In old times when wishing still helped one, there lived a king whose daughters were all beautiful, but the youngest was so beautiful that the sun itself, which has seen so much, was astonished whenever it shone in her face. Close by the King's castle lay a great dark forest, and under an old lime-tree in the forest was a well, and when the day was very warm, the King's child went out into the forest and sat down by the side of the cool fountain, and when she was dull she took a golden ball, and threw it up on high and caught it, and this ball was her favorite plaything.

在遥远的古代，人们心中的美好愿望往往能够变成现实。就在那个令人神往的时代，曾经有过一位国王。国王有好几个女儿，个个都长得非常美丽；尤其是他的小女儿，更是美如天仙，就连见多识广的太阳，每次照在她脸上时，都对她的美丽感到惊诧不已。
国王的宫殿附近，有一片幽暗的大森林。在这片森林中的一棵老椴树下，有一个水潭，水潭很深。在天热的时候，小公主常常来到这片森林，坐在清凉的水潭边上。她坐在那里感到无聊的时候，就取出一只金球，把金球抛向空中，然后再用手接住。这成了她最喜爱的游戏。