Thus Cat-skin lived for a long time very sorrowfully.\\u0027Ah! pretty princess!\\u0027 thought she, \\u0027what will now become of thee?\\u0027 But it happened one day that a feast was to be held in the king\\u0027s castle, so she said to the cook, \\u0027May I go up a little while and see what is going on? I will take care and stand behind the door.\\u0027 And the cook said, \\u0027Yes, you may go, but be back again in half an hour\\u0027s time, to rake out the ashes.\\u0027 Then she took her little lamp, and went into her cabin, and took off the fur skin, and washed the soot from off her face and hands, so that her beauty shone forth like the sun from behind the clouds. She next opened her nutshell,and brought out of it the dress that shone like the sun,and so went to the feast. Everyone made way for her,for nobody knew her, and they thought she could be no less than a king\\u0027s daughter. But the king came up to her, and held out his hand and danced with her; and he thought in his heart, \\u0027I never saw any one half so beautiful.\\u0027
When the dance was at an end she curtsied; and when the king looked round for her, she was gone, no one knew wither. The guards that stood at the castle gate were called in: but they had seen no one. The truth was, that she had run into her little cabin, pulled off her dress, blackened her face and hands, put on the fur-skin cloak, and was Cat-skin again. When she went into the kitchen to her work, and began to rake the ashes, the cook said, \\u0027Let that alone till the morning,and heat the king\\u0027s soup; I should like to run up now and give a peep: but take care you don\\u0027t let a hair fall into it, or you will run a chance of never eating again.\\u0027
As soon as the cook went away, Cat-skin heated the king\\u0027s soup, and toasted a slice of bread first, as nicely as ever she could; and when it was ready, she went and looked in the cabin for her little golden ring,and put it into the dish in which the soup was. When the dance was over, the king ordered his soup to be brought in; and it pleased him so well, that he thought he had never tasted any so good before. At the bottom he saw a gold ring lying; and as he could not make out how it had got there, he ordered the cook to be sent for. The cook was frightened when he heard the order,and said to Cat-skin, \\u0027You must have let a hair fall into the soup; if it be so, you will have a good beating.\\u0027Then he went before the king, and he asked him who had cooked the soup. \\u0027I did,\\u0027 answered the cook. But the king said, \\u0027That is not true; it was better done than you could do it.\\u0027 Then he answered, \\u0027To tell the truth I did not cook it, but Cat-skin did.\\u0027 \\u0027Then let Cat-skin come up,\\u0027 said the king: and when she came he said to her, \\u0027Who are you?\\u0027 \\u0027I am a poor child,\\u0027 said she, \\u0027that has lost both father and mother.\\u0027 \\u0027How came you in my palace?\\u0027 asked he. \\u0027I am good for nothing,\\u0027 said she,\\u0027but to be scullion-girl, and to have boots and shoes thrown at my head.\\u0027 \\u0027But how did you get the ring that was in the soup?\\u0027 asked the king. Then she would not own that she knew anything about the ring; so the king sent her away again about her business.