The legend of the Golden Stag is a fairy tale belonging to the Romanian folklore.
The story begins with an old man who is forced by his present wife to abandon his two children from his first marriage. After an unsuccessful first try, due to the fact that the boy had been playing in the ashes which led to the finding their way back, he eventually managed to lose them in the forest.
The two kids travelling in the woods eventually became thirsty. However, when they came across a fox trail that lead to a well, the girl warned her brother that drinking the water would turn him into a fox. The same warning was repeated when they found a bear trail, and again when they found a stag's trail. By that time, the boy became so thirsty that he drank the water which turned him into a golden stag.
They continued to live in the forest, where he carried her in his antlers. He even built a nest up in a tree, where she grew up.
The years passed, and one day a prince saw the girl and immediately fell in love with her. After that he offered a ransom to whoever would convince the girl to come to him. Eventually and old woman managed to trick the girl to come down from the tree and took her to the prince. The golden stag followed them.
After meeting the prince, she told him the that the stag was her brother. The prince then accommodated the golden stag in his stables with plenty of food.
There was only one thing stopping them on their way to happiness. A gypsy girl that was once was the prince's favorite couldn't stand the fact that the girl would take her place. So she lured the girl into the woods where she fell asleep and after that disguised as the prince's wife. However the stag couldn't be fooled by the disguise and alerted the prince. The golden stag then lead the prince and his men into the forest where they rescued the princess then had the gypsy girl punished.