A forester was out hunting in the woods one day when suddenly he heard the sound of crying. He followed the noise until he came to a clearing where he saw a child high up on a branch of a great tree; for a giant bird had snatched it from its mothers arms as she slept under the tree. He climbed up to get the child, thinking: 'I'll take him home and raise him with my little Lina; and since it was a bird that had stolen the little boy he named him Fundevogel. The two children grew up together; they loved each other so much that one was sad when the other was away.

The forester had an old cook. One evening she went out with two buckets to fetch water; after she had done this several times, little Lina became curious and asked her: 'Old Sanne, what is all this water for?' 'If you can keep a secret,' the cook whispered, 'I'll tell you!' When Lina promised, she told her: 'Tomorrow morning when your father is out hunting I'll heat up this water, and when it's boiling in the pot I'll throw in Fundevogel and cook him.'

Very early the next morning, as the forester left to hunt, Lina woke Fundevogel and said: 'If you'll never leave me, I'll never leave you'; and Fundevogel answered: 'Not now nor ever.' 'Then I'll tell you why Old Sanne brought in so many buckets of water last night. I was curious and asked her what she was going to do; she told me she would wait until father had gone out hunting then boil the water and throw you in. Hurry now, let's get dressed and escape’. So the children got up quickly and left the house.

As soon as the water was boiling in the pot the cook went into the bed room to grab Fundevogel, but both beds were empty. She was terribly worried now and thought to herself: 'What can I say to the forester when he comes home and sees the children are gone? I must get them back quickly!'

The cook sent three servants off on the run to catch up with the children...