Once upon a time there was a forester who went hunting in the forest, and as he entered the forest, he heard screaming as if it were a small child, and he went after the screaming, and finally he saw a high tree, and on top of it sat a small child. The mother and the child had fallen asleep under the tree, and a bird of prey had seen the child in her womb, so he flew up, took it away with his beak and placed it on the high tree.

The forester climbed up, took the child down and thought 'you want to take the child home with you and raise it together with your little Lenchen'. So he brought it home, and the two children grew up together. The one that was found on the tree, and because it had been carried away by a bird, was called Foundling-Bird. Foundling-Bird and Lenchen were so fond of each other, no, so fond, that when one did not see the other, it became sad.

But the forester had an old cook, who took two buckets one evening and began to carry water, and went out to the well not once but many times. Lenchen saw it and said, "Listen, old Sanne, why do you carry so much water?" "If you don't want to tell anyone again, I will tell you. Lenchen said no, she didn't want to tell anyone again, so the cook said, "Tomorrow morning, when the forester is out hunting, I'll boil the water, and when it boils in the kettle, I'll throw the found bird no, and cook it in it.

And the next morning, early in the morning, the forester got up and went hunting, and when he was gone, the children were still in bed. Then Lenchen said to the bird of prey, 'If you don't leave me, I won't leave you either,' and the bird of prey said, 'Now and never. Then Lenchen said, "I just want to tell you, last night old Sanne dragged so many buckets of water into the house, I asked her why she was doing that, she said, if I didn't want to tell anyone, she would tell me: I said, I certainly didn't want to tell anyone: then she said, tomorrow morning, when father was out hunting, she would boil the kettle full of water, throw you in and cook you. But we want to get up quickly, get dressed and go away together.' So the two children got up, dressed themselves quickly and went away. As the water boiled in the kettle, the cook went into the sleeping chamber, wanted to fetch the found bird and throw it in. But when she came in and went to the beds, the children were both gone: she was terribly frightened, and said to herself, "What will I say when the forester comes home and sees that the children are gone? Quickly after them, so that we can get them back.

Then the cook sent three servants after her, who were to run and bring the children in. But the children were sitting in front of the forest, and when they saw the three servants running from afar, Lenchen said to Foundling-Bird, "If you don't leave me, I won't leave you either. So Foundling-Bird said, "Never ever. Then Lenchen said, "You become a rosebush, and I become a rosebush on it. When the three servants came to the forest, there was nothing there but a rosebush and a rosebush on top of it, but the children were nowhere. So they said, "There is nothing to be done here," and went home and told the cook that they had seen nothing in the world but a rosebush and a rosebush on top of it. Then the old cook scolded them, "You simpletons, you should have cut the rosebush in two and broken off the floret and brought it home with you; hurry and do it. So they had to go out for the second time and search. But the children saw them coming from afar, and Lenchen said, "If you don't leave me, I won't leave you either. Foundling-Bird said 'now and nevermore'. Lenchen said, "Then you become a church and I become the crown in it. When the three servants came there, there was nothing but a church and a crown in it. So they said to each other 'What shall we do here, let us go home'. When they came home, the cook asked them if they had found anything, so they said no, they had found nothing but a church with a crown in it. You fools,' scolded the cook, 'why didn't you break the church and bring the crown home? Now the old cook got up herself and went with the three servants after the children. But the children saw the three servants coming from far away, and the cook wiggled behind them. Then Lenchen said, "Foundling, if you don't leave me, I won't leave you either. Then said the bird of prey, "Now and never. Lenchen said, "Go to the pond and I'll put the duck on it. But the cook came over, and when she saw the pond, she lay down over it and wanted to drink it up. But the duck swam quickly, grabbed her by the head with its beak and pulled her into the water, and the old witch was drowned. Then the children went home together and were heartily glad; and if they have not died, they are still alive.