East O' the Sun And West O' the Moon by Peter Christen Asbjornsen

Summary
There is nothing in this traditional tale that would be offensive for younger readers. As in the Greek myth when Cupid marries Psyche but cannot let her see him for fear his mother will send her to the Underworld, this tale is about a man who is bewitched by his stepmother who marries a lassie and is cursed into being a White Bear during the day and the most beautiful man at night (as was Cupid). And so, the beautiful girl is given to the White Bear by her father in exchange for many riches. She lives well enough, but begins to be very lonely (as did Psyche). She announced her sadness to the White Bear and he agreed to let her visit her family under one condition--that she not talk to her mother alone, for she would only talk her daughter into doing something that would only bring bad luck upon them both. However, as fate would have it, the private conversation occurred anyway, and her mother advised her to be cautious around her mysterious husband, for she believed he was an ugly Troll at night. Her mother then gave her a bit of candle and told her to sneak a peak at him whilst he was sleeping. That night, the same ritual went on. She turned off the lights, he climbed into bed, but instead of both of them falling asleep. The lassie waited until he was sound asleep and lit the candle. To her surprise, he was the loveliest man she had ever seen and she immediately fell in love with him. Unfortunately, three drops of wax also fell. Right onto the handsome prince's shirt, waking him up. He proclaimed that by casting her eyes upon him that she made them both unlucky and now he could no longer be her husband. That he now belonged to a hideous princess with a very long nose. The princess was mortified and awoke in an unknown field where she soon found an old crag. She told the old woman that she was the girl the prince was supposed to be with and if she knew where he had gone. The woman only replied that he had been carried away to the castle 'east o' the sun and west o' the moon,' but that the lassie was welcome to her horse so long as she sent it back afterward and to a golden apple (in case she'd have use for it). This happened twice more. Each time the lassie acquired something new and of worth. She then was directed to the Winds. Each wind tried to help, but knew not where the hidden castle was. Until finally, the North Wind knew where to find it. He insisted they both get a good night's sleep and set off for their destination in the morning. Once they reached the castle, the hideous princess inquired of the golden apple. She wanted to buy it. The lassie replied that it was not for sale of gold and money, but that she would exchange it for one night with the prince who lived in that castle. The princess obliged. But the lassie could not get the prince to awake. Turns out, the princess had been drugging him night after night so that he might not wake up. This happened once more; each the lassie trading the other goods she was given by the old crags. Finally, the Christian people on the other side of the adjacent wall tipped off the prince. So he faked drinking the "sleepy drink" and was wide awake for the lassie's third entrance. They then conspired a plan. The prince would insist his wife know how to remove those three spots of wax off his shirt, and if his future bride could not do that, then she was not worth having. But that the lassie would know how, and then she and the prince could be married. The next day, the Troll princess, wanting to show off, agreed to this arrangement. But she, nor her mother, could get the spots out. The prince felt that the beggar girl outside could do it better, and was therefore better fit to be his wife. The beggar girl was his lassie, and she did indeed remove the wax spots from his shirt. And they lived happily ever after.