The King had already been married once and had by his first wife seven children, six boys, and one girl, whom he loved more than anything in the world. And now, because he was afraid that their stepmother might not treat them well and might do them harm, he put them in a lonely castle that stood in the middle of a wood. It lay so hidden, and the way to it was so hard to find, that he himself could not have found it out had not a wise-woman given him a reel of thread which possessed a marvelous property: when he threw it before him it unwound itself and showed him the way. But the King went so often to his dear children that the Queen was offended at his absence. She grew curious and wanted to know what he had to do quite alone in the wood. She gave his servants a great deal of money, and they betrayed the secret to her and also told her of the reel which alone could point out the way.

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