Once, a forester went into the forest to hunt. As he entered, he heard a sound like a child screaming. He followed the sound to a tall tree, where a little child sat at the top. The child's mother had fallen asleep under the tree, and a bird of prey had snatched the baby from her arms and placed it high up in the tree.
The forester climbed the tree, brought the child down, and decided, "I will take him home and raise him with my Lina." He did so, and the two children grew up together. The foundling was named Fundevogel, which means "foundling bird," because a bird had carried him away. Fundevogel and Lina loved each other dearly and were sad when apart.
The forester had an old cook. One evening, Lina saw the cook fetching many pails of water from the spring. "Old Sanna," Lina asked, "why are you fetching so much water?"
"If you promise never to tell anyone, I will tell you," replied the cook.
Lina promised, and the cook revealed her plan: "Early tomorrow, when the forester is hunting, I will boil water in the kettle and throw Fundevogel in to boil him."
The next morning, after the forester left, Lina told Fundevogel everything. "If you never leave me, I will never leave you," she vowed.
"Neither now nor ever will I leave you," Fundevogel promised.
Hearing this, Lina shared the cook's plan. The two children quickly dressed and ran away together.
When the cook went to fetch Fundevogel, she found the beds empty. Alarmed, she sent three servants to chase the children and bring them back.
The children, sitting outside the forest, saw the servants approaching. Lina again said, "Never leave me, and I will never leave you."
Fundevogel replied, "Neither now nor ever."
"Then," said Lina, "become a rose-tree, and I will be the rose upon it."
Instantly, they transformed. The servants found only a rose-tree with a single rose and returned empty-handed. The furious cook scolded them, "You should have cut the bush and brought the rose! Go back and do it!"
The servants went out again. Seeing them approach, the children repeated their vow.
"Become a church," said Lina, "and I'll be the chandelier inside."
They transformed again. The servants found only a church with a chandelier and went home. The cook was angrier still. "Fools! You should have torn down the church and brought the chandelier!" she cried, deciding to join the pursuit herself.
The children saw the three servants and the cook waddling behind. Once more, they pledged their loyalty to each other.
"Be a fishpond," said Lina, "and I will be the duck upon it."
When the cook arrived, she saw the pond and lay down to drink it dry. But the duck swiftly swam to her, seized her head with its beak, and dragged her into the water, where the old woman drowned.
The children returned home together, overjoyed. And if they have not died, they are living still.