day, the king himself noticed the magnificent deer.

“This is no ordinary creature,” the king declared. “Tomorrow we will capture him alive.”

When the deer returned that evening, he told his sister of the king’s words. “I must go once more,” he said. “I feel drawn to it, though I cannot say why.”

The fourth day of the hunt proved different. Though the deer ran swift as the wind, one of the king’s arrows grazed his leg. Wounded, he limped home, and the hunter who had shot him followed his trail of blood.

Hidden in the bushes, the hunter heard the deer call out, “Little sister, let me in,” and saw a beautiful maiden open the door. He hurried back to tell the king what he had witnessed.

“Tomorrow,” said the king, whose heart had been stirred by the brief glimpse of the maiden, “I will go myself to this cottage.”

The next evening, as darkness fell, there came a gentle knock at the cottage door, and a voice called, “Little sister, let me in.”

But the sister noticed the voice was different. “That is not my brother,” she whispered to the deer.

Then the king spoke in his own voice: “Fair maiden, I am the king. I have seen your gentleness with the deer and wish to speak with you. Please, open your door.”

Trembling, the sister opened the door to find a handsome young king standing before her. He was amazed by her beauty and grace, and she by his kindness when he spoke gently to both her and her deer brother.

“I have been watching from afar,” the king said. “Your devotion to your brother, even in his transformed state, shows a heart of pure gold. Will you come to my palace and be my queen?”

The maiden looked at her deer brother, who nuzzled her hand encouragingly. “I cannot leave my brother,” she said softly.

“Then he shall come too,” the king replied. “He will live in my palace with every comfort, and you shall both be under my protection.”

So the sister became queen, and they all lived happily in the palace. The deer had a special garden where he could roam freely, and the royal couple’s love grew stronger each day.

In time, the queen gave birth to a beautiful baby boy. But their happiness was threatened when the wicked stepmother learned of their good fortune. Using her dark magic, she and her ugly daughter disguised themselves and came to the palace.

When the queen was weak from childbirth, the stepmother pushed her into a blazing fire and put her own daughter in the queen’s bed, covering her hideous face with veils.

But the true queen’s spirit could not rest. Each night at midnight, she appeared in the nursery to feed her baby and pet her dear brother deer, then vanished again. The nursemaid witnessed this but dared not speak.

On the third night, the queen’s spirit whispered, “How is my child? How is my deer? I will come twice more, and then never again.”

The nursemaid finally told the king, who kept watch the next night. When he saw his beloved queen’s spirit, he cried out, “You can be no other than my dear wife!”

At his words, the queen’s spirit became solid flesh again, more beautiful and alive than ever. She told him of the stepmother’s treachery.

The king immediately had the stepmother and her daughter arrested. The stepmother was burned at the stake for her evil magic, and at the moment of her death, the deer brother was transformed back into his human form, handsome and whole once more.

From that day forward, the brother and sister lived in joy with the king and the little prince, and they all remained together in happiness until the end of their days.

And they lived happily ever after.