Fairy Tale of Prince and Horse
Chapter 11, Part 3
If I were, were, were a werewolf.
Were they sleeping? Were they dreaming? Whose voices whispered “hwisprian — hwisprian”. The howling raged on and the onslaught continued for hours it seemed, deep, deep into the night. The prince could not move his limbs they were so heavy. Out of the corner of his eye he saw the horse lying close by, its snorting breath chopped and rasped. Then all went dark. It was cold; doleful yowling continued on into the night and enveloped the two like a heavy wet blanket. They lay there for hours until finally the first light could be seen on the horizon. Then warmth slowly returned, and the sun rose high in the sky. The prince heard a soothing lullaby now, at first it murmured faintly:
If I were, were, were, were a werewolf,
Not werebear or were-mouse,
Not were-pig or were-louse,
Free of wem, stainless,
Free of scar, blameless,
I would walk with the wedders and their sheep wives,
Always even-tempered past the bee hives.
I would do no harm, ther'd be no alarm.
Sweet dreams, sleep deep little were-pup.
The prince awoke and two bright sets of eyes returned his gaze. It was the two Balds: Willibald and Winibald.