"Grimms
Fairy Tales"
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Grimms Fairy Tales
Translation by Margaret Hunt
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Allerleirauh
There was once upon a time a king who had a wife with golden
hair, and she was so beautiful that her equal was not to be
found on earth. It came to pass that she lay ill, and as she
felt that she must soon die, she called the king and said, if
you wish to marry again after my death, take no one who is not
quite as beautiful as I am, and who has not just such golden
hair as I have, this you must promise me. And after the king had
promised her this she closed her eyes and died.
For a long time the king could not be comforted, and had no
thought of taking another wife. At length his councillors said,
this cannot go on. The king must marry again, that we may have a
queen. And now messengers were sent about far and wide, to seek
a bride who equalled the late queen in beauty. In the whole
world, however, none was to be found, and even if one had been
found, still there would have been no one who had such golden
hair. So the messengers came home as they went.
Now the king had a daughter, who was just as beautiful as her
dead mother, and had the same golden hair. When she was grown up
the king looked at her one day, and saw that in every respect
she was like his late wife, and suddenly felt a violent love for
her. Then he spoke to his councillors, I will marry my daughter,
for she is the counterpart of my late wife, otherwise I can find
no bride who resembles her. When the councillors heard that,
they were shocked, and said, God has forbidden a father to marry
his daughter. No good can come from such a crime, and the
kingdom will be involved in the ruin.
The daughter was still more shocked when she became aware of
her father's resolution, but hoped to turn him from his design.
Then she said to him, before I fulfil your wish, I must have
three dresses, one as golden as the sun, one as silvery as the
moon, and one as bright as the stars, besides this, I wish for a
mantle of a thousand different kinds of fur and peltry joined
together, and one of every kind of animal in your kingdom must
give a piece of his skin for it. For she thought, to get that
will be quite impossible, and thus I shall divert my father from
his wicked intentions. The king, however, did not give it up,
and the cleverest maidens in his kingdom had to weave the three
dresses, one as golden as the sun, one as silvery as the moon,
and one as bright as the stars, and his huntsmen had to catch
one of every kind of animal in the whole of his kingdom, and
take from it a piece of its skin, and out of these was made a
mantle of a thousand different kinds of fur. At length, when all
was ready, the king caused the mantle to be brought, spread it
out before her, and said, the wedding shall be tomorrow.
When, therefore, the king's daughter saw that there was no
longer any hope of turning her father's heart, she resolved to
run away. In the night whilst every one was asleep, she got up,
and took three different things from her treasures, a golden
ring, a golden spinning-wheel, and a golden reel. The three
dresses of the sun, moon, and stars she placed into a nutshell,
put on her mantle of all kinds of fur, and blackened her face
and hands with soot. Then she commended herself to God, and went
away, and walked the whole night until she reached a great
forest. And as she was tired, she got into a hollow tree, and
fell asleep.
The sun rose, and she slept on, and she was still sleeping
when it was full day. Then it so happened that the king to whom
this forest belonged, was hunting in it. When his dogs came to
the tree, they sniffed, and ran barking round about it. The king
said to the huntsmen, just see what kind of wild beast has
hidden itself in there. The huntsmen obeyed his order, and when
they came back they said, a wondrous beast is lying in the
hollow tree, we have never before seen one like it. Its skin is
fur of a thousand different kinds, but it is lying asleep. Said
the king, see if you can catch it alive, and then fasten it to
the carriage, and we will take it with us. When the huntsmen
laid hold of the maiden, she awoke full of terror, and cried to
them, I am a poor child, deserted by father and mother, have
pity on me, and take me with you. Then said they, Allerleirauh,
you will be useful in the kitchen, come with us, and you can
sweep up the ashes. So they put her in the carriage, and took
her home to the royal palace. There they pointed out to her a
closet under the stairs, where no daylight entered, and said,
hairy animal, there you can live and sleep. Then she was sent
into the kitchen, and there she carried wood and water, swept
the hearth, plucked the fowls, picked the vegetables, raked the
ashes, and did all the dirty work.
Allerleirauh lived there for a long time in great
wretchedness. Alas, fair princess, what is to become of you now.
It happened, however, that one day a feast was held in the
palace, and she said to the cook, may I go upstairs for a while,
and look on. I will place myself outside the door. The cook
answered, yes, go, but you must be back here in half-an-hour to
sweep the hearth.
Then she took her oil-lamp, went into her den, put off her
dress of fur, and washed the soot off her face and hands, so
that her full beauty once more came to light. And she opened the
nut, and took out her dress which shone like the sun, and when
she had done that she went up to the festival, and every one
made way for her, for no one knew her, and thought no otherwise
than that she was a king's daughter. The king came to meet her,
gave his hand to her, and danced with her, and thought in his
heart, my eyes have never yet seen any one so beautiful. When
the dance was over she curtsied, and when the king looked round
again she had vanished, and none knew whither. The guards who
stood outside the palace were called and questioned, but no one
had seen her.
She had run into her little den, however, there quickly taken
off her dress, made her face and hands black again, put on the
mantle of fur, and again was Allerleirauh. And now when she went
into the kitchen, and was about to get to her work and sweep up
the ashes, the cook said, leave that alone till morning, and
make me the soup for the king, I, too, will go upstairs awhile,
and take a look, but let no hairs fall in, or in future you
shall have nothing to eat. So the cook went away, and
Allerleirauh made the soup for the king, and made bread soup and
the best she could, and when it was ready she fetched her golden
ring from her little den, and put it in the bowl in which the
soup was served. When the dancing was over, the king had his
soup brought and ate it, and he liked it so much that it seemed
to him he had never tasted better. But when he came to the
bottom of the bowl, he saw a golden ring lying, and could not
conceive how it could have got there. Then he ordered the cook
to appear before him. The cook was terrified when he heard the
order, and said to Allerleirauh, you have certainly let a hair
fall into the soup, and if you have, you shall be beaten for it.
When he came before the king the latter asked who had made
the soup. The cook replied, I made it. But the king said, that
is not true, for it was much better than usual, and cooked
differently. He answered, I must acknowledge that I did not make
it, it was made by the hairy animal. The king said, go and bid
it come up here.
When Allerleirauh came, the king said, who are you. I am a
poor girl who no longer has any father or mother. He asked
further, of what use are you in my palace. She answered, I am
good for nothing but to have boots thrown at my head. He
continued, where did you get the ring which was in the soup. She
answered, I know nothing about the ring. So the king could learn
nothing, and had to send her away again.
After a while, there was another festival, and then, as
before, Allerleirauh begged the cook for leave to go and look
on. He answered, yes, but come back again in half-an-hour, and
make the king the bread soup which he so much likes. Then she
ran into her den, washed herself quickly, and took out of the
nut the dress which was as silvery as the moon, and put it on.
Then she went up and was like a princess, and the king stepped
forward to meet her, and rejoiced to see her once more, and as
the dance was just beginning they danced it together. But when
it was ended, she again disappeared so quickly that the king
could not observe where she went. She, however, sprang into her
den, and once more made herself a hairy animal, and went into
the kitchen to prepare the bread soup. When the cook had gone
upstairs, she fetched the little golden spinning-wheel, and put
it in the bowl so that the soup covered it. Then it was taken to
the king, who ate it, and liked it as much as before, and had
the cook brought, who this time likewise was forced to confess
that Allerleirauh had prepared the soup. Allerleirauh again came
before the king, but she answered that she was good for nothing
else but to have boots thrown at her head, and that she knew
nothing at all about the little golden spinning-wheel.
When, for the third time, the king held a festival, all
happened just as it had done before. The cook said, fur-skin,
you are a witch, and always put something in the soup which
makes it so good that the king likes it better than that which I
cook, but as she begged so hard, he let her go up at the
appointed time. And now she put on the dress which shone like
the stars, and thus entered the hall. Again the king danced with
the beautiful maiden, and thought that she never yet had been so
beautiful.
And whilst she was dancing, he contrived, without her
noticing it, to slip a golden ring on her finger, and he had
given orders that the dance should last a very long time. When
it was ended, he wanted to hold her fast by her hands, but she
tore herself loose, and sprang away so quickly through the crowd
that she vanished from his sight. She ran as fast as she could
into her den beneath the stairs, but as she had been too long,
and had stayed more than half-an-hour she could not take off her
pretty dress, but only threw over it her mantle of fur, and in
her haste she did not make herself quite black, but one finger
remained white. Then Allerleirauh ran into the kitchen, and
cooked the bread soup for the king, and as the cook was away,
put her golden reel into it.
When the king found the reel at the bottom of it, he caused
Allerleirauh to be summoned, and then he espied the white
finger, and saw the ring which he had put on it during the
dance. Then he grasped her by the hand, and held her fast, and
when she wanted to release herself and run away, her mantle of
fur opened a little, and the star-dress shone forth. The king
clutched the mantle and tore it off. Then her golden hair shone
forth, and she stood there in full splendor, and could no longer
hide herself. And when she had washed the soot and ashes from
her face, she was more beautiful than anyone who had ever been
seen on earth. But the king said, you are my dear bride, and we
will never more part from each other. Thereupon the marriage was
solemnized, and they lived happily until their death.
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The Pink
There was once upon a time a queen to whom God had given no
children. Every morning she went into the garden and prayed to
God in heaven to bestow on her a son or a daughter. Then an
angel from heaven came to her and said, be at rest, you shall
have a son with the power of wishing, so that whatsoever in the
world he wishes for, that shall he have. Then she went to the
king, and told him the joyful tidings, and when the time was
come she gave birth to a son, and the king was filled with
gladness.
Every morning she went with the child to the garden where the
wild beasts were kept, and washed herself there in a clear
stream. It happened once when the child was a little older, that
it was lying in her arms and she fell asleep. Then came the old
cook, who knew that the child had the power of wishing, and
stole it away, and he took a hen, and cut it in pieces, and
dropped some of its blood on the queen's apron and on her dress.
Then he carried the child away to a secret place, where a nurse
was obliged to suckle it, and he ran to the king and accused the
queen of having allowed her child to be taken from her by the
wild beasts. When the king saw the blood on her apron, he
believed this, fell into such a passion that he ordered a high
tower to be built, in which neither sun nor moon could be seen,
and had his wife put into it, and walled up. Here she was to
stay for seven years without meat or drink, and die of hunger.
But God sent two angels from heaven in the shape of white doves,
which flew to her twice a day, and carried her food until the
seven years were over.
The cook, however, thought to himself, if the child has the
power of wishing, and I am here, he might very easily get me
into trouble. So he left the palace and went to the boy, who was
already big enough to speak, and said to him, wish for a
beautiful palace for yourself with a garden, and all else that
pertains to it. Scarcely were the words out of the boy's mouth,
when everything was there that he had wished for. After a while
the cook said to him, it is not well for you to be so alone,
wish for a pretty girl as a companion. Then the king's son
wished for one, and she immediately stood before him, and was
more beautiful than any painter could have painted her.
The two played together, and loved each other with all their
hearts, and the old cook went out hunting like a nobleman. The
thought occurred to him, however, that the king's son might some
day wish to be with his father, and thus bring him into great
peril. So he went out and took the maiden aside, and said,
to-night when the boy is asleep, go to his bed and plunge this
knife into his heart, and bring me his heart and tongue, and if
you do not do it, you shall lose your life.
Thereupon he went away, and when he returned next day she had
not done it, and said, why should I shed the blood of an
innocent boy who has never harmed anyone. The cook once more
said, if you do not do it, it shall cost you your own life.
When he had gone away, she had a little hind brought to her,
and ordered her to be killed, and took her heart and tongue, and
laid them on a plate, and when she saw the old man coming, she
said to the boy, lie down in your bed, and draw the clothes over
you. Then the wicked wretch came in and said, where are the
boy's heart and tongue. The girl reached the plate to him, but
the king's son threw off the quilt, and said, you old sinner,
why did you want to kill me. Now will I pronounce thy sentence.
You shall become a black poodle and have a gold collar round
your neck, and shall eat burning coals, till the flames burst
forth from your throat. And when he had spoken these words, the
old man was changed into a poodle dog, and had a gold collar
round his neck, and the cooks were ordered to bring up some live
coals, and these he ate, until the flames broke forth from his
throat.
The king's son remained there a short while longer, and he
thought of his mother, and wondered if she were still alive. At
length he said to the maiden, I will go home to my own country,
if you will go with me, I will provide for you.
Ah, she replied, the way is so long, and what shall I do in a
strange land where I am unknown. As she did not seem quite
willing, and as they could not be parted from each other, he
wished that she might be changed into a beautiful pink, and took
her with him. Then he went away to his own country, and the
poodle had to run after him.
He went to the tower in which his mother was confined, and as
it was so high, he wished for a ladder which would reach up to
the very top. Then he mounted up and looked inside, and cried,
beloved mother, lady queen, are you still alive, or are you
dead. She answered, I have just eaten, and am still satisfied,
for she thought the angels were there. Said he, I am your dear
son, whom the wild beasts were said to have torn from your arms,
but I am alive still, and will soon set you free.
Then he descended again, and went to his father, and caused
himself to be ammounced as a strange huntsman, and asked if he
could offer him service. The king said yes, if he was skilful
and could get game for him, he should come to him, but that deer
had never taken up their quarters in any part of the district or
country. Then the huntsman promised to procure as much game for
him as he could possibly use at the royal table. So he summoned
all the huntsmen together, and bade them go out into the forest
with him. And he went with them and made them form a great
circle, open at one end where he stationed himself, and began to
wish.
Two hundred deer and more came running inside the circle at
once, and the huntsmen shot them. Then they were all placed on
sixty country carts, and driven home to the king, and for once
he was able to deck his table with game, after having had none
at all for years.
Now the king felt great joy at this, and commanded that his
entire household should eat with him next day, and made a great
feast. When they were all assembled together, he said to the
huntsmen, as you are so clever, you shall sit by me. He replied,
lord king, your majesty must excuse me, I am a poor huntsman.
But the king insisted on it, and said, you shall sit by me,
until he did it. Whilst he was sitting there, he thought of his
dearest mother, and wished that one of the king's principal
servants would begin to speak of her, and would ask how it was
faring with the queen in the tower, and if she were alive still,
or had perished.
Hardly had he formed the wish than the marshal began, and
said, your majesty, we live joyously here, but how is the queen
living in the tower. Is she still alive, or has she died? But
the king replied, she let my dear son be torn to pieces by wild
beasts, I will not have her named. Then the huntsman arose and
said, gracious lord father, she is alive still, and I am her
son, and I was not carried away by wild beasts, but by that
wretch the old cook, who tore me from her arms when she was
asleep, and sprinkled her apron with the blood of a chicken.
Thereupon he took the dog with the golden collar, and said,
that is the wretch, and caused live coals to be brought, and
these the dog was compelled to devour before the sight of all,
until flames burst forth from its throat. On this the huntsman
asked the king if he would like to see the dog in his true
shape, and wished him back into the form of the cook, in the
which he stood immediately, with his white apron, and his knife
by his side. When the king saw him he fell into a passion, and
ordered him to be cast into the deepest dungeon.
Then the huntsman spoke further and said, father, will you
see the maiden who brought me up so tenderly and who was
afterwards to murder me, but did not do it, though her own life
depended on it. The king replied, yes, I would like to see her.
The son said, most gracious father, I will show her to you in
the form of a beautiful flower, and he thrust his hand into his
pocket and brought forth the pink, and placed it on the royal
table, and it was so beautiful that the king had never seen one
to equal it. Then the son said, now will I show her to you in
her own form, and wished that she might become a maiden, and she
stood there looking so beautiful that no painter could have made
her look more so.
And the king sent two waiting-maids and two attendants into
the tower, to fetch the queen and bring her to the royal table.
But when whe was led in she ate nothing, and said, the gracious
and merciful God who has supported me in the tower, will soon
set me free. She lived three days more, and then died happily,
and when she was buried, the two white doves which had brought
her food to the tower, and were angels of heaven, followed her
body and seated themselves on her grave. The aged king ordered
the cook to be torn in four pieces, but grief consumed the
king's own heart, and he soon died. His son married the
beautiful maiden whom he had brought with him as a flower in his
pocket, and whether they are still alive or not, is known to
God.
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Brother Lustig
There was one upon a time a great war, and when it came to an
end, many soldiers were discharged. Then brother lustig also
received his dismissal, and with it nothing but a small loaf of
ammunition-bread, and four kreuzers in money, with which he
departed.
St. Peter, however, had placed himself in his way in the form
of a poor beggar, and when brother lustig came up, he begged
alms of him. Brother lustig replied, dear beggar-man, what am I
to give you. I have been a soldier, and have received my
dismissal, and have nothing but this little loaf of
ammunition-bread, and four kreuzers of money. When that is gone,
I shall have to beg as well as you. Still I will give you
something.
Thereupon he divided the loaf into four parts, and gave the
apostle one of them, and a kreuzer likewise. St. Peter thanked
him, went onwards, and threw himself again in the soldier's way
as a beggar, but in another shape, and when he came up begged a
gift of him as before.
Brother lustig spoke as he had done before, and again gave
him a quarter of the loaf and one kreuzer. St. Peter thanked
him, and went onwards, but for the third time placed himself in
another shape as a beggar in the road, and spoke to brother
lustig. Brother lustig gave him also the third quarter of bread
and the third kreuzer. St. Peter thanked him, and brother lustig
went onwards, and had but a quarter of the loaf, and one
kreuzer.
With that he went into an inn, ate the bread, and ordered one
kreuzer's worth of beer. When he had had it, he journeyed
onwards, and then St. Peter, who had assumed the appearance of a
discharged soldier, met and spoke to him thus. Good day,
comrade, can you not give me a bit of bread, and a kreuzer to
get a drink. Where am I to procure it, answered brother lustig.
I have been discharged, and I got nothing but a loaf of
ammunition-bread and four kreuzers in money. I met three beggars
on the road, and I gave each of them a quarter of my bread, and
one kreuzer. The last quarter I ate in the inn, and had a drink
with the last kreuzer. Now my pockets are empty, and if you also
have nothing we can go a-begging together.
No, answered St. Peter, we need not quite do that. I know a
little about medicine, and I will soon earn as much as I require
by that. Indeed, said brother lustig, I know nothing of that, so
I must go and beg alone. Just come with me, said St. Peter, and
if I earn anything, you shall have half of it.
All right, said brother lustig, and they went away together.
Then they came to a peasant's house inside which they heard loud
lamentations and cries. So they went in, and there the husband
was lying sick unto death, and very near his end, and his wife
was crying and weeping quite loudly. Stop that howling and
crying, said St. Peter, I will make the man well again, and he
took a salve out of his pocket, and healed the sick man in a
moment, so that he could get up, and was in perfect health.
In great delight the man and his wife said, how can we reward
you. What shall we give you. But St. Peter would take nothing,
and the more the peasant folks offered him, the more he refused.
Brother lustig, however, nudged St. Peter, and said, take
something. Sure enough we are in need of it.
At length the woman brought a lamb and said to St. Peter that
he really must take that, but he would not. Then brother lustig
gave him a poke in the side, and said, do take it, you stupid
fool. We are in great want of it. Then St. Peter said at last,
well, I will take the lamb, but I won't carry it. If you insist
on having it, you must carry it. That is nothing, said brother
lustig. I will easily carry it, and took it on his shoulder.
Then they departed and came to a wood, but brother lustig had
begun to feel the lamb heavy, and he was hungry, so he said to
St. Peter, look, that's a good place, we might cook the lamb
there, and eat it. As you like, answered St. Peter, but I can't
have anything to do with the cooking. If you will cook, there is
a kettle for you, and in the meantime I will walk about a little
until it is ready. But you must not begin to eat until I have
come back. I will come at the right time. Well, go, then, said
brother lustig. I understand cookery, I will manage it.
Then St. Peter went away, and brother lustig killed the lamb,
lighted a fire, threw the meat into the kettle, and boiled it.
When the lamb, however, was quite ready, and the apostle peter
had not come back, brother lustig took it out of the kettle, cut
it up, and found the heart. That is said to be the best part,
said he, and tasted it, but at last he ate it all up. At length
St. Peter returned and said, you may eat the whole of the lamb
yourself, I will only have the heart, give me that.
Then brother lustig took a knife and fork, and pretended to
look anxiously about amongst the lamb's flesh, but not to be
able to find the heart, and at last he said abruptly, there is
none here. But where can it be, said the apostle. I don't know,
replied brother lustig, but look, what fools we both are, to
seek for the lamb's heart, and neither of us to remember that a
lamb has no heart. Oh, said St. Peter, that is something quite
new. Every animal has a heart, why is a lamb to have none. No,
be assured, my brother, said brother lustig, that a lamb has no
heart. Just consider it seriously, and then you will see that it
really has none. Well, it is all right, said St. Peter. If there
is no heart, then I want none of the lamb. You may eat it alone.
What I can't eat now, I will carry away in my knapsack, said
brother lustig, and he ate half the lamb, and put the rest in
his knapsack.
They went farther, and then St. Peter caused a great stream
of water to flow right across their path, and they were obliged
to pass through it. Said St. Peter, do you go first. No,
answered brother lustig, you must go first, and he thought, if
the water is too deep I will stay behind. Then St. Peter strode
through it, and the water just reached to his knee. So brother
lustig began to go through also, but the water grew deeper and
reached to his throat. Then he cried, brother, help me.
St. Peter said, then will you confess that you have eaten the
lamb's heart. No, said he, I have not eaten it. Then the water
grew deeper still and rose to his mouth. Help me, brother, cried
the soldier. St. Peter said, then will you confess that you have
eaten the lamb's heart. No, he replied, I have not eaten it. St.
Peter, however, would not let him be drowned, but made the water
sink and helped him through it.
Then they journeyed onwards, and came to a kingdom where they
heard that the king's daughter lay sick unto death. Hi, there,
brother, said the soldier to St. Peter, this is a chance for us.
If we can heal her we shall be provided for, for life.
But St. Peter was not half quick enough for him. Come, lift
your legs, my dear brother, said he, that we may get there in
time. But St. Peter walked slower and slower, though brother
lustig did all he could to drive and push him on, and at last
they heard that the princess was dead. Now we are done for, said
brother lustig. That comes of your sleepy way of walking.
Just be quiet, answered St. Peter, I can do more than cure
sick people. I can bring dead ones to life again. Well, if you
can do that, said brother lustig, it's all right, but you should
earn at least half the kingdom for us by that. Then they went to
the royal palace, where everyone was in great grief, but St.
Peter told the king that he would restore his daughter to life.
He was taken to her, and said, bring me a kettle and some water,
and when that was brought, he bade everyone go out, and allowed
no one to remain with him but brother lustig. Then he cut off
all the dead girl's limbs, and threw them in the water, lighted
a fire beneath the kettle, and boiled them. And when the flesh
had fallen away from the bones, he took out the beautiful white
bones, and laid them on a table, and arranged them together in
their natural order. When he had done that, he stepped forward
and said three times, in the name of the holy trinity, dead
woman, arise. And at the third time, the princess arose, living,
healthy and beautiful.
Then the king was in the greatest joy, and said to St. Peter,
ask for your reward. Even if it were half my kingdom, I would
give it. But St. Peter said, I want nothing for it. Oh, you
tomfool, thought brother lustig to himself, and nudged his
comrade's side, and said, don't be so stupid. If you have no
need of anything, I have. St. Peter, however, would have
nothing, but as the king saw that the other would very much like
to have something, he ordered his treasurer to fill brother
lustig's knapsack with gold.
Then they went on their way, and when they came to a forest,
St. Peter said to brother lustig, now, we will divide the gold.
Yes, he replied, we will. So St. Peter divided the gold, and
divided it into three heaps. Brother lustig thought to himself,
what crazy idea has he got in his head now. He is making three
shares, and there are only two of us. But St. Peter said, I have
divided it exactly. There is one share for me, one for you and
one for him who ate the lamb's heart.
Oh, I ate that, replied brother lustig, and hastily swept up
the gold. You may trust what I say. But how can that be true,
said St. Peter, when a lamb has no heart. Eh, what, brother,
what can you be thinking of. Lambs have hearts like other
animals, why should only they have none. Well, so be it, said
St. Peter, keep the gold to yourself, but I will stay with you
no longer. I will go my way alone. As you like, dear brother,
answered brother lustig. Farewell.
Then St. Peter went a different road, but brother lustig
thought, it is a good thing that he has taken himself off, he is
certainly a strange saint. Then he had money enough, but did not
know how to manage it, squandered it, gave it away, and and when
some time had gone by, once more had nothing. Then he arrived in
a certain country where he heard that a king's daughter was
dead.
Oh, ho, thought he, that may be a good thing for me. I will
bring her to life again, and see that I am paid as I ought to
be. So he went to the king, and offered to raise the dead girl
to life again. Now the king had heard that a discharged soldier
was traveling about and bringing dead persons to life again, and
thought that brother lustig was the man. But as he had no
confidence in him, he consulted his councillors first, who said
that he might give it a trial as his daughter was dead.
Then brother lustig ordered water to be brought to him in a
kettle, bade every one go out, cut the limbs off, threw them in
the water and lighted a fire beneath, just as he had seen St.
Peter do. The water began to boil, the flesh fell off, and then
he took the bones out and laid them on the table, but he did not
know the order in which to lay them, and placed them all wrong
and in confusion. Then he stood before them and said, in the
name of the most holy trinity, dead maiden, I bid you arise, and
he said this thrice, but the bones did not stir. So he said it
thrice more, but also in vain. Confounded girl that you are, get
up, cried he, get up, or it shall be the worse for you.
When he had said that, St. Peter suddenly appeared in his
former shape as a discharged soldier. He entered by the window
and said, godless man, what are you doing. How can the dead
maiden arise, when you have thrown about her bones in such
confusion. Dear brother, I have done everything to the best of
my ability, he answered. This once, I will help you out of your
difficulty, but one thing I tell you, and that is that if ever
you undertake anything of the kind again, it will be the worse
for you, and also that you must neither demand nor accept the
smallest thing from the king for this.
Thereupon St. Peter laid the bones in their right order, said
to the maiden three times, in the name of the most holy trinity,
dead maiden, arise, and the king's daughter arose, healthy and
beautiful as before. Then St. Peter went away again by the
window, and brother lustig was rejoiced to find that all had
passed off so well, but was very much vexed to think that after
all he was not to take anything for it. I should just like to
know, thought he, what fancy that fellow has got in his head,
for what he gives with one hand he takes away with the other -
there is no sense whatever in it.
Then the king offered brother lustig whatsoever he wished to
have, but he did not dare to take anything. However, by hints
and cunning, he contrived to make the king order his knapsack to
be filled with gold for him, and with that he departed. When he
got out, St. Peter was standing by the door, and said, just look
what a man you are. Did I not forbid you to take anything, and
there you have your knapsack full of gold. How can I help that,
answered brother lustig, if people will put it in for me. Well,
I tell you this, that if ever you set about anything of this
kind again you shall suffer for it. All right, brother, have no
fear, now I have money, why should I trouble myself with washing
bones. Faith, said St. Peter, a long time that gold will last.
In order that after this you may never tread in forbidden paths,
I will bestow on your knapsack this property, namely, that
whatsoever you wish to have inside it, shall be there. Farewell,
you will now never see me more. Good-bye, said brother lustig,
and thought to himself, I am very glad that you have taken
yourself off, you strange fellow. I shall certainly not follow
you. But of the magical power which had been bestowed on his
knapsack, he thought no more.
Brother lustig traveled about with his money, and squandered
and wasted what he had as before. When at last he had no more
than four kreuzers, he passed by an inn and thought, the money
must go, and ordered three kreuzers, worth of wine and one
kreuzer's worth of bread for himself. As he was sitting there
drinking, the smell of roast goose made its way to his nose.
Brother lustig looked about and peeped, and saw that the host
had two geese roasting in the oven. Then he remembered that his
comrade had said that whatsoever he wished to have in his
knapsack should be there, so he said, oh, ho. I must try that
with the geese. So he went out, and when he was outside the
door, he said, I wish those two roasted geese out of the oven
and in my knapsack, and when he had said that, he unbuckled it
and looked in, and there they were inside it. Ah, that's right,
said he, now I am a made man, and went away to a meadow and took
out the roast meat.
When he was in the midst of his meal, two journeymen came up
and looked at the second goose, which was not yet touched, with
hungry eyes. Brother lustig thought to himself, one is enough
for me, and called the two men up and said, take the goose, and
eat it to my health. They thanked him, and went with it to the
inn, ordered themselves a half bottle of wine and a loaf, took
out the goose which had been given them, and began to eat.
The hostess saw them and said to her husband, those two are
eating a goose. Just look and see if it is not one of ours, out
of the oven. The landlord ran thither, and behold the oven was
empty. What, cried he, you thievish crew, you want to eat goose
as cheap as that. Pay for it this moment, or I will wash you
well with green hazel-sap. The two said, we are no thieves, a
discharged soldier gave us the goose, outside there in the
meadow. You shall not throw dust in my eyes that way. The
soldier was here, but he went out by the door, like an honest
fellow. I looked after him myself. You are the thieves and shall
pay. But as they could not pay, he took a stick, and cudgeled
them out of the house.
Brother lustig went his way and came to a place where there
was a magnificent castle, and not far from it a wretched inn. He
went to the inn and asked for a night's lodging, but the
landlord turned him away, and said, there is no more room here,
the house is full of noble guests. It surprises me that they
should come to you and not go to that splendid castle, said
brother lustig. Ah, indeed, replied the host, but it is no
slight matter to sleep there for a night. No one who has tried
it so far, has ever come out of it alive.
If others have tried it, said brother lustig, I will try it
too. Leave it alone, said the host, it will cost you your neck.
It won't kill me at once, said brother lustig, just give me the
key, and some good food and wine. So the host gave him the key,
and food and wine, and with this brother lustig went into the
castle, enjoyed his supper, and at length, as he was sleepy, he
lay down on the ground, for there was no bed. He soon fell
asleep, but during the night was disturbed by a great noise, and
when he awoke, he saw nine ugly devils in the room, who had made
a circle, and were dancing around him.
Brother lustig said, well, dance as long as you like, but
none of you must come too close. But the devils pressed
continually nearer to him, and almost stepped on his face with
their hideous feet. Stop, you devils, ghosts, said he, but they
behaved still worse. Then brother lustig grew angry, and cried,
stop. You'll soon see how I can make you quiet, and got the leg
of a chair and struck out into the midst of them with it. But
nine devils against one soldier were still too many, and when he
struck those in front of him, the others seized him behind by
the hair, and tore it unmercifully.
Devils, crew, cried he, this is too much, but just wait. Into
my knapsack, all nine of you. In an instant they were in it, and
then he buckled it up and threw it into a corner. After this all
was suddenly quiet, and brother lustig lay down again, and slept
till it was bright day.
Then came the inn-keeper, and the nobleman to whom the castle
belonged, to see how he had fared. But when they perceived that
he was merry and well they were astonished, and asked, have the
spirits done you no harm, then. The reason why they have not,
answered brother lustig, is because I have got the whole nine of
them in my knapsack.
You may once more inhabit your castle quite tranquilly, none
of them will ever haunt it again. The nobleman thanked him, made
him rich presents, and begged him to remain in his service, and
he would provide for him as long as he lived. No, replied
brother lustig, I am used to wandering about, I will travel
farther.
Then he went away, and entered into a smithy, laid the
knapsack, which contained the nine devils on the anvil, and
asked the smith and his apprentices to strike it. So they smote
with their great hammers with all their strength, and the devils
uttered howls which were quite pitiable. When he opened the
knapsack after this, eight of them were dead, but one which had
been lying in a fold of it, was still alive, slipped out, and
went back again to hell.
Thereupon brother lustig traveled a long time about the
world, and those who know, can tell many a story about him. But
at last he grew old, and thought of his end, so he went to a
hermit who was known to be a pious man, and said to him, I am
tired of wandering about, and want now to behave in such a
manner that I shall enter into the kingdom of heaven. The hermit
replied, there are two roads, one is broad and pleasant, and
leads to hell, the other is narrow and rough, and leads to
heaven. I should be a fool, thought brother lustig, if I were to
take the narrow, rough road.
So he set out and took the broad and pleasant road, and at
length came to a great black door, which was the door of hell.
Brother lustig knocked, and the door-keeper peeped out to see
who was there. But when he saw brother lustig, he was terrified,
for he was the very same ninth devil who had been shut up in the
knapsack, and had escaped from it with a black eye.
So he pushed the bolt in again as quickly as he could, ran to
the highest devil, and said, there is a fellow outside with a
knapsack, who wants to come in, but as you value your lives
don't allow him to enter, or he will wish the whole of hell into
his knapsack. He once gave me a frightful hammering when I was
inside it.
So they called out to brother lustig that he was to go away
again, for he should not get in there. If they won't have me
here, thought he, I will see if I can find a place for myself in
heaven, for I must stay somewhere.
So he turned about and went onwards until he came to the door
of heaven, where he knocked. St. Peter was sitting hard by as
door-keeper. Brother lustig recognized him at once, and thought,
here I find an old friend, I shall get on better. But St. Peter
said, I can hardly believe that you want to come into heaven.
Let me in, brother. I must get in somewhere. If they would have
taken me into hell, I should not have come here. No, said St.
Peter, you shall not enter. Then if you will not let me in, take
your knapsack back, for I will have nothing at all from you.
Give it here, then, said St. Peter. Then brother lustig gave him
the knapsack into heaven through the bars, and St. Peter took
it, and hung it beside his seat. Then said brother lustig, and
now I wish myself inside my knapsack, and in a second he was in
it, and in heaven, and St. Peter was forced to let him stay
there.
|
Brother Lustig
Hans had served his master for seven years, so he said to
him, master, my time is up, now I should be glad to go back home
to my mother, give me my wages. The master answered, you have
served me faithfully and honestly, as the service was so shall
the reward be. And he gave Hans a piece of gold as big as his
head. Hans pulled his handkerchief out of his pocket, wrapped up
the lump in it, put it on his shoulder, and set out on the way
home.
As he went on, always putting one foot before the other, he
saw a horseman trotting quickly and merrily by on a lively
horse. Ah, said Hans quite loud, what a fine thing it is to
ride. There you sit as on a chair, you stumble over no stones,
you save your shoes, and cover the ground, you don't know how.
The rider, who had heard him, stopped and called out, hi,
there, Hans, why do you go on foot, then.
I must, answered he, for I have this lump to carry home, it
is true that it is gold, but I cannot hold my head straight for
it, and it hurts my shoulder.
I will tell you what, said the rider, we will exchange, I
will give you my horse, and you can give me your lump. With all
my heart, said Hans, but I can tell you, you will have to crawl
along with it.
The rider got down, took the gold, and helped Hans up, then
gave him the bridle tight in his hands and said, if you want to
go at a really good pace, you must click your tongue and call
out, jup. Jup.
Hans was heartily delighted as he sat upon the horse and rode
away so bold and free. After a little while he thought that it
ought to go faster, and he began to click with his tongue and
call out, jup. Jup. The horse put himself into a sharp trot, and
before Hans knew where he was, he was thrown off and lying in a
ditch which separated the field from the highway. The horse
would have gone off too if it had not been stopped by a
countryman, who was coming along the road and driving a cow
before him.
Hans pulled himself together and stood up on his legs again,
but he was vexed, and said to the countryman, it is a poor joke,
this riding, especially when one gets hold of a mare like this,
that kicks and throws one off, so that one has a chance of
breaking one's neck. Never again will I mount it. Now I like
your cow, for one can walk quietly behind her, and have, over
and above, one's milk, butter and cheese every day without fail.
What would I not give to have such a cow. Well, said the
countryman, if it would give you so much pleasure, I do not mind
giving the cow for the horse. Hans agreed with the greatest
delight, the countryman jumped upon the horse, and rode quickly
away.
Hans drove his cow quietly before him, and thought over his
lucky bargain. If only I have a morsel of bread - and that can
hardly fail me - I can eat butter and cheese with it as often as
I like, if I am thirsty, I can milk my cow and drink the milk.
My goodness, what more can I want.
When he came to an inn he made a halt, and in his great
concern ate up what he had with him - his dinner and supper -
and all he had, and with his last few farthings had half a glass
of beer. Then he drove his cow onwards along the road to his
mother's village.
As it drew nearer mid-day, the heat was more oppressive, and
Hans found himself upon a moor which it took about an hour to
cross. He felt it very hot and his tongue clave to the roof of
his mouth with thirst. I can find a cure for this, thought Hans,
I will milk the cow now and refresh myself with the milk. He
tied her to a withered tree, and as he had no pail he put his
leather cap underneath, but try as he would, not a drop of milk
came. And as he set himself to work in a clumsy way, the
impatient beast at last gave him such a blow on his head with
its hind foot, that he fell on the ground, and for a long time
could not think where he was.
By good fortune a butcher just then came along the road with
a wheel-barrow, in which lay a young pig. What sort of a trick
is this, cried he, and helped the good Hans up. Hans told him
what had happened. The butcher gave him his flask and said, take
a drink and refresh yourself. The cow will certainly give no
milk, it is an old beast, at the best it is only fit for the
plough, or for the butcher. Well, well, said Hans, as he stroked
his hair down on his head, who would have thought it. Certainly
it is a fine thing when one can kill a beast like that at home,
what meat one has. But I do not care much for beef, it is not
juicy enough for me. A young pig like that now is the thing to
have, it tastes quite different, and then there are the
sausages.
Listen, Hans, said the butcher, out of love for you I will
exchange, and will let you have the pig for the cow. Heaven
repay you for your kindness, said Hans as he gave up the cow,
whilst the pig was unbound from the barrow, and the cord by
which it was tied was put in his hand.
Hans went on, and thought to himself how everything was going
just as he wished, if he did meet with any vexation it was
immediately set right. Presently there joined him a lad who was
carrying a fine white goose under his arm. They said good
morning to each other, and Hans began to tell of his good luck,
and how he had always made such good bargains. The boy told him
that he was taking the goose to a christening-feast. Just lift
her, added he, and laid hold of her by the wings, how heavy she
is - she has been fattened up for the last eight weeks.
Whosoever has a bit of her when she is roasted will have to wipe
the fat from both sides of his mouth. Yes, said Hans, as he
weighed her in one hand, she is a good weight, but my pig is no
bad one.
Meanwhile the lad looked suspiciously from one side to the
other, and shook his head. Look here, he said at length, it may
not be all right with your pig. In the village through which I
passed, the mayor himself had just had one stolen out of its
sty. I fear - I fear that you have got hold of it there. They
have sent out some people and it would be a bad business if they
caught you with the pig, at the very least, you would be shut up
in the dark hole.
The good Hans was terrified. Goodness, he said, help me out
of this fix, you know more about this place than I do, take my
pig and leave me your goose. I shall risk something at that
game, answered the lad, but I will not be the cause of your
getting into trouble. So he took the cord in his hand, and drove
away the pig quickly along a by-path.
The good Hans, free from care, went homewards with the goose
under his arm. When I think over it properly, said he to
himself, I have even gained by the exchange. First there is the
good roast meat, then the quantity of fat which will drip from
it, and which will give me dripping for my bread for a quarter
of a year, and lastly the beautiful white feathers. I will have
my pillow stuffed with them, and then indeed I shall go to sleep
without rocking. How glad my mother will be.
As he was going through the last village, there stood a
scissors-grinder with his barrow, as his wheel whirred he sang,
I sharpen scissors and quickly grind, my coat blows out in the
wind behind.
Hans stood still and looked at him, at last he spoke to him
and said, all's well with you, as you are so merry with your
grinding. Yes, answered the scissors-grinder, the trade has a
golden foundation. A real grinder is a man who as often as he
puts his hand into his pocket finds gold in it. But where did
you buy that fine goose?
I did not buy it, but exchanged my pig for it.
And the pig?
That I got for a cow.
And the cow?
I took that instead of a horse.
And the horse?
For that I gave a lump of gold as big as my head.
And the gold?
Well, that was my wages for seven years, service.
You have known how to look after yourself each time, said the
grinder. If you can only get on so far as to hear the money
jingle in your pocket whenever you stand up, you will have made
your fortune.
How shall I manage that, said Hans. You must be a grinder, as
I am, nothing particular is wanted for it but a grindstone, the
rest finds itself. I have one here, it is certainly a little
worn, but you need not give me anything for it but your goose,
will you do it?
How can you ask, answered Hans. I shall be the luckiest
fellow on earth. If I have money whenever I put my hand in my
pocket, why should I ever worry again. And he handed him the
goose and received the grindstone in exchange. Now, said the
grinder, as he took up an ordinary heavy stone that lay by him,
here is a strong stone for you into the bargain, you can hammer
well upon it, and straighten your old nails. Take it with you
and keep it carefully. Hans loaded himself with the stones, and
went on with a contented heart, his eyes shining with joy. I
must have been born with a caul, he cried, everything I want
happens to me just as if I were a sunday-child.
Meanwhile, as he had been on his legs since daybreak, he
began to feel tired. Hunger also tormented him, for in his joy
at the bargain by which he got the cow he had eaten up all his
store of food at once. At last he could only go on with great
trouble, and was forced to stop every minute, the stones, too,
weighed him down dreadfully. Then he could not help thinking how
nice it would be if he had not to carry them just then.
He crept like a snail to a well in a field, and there he
thought that he would rest and refresh himself with a cool
draught of water, but in order that he might not injure the
stones in sitting down, he laid them carefully by his side on
the edge of the well. Then he sat down on it, and was to stoop
and drink, when he made a slip, pushed against the stones, and
both of them fell into the water. When Hans saw them with his
own eyes sinking to the bottom, he jumped for joy, and then
knelt down, and with tears in his eyes thanked God for having
shown him this favor also, and delivered him in so good a way,
and without his having any need to reproach himself, from those
heavy stones which had been the only things that troubled him.
There is no man under the sun so fortunate as I, he cried
out. With a light heart and free from every burden he now ran on
until he was with his mother at home.
|
The Gold-Children
There was once a poor man and a poor woman who had nothing
but a little cottage, and who earned their bread by fishing, and
always lived from hand to mouth. But it came to pass one day
when the man was sitting by the water-side, and casting his net,
that he drew out a fish entirely of gold. As he was looking at
the fish, full of astonishment, it began to speak and said,
listen, fisherman, if you will throw me back again into the
water, I will change your little hut into a splendid castle.
Then the fisherman answered, of what use is a castle to me,
if I have nothing to eat. The gold fish continued, that shall be
taken care of, there will be a cupboard in the castle in which,
when you open it, shall be dishes of the most delicate meats,
and as many of them as you can desire. If that be true, said the
man, then I can well do you a favor. Yes, said the fish, there
is, however, the condition that you shall disclose to no one in
the world, whosoever he may be, whence your good luck has come,
if you speak but one single word, all will be over. Then the man
threw the wonderful fish back again into the water, and went
home.
But where his hovel had formerly stood, now stood a great
castle. He opened wide his eyes, entered, and saw his wife
dressed in beautiful clothes, sitting in a splendid room, and
she was quite delighted, and said, husband, how has all this
come to pass. It suits me very well. Yes, said the man, it suits
me too, but I am frightfully hungry, just give me something to
eat. Said the wife, but I have got nothing and don't know where
to find anything in this new house. There is no need of your
knowing, said the man, for I see yonder a great cupboard, just
unlock it. When she opened it, there stood cakes, meat, fruit,
wine, quite a bright prospect.
Then the woman cried joyfully, what more can you want, my
dear. And they sat down, and ate and drank together. When they
had had enough, the woman said, but husband, whence come all
these riches. Alas, answered he, do not question me about it,
for I dare not tell you anything. If I disclose it to anyone,
then all our good fortune will disappear. Very good, said she,
if I am not to know anything, then I do not want to know
anything. However, she was not in earnest. She never rested day
or night, and she goaded her husband until in his impatience he
revealed that all was owing to a wonderful golden fish which he
had caught, and to which in return he had given its liberty. And
as soon as the secret was out, the splendid castle with the
cupboard immediately disappeared, they were once more in the old
fisherman's hut, and the man was obliged to follow his former
trade and fish.
But fortune would so have it, that he once more drew out the
golden fish. Listen, said the fish, if you will throw me back
into the water again, I will once more give you the castle with
the cupboard full of roast and boiled meats. Only be firm, for
your life's sake don't reveal from whom you have it, or you will
lose it all again. I will take good care, answered the
fisherman, and threw the fish back into the water. Now at home
everything was once more in its former magnificence, and the
wife was overjoyed at their good fortune, but curiosity left her
no peace, so that after a couple of days she began to ask again
how it had come to pass, and how he had managed to secure it.
The man kept silence for a short time, but at last she made him
so angry that he broke out, and betrayed the secret.
In an instant the castle disappeared, and they were back
again in their old hut. Now you have got what you want, said he,
and we can gnaw at a bare bone again. Ah, said the woman, I had
rather not have riches if I am not to know from whom they come,
for then I have no peace.
The man went back to fish, and after a while he chanced to
draw out the gold fish for a third time. Listen, said the fish,
I see very well that I am fated to fall into your hands, take me
home and cut me into six pieces. Give your wife two of them to
eat, two to your horse and bury two of them in the ground, then
they will bring you a blessing. The fisherman took the fish home
with him, and did as it had bidden him. It came to pass,
however, that from the two pieces that were buried in the ground
two golden lilies sprang up, that the horse had two golden
foals, and the fisherman's wife bore two children who were made
entirely of gold. The children grew up, became tall and
handsome, and the lilies and horses grew likewise. Then they
said, father, we want to mount our golden steeds and travel out
in the world. But he answered sorrowfully, how shall I bear it
if you go away, and I know not how it fares with you. Then they
said, the two golden lilies remain here. By them you can see how
it is with us. If they are fresh, then we are in health. If they
are withered, we are ill. If they perish, then we are dead.
So they rode forth and came to an inn, in which were many
people, and when they perceived the gold-children they began to
laugh, and jeer. When one of them heard the mocking he felt
ashamed and would not go out into the world, but turned back and
went home again to his father. But the other rode forward and
reached a great forest. As he was about to enter it, the people
said, it is not safe for you to ride through, the wood is full
of robbers who would treat you badly. You will fare ill, and
when they see that you are all of gold, and your horse likewise,
they will assuredly kill you.
But he would not allow himself to be frightened, and said, I
must and will ride through it. Then he took bear-skins and
covered himself and his horse with them, so that the gold was no
more to be seen, and rode fearlessly into the forest. When he
had ridden onward a little he heard a rustling in the bushes,
and heard voices speaking together. From one side came cries of,
there is one, but from the other, let him go, 'tis a bearskin,
as poor and bare as a church-mouse, what should we gain from
him. So the gold-child rode joyfully through the forest, and no
evil befell him.
One day he entered a village wherein he saw a maiden, who was
so beautiful that he did not believe that any more beautiful
than she existed in the world. And as such a mighty love took
possession of him, he went up to her and said, I love you with
my whole heart, will you be my wife. He, too, pleased the maiden
so much that she agreed and said, yes, I will be your wife, and
be true to you my whole life long.
Then they were married, and just as they were in the greatest
happiness, home came the father of the bride, and when he saw
that his daughter's wedding was being celebrated, he was
astonished, and said, where is the bridegroom. They showed him
the gold-child, who, however, still wore his bear-skins. Then
the father said wrathfully, a bearskin shall never have my
daughter. And was about to kill him. Then the bride begged as
hard as she could, and said, he is my husband, and I love him
with all my heart. Until at last he allowed himself to be
appeased. Nevertheless the idea never left his thoughts, so that
next morning he rose early, wishing to see whether his
daughter's husband was a common ragged beggar. But when he
peeped in, he saw a magnificent golden man in the bed, and the
cast-off bear-skins lying on the ground. Then he went back and
thought, what a good thing it was that I restrained my anger. I
would have committed a great crime.
But the gold-child dreamed that he rode out to hunt a
splendid stag, and when he awoke in the morning, he said to his
wife, I must go out hunting. She was uneasy, and begged him to
stay there, and said, you might easily meet with a great
misfortune. But he answered, I must and will go.
Thereupon he got up, and rode forth into the forest, and it
was not long before a fine stag crossed his path exactly
according to his dream. He aimed and was about to shoot it, when
the stag ran away. He gave chase over hedges and ditches for the
whole day without feeling tired, but in the evening the stag
vanished from his sight, and when the gold-child looked round
him, he was standing before a little house, wherein sat a witch.
He knocked and a little old woman came out and asked, what
are you doing so late in the midst of the great forest. Have you
not seen a stag. Yes, answered she, I know the stag well. And
thereupon a little dog which had come out of the house with her,
barked at the man violently. Will you be silent, you odious
toad, said he, or I will shoot you dead. Then the witch cried
out in a passion, what will you slay my little dog. And
immediately transformed him, so that he lay like a stone, and
his bride awaited him in vain and thought, that which I so
greatly dreaded, which lay so heavily on my heart, has come upon
him.
But at home the other brother was standing by the
gold-lilies, when one of them suddenly drooped. Good heavens,
said he, my brother has met with some great misfortune I must
away to see if I can possibly rescue him. Then the father said,
stay here, if I lose you also, what shall I do. But he answered,
I must and will go forth.
Then he mounted his golden horse, and rode forth and entered
the great forest, where his brother lay turned to stone. The old
witch came out of her house and called him, wishing to entrap
him also, but he did not go near her, and said, I will shoot
you, if you will not bring my brother to life again. She touched
the stone, though very unwillingly, with her forefinger, and he
was immediately restored to his human shape. And the two
gold-children rejoiced when they saw each other again, kissed
and caressed each other, and rode away together out of the
forest the one home to his bride, and the other to his father.
The father then said, I knew well that you had rescued your
brother, for the golden lily suddenly rose up and blossomed out
again. Then they lived happily, and they prospered until their
death.
|
The Singing, Soaring Lark
There was once upon a time a man who was about to set out on
a long journey, and on parting he asked his three daughters what
he should bring back with him for them. Whereupon the eldest
wished for pearls, the second wished for diamonds, but the third
said, dear father, I should like a singing, soaring lark. The
father said, yes, if I can get it, you shall have it, kissed all
three, and set out.
Now when the time had come for him to be on his way home
again, he had brought pearls and diamonds for the two eldest,
but he had sought everywhere in vain for a singing, soaring lark
for the youngest, and he was very unhappy about it, for she was
his favorite child. Then his road lay through a forest, and in
the midst of it was a splendid castle, and near the castle stood
a tree, but quite on the top of the tree, he saw a singing,
soaring lark. Aha, you come just at the right moment, he said,
quite delighted, and called to his servant to climb up and catch
the little creature.
But as he approached the tree, a lion leapt from beneath it,
shook himself, and roared till the leaves on the trees trembled.
He who tries to steal my singing, soaring lark, he cried, will I
devour. Then the man said, I did not know that the bird belonged
to you. I will make amends for the wrong I have done and ransom
myself with a large sum of money, only spare my life. The lion
said, nothing can save you, unless you will promise to give me
for my own what first meets you on your return home, and if you
will do that, I will grant you your life, and you shall have the
bird for your daughter, into the bargain. But the man hesitated
and said, that might be my youngest daughter, she loves me best,
and always runs to meet me on my return home.
The servant, however, was terrified and said, why should your
daughter be the very one to meet you, it might as easily be a
cat, or dog. Then the man allowed himself to be persuaded, took
the singing, soaring lark, and promised to give the lion
whatsoever should first meet him on his return home.
When he reached home and entered his house, the first who met
him was no other than his youngest and dearest daughter, who
came running up, kissed and embraced him, and when she saw that
he had brought with him a singing, soaring lark, she was beside
herself with joy. The father, however, could not rejoice, but
began to weep, and said, my dearest child, I have bought the
little bird dear. In return for it, I have been obliged to
promise you to a savage lion, and when he has you he will tear
you in pieces and devour you, and he told her all, just as it
had happened, and begged her not to go there, come what might.
But she consoled him and said, dearest father, indeed your
promise must be fulfilled. I will go thither and soften the
lion, so that I may return to you safely. Next morning she had
the road pointed out to her, took leave, and went fearlessly out
into the forest. The lion, however, was an enchanted prince and
was by day a lion, and all his people were lions with him, but
in the night they resumed their natural human shapes.
On her arrival she was kindly received and led into the
castle. When night came, the lion turned into a handsome man,
and their wedding was celebrated with great magnificence. They
lived happily together, remained awake at night, and slept in
the daytime. One day he came and said, to-morrow there is a
feast in your father's house, because your eldest sister is to
be married, and if you are inclined to go there, my lions shall
conduct you. She said, yes, I should very much like to see my
father again, and went thither, accompanied by the lions.
There was great joy when she arrived, for they had all
believed that she had been torn in pieces by the lion, and had
long ceased to live. But she told them what a handsome husband
she had, and how well off she was, remained with them while the
wedding-feast lasted, and then went back again to the forest.
When the second daughter was about to be married, and she was
again invited to the wedding, she said to the lion, this time I
will not be alone, you must come with me. The lion, however,
said that it was too dangerous for him, for if when there a ray
from a burning candle fell on him, he would be changed into a
dove, and for seven years long would have to fly about with the
doves. She said, ah, but do come with me, I will take great care
of you, and guard you from all light. So they went away
together, and took with them their little child as well.
She had a room built there, so strong and thick that no ray
could pierce through it, in this he was to shut himself up when
the candles were lit for the wedding-feast. But the door was
made of green wood which warped and left a little crack which no
one noticed. The wedding was celebrated with magnificence, but
when the procession with all its candles and torches came back
from church, and passed by this apartment, a ray touched him, he
was transformed in an instant, and when she came in and looked
for him, she did not see him, but a white dove was sitting
there. The dove said to her, for seven years must I fly about
the world, but at every seventh step that you take I will let
fall a drop of red blood and a white feather, and these will
show you the way, and if you follow the trace you can release
me. Thereupon the dove flew out at the door, and she followed
him, and at every seventh step a red drop of blood and a little
white feather fell down and showed her the way.
So she went continually further and further in the wide
world, never looking about her or resting, and the seven years
were almost past, then she rejoiced and thought that they would
soon be saved, and yet they were so far from it. Once when they
were thus moving onwards, no little feather and no drop of red
blood fell, and when she raised her eyes the dove had
disappeared. And as she thought to herself, in this no man can
help you, she climbed up to the sun, and said to him, you shine
into every crevice, and over every peak, have you not seen a
white dove flying.
No, said the sun, I have seen none, but I present you with a
casket, open it when you are in sorest need. Then she thanked
the sun, and went on until evening came and the moon appeared,
she then asked her, you shine the whole night through, and on
every field and forest, have you not seen a white dove flying.
No, said the moon, I have seen no dove, but here I give you
an egg, break it when you are in great need. She thanked the
moon, and went on until the night wind came up and blew on her,
then she said to it, you blow over every tree and under every
leaf, have you not seen a white dove flying. No, said the night
wind, I have seen none, but I will ask the three other winds,
perhaps they have seen it.
The east wind and the west wind came, and had seen nothing,
but the south wind said, I have seen the white dove, it has
flown to the red sea, where it has become a lion again, for the
seven years are over, and the lion is there fighting with a
dragon, the dragon, however, is an enchanted princess. The night
wind then said to her, I will advise you, go to the red sea, on
the right bank are some tall reeds, count them, break off the
eleventh, and strike the dragon with it, then the lion will be
able to subdue it, and both then will regain their human form.
After that, look round and you will see the griffin which is by
the red sea, swing yourself, with your beloved, on to his back,
and the bird will carry you over the sea to your own home. Here
is a nut for you, when you are above the center of the sea, let
the nut fall, it will immediately shoot up, and a tall nut-tree
will grow out of the water on which the griffin may rest, for if
he cannot rest, he will not be strong enough to carry you
across, and if you forget to throw down the nut, he will let you
fall into the sea.
Then she went thither, and found everything as the night wind
had said. She counted the reeds by the sea, and cut off the
eleventh, struck the dragon therewith, whereupon the lion
conquered it, and immediately both of them regained their human
shapes. But when the princess, who hitherto had been the dragon,
was released from enchantment, she took the youth by the arm,
seated herself on the griffin, and carried him off with her.
There stood the poor maiden who had wandered so far and was
again forsaken. She sat down and cried, but at last she took
courage and said, still I will go as far as the wind blows and
as long as the cock crows, until I find him, and she went forth
by long, long roads, until at last she came to the castle where
both of them were living together, there she heard that soon a
feast was to be held, in which they would celebrate their
wedding, but she said, God still helps me, and opened the casket
that the sun had given her. A dress lay therein as brilliant as
the sun itself. So she took it out and put it on, and went up
into the castle, and everyone, even the bride herself, looked at
her with astonishment.
The dress pleased the bride so well that she thought it might
do for her wedding-dress, and asked if it was for sale. Not for
money or land, answered she, but for flesh and blood. The bride
asked her what she meant by that, so she said, let me sleep a
night in the chamber where the bridegroom sleeps. The bride
would not, yet wanted very much to have the dress, at last she
consented, but the page was to give the prince a
sleeping-draught.
When it was night, therefore, and the youth was already
asleep, she was led into the chamber, she seated herself on the
bed and said, I have followed after you for seven years. I have
been to the sun and the moon, and the four winds, and have
enquired for you, and have helped you against the dragon, will
you, then quite forget me. But the prince slept so soundly that
it only seemed to him as if the wind were whistling outside in
the fir-trees.
When therefore day broke, she was led out again, and had to
give up the golden dress. And as that even had been of no avail,
she was sad, went out into a meadow, sat down there, and wept.
While she was sitting there, she thought of the egg which the
moon had given her, she opened it, and there came out a clucking
hen with twelve chickens all of gold, and they ran about
chirping, and crept again under the old hen's wings, nothing
more beautiful was ever seen in the world. Then she arose, and
drove them through the meadow before her, until the bride looked
out of the window.
The little chickens pleased her so much that she immediately
came down and asked if they were for sale. Not for money or
land, but for flesh and blood, let me sleep another night in the
chamber where the bridegroom sleeps. The bride said, yes,
intending to cheat her as on the former evening. But when the
prince went to bed he asked the page what the murmuring and
rustling in the night had been. On this the page told all, that
he had been forced to give him a sleeping-draught, because a
poor girl had slept secretly in the chamber, and that he was to
give him another that night. The prince said, pour out the
draught by the bed-side.
At night, she was again led in, and when she began to relate
how ill all had fared with her, he immediately recognized his
beloved wife by her voice, sprang up and cried, now I really am
released. I have been as it were in a dream, for the strange
princess has bewitched me so that I have been compelled to
forget you, but God has delivered me from the spell at the right
time.
Then they both left the castle secretly in the night, for
they feared the father of the princess, who was a sorcerer, and
they seated themselves on the griffin which bore them across the
red sea, and when they were in the midst of it, she let fall the
nut. Immediately a tall nut-tree grew up, whereon the bird
rested, and then carried them home, where they found their
child, who had grown tall and beautiful, and they lived
thenceforth happily until their death.
|
The Goose-Girl
There was once upon a time an old queen whose husband had
been dead for many years, and she had a beautiful daughter. When
the princess grew up she was betrothed to a prince who lived at
a great distance. When the time came for her to be married, and
she had to journey forth into the distant kingdom, the aged
queen packed up for her many costly vessels of silver and gold,
and trinkets also of gold and silver, and cups and jewels, in
short, everything which appertained to a royal dowry, for she
loved her child with all her heart.
She likewise sent her maid-in-waiting, who was to ride with
her, and hand her over to the bridegroom, and each had a horse
for the journey, but the horse of the king's daughter was called
Falada, and could speak. So when the hour of parting had come,
the aged mother went into her bedroom, took a small knife and
cut her finger with it until it bled. Then she held a white
handkerchief to it into which she let three drops of blood fall,
gave it to her daughter and said, dear child, preserve this
carefully, it will be of service to you on your way.
So they took a sorrowful leave of each other, the princess
put the piece of cloth in her bosom, mounted her horse, and then
went away to her bridegroom. After she had ridden for a while
she felt a burning thirst, and said to her waiting-maid,
dismount, and take my cup which you have brought with you for
me, and get me some water from the stream, for I should like to
drink. If you are thirsty, said the waiting-maid, get off your
horse yourself, and lie down and drink out of the water, I don't
choose to be your servant.
So in her great thirst the princess alighted, bent down over
the water in the stream and drank, and was not allowed to drink
out of the golden cup. Then she said, ah, heaven, and the three
drops of blood answered, if this your mother knew, her heart
would break in two. But the king's daughter was humble, said
nothing, and mounted her horse again.
She rode some miles further, but the day was warm, the sun
scorched her, and she was thirsty once more, and when they came
to a stream of water, she again cried to her waiting-maid,
dismount, and give me some water in my golden cup, for she had
long ago forgotten the girl's ill words. But the waiting-maid
said still more haughtily, if you wish to drink, get it
yourself, I don't choose to be your maid. Then in her great
thirst the king's daughter alighted, bent over the flowing
stream, wept and said, ah, heaven, and the drops of blood again
replied, if this your mother knew, her heart would break in two.
And as she was thus drinking and leaning right over the
stream, the handkerchief with the three drops of blood fell out
of her bosom, and floated away with the water without her
observing it, so great was her trouble. The waiting-maid,
however, had seen it, and she rejoiced to think that she had now
power over the bride, for since the princess had lost the drops
of blood, she had become weak and powerless.
So now when she wanted to mount her horse again, the one that
was called Falada, the waiting-maid said, Falada is more
suitable for me, and my nag will do for you, and the princess
had to be content with that. Then the waiting-maid, with many
hard words, bade the princess exchange her royal apparel for her
own shabby clothes, and at length she was compelled to swear by
the clear sky above her, that she would not say one word of this
to anyone at the royal court, and if she had not taken this oath
she would have been killed on the spot. But Falada saw all this,
and observed it well.
The waiting-maid now mounted Falada, and the true bride the
bad horse, and thus they traveled onwards, until at length they
entered the royal palace. There were great rejoicings over her
arrival, and the prince sprang forward to meet her, lifted the
waiting-maid from her horse, and thought she was his consort.
She was conducted upstairs, but the real princess was left
standing below. Then the old king looked out of the window and
saw her standing in the courtyard, and noticed how dainty and
delicate and beautiful she was, and instantly went to the royal
apartment, and asked the bride about the girl she had with her
who was standing down below in the courtyard, and who she was. I
picked her up on my way for a companion, give the girl something
to work at, that she may not stand idle.
But the old king had no work for her, and knew of none, so he
said, I have a little boy who tends the geese, she may help him.
The boy was called Conrad, and the true bride had to help him to
tend the geese. Soon afterwards the false bride said to the
young king, dearest husband, I beg you to do me a favor. He
answered, I will do so most willingly. Then send for the
knacker, and have the head of the horse on which I rode here cut
off, for it vexed me on the way. In reality, she was afraid that
the horse might tell how she had behaved to the king's daughter.
Then she succeeded in making the king promise that it should
be done, and the faithful Falada was to die, this came to the
ears of the real princess, and she secretly promised to pay the
knacker a piece of gold if he would perform a small service for
her. There was a great dark-looking gateway in the town, through
which morning and evening she had to pass with the geese, would
he be so goood as to nail up Falada's head on it, so that she
might see him again, more than once. The knacker's man promised
to do that, and cut off the head, and nailed it fast beneath the
dark gateway.
Early in the morning, when she and Conrad drove out their
flock beneath this gateway, she said in passing, alas, Falada,
hanging there.
Then the head answered, alas, young queen, how ill you fare.
If this your mother knew, her heart would break in two.
Then they went still further out of the town, and drove their
geese into the country. And when they had come to the meadow,
she sat down and unbound her hair which was like pure gold, and
Conrad saw it and delighted in its brightness, and wanted to
pluck out a few hairs. Then she said, blow, blow, thou gentle
wind, I say, blow Conrad's little hat away, and make him chase
it here and there, until I have braided all my hair, and bound
it up again.
And there came such a violent wind that it blew Conrad's hat
far away across country, and he was forced to run after it. When
he came back she had finished combing her hair and was putting
it up again, and he could not get any of it. Then Conrad was
angry, and would not speak to her, and thus they watched the
geese until the evening, and then they went home. Next day when
they were driving the geese out through the dark gateway, the
maiden said, alas, Falada, hanging there.
Falada answered, alas, young queen, how ill you fare. If this
your mother knew, her heart would break in two.
And she sat down again in the field and began to comb out her
hair, and Conrad ran and tried to clutch it, so she said in
haste, blow, blow, thou gentle wind, I say, blow Conrad's little
hat away, and make him chase it here and there, until I have
braided all my hair, and bound it up again.
Then the wind blew, and blew his little hat off his head and
far away, and Conrad was forced to run after it, and when he
came back, her hair had been put up a long time, and he could
get none of it, and so they looked after their geese till
evening came.
But in the evening after they had got home, Conrad went to
the old king, and said, I won't tend the geese with that girl
any longer. Why not, inquired the aged king. Oh, because she
vexes me the whole day long. Then the aged king commanded him to
relate what it was that she did to him. And Conrad said, in the
morning when we pass beneath the dark gateway with the block,
there is a horse's head on the wall, and she says to it, alas,
Falada, hanging there.
And the head replies, alas, young queen how ill you fare. If
this your mother knew, her heart would break in two.
And Conrad went on to relate what happened on the goose
pasture, and how when there he had to chase his hat.
The aged king commanded him to drive his block out again next
day, and as soon as morning came, he placed himself behind the
dark gateway, and heard how the maiden spoke to the head of
Falada, and then he too went into the country, and hid himself
in the thicket in the meadow. There he soon saw with his own
eyes the goose-girl and the goose-boy bringing their flock, and
how after a while she sat down and unplaited her hair, which
shone with radiance. And soon she said, blow, blow, thou gentle
wind, I say, blow Conrad's little hat away, and make him chase
it here and there, until I have braided all my hair, and bound
it up again.
Then came a blast of wind and carried off Conrad's hat, so
that he had to run far away, while the maiden quietly went on
combing and plaiting her hair, all of which the king observed.
Then, quite unseen, he went away, and when the goose-girl came
home in the evening, he called her aside, and asked why she did
all these things. I may not tell that, and I dare not lament my
sorrows to any human being, for I have sworn not to do so by the
heaven which is above me, if I had not done that, I should have
lost my life.
He urged her and left her no peace, but he could draw nothing
from her. Then said he, if you will not tell me anything, tell
your sorrows to the iron-stove there, and he went away. Then she
crept into the iron-stove, and began to weep and lament, and
emptied her whole heart, and said, here am I deserted by the
whole world, and yet I am a king's daughter, and a false
waiting-maid has by force brought me to such a pass that I have
been compelled to put off my royal apparel, and she has taken my
place with my bridegroom, and I have to perform menial service
as a goose-girl if this my mother knew, her heart would break in
two.
The aged king, however, was standing outside by the pipe of
the stove, and was listening to what she said, and heard it.
Then he came back again, and bade her come out of the stove. And
royal garments were placed on her, and it was marvellous how
beautiful she was. The aged king summoned his son, and revealed
to him that he had got the false bride who was only a
waiting-maid, but that the true one was standing there, as the
former goose-girl. The young king rejoiced with all his heart
when he saw her beauty and youth, and a great feast was made
ready to which all the people and all good friends were invited.
At the head of the table sat the bridegroom with the king's
daughter at one side of him, and the waiting-maid on the other,
but the waiting-maid was blinded, and did not recognize the
princess in her dazzling array. When they had eaten and drunk,
and were merry, the aged king asked the waiting-maid as a
riddle, what punishment a person deserved who had behaved in
such and such a way to her master, and at the same time related
the whole story, and asked what sentence such a person merited.
Then the false bride said, she deserves no better fate than to
be stripped entirely naked, and put in a barrel which is studded
inside with pointed nails, and two white horses should be
harnessed to it, which will drag her along through one street
after another, till she is dead.
It is you, said the aged king, and you have pronounced your
own sentence, and thus shall it be done unto you. And when the
sentence had been carried out, the young king married his true
bride, and both of them reigned over their kingdom in peace and
happiness.
|
The Young Giant
Once upon a time a countryman had a son who was as big as a
thumb, and did not become any bigger, and during several years
did not grow one hair's breadth. Once when the father was going
out to plough, the little one said, father, I will go out with
you. You would go out with me, said the father. Stay here, you
will be of no use out there, besides you might get lost. Then
thumbling began to cry, and for the sake of peace his father put
him in his pocket, and took him with him.
When he was outside in the field, he took him out again, and
set him in a freshly cut furrow. Whilst he sat there, a great
giant came over the hill. Do you see that great bogie, said the
father, for he wanted to frighten the little fellow to make him
behave well, he is coming to fetch you. The giant, however, had
scarcely taken two steps with his long legs before he was in the
furrow.
He took up little thumbling carefully with two fingers,
examined him, and without saying one word went away with him.
His father stood by, but could not utter a sound for terror, and
he thought nothing else but that his child was lost, and that as
long as he lived he should never set eyes on him again.
But the giant carried him home, let him suckle at his breast,
and thumbling grew and became tall and strong after the manner
of giants. When two years had passed, the old giant took him
into the forest, wanted to test him, and said, pull up a stick
for yourself. Then the boy was already so strong that he tore up
a young tree out of the earth by the roots. But the giant
thought, we must do better than that, took him back again, and
suckled him two years longer. When he tested him, his strength
had increased so much that he could tear an old tree out of the
ground.
That was still not enough for the giant, he again suckled him
for two years, and when he then went with him into the forest
and said, now just tear up a real stick, the boy tore up the
biggest oak-tree from the earth, so that it cracked, and that
was a mere trifle to him. Now that will do, said the giant, you
are perfect. And took him back to the field from whence he had
brought him. His father was there following the plough. The
young giant went up to him, and said, does my father see what a
fine man his son has grown into.
The farmer was alarmed, and said, no, you are not my son. I
don't want you - leave me. Truly I am your son, allow me to do
your work, I can plough as well as you, nay better. No, no, you
are not my son, and you can not plough - go away. However, as he
was afraid of this great man, he let go of the plough, stepped
back and sat down at the side of the land. Then the youth took
the plough, and just grasped it with one hand, but his pressure
was so strong that the plough went deep into the earth.
The farmer could not bear to see that, and called to him, if
you are determined to plough, you must not press so hard on it,
that makes bad work. The youth, however, unharnessed the horses,
and drew the plough himself, saying, just go home, father, and
bid my mother make ready a large dish of food, and in the
meantime I will go over the field. Then the farmer went home,
and ordered his wife to prepare the food, but the youth ploughed
the field which was two acres large, quite alone, and then he
harnessed himself to the harrow, and harrowed the whole of the
land, using two harrows at once. When he had done it, he went
into the forest, and pulled up two oak-trees, laid them across
his shoulders, and hung on them one harrow behind and one
before, and also one horse behind and one before, and carried
all as if it had been a bundle of straw, to his parents, house.
When he entered the yard, his mother did not recognize him,
and asked, who is that horrible tall man. The father said, that
is our son. She said, no that cannot be our son, we never had
such a tall one, ours was a little thing. She called to him, go
away, we do not want you. The youth was silent, but led his
horses to the stable, gave them some oats and hay, and all that
they wanted. When he had done this, he went into the parlor, sat
down on the bench and said, mother, now I should like something
to eat, will it soon be ready? She said, yes, and brought in two
immense dishes full of food, which would have been enough to
satisfy herself and her husband for a week. The youth, however,
ate the whole of it himself, and asked if she had nothing more
to set before him. No, she replied, that is all we have. But
that was only a taste, I must have more.
She did not dare to oppose him, and went and put a huge pig's
trough full of food on the fire, and when it was ready, carried
it in. At length come a few crumbs, said he, and gobbled all
there was, but it was still not sufficient to appease his
hunger. Then said he, father, I see well that with you I shall
never have food enough, if you will get me an iron staff which
is strong, and which I cannot break against my knees, I will go
out into the world. The farmer was glad, put his two horses in
his cart, and fetched from the smith a staff so large and thick,
that the two horses could only just bring it away.
The youth laid it across his knees, and snap, he broke it in
two in the middle like a bean-stalk, and threw it away. The
father then harnessed four horses, and brought a bar which was
so long and thick, that the four horses could only just drag it.
The son snapped this also in twain against his knees, threw it
away, and said, father, this can be of no use to me, you must
harness more horses, and bring a stronger staff. So the father
harnessed eight horses, and brought one which was so long and
thick, that the eight horses could only just carry it. When the
son took it in his hand, he immediately snapped off the end of
it, and said, father, I see that you will not be able to procure
me any such staff as I want, I will remain no longer with you.
So he went away, and gave out that he was a smith's
apprentice. He arrived at a village, wherein lived a smith who
was a stingy fellow, who never did a kindness to any one, but
wanted everything for himself. The youth went into the smithy
and asked if he needed a journeyman. Yes, said the smith, and
looked at him, and thought, that is a strong fellow who will
strike out well, and earn his bread. So he asked, how much wages
do you want.
I don't want any at all, he replied, only every fortnight,
when the other journeymen are paid, I will give you two blows,
and you must bear them. The miser was heartily satisfied, and
thought he would thus save much money. Next morning, the strange
journeyman was to begin to work, but when the master brought the
glowing bar, and the youth struck his first blow, the iron flew
asunder, and the anvil sank so deep into the earth, that there
was no bringing it out again. Then the miser grew angry, and
said, oh, but I can't make any use of you, you strike far too
powerfully. How much will you have for the one blow.
Then said he, I will give you only quite a small blow, that's
all. And he raised his foot, and gave him such a kick that he
flew away over four loads of hay. Then he sought out the
thickest iron bar in the smithy for himself, took it as a stick
in his hand and went onwards.
When he had walked for some time, he came to a small farm,
and asked the bailiff if he did not require a head-man. Yes,
said the bailiff, I can make use of one. You look a capable
fellow who can do something, how much a year do you want as
wages. He again replied that he wanted no wages at all, but that
every year he would give him three blows, which he must bear.
Then the bailiff was satisfied, for he, too, was a covetous
fellow. Next morning all the servants were to go into the wood,
and the others were already up, but the head-man was still in
bed. Then one of them called to him, get up, it is time, we are
going into the wood, and you must go with us. Ah, said he quite
roughly and surlily, you may just go, then, I shall be back
again before any of you. Then the others went to the bailiff,
and told him that the head-man was still lying in bed, and would
not go into the wood with them. The bailiff said they were to
awaken him again, and tell him to harness the horses. The
head-man, however, said as before, just go there, I shall be
back again before any of you. And then he stayed in bed two
hours longer. At length he arose from the feathers, but first he
got himself two bushels of peas from the loft, made himself some
broth, ate it at his leisure, and when that was done, went and
harnessed the horses, and drove into the wood.
Not far from the wood was a ravine through which he had to
pass, so he first drove the horses on, and then stopped them,
and went behind the cart, took trees and brushwood, and made a
great barricade, so that no horse could get through. When he was
entering the wood, the others were just driving out of it with
their loaded carts to go home. Then said he to them, drive on, I
will still get home before you do. He did not drive far into the
wood, but at once tore two of the very largest trees of all out
of the earth, threw them on his cart, and turned round. When he
came to the barricade, the others were still standing there, not
able to get through. Don't you see, said he, that if you had
stayed with me, you would have got home just as quickly, and
would have had another hour's sleep. He now wanted to drive on,
but his horeses could not work their way through, so he
unharnessed them, laid them on the top of the cart, took the
shafts in his own hands, and pulled it all through, and he did
this just as easily as if it had been laden with feathers. When
he was over, he said to the others, there, you see, I have got
over quicker than you. And drove on, and the others had to stay
where they were. In the yard, however, he took a tree in his
hand, showed it to the bailiff, and said, isn't that a fine cord
of wood.
Then said the bailiff to his wife, the servant is a good one
- even if he does sleep long, he is still home before the
others. So he served the bailiff for a year, and when that was
over, and the other servants were getting their wages, he said
it was time for him to take his too. The bailiff, however, was
afraid of the blows which he was to receive, and earnestly
entreated him to excuse him from having them, for rather than
that, he himself would be head-man, and the youth should be
bailiff. No said he, I will not be a bailiff, I am head-man, and
will remain so, but I will administer that which we agreed on.
The bailiff was willing to give him whatsoever he demanded, but
it was of no use, the head-man said no to everything.
Then the bailiff did not know what to do, and begged for a
fortnight's delay, for he wanted to find some way of escape. The
head-man consented to this delay. The bailiff summoned all his
clerks together, and they were to think the matter over, and
give him advice. The clerks pondered for a long time, but at
last they said that no one was sure of his life with head-man,
for he could kill a man as easily as a midge, and that the
bailiff ought to make him get into the well and clean it, and
when he was down below, they would roll up one of the
mill-stones which was lying there, and throw it on his head, and
then he would never return to daylight.
The advice pleased the bailiff, and the head-man was quite
willing to go down the well. When he was standing down below at
the bottom, they rolled down the largest mill-stone and thought
they had broken his skull, but he cried, chase away those hens
from the well, they are scratching in the sand up there, and
throwing the grains into my eyes, so that I can't see. So the
bailiff cried, sh-sh, - and pretended to frighten the hens away.
When the head-man had finished his work, he climbed up and said,
just look what a beautiful neck-tie I have on. And behold it was
the mill-stone which he was wearing round his neck.
The head-man now wanted to take his reward, but the bailiff
again begged for a fortnight's delay. The clerks met together
and advised him to send the head-man to the haunted mill to
grind corn by night, for from thence as yet no man had ever
returned in the morning alive.
The proposal pleased the bailiff, he called the head-man that
very evening, and ordered him to take eight bushels of corn to
the mill, and grind it that night, for it was wanted. So the
head-man went to the loft, and put two bushels in his right
pocket, and two in his left, and took four in a wallet, half on
his back, and half on his breast, and thus laden went to the
haunted mill. The miller told him that he could grind there very
well by day, but not by night, for the mill was haunted, and
that up to the present time whosoever had gone into it at night
had been found in the morning lying dead inside. He said, I will
manage it, just you go and put your head on the pillow.
Then he went into the mill, and poured out the corn. About
eleven o'clock he went into the miller's room, and sat down on
the bench. When he had sat there a while, a door suddenly
opened, and a large table came in, and on the table, wine and
roasted meats placed themselves, and much good food besides, but
everything came of itself, for no one was there to carry it.
After this the chairs pushed themselves up, but no people
came, until all at once he beheld fingers, which handled knives
and forks, and laid food on the plates, but with this exception
he saw nothing. As he was hungry, and saw the food, he, too,
place himself at the table, ate with those who were eating and
enjoyed it. When he had had enough, and the others also had
quite emptied their dishes, he distinctly heard all the candles
being suddenly snuffed out, and as it was now pitch dark, he
felt something like a box on the ear. Then he said, if anything
of that kind comes again, I shall strike out in return. And when
he had received a second box on the ear, he, too struck out.
And so it continued the whole night. He took nothing without
returning it, but repaid everything with interest, and did not
slay about him in vain. At daybreak, however, everything ceased.
When the miller had got up, he wanted to look after him, and
wondered if he were still alive. Then the youth said, I have
given some in return. The miller rejoiced, and said that the
mill was now released from the spell, and wanted to give him
much money as a reward. But he said, money, I will not have, I
have enough of it. So he took his meal on his back, went home,
and told the bailiff that he had done what he had been told to
do, and would now have the reward agreed on.
When the bailiff heard that, he was seriously alarmed and
quite beside himself. He walked to and fro in the room, and
drops of sweat ran down from his forehead. Then he opened the
window to get some fresh air, but before he was aware, the
head-man had given him such a kick that he flew through the
window out into the air, and so far away that no one ever saw
him again.
Then said the head-man to the bailiff's wife, if he does not
come back, you must take the other blow. She cried, no, no I
cannot bear it. And opened the other window, because drops of
sweat were running down her forehead. Then he gave her such a
kick that she, too, flew out, and as she was lighter she went
much higher than her husband. Her husband cried, do come to me,
but she replied, come you to me, I cannot come to you.
And they hovered about there in the air, and could not get to
each other, and whether they are still hovering about or not, I
do not know, but the young giant took up his iron bar, and went
on his way.
|
The King of the Golden Mountain
There was a certain merchant who had two children, a boy and
a girl, they were both young, and could not walk. And two
richly-laden ships of his sailed forth to sea with all his
property on board, and just as he was expecting to win much
money by them, news came that they had gone to the bottom, and
now instead of being a rich man he was a poor one, and had
nothing left but one field outside the town. In order to drive
his misfortune a little out of his thoughts, he went out to this
field, and as he was walking to and fro in it, a little black
mannikin stood suddenly by his side, and asked why he was so
sad, and what he was taking so much to heart.
Then said the merchant, if you could help me I would
willingly tell you. Who knows, replied the black dwarf. Perhaps,
I can help you. Then the merchant told him that all he possessed
had gone to the bottom of the sea, and that he had nothing left
but this field. Do not trouble yourself, said the dwarf. If you
will promise to give me the first thing that rubs itself against
your leg when you are at home again, and to bring it here to
this place in twelve years, time, you shall have as much money
as you will. The merchant thought, what can that be but my dog,
and did not remember his little boy, so he said yes, gave the
black man a written and sealed promise, and went home.
When he reached home, his little boy was so delighted that he
held himself by a bench, trotted up to him and seized him fast
by the legs. The father was shocked, for he remembered his
promise, and now knew what he had pledged himself to do, as
however, he still found no money in his chest, he thought the
dwarf had only been jesting. A month afterwards he went up to
the garret, intending to gather together some old tin and to
sell it, and saw lying there a great heap of money. Then he was
happy again, made purchases, became a greater merchant than
before, and felt that God was good to him. In the meantime the
boy grew tall, and at the same time bright and clever. But the
nearer the twelfth year approached the more anxious grew the
merchant, so that his distress might be seen in his face. One
day his son asked what ailed him, but the father would not say.
The boy, however, persisted so long, that at last he told him
that without being aware of what he was doing, he had promised
him to a black dwarf, and had received much money for doing so.
He said likewise that he had set his hand and seal to this, and
that now when twelve years had gone by he would have to give him
up.
Then said the son, oh, father, do not be uneasy, all will go
well. The black man has no power over me. The son had himself
blessed by the priest, and when the time came, father and son
went together to the field, and the son made a circle and placed
himself inside it with his father. Then came the black dwarf and
said to the old man, have you brought with you that which you
have promised me. He was silent, but the son asked, what do you
want here? Then said the black dwarf, I have to speak with your
father, and not with you. The son replied, you have betrayed and
misled my father, give back the writing. No, said the black
dwarf, I will not give up my rights. They spoke together for a
long time after this, but at last they agreed that the son, as
he did not belong to the enemy of mankind, nor yet to his
father, should seat himself in a small boat, which should lie on
water which was flowing away from them, and that the father
should push it off with his own foot, and then the son should
remain given up to the water. So he took leave of his father,
placed himself in a little boat, and the father had to push it
off with his own foot. The boat capsized so that the keel was
uppermost and the deck under water, and the father believed his
son was lost, and went home and mourned for him.
The boat, however, did not sink, but floated quietly away,
and the boy sat safely inside it, and it floated thus for a long
time, until at last it ran into an unknown shore. Then he landed
and saw a beautiful castle before him, and set out to go to it.
But when he entered it, he found that it was bewitched. He went
through every room, but all were empty until he reached the
last, where a snake lay coiled in a ring. The snake, however,
was an enchanted maiden, who rejoiced to see him, and said, have
you come, oh, my deliverer. I have already waited twelve years
for you, this kingdom is bewitched, and you must set it free.
How can I do that, he inquired. To-night come twelve black men,
covered with chains who will ask what you are doing here, but be
silent, give them no answer, and let them do what they will with
you, they will torment you, beat you, stab you, let everything
pass, only do not speak, at twelve o'clock, they must go away
again. On the second night twelve others will come, on the
third, four-and-twenty, who will cut off your head, but at
twelve o'clock their power will be over, and then if you have
endured all, and have not spoken the slightest word, I shall be
released. I will come to you, and will have, in a bottle, some
of the water of life. I will rub you with that, and then you
will come to life again, and be as healthy as before. Then said
he, I will gladly set you free. And everything happened just as
she had said, the black men could not force a single word from
him, and on the third night the snake became a beautiful
princess, who came with the water of life and brought him back
to life again.
So she threw herself into his arms and kissed him, and there
was joy and gladness in the whole castle. After this their
marriage was celebrated, and he was king of the golden mountain.
They lived very happily together, and the queen bore a fine
boy. Eight years had already gone by, when the king bethought
him of his father, his heart was moved, and he wished to visit
him. The queen, however, would not let him go away, and said, I
know beforehand that it will cause my unhappiness, but he
suffered her to have no rest until she consented. At their
parting she gave him a wishing-ring, and said, take this ring
and put it on your finger, and then you will immediately be
transported whithersoever you would be, only you must promise me
not to use it in wishing me away from this place and with thy
father. That he promised her, put the ring on his finger, and
wished himself at home, just outside the town where his father
lived. Instantly he found himself there, and made for the town,
but when he came to the gate, the sentries would not let him in,
because he wore such strange and yet such rich and magnificent
clothing. Then he went to a hill where a shepherd was watching
his sheep, changed clothes with him, put on his old
shepherd's-coat, and then entered the town without hindrance.
When he came to his father, he made himself known to him, but
he did not at all believe that the shepherd was his son, and
said he certainly had had a son, but that he was dead long ago,
however, as he saw he was a poor, needy shepherd, he would give
him something to eat. Then the shepherd said to his parents, I
am verily your son. Do you know of no mark on my body by which
you could recognize me. Yes, said his mother, our son had a
raspberry mark under his right arm. He slipped back his shirt,
and they saw the raspberry under his right arm, and no longer
doubted that he was their son. Then he told them that he was
king of the golden mountain, and a king's daughter was his wife,
and that they had a fine son of seven years old.
Then said the father, that is certainly not true, it is a
fine kind of a king who goes about in a ragged shepherd's-coat.
On this the son fell in a passion, and without thinking of his
promise, turned his ring round, and wished both his wife and
child with him. They were there in a second, but the queen wept,
and reproached him, and said that he had broken his word, and
had brought misfortune upon her. He said, I have done it
thoughtlessly, and not with evil intention, and tried to calm
her, and she pretended to believe this, but she had mischief in
her mind.
Then he led her out of the town into the field, and showed
her the stream where the little boat had been pushed off, and
then he said, I am tired, sit down, I will sleep awhile on your
lap. And he laid his head on her lap, and she picked his lice
for a while until he fell asleep. When he was asleep, she first
drew the ring from his finger, then she drew away the foot which
was under him, leaving only the slipper behind her, and she took
her child in her arms, and wished herself back in her own
kingdom.
When he awoke, there he lay quite deserted, and his wife and
child were gone, and so was the ring from his finger, the
slipper only was still there as a token. Home to your parents
you cannot return, thought he, they would say that you were a
wizard, you must be off, and walk on until you arrive in your
own kingdom. So he went away and came at length to a hill by
which three giants were standing, disputing with each other
because they did not know how to divide their father's property.
When they saw him passing by, they called to him and said
little men had quick wits, and that he was to divide their
inheritance for them. The inheritance, however, consisted of a
sword, which, if anyone took it in his hand, and said, all heads
off but mine, every head would lie on the ground, secondly, of a
cloak which made any one who put it on invisible, thirdly, of a
pair of boots which could transport the wearer to any place he
wished in a moment. He said, give me the three things that I may
see if they are still in good condition.
They gave him the cloak, and when he had put it on, he was
invisible and changed into a fly. Then he resumed his own form
and said, the cloak is a good one, now give me the sword. They
said, no, we will not give you that, if you were to say, all
heads off but mine, all our heads would be off, and you alone
would be left with yours. Nevertheless they gave it to him on
the condition that he was only to try it against a tree. This he
did, and the sword cut in two the trunk of a tree as if it had
been a blade of straw. Then he wanted to have the boots
likewise, but they said, no, we will not give them, if you had
them on your feet and were to wish yourself at the top of the
hill, we should be left down here with nothing. Oh, no, said he,
I will not do that. So they gave him the boots as well. And now
when he had got all these things, he thought of nothing but his
wife and his child, and said as though to himself, oh, if I were
but on the golden mountain, and at the same moment he vanished
from the sight of the giants, and thus their inheritance was
divided.
When he was near his palace, he heard sounds of joy, and
fiddles, and flutes, and the people told him that his wife was
celebrating her wedding with another. Then he fell into a rage,
and said, false woman, she betrayed and deserted me whilst I was
asleep. So he put on his cloak, and unseen by all went into the
palace. When he entered the dining-hall a great table was spread
with delicious food, and the guests were eating and drinking,
and laughing, and jesting. She sat on a royal seat in the midst
of them in splendid apparel, with a crown on her head.
He placed himself behind her, and no one saw him. When she
put a piece of meat on a plate for herself, he took it away and
ate it, and when she poured out a glass of wine for herself, he
took it away and drank it. She was always helping herself to
something, and yet she never got anything, for plate and glass
disappeared immediately. Then dismayed and ashamed, she arose
and went to her chamber and wept, but he followed her there. She
said, has the devil power over me, or did my deliverer never
come? Then he struck her in the face, and said, did your
deliverer never come. It is he who has you in his power, you
traitor. Have I deserved this from you.
Then he made himself visible, went into the hall, and cried,
the wedding is at an end, the true king has returned. The kings,
princes, and councillors who were assembled there, ridiculed and
mocked him, but he did not trouble to answer them, and said,
will you go away, or not. On this they tried to seize him and
pressed upon him, but he drew his sword and said, all heads off
but mine, and all the heads rolled on the ground, and he alone
was master, and once more king of the golden mountain.
|
The Raven
There was once upon a time a queen who had a little daughter
who was still so young that she had to be carried. One day the
child was naughty, and the mother might say what she liked, but
the child would not be quiet. Then she became impatient, and as
the ravens were flying about the palace, she opened the window
and said, I wish you were a raven and would fly away, and then I
should have some rest. Scarcely had she spoken the words, before
the child was changed into a raven, and flew from her arms out
of the window. It flew into a dark forest, and stayed in it a
long time, and the parents heard nothing of their child.
Then one day a man was on his way through this forest and
heard the raven crying, and followed the voice, and when he came
nearer, the bird said, I am a king's daughter by birth, and am
bewitched, but you can set me free. What am I to do, asked he.
She said, go further into the forest, and you will find a house,
wherein sits an aged woman, who will offer you meat and drink,
but you must accept nothing, for if you eat and drink anything,
you will fall into a sleep, and then you will not be able to set
me free. In the garden behind the house there is a great heap of
tan, and on this you shall stand and wait for me. For three days
I will come every afternoon at two o'clock in a carriage. On the
first day four white horses will be harnessed to it, then four
chestnut horses, and lastly four black ones, but if you are not
awake, but sleeping, I shall not be set free. The man promised
to do everything that she desired, but the raven said, alas, I
know already that you will not set me free, you will accept
something from the woman. Then the man once more promised that
he would certainly not touch anything either to eat or to drink.
But when he entered the house the old woman came to him and
said, poor man, how faint you are, come and refresh yourself,
eat and drink. No, said the man, I will not eat or drink. She,
however, let him have no peace, and said, if you will not eat,
take one drink out of the glass, one is nothing. Then he let
himself be persuaded, and drank. Shortly before two o'clock in
the afternoon he went into the garden to the tan heap to wait
for the raven. As he was standing there, his weariness all at
once became so great that he could not struggle against it, and
lay down for a short time, but he was determined not to go to
sleep. Hardly, however, had he lain down, than his eyes closed
of their own accord, and he fell asleep and slept so soundly
that nothing in the world could have aroused him.
At two o'clock the raven came driving up with four white
horses, but she was already in deep grief and said, I know he is
asleep. And when she came into the garden, he was indeed lying
there asleep on the heap of tan. She alighted from the carriage,
went to him, shook him, and called him, but he did not awake.
Next day about noon, the old woman came again and brought him
food and drink, but he would not take any of it. But she let him
have no rest and persuaded him until at length he again took one
drink out of the glass. Towards two o'clock he went into the
garden to the tan heap to wait for the raven, but all at once
felt such a great weariness that his limbs would no longer
support him. He could not help himself, and was forced to lie
down, and fell into a heavy sleep.
When the raven drove up with four brown horses, she was
already full of grief, and said, I know he is asleep. She went
to him, but there he lay sleeping, and there was no wakening
him. Next day the old woman asked what was the meaning of this.
He was neither eating nor drinking anything, did he want to die.
He replied, I am not allowed to eat or drink, and will not do
so. But she set a dish with food, and a glass with wine before
him, and when he smelt it he could not resist, and swallowed a
deep draught. When the time came, he went out into the garden to
the heap of tan, and waited for the king's daughter, but he
became still more weary than on the day before, and lay down and
slept as soundly as if he had been a stone. At two o'clock the
raven came with four black horses, and the coachman and
everything else was black. She was already in the deepest grief,
and said, I know that he is asleep and cannot set me free.
When she came to him, there he was lying fast asleep. She
shook him and called him, but she could not waken him. Then she
laid a loaf beside him, and after that a piece of meat, and
thirdly a bottle of wine, and he might consume as much of all of
them as he liked, but they would never grow less. After this she
took a gold ring from her finger, and put it on his, and her
name was graven on it. Lastly, she laid a letter beside him
wherein was written what she had given him, and that none of the
things would ever grow less, and in it was also written, I see
right well that here you will never be able to set me free, but
if you are still willing to do so, come to the golden castle of
Stromberg; it lies in your power, of that I am certain. And when
she had given him all these things, she seated herself in her
carriage, and drove to the golden castle of Stromberg.
When the man awoke and saw that he had slept, he was sad at
heart, and said, she has certainly driven by, and I have not set
her free. Then he perceived the things which were lying beside
him, and read the letter wherein was written how everything had
happened. So he arose and went away, intending to go to the
golden castle of Stromberg, but he did not know where it was.
After he had walked about the world for a long time, he entered
into a dark forest, and walked for fourteen days, and still
could not find his way out. Then it was once more evening, and
he was so tired that he lay down in a thicket and fell asleep.
Next day he went onwards, and in the evening, as he was again
about to lie down beneath some bushes, he heard such a howling
and crying that he could not go to sleep. And at the time when
people light the candles, he saw one glimmering, and arose and
went towards it.
Then he came to a house which seemed very small, for in front
of it a great giant was standing. He thought to himself, if I go
in, and the giant sees me, it will very likely cost me my life.
At length he ventured it and went in. When the giant saw him, he
said, it is well that you come, for it is long since I have
eaten, I will at once devour you for my supper. I'd rather you
did not, said the man, I do not like to be eaten, but if you
have any desire to eat, I have quite enough here to satisfy you.
If that be true, said the giant, you may be easy, I was only
going to devour you because I had nothing else.
Then they went, and sat down to the table, and the man took
out the bread, wine, and meat which would never come to an end.
This pleases me well, said the giant, and ate to his heart's
content. Then the man said to him, can you tell me where the
golden castle of Stromberg is. The giant said, I will look at my
map, all the towns, and villages, and houses are to be found on
it.
He brought out the map which he had in the room and looked
for the castle, but it was not to be found on it. It's no
matter, said he, I have some still larger maps in my cupboard
upstairs, and we will look at them. But there, too, it was in
vain. The man now wanted to set out again, but the giant begged
him to wait a few days longer until his brother, who had gone
out to bring some provisions, came home. When the brother came
home they inquired about the golden castle of Stromberg. He
replied, when I have eaten and have had enough, I will look at
the map.
Then he went with them up to his chamber, and they searched
on his map, but could not find it. Then he brought out still
older maps, and they never rested until they found the golden
castle of Stromberg, but it was many thousand miles away. How am
I to get there, asked the man. The giant said, I have two hours,
time, during which I will carry you into the neighborhood, but
after that I must be at home to suckle the child that we have.
So the giant carried the man to about a hundred leagues from
the castle, and said, you can very well walk the rest of the way
alone. And he turned back, but the man went onwards day and
night, until at length he came to the golden castle of
Stromberg.
It stood on a glass-mountain, and the bewitched maiden was
driving in her carriage round the castle, and then went inside
it. He rejoiced when he saw her and wanted to climb up to her,
but when he began to do so he always slipped down the glass
again. And when he saw that he could not reach her, he was very
worried, and said to himself, I will stay down here below, and
wait for her. So he built himself a hut and stayed in it for a
whole year, and every day saw the king's daughter driving about
above, but never could reach her.
Then one day he saw from his hut three robbers who were
beating each other, and cried to them, God be with you. They
stopped when they heard the cry, but as they saw no one, they
once more began to beat each other, and that too most
dangerously. So he again cried, God be with you. Again they
stopped, looked round about, but as they saw no one they went on
beating each other. Then he cried for the third time, God be
with you, and thought, I must see what these three are about,
and went thither and asked why they were beating each other so
furiously. One of them said that he found a stick, and that when
he struck a door with it, that door would spring open. The next
said that he had found a mantle, and that whenever he put it on,
he was invisible, but the third said he had found a horse on
which a man could ride everywhere even up the glass-mountain.
And now they did not know whether they ought to have these
things in common, or whether they ought to divide them.
Then the man said, I will give you something in exchange for
these three things. Money indeed have I not, but I have other
things of more value, but first I must make an experiment to see
if you have told the truth. Then they put him on the horse,
threw the mantle round him, and gave him the stick in his hand,
and when he had all these things they were no longer able to see
him. So he gave them some vigorous blows and cried, now,
vagabonds, you have got what you deserve, are you satisfied. And
he rode up the glass-mountain, but when he came in front of the
castle at the top, it was shut.
Then he struck the door with his stick, and it sprang open
immediately. He went in and ascended the stairs until he came to
the hall where the maiden was sitting with a golden globlet of
wine before her. She, however, could not see him because he had
the mantle on. And when he came up to her, he drew from his
finger the ring which she had given him, and threw it into the
goblet so that it rang. Then she cried, that is my ring, so the
man who is to set me free must be here.
They searched the whole castle and did not find him, but he
had gone out, and had seated himself on the horse and thrown off
the mantle. When they came to the door, they saw him and cried
aloud in their delight. Then he alighted and took the king's
daughter in his arms, but she kissed him and said, now have you
set me free, and to-morrow we will celebrate our wedding.
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|
The Three Little Birds
About a thousand or more years ago, there were in this
country nothing but small kings, and one of them who lived on
the Keuterberg was very fond of hunting. Once on a time when he
was riding forth from his castle with his huntsmen, three girls
were watching their cows upon the mountain, and when they saw
the king with all his followers, the eldest girl pointed to him,
and called to the two other girls, hullo. Hullo. If I do not get
that one, I will have none. Then the second girl answered from
the other side of the hill, and pointed to the one who was on
the king's right hand, hullo. Hullo. If I do not get him, I will
have no one. These, however, were the two ministers. The king
heard all this, and when he had come back from the chase, he
caused the three girls to be brought to him, and asked them what
they had said yesterday on the mountain. This they would not
tell him, so the king asked the eldest if she really would take
him for her husband. Then she said, yes, and the two ministers
married the two sisters, for they were all three fair and
beautiful of face, especially the queen, who had hair like flax.
But the two sisters had no children, and once when the king
was obliged to go from home he invited them to come to the queen
in order to cheer her, for she was about to bear a child. She
had a little boy who brought a bright red star into the world
with him. Then the two sisters said to each other that they
would throw the beautiful boy into the water. When they had
thrown him in - I believe it was into the Weser - a little bird
flew up into the air, which sang - to thy death art thou sped
until God's word be said. In the white lily bloom, brave boy, is
thy tomb.
When the two heard that, they were frightened to death, and
ran away in great haste. When the king came home they told him
that the queen had been delivered of a dog. Then the king said,
what God does, is well done. But a fisherman who dwelt near the
water fished the little boy out again while he was still alive,
and as his wife had no children, they reared him.
When a year had gone by, the king again went away, and the
queen had another little boy, whom the false sisters likewise
took and threw into the water. Then up flew a little bird again
and sang - to thy death art thou sped until God's word be said.
In the white lily bloom, brave boy, is thy tomb.
And when the king came back, they told him that the queen had
once more given birth to a dog, and he again said, what God
does, is well done. The fisherman, however, fished this one also
out of the water, and reared him.
Then the king again journeyed forth, and the queen had a
little girl, whom also the false sisters threw into the water.
Then again a little bird flew up on high and sang - to thy death
art thou sped until God's word be said. In the white lily bloom,
bonny girl, is thy tomb.
And when the king came home they told him that the queen had
been delivered of a cat. Then the king grew angry, and ordered
his wife to be cast into prison, and therein was she shut up for
many long years.
When the children had grown up, the eldest once went out with
some other boys to fish, but the other boys would not have him
with them, and said, go your way, foundling.
Hereupon he was much troubled, and asked the old fisherman if
that was true. The fisherman told him that once when he was
fishing he had drawn him out of the water. So the boy said he
would go forth and seek his father. The fisherman, however,
entreated him to stay, but he would not let himself be hindered,
and at last the fisherman consented. Then the boy went on his
way and walked for many days, and at last he came to a great
stretch of water by the side of which stood an old woman
fishing.
"Good day, mother," said the boy.
"Many thanks," said she.
"You will fish long enough before you catch anything."
"And you will seek long enough before you find your father.
How will you get over the water," said the woman.
"God knows."
Then the old woman took him up on her back and carried him
through it, and he sought for a long time, but could not find
his father.
When a year had gone by, the second boy set out to seek his
brother. He came to the water, and all fared with him just as
with his brother. And now there was no one at home but the
daughter, and she mourned for her brothers so much that at last
she also begged the fisherman to let her set forth, for she
wished to go in search of her brothers. Then she likewise came
to the great stretch of water, and she said to the old woman,
"Good day, mother."
"Many thanks," replied the old woman.
"May God help you with your fishing," said the maiden. When
the old woman heard that, she became quite friendly, and carried
her over the water, gave her a wand, and said to her, "Go, my
daughter, ever onwards by this road, and when you come to a
great black dog, you must pass it silently and boldly, without
either laughing or looking at it. Then you will come to a great
high castle, on the threshold of which you must let the wand
fall, and go straight through the castle, and out again on the
other side. There you will see an old fountain out of which a
large tree has grown, whereon hangs a bird in a cage which you
must take down. Take likewise a glass of water out of the
fountain, and with these two things go back by the same way.
Pick up the wand again from the threshold and take it with you,
and when you again pass by the dog, strike him in the face with
it, but be sure that you hit him, and then just come back here
to me."
The maiden found everything exactly as the old woman had
said, and on her way back she found her two brothers who had
sought each other over half the world. They went together to the
place where the black dog was lying on the road, she struck it
in the face, and it turned into a handsome prince who went with
them to the river. There the old woman was still standing. She
rejoiced much to see them again, and carried them all over the
water, and then she too went away, for now she was freed. The
others, however, went to the old fisherman, and all were glad
that they had found each other again, but they hung the bird on
the wall.
But the second son could not settle at home, and took his
crossbow and went a-hunting. When he was tired he took his
flute, and made music. The king was hunting too, and heard that
and went thither, and when he met the youth, he said, "Who has
given you leave to hunt here?"
"Oh, no one."
"To whom do you belong, then?"
"I am the fisherman's son."
"But he has no children."
"If you will not believe, come with me."
That the king did, and questioned the fisherman, who told him
everything, and the little bird on the wall began to sing - the
mother sits alone there in the prison small, o king of royal
blood, these are thy children all. The sisters twain so false,
they wrought the children woe, there in the waters deep where
the fishermen come and go.
Then they were all terrified, and the king took the bird, the
fisherman and the three children back with him to the castle,
and ordered the prison to be opened and brought his wife out
again. She had grown quite ill and weak, so the daughter gave
her some of the water of the fountain to drink, and she became
strong and healthy. But the two false sisters were burnt, and
the daughter married the prince.
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The Water of Life
There was once a king who had an illness, and no one believed
that he would come out of it with his life. He had three sons
who were much distressed about it, and went down into the
palace-garden and wept. There they met an old man who inquired
as to the cause of their grief. They told him that their father
was so ill that he would most certainly die, for nothing seemed
to cure him. Then the old man said, "I know of one more remedy,
and that is the water of life. If he drinks of it he will become
well again, but it is hard to find." The eldest said, "I will
manage to find it." And went to the sick king, and begged to be
allowed to go forth in search of the water of life, for that
alone could save him. "No," said the king, "the danger of it is
too great. I would rather die."
But he begged so long that the king consented. The prince
thought in his heart, "If I bring the water, then I shall be
best beloved of my father, and shall inherit the kingdom." So he
set out, and when he had ridden forth a little distance, a dwarf
stood there in the road who called to him and said, "Whither
away so fast?" "Silly shrimp," said the prince, very haughtily,
"it is nothing to do with you." And rode on. But the little
dwarf had grown angry, and had wished an evil wish. Soon after
this the prince entered a ravine, and the further he rode the
closer the mountains drew together, and at last the road became
so narrow that he could not advance a step further. It was
impossible either to turn his horse or to dismount from the
saddle, and he was shut in there as if in prison. The sick king
waited long for him, but he came not.
Then the second son said, "father, let me go forth to seek
the water." And thought to himself, "If my brother is dead, then
the kingdom will fall to me." At first the king would not allow
him to go either, but at last he yielded, so the prince set out
on the same road that his brother had taken, and he too met the
dwarf, who stopped him to ask whither he was going in such
haste. "Little shrimp," said the prince, "that is nothing to do
with you." And rode on without giving him another look. But the
dwarf bewitched him, and he, like the other, rode into a ravine,
and could neither go forwards nor backwards. So fare haughty
people.
As the second son also remained away, the youngest begged to
be allowed to go forth to fetch the water, and at last the king
was obliged to let him go. When he met the dwarf and the latter
asked him whither he was going in such haste, he stopped, gave
him an explanation, and said, "I am seeking the water of life,
for my father is sick unto death."
"Do you know, then, where that is to be found?"
"No," said the prince.
"As you have borne yourself as is seemly, and not haughtily
like your false brothers, I will give you the information and
tell you how you may obtain the water of life. It springs from a
fountain in the courtyard of an enchanted castle, but you will
not be able to make your way to it, if I do not give you an iron
wand and two small loaves of bread. Strike thrice with the wand
on the iron door of the castle and it will spring open, inside
lie two lions with gaping jaws, but if you throw a loaf to each
of them, they will be quieted. Then hasten to fetch some of the
water of life before the clock strikes twelve else the door will
shut again, and you will be imprisoned."
The prince thanked him, took the wand and the bread, and set
out on his way. When he arrived, everything was as the dwarf had
said. The door sprang open at the third stroke of the wand, and
when he had appeased the lions with the bread, he entered the
castle, and came to a large and splendid hall, wherein sat some
enchanted princes whose rings he drew off their fingers. A sword
and a loaf of bread were lying there, which he carried away.
After this, he entered a chamber, in which was a beautiful
maiden who rejoiced when she saw him, kissed him, and told him
that he had set her free, and should have the whole of her
kingdom, and that if he would return in a year their wedding
should be celebrated. Likewise she told him where the spring of
the water of life was, and that he was to hasten and draw some
of it before the clock struck twelve. Then he went onwards, and
at last entered a room where there was a beautiful newly-made
bed, and as he was very weary, he felt inclined to rest a
little. So he lay down and fell asleep.
When he awoke, it was striking a quarter to twelve. He sprang
up in a fright, ran to the spring, drew some water in a cup
which stood near, and hastened away. But just as he was passing
through the iron door, the clock struck twelve, and the door
fell to with such violence that it carried away a piece of his
heel.
He, however, rejoicing at having obtained the water of life,
went homewards, and again passed the dwarf. When the latter saw
the sword and the loaf, he said, "With these you have won great
wealth, with the sword you can slay whole armies, and the bread
will never come to an end." But the prince would not go home to
his father without his brothers, and said, "Dear dwarf, can you
not tell me where my two brothers are? They went out before I
did in search of the water of life, and have not returned."
"They are imprisoned between two mountains," said the dwarf.
"I have condemned them to stay there, because they were so
haughty." Then the prince begged until the dwarf released them,
but he warned him and said, "Beware of them, for they have bad
hearts." When his brothers came, he rejoiced, and told them how
things had gone with him, that he had found the water of life
and had brought a cupful away with him, and had rescued a
beautiful princess, who was willing to wait a year for him, and
then their wedding was to be celebrated and he would obtain a
great kingdom.
After that they rode on together, and chanced upon a land
where war and famine reigned, and the king already thought he
must perish, for the scarcity was so great. Then the prince went
to him and gave him the loaf, wherewith he fed and satisfied the
whole of his kingdom, and then the prince gave him the sword
also wherewith he slew the hosts of his enemies, and could now
live in rest and peace. The prince then took back his loaf and
his sword, and the three brothers rode on. But after this they
entered two more countries where war and famine reigned and each
time the prince gave his loaf and his sword to the kings, and
had now delivered three kingdoms, and after that they went on
board a ship and sailed over the sea. During the passage, the
two eldest conversed apart and said, "The youngest has found the
water of life and not we, for that our father will give him the
kingdom - the kingdom which belongs to us, and he will rob us of
all our fortune." They then began to seek revenge, and plotted
with each other to destroy him. They waited until they found him
fast asleep, then they poured the water of life out of the cup,
and took it for themselves, but into the cup they poured salt
sea-water.
Now therefore, when they arrived home, the youngest took his
cup to the sick king in order that he might drink out of it, and
be cured. But scarcely had he drunk a very little of the salt
sea-water than he became still worse than before. And as he was
lamenting over this, the two eldest brothers came, and accused
the youngest of having intended to poison him, and said that
they had brought him the true water of life, and handed it to
him. He had scarcely tasted it, when he felt his sickness
departing, and became strong and healthy as in the days of his
youth.
After that they both went to the youngest, mocked him, and
said, "You certainly found the water of life, but you have had
the pain, and we the gain, you should have been cleverer, and
should have kept your eyes open. We took it from you whilst you
were asleep at sea, and when a year is over, one of us will go
and fetch the beautiful princess. But beware that you do not
disclose aught of this to our father, indeed he does not trust
you, and if you say a single word, you shall lose your life into
the bargain, but if you keep silent, you shall have it as a
gift."
The old king was angry with his youngest son, and thought he
had plotted against his life. So he summoned the court together
and had sentence pronounced upon his son, that he should be
secretly shot. And once when the prince was riding forth to the
chase, suspecting no evil, the king's huntsman was told to go
with him, and when they were quite alone in the forest, the
huntsman looked so sorrowful that the prince said to him, "Dear
huntsman, what ails you?" The huntsman said, "I cannot tell you,
and yet I ought." Then the prince said, "Say openly what it is,
I will pardon you." "Alas," said the huntsman, "I am to shoot
you dead, the king has ordered me to do it." Then the prince was
shocked, and said, "Dear huntsman, let me live, there, I give
you my royal garments, give me your common ones in their stead."
The huntsman said, "I will willingly do that, indeed I would not
have been able to shoot you." Then they exchanged clothes, and
the huntsman returned home, while the prince went further into
the forest.
After a time three waggons of gold and precious stones came
to the king for his youngest son, which were sent by the three
kings who had slain their enemies with the prince's sword, and
maintained their people with his bread, and who wished to show
their gratitude for it. The old king then thought, "Can my son
have been innocent?" And said to his people, "Would that he were
still alive, how it grieves me that I have suffered him to be
killed." "He still lives," said the huntsman, "I could not find
it in my heart to carry out your command." And told the king how
it had happened. Then a stone fell from the king's heart, and he
had it proclaimed in every country that his son might return and
be taken into favor again.
The princess, however, had a road made up to her palace which
was quite bright and golden, and told her people that whosoever
came riding straight along it to her, would be the right one and
was to be admitted, and whoever rode by the side of it, was not
the right one and was not to be admitted.
As the time was now close at hand, the eldest thought he
would hasten to go to the king's daughter, and give himself out
as her rescuer, and thus win her for his bride, and the kingdom
to boot. Therefore he rode forth, and when he arrived in front
of the palace, and saw the splendid golden road, he thought, it
would be a sin and a shame if I were to ride over that. And
turned aside, and rode on the right side of it. But when he came
to the door, the servants told him that he was not the right
one, and was to go away again.
Soon after this the second prince set out, and when he came
to the golden road, and his horse had put one foot on it, he
thought, it would be a sin and a shame, a piece might be trodden
off. And he turned aside and rode on the left side of it, and
when he reached the door, the attendants told him he was not the
right one, and he was to go away again.
When at last the year had entirely expired, the third son
likewise wished to ride out of the forest to his beloved, and
with her forget his sorrows. So he set out and thought of her so
incessantly, and wished to be with her so much, that he never
noticed the golden road at all. So his horse rode onwards up the
middle of it, and when he came to the door, it was opened and
the princess received him with joy, and said he was her saviour,
and lord of the kingdom, and their wedding was celebrated with
great rejoicing. When it was over she told him that his father
invited him to come to him, and had forgiven him.
So he rode thither, and told him everything, how his brothers
had betrayed him, and how he had nevertheless kept silence. The
old king wished to punish them, but they had put to sea, and
never came back as long as they lived.
|
The Spirit in the Bottle
There was once a poor woodcutter who toiled from early
morning till late at night. When at last he had laid by some
money he said to his boy, "You are my only child, I will spend
the money which I have earned with the sweat of my brow on your
education, if you learn some honest trade you can support me in
my old age, when my limbs have grown stiff and I am obliged to
stay at home."
Then the boy went to a high school and learned diligently so
that his masters praised him, and he remained there a long time.
When he had worked through two classes, but was still not yet
perfect in everything, the little pittance which the father had
earned was all spent, and the boy was obliged to return home to
him.
"Ah," said the father, sorrowfully, "I can give you no more,
and in these hard times I cannot earn a farthing more than will
suffice for our daily bread." "Dear father," answered the son,
"don't trouble yourself about it, if it is God's will, it will
turn to my advantage. I shall soon accustom myself to it." When
the father wanted to go into the forest to earn money by helping
to chop and stack wood, the son said, "I will go with you and
help you." "Nay, my son," said the father, "that would be hard
for you. You are not accustomed to rough work, and will not be
able to bear it. Besides, I have only one axe and no money left
wherewith to buy another." "Just go to the neighbor," answered
the son, "he will lend you his axe until I have earned one for
myself."
The father then borrowed an axe of the neighbor, and next
morning at break of day they went out into the forest together.
The son helped his father and was quite merry and brisk about
it. But when the sun was right over their heads, the father
said, "We will rest, and have our dinner, and then we shall work
twice as well." The son took his bread in his hands, and said,
"Just you rest, father, I am not tired, I will walk up and down
a little in the forest, and look for birds' nests." "Oh, you
fool," said the father, "why should you want to run about there?
Afterwards you will be tired, and no longer able to raise your
arm. Stay here, and sit down beside me."
The son, however, went into the forest, ate his bread, was
very merry and peered in among the green branches to see if he
could discover a bird's nest anywhere. So he walked to and fro
until at last he came to a great dangerous-looking oak, which
certainly was already many hundred years old, and which five men
could not have spanned. He stood still and looked at it, and
thought, many a bird must have built its nest in that. Then all
at once it seemed to him that he heard a voice. He listened and
became aware that someone was crying in a very smothered voice,
"Let me out, let me out." He looked around, but could discover
nothing. Then he fancied that the voice came out of the ground.
So he cried, "Where are you?" The voice answered, "I am down
here amongst the roots of the oak-tree. Let me out. Let me out."
The schoolboy began to loosen the earth under the tree, and
search among the roots, until at last he found a glass bottle in
a little hollow. He lifted it up and held it against the light,
and then saw a creature shaped like a frog, springing up and
down in it. "Let me out. Let me out," it cried anew, and the boy
thinking no evil, drew the cork out of the bottle. Immediately a
spirit ascended from it, and began to grow, and grew so fast
that in a very few moments he stood before the boy, a terrible
fellow as big as half the tree. "Do you know," he cried in an
awful voice, "what your reward is for having let me out?" "No,"
replied the boy fearlessly, "how should I know that?" "Then I
will tell you," cried the spirit, "I must strangle you for it."
"You should have told me that sooner," said the boy, "for I
should then have left you shut up, but my head shall stand fast
for all you can do, more persons than one must be consulted
about that." "More persons here, more persons there," said the
spirit. "You shall have the reward you have earned. Do you think
that I was shut up there for such a long time as a favor. No, it
was a punishment for me. I am the mighty Mercurius. Whoso
releases me, him must I strangle." "Slowly," answered the boy,
"not so fast. I must first know that you really were shut up in
that little bottle, and that you are the right spirit. If,
indeed, you can get in again, I will believe and then you may do
as you will with me." The spirit said haughtily, "that is a very
trifling feat." Drew himself together, and made himself as small
and slender as he had been at first, so that he crept through
the same opening, and right through the neck of the bottle in
again. Scarcely was he within than the boy thrust the cork he
had drawn back into the bottle, and threw it among the roots of
the oak into its old place, and the spirit was deceived.
And now the schoolboy was about to return to his father, but
the spirit cried very piteously, "Ah, do let me out, ah, do let
me out." "No," answered the boy, "not a second time. He who has
once tried to take my life shall not be set free by me, now that
I have caught him again." "If you will set me free," said the
spirit, "I will give you so much that you will have plenty all
the days of your life." "No," answered the boy, "you would cheat
me as you did the first time." "You are spurning you own good
luck," said the spirit, "I will do you no harm but will reward
you richly." The boy thought, "I will venture it, perhaps he
will keep his word, and anyhow he shall not get the better of
me."
Then he took out the cork, and the spirit rose up from the
bottle as he had done before, stretched himself out and became
as big as a giant. "Now you shall have your reward," said he,
and handed the boy a little rag just like stiking-plaster, and
said, "If you spread one end of this over a wound it will heal,
and if you rub steel or iron with the other end it will be
changed into silver." "I must just try that," said the boy, and
went to a tree, tore off the bark with his axe, and rubbed it
with one end of the plaster. It immediately closed together and
was healed. "Now, it is all right," he said to the spirit, "and
we can part." The spirit thanked him for his release, and the
boy thanked the spirit for his present, and went back to his
father.
"Where have you been racing about?" said the father. "Why
have you forgotten your work? I always said that you would never
come to anything." "Be easy, father, I will make it up." "Make
it up indeed," said the father angrily, "that's no use." "Take
care, father, I will soon hew that tree there, so that it will
split." Then he took his plaster, rubbed the axe with it, and
dealt a mighty blow, but as the iron had changed into silver,
the edge bent. "Hi, father, just look what a bad axe you've
given me, it has become quite crooked." The father was shocked
and said, "Ah, what have you done! Now I shall have to pay for
that, and have not the wherewithal, and that is all the good I
have got by your work." "Don't get angry," said the son, "I will
soon pay for the axe." "Oh, you blockhead," cried the father,
"Wherewith will you pay for it? You have nothing but what I give
you. These are students' tricks that are sticking in your head,
you have no idea of woodcutting."
After a while the boy said, "Father, I can really work no
more, we had better take a holiday." "Eh, what," answered he,
"do you think I will sit with my hands lying in my lap like you.
I must go on working, but you may take yourself off home."
"Father, I am here in this wood for the first time, I don't know
my way alone. Do go with me." As his anger had now abated, the
father at last let himself be persuaded and went home with him.
Then he said to the son, "Go and sell your damaged axe, and see
what you can get for it, and I must earn the difference, in
order to pay the neighbor."
The son took the axe, and carried it into town to a
goldsmith, who tested it, laid it in the scales, and said, "It
is worth four hundred talers, I have not so much as that by me."
The son said, "Give me what thou have, I will lend you the
rest." The goldsmith gave him three hundred talers, and remained
a hundred in his debt. The son thereupon went home and said,
"Father, I have got the money, go and ask the neighbor what he
wants for the axe." "I know that already," answered the old man,
"one taler, six groschen." "Then give him him two talers, twelve
groschen, that is double and enough. See, I have money in
plenty." And he gave the father a hundred talers, and said, "You
shall never know want, live as comfortably as you like."
"Good heavens," said the father, "how have you come by these
riches?" The boy then told how all had come to pass, and how he,
trusting in his luck, had made such a packet. But with the money
that was left, he went back to the high school and went on
learning more, and as he could heal all wounds with his plaster,
he became the most famous doctor in the whole world.
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Wise Folks
One day a peasant took his good hazel-stick out of the corner
and said to his wife, Trina, I am going across country, and
shall not return for three days. If during that time the
cattle-dealer should happen to call and want to buy our three
cows, you may strike a bargain at once, but not unless you can
get two hundred talers for them, nothing less, do you hear. For
heaven's sake, just go in peace, answered the woman, I will
manage that. You, indeed, said the man. You once fell on your
head when you were a little child, and that affects you even
now, but let me tell you this, if you do anything foolish, I
will make your back black and blue, and not with paint, I assure
you, but with the stick which I have in my hand, and the
coloring shall last a whole year, you may rely on that. And
having said that, the man went on his way.
Next morning the cattle-dealer came, and the woman had no
need to say many words to him. When he had seen the cows and
heard the price, he said, I am quite willing to give that.
Honestly speaking, they are worth it. I will take the beasts
away with me at once. He unfastened their chains and drove them
out of the byre, but just as he was going out of the yard-door,
the woman clutched him by the sleeve and said, you must give me
the two hundred talers now, or I cannot let the cows go. True,
answered the man, but I have forgotten to buckle on my
money-belt. Have no fear, however, you shall have security for
my paying. I will take two cows with me and leave one, and then
you will have a good pledge.
The woman saw the force of this, and let the man go away with
the cows, and thought to herself, how pleased Hans will be when
he finds how cleverly I have managed it. The peasant came home
on the third day as he had said he would, and at once inquired
if the cows were sold. Yes, indeed, dear Hans, answered the
woman, and as you said, for two hundred talers. They are
scarcely worth so much, but the man took them without making any
objection. Where is the money, asked the peasant. Oh, I have not
got the money, replied the woman, he had happened to forget his
money-belt, but he will soon bring it, and he left good security
behind him. What kind of security, asked the man. One of the
three cows, which he shall not have until he has paid for the
other two. I have managed very cunningly, for I have kept the
smallest, which eats the least. The man was enraged and lifted
up his stick, and was just going to give her the beating he had
promised her, when suddenly he let the stick fail and said, you
are the stupidest goose that ever waddled on God's earth, but I
am sorry for you. I will go out into the highways and wait for
three days to see if I find anyone who is still stupider than
you. If I succeed in doing so, you shall go scot-free, but if I
do not find him, you shall receive your well-deserved reward
without any discount.
He went out into the great highways, sat down on a stone, and
waited for what would happen. Then he saw a peasant's waggon
coming towards him, and a woman was standing upright in the
middle of it, instead of sitting on the bundle of straw which
was lying beside her, or walking near the oxen and leading them.
The man thought to himself, that is certainly one of the kind
I am in search of, and jumped up and ran backwards and forwards
in front of the waggon like one who is not in his right mind.
What do you want, my friend, said the woman to him. I don't know
you, where do you come from. I have fallen down from heaven,
replied the man, and don't know how to get back again, couldn't
you drive me up. No, said the woman, I don't know the way, but
if you come from heaven you can surely tell me how my husband
is, who has been there these three years. You must have seen
him. Oh, yes, I have seen him, but all men can't get on well. He
keeps sheep, and the sheep give him a great deal to do. They run
up the mountains and lose their way in the wilderness, and he
has to run after them and drive them together again. His clothes
are all torn to pieces too, and will soon fall off his body.
There is no tailor there, for saint peter won't let any of them
in, as you know by the story. Who would have thought it, cried
the woman, I tell you what, I will fetch his sunday coat which
is still hanging at home in the cupboard. He can wear that and
look respectable. You will be so kind as to take it with you.
That won't do very well, answered the peasant, people are not
allowed to take clothes into heaven, they are taken away at the
gate. Then listen, said the woman, I sold my fine wheat
yesterday and got a good lot of money for it, I will send that
to him. If you hide the purse in your pocket, no one will know
that you have it. If you can't manage it any other way, said the
peasant, I will do you that favor. Just sit still where you are,
said she, and I will drive home and fetch the purse, I shall
soon be back again. I do not sit down on the bundle of straw,
but stand up in the waggon, because it makes it lighter for the
cattle.
She drove her oxen away, and the peasant thought, that woman
has a perfect talent for folly, if she really brings the money,
my wife may think herself fortunate, for she will get no
beating. It was not long before she came in a great hurry with
the money, and with her own hands put it in his pocket. Before
she went away, she thanked him again a thousand times for his
courtesy.
When the woman got home again, she found her son who had come
in from the field. She told him what unexpected things had
befallen her, and then added, I am truly delighted at having
found an opportunity of sending something to my poor husband.
Who would ever have imagined that he could be suffering for want
of anything up in heaven. The son was full of astonishment.
Mother, said he, it is not every day that a man comes from
heaven in this way, I will go out immediately, and see if he is
still to be found, he must tell me what it is like up there, and
how the work is done.
He saddled the horse and rode off with all speed. He found
the peasant who was sitting under a willow-tree, and was about
to count the money in the purse. Have you seen the man who has
fallen down from heaven, cried the youth to him. Yes, answered
the peasant, he has set out on his way back there, and has gone
up that hill, from whence it will be rather nearer, you could
still catch him up, if you were to ride fast. Alas, said the
youth, I have been doing tiring work all day, and the ride here
has completely worn me out, you know the man, be so kind as to
get on my horse, and go and persuade him to come here. Aha,
thought the peasant, here is another who has not a brain in his
head. Why should I not do you this favor, said he, and mounted
the horse and rode off at a quick trot. The youth remained
sitting there till night fell, but the peasant never came back.
The man from heaven must certainly have been in a great hurry,
and would not turn back, thought he, and the peasant has no
doubt given him the horse to take to my father. He went home and
told his mother what had happened, and that he had sent his
father the horse so that he might not have to be always running
about. You have done well, answered she, your legs are younger
than his, and you can go on foot.
When the peasant got home, he put the horse in the stable
beside the cow which he had as a pledge, and then went to his
wife and said, Trina, as your luck would have it, I have found
two who are still sillier fools than you, this time you escape
without a beating. I will store it up for another occasion. Then
he lighted his pipe, sat down in his grandfather's chair, and
said, it was a good stroke of business to get a sleek horse and
a great purse full of money into the bargain, for two lean cows.
If stupidity always brought in as much as that, I would be quite
willing to hold it in honor. So thought the peasant, but you no
doubt prefer simpletons.
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The Two Travellers
Hill and vale do not meet, but the children of men do, good
and bad. In this way a shoemaker and a tailor once met on their
travels. The tailor was a handsome little fellow who was always
merry and full of enjoyment. He saw the shoemaker coming towards
him from the other side, and as he observed by his bag what kind
of a trade he plied, he sang a little mocking song to him, sew
me the seam, draw me the thread, spread it over with pitch,
knock the nail on the head.
The shoemaker, however, could not bear a joke, he pulled a
face as if he had drunk vinegar, and made a gesture as if he
were about to seize the tailor by the throat. But the little
fellow began to laugh, reached him his bottle, and said, "No
harm was meant, take a drink, and swallow your anger down." The
shoemaker took a very hearty drink, and the storm on his face
began to clear away. He gave the bottle back to the tailor, and
said, "I took a hearty gulp, they say it comes from much
drinking, but not from great thirst. Shall we travel together?"
"All right," answered the tailor, "if only it suits you to go
into a big town where there is no lack of work." "That is just
where I want to go," answered the shoemaker. "In a small hamlet
there is nothing to earn, and in the country, people like to go
barefoot." They traveled therefore onwards together, and always
set one foot before the other like a weasel in the snow.
Both of them had time enough, but little to bite and to
break. When they reached a town they went about and paid their
respects to the tradesmen, and because the tailor looked so
lively and merry, and had such fine red cheeks, every one gave
him work willingly, and when luck was good the master's
daughters gave him a kiss beneath the porch, as well. When he
again fell in with the shoemaker, the tailor had always the most
in his bundle. The ill-tempered shoemaker made a wry face, and
thought, the greater the rascal the more the luck. But the
tailor began to laugh and to sing, and shared all he got with
his comrade. If a couple of pence jingled in his pockets, he
ordered good cheer, and thumped the table in his joy till the
glasses danced and it was lightly come, lightly go, with him.
When they had traveled for some time, they came to a great
forest through which passed the road to the capital. Two
foot-paths, however, led through it, one of which was a seven
days, journey and the other only two, but neither of the
travelers knew which way was the short one. They seated
themselves beneath an oak-tree, and took counsel together how
they should forecast, and for how many days they should provide
themselves with bread.
The shoemaker said, "One must look before one leaps, I will
take with me bread for a week." "What," said the tailor, "drag
bread for seven days on one's back like a beast of burden and
not be able to look about? I shall trust in God, and not trouble
myself about anything. The money I have in my pocket is as good
in summer as in winter, but in hot weather bread gets dry, and
moldy into the bargain, even my coat does not last as far as it
might. Besides, why should we not find the right way? Bread for
two days, and that's enough." Each, therefore, bought his own
bread, and then they tried their luck in the forest.
It was as quiet there as in a church. No wind stirred, no
brook murmured, no bird sang, and through the thickly-leaved
branches no sunbeam forced its way. The shoemaker spoke never a
word, the bread weighed so heavily on his back that the sweat
streamed down his cross and gloomy face. The tailor, however,
was quite merry, he jumped about, whistled on a leaf, or sang a
song, and thought to himself, God in heaven must be pleased to
see me so happy.
This lasted two days, but on the third the forest would not
come to an end, and the tailor had eaten up all his bread, so
after all his heart sank down a yard deeper. Nevertheless, he
did not lose courage, but relied on God and on his luck. On the
evening of the third day he lay down hungry under a tree, and
rose again next morning hungry still, so also passed the fourth
day, and when the shoemaker seated himself on a fallen tree and
devoured his dinner the tailor was only a spectator. If he
begged for a little piece of bread, the other laughed mockingly,
and said, "You have always been so merry, now you can see for
once what it is to be sad, the birds which sing too early in the
morning are struck by the hawk in the evening." In short, he was
pitiless. But on the fifth morning the poor tailor could no
longer stand up, and was hardly able to utter one word for
weakness, his cheeks were white, and his eyes were red. Then the
shoemaker said to him, "I will give you a bit of bread to-day,
but in return for it, I will put out your right eye." The
unhappy tailor who still wished to save his life, had to submit,
he wept once more with both eyes, and then held them out, and
the shoemaker, who had a heart of stone, put out his right eye
with a sharp knife. The tailor called to remembrance what his
mother had formerly said to him when he had been eating secretly
in the pantry. Eat what one can, and suffer what one must. When
he had consumed his dearly-bought bread, he got on his legs
again, forgot his misery and comforted himself with the thought
that he could always see enough with one eye.
But on the sixth day, hunger made itself felt again and
gnawed him almost to the heart. In the evening he fell down by a
tree, and on the seventh morning he could not raise himself up
for faintness, and death was close at hand. Then said the
shoemaker, "I will show mercy and give you bread once more, but
you shall not have it for nothing, I shall put out your other
eye for it."
And now the tailor felt how thoughtless his life had been,
prayed to God for forgiveness, and said, "Do what you will, I
will bear what I must, but remember that our Lord God does not
always look on passively, and that an hour will come when the
evil deed which you have done to me, and which I have not
deserved of you, will be requited. When times were good with me,
I shared what I had with you. My trade is of that kind that each
stitch must always be exactly like the other. If I no longer
have my eyes and can sew no more I must go a-begging. At any
rate do not leave me here alone when I am blind, or I shall die
of hunger." The shoemaker, however, who had driven God out of
his heart, took the knife and put out his left eye. Then he gave
him a bit of bread to eat, held out a stick to him, and drew him
on behind him.
When the sun went down, they got out of the forest, and
before them in the open country stood the gallows. Thither the
shoemaker guided the blind tailor, and then left him alone and
went his way. Weariness, pain, and hunger made the wretched man
fall asleep, and he slept the whole night. When day dawned he
awoke, but knew not where he lay. Two poor sinners were hanging
on the gallows, and a crow sat on the head of each of them. Then
one of the men who had been hanged began to speak, and said,
"Brother, are you awake?" "Yes, I am awake," answered the
second. "Then I will tell you something," said the first, "the
dew which this night has fallen down over us from the gallows,
gives every one who washes himself with it his eyes again. If
blind people did but know this, how many would regain their
sight who do not believe that to be possible."
When the tailor heard that, he took his pocket-handkerchief,
pressed it on the grass, and when it was moist with dew, washed
the sockets of his eyes with it. Immediately was fulfilled what
the man on the gallows had said, and a couple of healthy new
eyes filled the sockets. It was not long before the tailor saw
the sun rise behind the mountains, in the plain before him lay
the great royal city with its magnificent gates and hundred
towers, and the golden balls and crosses which were on the
spires began to shine. He could distinguish every leaf on the
trees, saw the birds which flew past, and the midges which
danced in the air. He took a needle out of his pocket, and as he
could thread it as well as ever he had done, his heart danced
with delight. He threw himself on his knees, thanked God for the
mercy he had shown him, and said his morning prayer. Nor did he
forget to pray for the poor sinners who were hanging there
swinging against each other in the wind like the pendulums of
clocks. Then he took his bundle on his back and soon forgot the
pain of heart he had endured, and went on his way singing and
whistling.
The first thing he met was a brown foal running about the
fields at large. He caught it by the mane, and wanted to spring
on it and ride into the town. The foal, however, begged to be
set free. "I am still too young," it said, "even a light tailor
such as you are would break my back in two - let me go till I
have grown strong. A time may perhaps come when I may reward you
for it." "Run off," said the tailor, "I see you are still a
giddy thing." He gave it a touch with a switch over its back,
whereupon it kicked up its hind legs for joy, leapt over hedges
and ditches, and galloped away into the open country.
But the little tailor had eaten nothing since the day before.
The sun to be sure fills my eyes, said he, but the bread does
not fill my mouth. The first thing that comes my way and is even
half edible will have to suffer for it. In the meantime a stork
stepped solemnly over the meadow towards him. "Halt, halt,"
cried the tailor, and seized him by the leg. "I don't know if
you are good to eat or not, but my hunger leaves me no great
choice. I must cut your head off, and roast you." "Don't do
that," replied the stork, "I am a sacred bird which brings
mankind great profit, and no one does me an injury. Leave me my
life, and I may do you good in some other way." "Well, be off,
cousin longlegs," said the tailor. The stork rose up, let its
long legs hang down, and flew gently away.
"What's to be the end of this," said the tailor to himself at
last, "my hunger grows greater and greater, and my stomach more
and more empty. Whatsoever comes in my way now is lost." At this
point he saw a couple of young ducks which were on a pond come
swimming towards him. "You come just at the right moment," said
he, and laid hold of one of them and was about to wring its
neck. On this an old duck which was hidden among the reeds,
began to scream loudly, and swam to him with open beak, and
begged him urgently to spare her dear children. "Can you not
imagine," said she, "how your mother would mourn if any one
wanted to carry you off, and give you your finishing stroke."
"Just be quiet," said the good-tempered tailor, "you shall keep
your children," and put the prisoner back into the water.
When he turned round, he was standing in front of an old tree
which was partly hollow, and saw some wild bees flying in and
out of it. "There I shall at once find the reward of my good
deed," said the tailor, "the honey will refresh me." But the
queen-bee came out, threatened him and said, "If you touch my
people and destroy my nest, our stings shall pierce your skin
like ten thousand red-hot needles. But if you leave us in peace
and go your way, we will do you a service for it another time."
The little tailor saw that here also nothing was to be done.
Three dishes empty and nothing on the fourth is a bad dinner. He
dragged himself therefore with his starved-out stomach into the
town, and as it was just striking twelve, all was ready-cooked
for him in the inn, and he was able to sit down at once to
dinner. When he was satisfied he said, "Now I will get to work."
He went round the town, sought a master, and soon found a good
situation. And as he had thoroughly learnt his trade, it was not
long before he became famous, and every one wanted to have his
new coat made by the little tailor, whose importance increased
daily. "I can go no further in skill," said he, "and yet things
improve every day." At last the king appointed him court-tailor.
But what odd things do happen in the world. On the very same
day his former comrade the shoemaker also became
court-shoemaker. When the latter caught sight of the tailor, and
saw that he had once more two healthy eyes, his conscience
troubled him. "Before he takes revenge on me," thought he to
himself, "I must dig a pit for him." He, however, who digs a pit
for another, falls into it himself. In the evening when work was
over and it had grown dusk, he stole to the king and said, "Lord
king, the tailor is an arrogant fellow and has boasted that he
will get the golden crown back again which was lost in ancient
times." "That would please me very much," said the king, and he
caused the tailor to be brought before him next morning, and
ordered him to get the crown back again, or to leave the town
for ever. "Oho," thought the tailor, "a rogue gives more than he
has got. If the surly king wants me to do what can be done by no
one, I will not wait till morning, but will go out of the town
at once, to-day."
He packed up his bundle, therefore, but when he was without
the gate he could not help being sorry to give up his good
fortune, and turn his back on the town in which all had gone so
well with him. He came to the pond where he had made the
acquaintance of the ducks, at that very moment the old one whose
young ones he had spared, was sitting there by the shore,
pluming herself with her beak. She knew him again instantly, and
asked why he was hanging his head so. "You will not be surprised
when you hear what has befallen me," replied the tailor, and
told her his fate. "If that be all," said the duck, "we can help
you. The crown fell into the water, and it lies down below at
the bottom, we will soon bring it up again for you. In the
meantime just spread out your handkerchief on the bank." She
dived down with her twelve young ones, and in five minutes she
was up again and sat with the crown resting on her wings, and
the twelve young ones were swimming round about and had put
their beaks under it, and were helping to carry it. They swam to
the shore and put the crown on the handkerchief. No one can
imagine how magnificent the crown was, when the sun shone on it,
it gleamed like a hundred thousand carbuncles. The tailor tied
his handkerchief together by the four corners, and carried it to
the king, who was full of joy, and put a gold chain round the
tailor's neck.
When the shoemaker saw that one blow had failed, he contrived
a second, and went to the king and said, "Lord king, the tailor
has become insolent again, he boasts that he will copy in wax
the whole of the royal palace, with everything that pertains to
it, loose or fast, inside and out." The king sent for the tailor
and ordered him to copy in wax the whole of the royal palace,
with everything that pertained to it, movable or immovable,
within and without, and if he did not succeed in doing this, or
if so much as one nail on the wall were wanting, he should be
imprisoned for his whole life underground.
The tailor thought, "It gets worse and worse. No one can
endure that," and threw his bundle on his back, and went forth.
When he came to the hollow tree, he sat down and hung his head.
The bees came flying out, and the queen-bee asked him if he had
a stiff neck, since he hung his head so. "Alas, no," answered
the tailor, "something quite different weighs me down," and he
told her what the king had demanded of him. The bees began to
buzz and hum amongst themselves, and the queen-bee said, "Just
go home again, but come back to-morrow at this time, and bring a
large sheet with you, and then all will be well." So he turned
back again, but the bees flew to the royal palace and straight
into it through the open windows, crept round about into every
corner, and inspected everything most carefully. Then they
hurried back and modelled the palace in wax with such rapidity
that any one looking on would have thought it was growing before
his eyes. By the evening all was ready, and when the tailor came
next morning, the whole of the splendid building was there, and
not one nail in the wall or tile of the roof was wanting, and it
was delicate withal, and white as snow, and smelt sweet as
honey. The tailor wrapped it carefully in his cloth and took it
to the king, who could not admire it enough, placed it in his
largest hall, and in return for it presented the tailor with a
large stone house.
The shoemaker, however, did not give up, but went for the
third time to the king and said, "Lord king, it has come to the
tailor's ears that no water will spring up in the court-yard of
the castle and he has boasted that it shall rise up in the midst
of the court-yard to a man's height and be clear as crystal."
Then the king ordered the tailor to be brought before him and
said, "If a stream of water does not rise in my court-yard by
to-morrow as you have promised, the executioner shall in that
very place make you shorter by a head." The poor tailor did not
take long to think about it, but hurried out to the gate, and
because this time it was a matter of life and death to him,
tears rolled down his face.
While he was thus going forth full of sorrow, the foal to
which he had formerly given its liberty, and which had now
become a beautiful chestnut horse, came leaping towards him.
"The time has come," it said to the tailor, "when I can repay
you for your good deed. I know already what is needful to you,
but you shall soon have help, get on me, my back can carry two
such as you." The tailor's courage came back to him, he jumped
up in one bound, and the horse went full speed into the town,
and right up to the court-yard of the castle. It galloped as
quick as lightning thrice round it, and at the third time it
fell violently down. At the same instant, however, there was a
terrific clap of thunder, a fragment of earth in the middle of
the court-yard sprang like a cannon-ball into the air, and over
the castle, and directly after it a jet of water rose as high as
a man on horseback, and the water was as pure as crystal, and
the sunbeams began to dance on it. When the king saw this, he
arose in amazement, and went and embraced the tailor in the
sight of all men.
But good fortune did not last long. The king had daughters in
plenty, one still prettier than the other, but he had no son. So
the malicious shoemaker betook himself for the fourth time to
the king, and said, "Lord king, the tailor has not given up his
arrogance. He has now boasted that if he liked, he could cause a
son to be brought to the lord king through the air." The king
commanded the tailor to be summoned, and said, "If you cause a
son to be brought to me within nine days, you shall have my
eldest daughter to wife." "The reward is indeed great," thought
the little tailor, "one would willingly do something for it, but
the cherries grow too high for me, if I climb for them, the
bough will break beneath me, and I shall fall."
He went home, seated himself cross-legged on his work-table,
and thought over what was to be done. "It can't be managed,"
cried he at last, "I will go away, after all, I can't live in
peace here." He tied up his bundle and hurried away to the gate.
When he got to the meadow, he perceived his old friend the
stork, who was walking backwards and forwards like a
philosopher. Sometimes he stood still, took a frog into close
consideration, and at length swallowed it down. The stork came
to him and greeted him. "I see," he began, "that you have your
pack on your back. Why are you leaving the town?" The tailor
told him what the king had required of him, and how he could not
perform it, and lamented his misfortune. "Don't let that turn
your hair grey," said the stork, "I will help you out of your
difficulty. For a long time now, I have carried the children in
swaddling-clothes into the town, so for once in a way, I can
fetch a little prince out of the well. Go home and be easy. In
nine days from this time repair to the royal palace, and there
will I come." The little tailor went home, and at the appointed
time was at the castle. It was not long before the stork came
flying thither and tapped at the window. The tailor opened it,
and cousin longlegs came carefully in, and walked with solemn
steps over the smooth marble pavement. He had, moreover, a baby
in his beak that was as lovely as an angel, and stretched out
its little hands to the queen. The stork laid it in her lap, and
she caressed it and kissed it, and was beside herself with
delight. Before the stork flew away, he took his traveling bag
off his back and handed it over to the queen. In it there were
little paper parcels with colored sweetmeats, and they were
divided amongst the little princesses. The eldest, however,
received none of them, but instead got the merry tailor for a
husband. "It seems to me," said he, "just as if I had won the
highest prize. My mother was if right after all, she always said
that whoever trusts in God and only has good luck, can never
fail."
The shoemaker had to make the shoes in which the little
tailor danced at the wedding festival, after which he was
commanded to quit the town for ever. The road to the forest led
him to the gallows. Worn out with anger, rage, and the heat of
the day, he threw himself down. When he had closed his eyes and
was about to sleep, the two crows flew down from the heads of
the men who were hanging there, and pecked his eyes out. In his
madness he ran into the forest and must have died there of
hunger, for no one has ever either seen him or heard of him
again.
|
Hans the Hedgehog
There was once a country man who had money and land in
plenty, but however rich he was, his happiness was still lacking
in one respect - he had no children. Often when he went into the
town with the other peasants they mocked him and asked why he
had no children. At last he became angry, and when he got home
he said, "I will have a child, even if it be a hedgehog." Then
his wife had a child that was a hedgehog in the upper part of
his body and a boy in the lower, and when she saw the child, she
was terrified, and said, "See, there you have brought ill-luck
on us." Then said the man, "What can be done now? The boy must
be christened, but we shall not be able to get a godfather for
him." The woman said, "And we cannot call him anything else but
Hans the hedgehog."
When he was christened, the parson said, "He cannot go into
any ordinary bed because of his spikes." So a little straw was
put behind the stove, and Hans the hedgehog was laid on it. His
mother could not suckle him, for he would have pricked her with
his quills. So he lay there behind the stove for eight years,
and his father was tired of him and thought, if he would but
die. He did not die, however, but remained lying there.
Now it happened that there was a fair in the town, and the
peasant was about to go to it, and asked his wife what he should
bring back with him for her. "A little meat and a couple of
white rolls which are wanted for the house," said she. Then he
asked the servant, and she wanted a pair of slippers and some
stockings with clocks. At last he said also, "And what will you
have, Hans my hedgehog?" "Dear father," he said, "do bring me
bagpipes." When, therefore, the father came home again, he gave
his wife what he had bought for her, meat and white rolls, and
then he gave the maid the slippers, and the stockings with
clocks, and, lastly, he went behind the stove, and gave Hans the
hedgehog the bagpipes.
And when Hans the hedgehog had the bagpipes, he said, "Dear
father, do go to the forge and get the cock shod, and then I
will ride away, and never come back again." At this, the father
was delighted to think that he was going to get rid of him, and
had the cock shod for him, and when it was done, Hans the
hedgehog got on it, and rode away, but took swine and asses with
him which he intended to keep in the forest. When they got there
he made the cock fly on to a high tree with him, and there he
sat for many a long year, and watched his asses and swine until
the herd was quite large, and his father knew nothing about him.
And while he was sitting in the tree, he played his bagpipes,
and made music which was very beautiful.
Once a king came traveling by who had lost his way and heard
the music. He was astonished at it, and sent his servant forth
to look all round and see from whence this music came. He spied
about, but saw nothing but a little animal sitting up aloft on
the tree, which looked like a cock with a hedgehog on it which
made this music. Then the king told the servant he was to ask
why he sat there, and if he knew the road which led to his
kingdom. So Hans the hedgehog descended from the tree, and said
he would show the way if the king would write a bond and promise
him whatever he first met in the royal courtyard as soon as he
arrived at home. Then the king thought, I can easily do that,
Hans the hedgehog understands nothing, and I can write what I
like. So the king took pen and ink and wrote something, and when
he had done it, Hans the hedgehog showed him the way, and he got
safely home. But his daughter, when she saw him from afar, was
so overjoyed that she ran to meet him, and kissed him. Then he
remembered Hans the hedgehog, and told her what had happened,
and that he had been forced to promise whatsoever first met him
when he got home, to a very strange animal which sat on a cock
as if it were a horse, and made beautiful music, but that
instead of writing that he should have what he wanted, he had
written that he should not have it. Thereupon the princess was
glad, and said he had done well, for she never would have gone
away with the hedgehog.
Hans the hedgehog, however, looked after his asses and pigs,
and was always merry and sat on the tree and played his
bagpipes. Now it came to pass that another king came journeying
by with his attendants and runner, and he also had lost his way,
and did not know how to get home again because the forest was so
large. He likewise heard the beautiful music from a distance,
and asked his runner what that could be, and told him to go and
see. Then the runner went under the tree, and saw the cock
sitting at the top of it, and Hans the hedgehog on the cock. The
runner asked him what he was doing up there. I am keeping my
asses and my pigs, but what is your desire. The messenger said
that they had lost their way, and could not get back into their
own kingdom, and asked if he would not show them the way. Then
Hans the hedgehog descended the tree with the cock, and told the
aged king that he would show him the way, if he would give him
for his own whatsoever first met him in front of his royal
palace. The king said, "Yes," and wrote a promise to Hans the
hedgehog that he should have this. That done, Hans rode on
before him on the cock, and pointed out the way, and the king
reached his kingdom again in safety. When he got to the
courtyard, there were great rejoicings. Now he had an only
daughter who was very beautiful, she ran to meet him, threw her
arms round his neck, and was delighted to have her old father
back again. She asked him where in the world he had been so
long. So he told her how he had lost his way, and had very
nearly not come back at all, but that as he was traveling
through a great forest, a creature, half hedgehog, half man, who
was sitting astride a cock in a high tree, and making music, had
shown him the way and helped him to get out, but that in return
he had promised him whatsoever first met him in the royal
court-yard, and how that was she herself, which made him unhappy
now. But on this she promised that, for love of her father, she
would willingly go with this Hans if he came.
Hans the hedgehog, however, took care of his pigs, and the
pigs became more pigs until there were so many in number that
the whole forest was filled with them. Then Hans the hedgehog
resolved not to live in the forest any longer, and sent word to
his father to have every stye in the village emptied, for he was
coming with such a great herd that all might kill who wished to
do so. When his father heard that, he was troubled, for he
thought Hans the hedgehog had died long ago. Hans the hedgehog,
however, seated himself on the cock, and drove the pigs before
him into the village, and ordered the slaughter to begin.
Ha. - Then there was a butchery and a chopping that might
have been heard two miles off. After this Hans the hedgehog
said, "Father, let me have the cock shod once more at the forge,
and then I will ride away and never come back as long as I
live." Then the father had the cock shod once more, and was
pleased that Hans the hedgehog would never return again.
Hans the hedgehog rode away to the first kingdom. There the
king had commanded that whosoever came mounted on a cock and had
bagpipes with him should be shot at, cut down, or stabbed by
everyone, so that he might not enter the palace. When,
therefore, Hans the hedgehog came riding thither, they all
pressed forward against him with their pikes, but he spurred the
cock and it flew up over the gate in front of the king's window
and lighted there, and Hans cried that the king must give him
what he had promised, or he would take both his life and his
daughter's. Then the king began to speak to his daughter, and to
beg her to go away with Hans in order to save her own life and
her father's. So she dressed herself in white, and her father
gave her a carriage with six horses and magnificent attendants
together with gold and possessions. She seated herself in the
carriage, and placed Hans the hedgehog beside her with the cock
and the bagpipes, and then they took leave and drove away, and
the king thought he should never see her again. But he was
deceived in his expectation for when they were at a short
distance from the town, Hans the hedgehog took her pretty
clothes off, and pierced her with his hedgehog's spikes until
she bled all over. "That is the reward of your falseness," said
he. "Go your way, I will not have you," and on that he chased
her home again, and she was disgraced for the rest of her life.
Hans the hedgehog, however, rode on further on the cock, with
his bagpipes, to the dominions of the second king to whom he had
shown the way. But this one had arranged that if any one
resembling Hans the hedgehog should come, they were to present
arms, give him safe conduct, cry long life to him, and lead him
to the royal palace.
But when the king's daughter saw him she was terrified, for
he really looked too strange. Then she remembered that she could
not change her mind, for she had given her promise to her
father. So Hans the hedgehog was welcomed by her, and married to
her, and had to go with her to the royal table, and she seated
herself by his side, and they ate and drank. When the evening
came and they wanted to go to sleep, she was afraid of his
quills, but he told her she was not to fear, for no harm would
befall her, and he told the old king that he was to appoint four
men to watch by the door of the chamber, and light a great fire,
and when he entered the room and was about to get into bed, he
would creep out of his hedgehog's skin and leave it lying there
by the bedside, and that the men were to run nimbly to it, throw
it in the fire, and stay by it until it was consumed.
When the clock struck eleven, he went into the chamber,
stripped off the hedgehog's skin, and left it lying by the bed.
Then came the men and fetched it swiftly, and threw it in the
fire, and when the fire had consumed it, he was saved, and lay
there in bed in human form, but he was coal-black as if he had
been burnt. The king sent for his physician who washed him with
precious salves, and anointed him, and he became white, and was
a handsome young man. When the king's daughter saw that she was
glad, and the next morning they arose joyfully, ate and drank,
and then the marriage was properly solemnized, and Hans the
hedgehog received the kingdom from the aged king.
When several years had passed he went with his wife to his
father, and said that he was his son. The father, however,
declared he had no son - he had never had but one, and he had
been born like a hedgehog with spikes, and had gone forth into
the world. Then Hans made himself known, and the old father
rejoiced and went with him to his kingdom. My tale is done, and
away it has run to little augusta's house.
|
The Skilful Huntsman
There was once a young fellow who had learnt the trade of
locksmith, and told his father he would now go out into the
world and seek his fortune. Very well, said the father, I am
quite content with that, and gave him some money for his
journey. So he traveled about and looked for work. After a time
he resolved not to follow the trade of locksmith any more, for
he no longer liked it, but he took a fancy for hunting.
Then there met him in his rambles a huntsman dressed in
green, who asked whence he came and whither he was going. The
youth said he was a locksmith's apprentice, but that the trade
no longer pleased him, and he had a liking for huntsmanship,
would he teach it to him. "Oh, yes," said the huntsman, "if you
will go with me." Then the young fellow went with him,
apprenticed himself to him for some years, and learnt the art of
hunting. After this he wished to try his luck elsewhere, and the
huntsman gave him nothing in the way of payment but an air-gun,
which had, however, this property, that it hit its mark without
fail whenever he shot with it. Then he set out and found himself
in a very large forest, which he could not get to the end of in
one day. When evening came he seated himself in a high tree in
order to escape from the wild beasts.
Towards midnight, it seemed to him as if a tiny little light
glimmered in the distance. Then he looked down through the
branches towards it, and kept well in his mind where it was. But
in the first place he took off his hat and threw it down in the
direction of the light, so that he might go to the hat as a mark
when he had descended. He got down and went to his hat, put it
on again and went straight forwards. The farther he went, the
larger the light grew, and when he got close to it he saw that
it was an enormous fire, and that three giants were sitting by
it, who had an ox on the spit, and were roasting it. Presently
one of them said, "I must just taste if the meat will soon be
fit to eat," and pulled a piece off, and was about to put it in
his mouth when the huntsman shot it out of his hand. "Well,
really," said the giant, "if the wind has not blown the bit out
of my hand," and helped himself to another. But when he was just
about to bite into it, the huntsman again shot it away from him.
On this the giant gave the one who was sitting next him a box on
the ear, and cried angrily, "Why are you snatching my piece away
from me?" "I have not snatched it away," said the other, "a
sharpshooter must have shot it away from you."
The giant took another piece, but again could not keep it in
his hand, for the huntsman shot it out. Then the giant said,
"That must be a good shot to shoot the bit out of one's very
mouth, such an one would be useful to us." And he cried aloud,
"Come here, you sharpshooter, seat yourself at the fire beside
us and eat your fill, we will not hurt you, but if you will not
come, and we have to bring you by force, you are a lost man."
On this the youth went up to them and told them he was a
skilled huntsman, and that whatever he aimed at with his gun, he
was certain to hit. Then they said if he would go with them he
should be well treated, and they told him that outside the
forest there was a great lake, behind which stood a tower, and
in the tower was imprisoned a lovely princess, whom they wished
very much to carry off. "Yes," said he, "I will soon get her for
you." Then they added, "But there is still something else, there
is a tiny little dog, which begins to bark directly any one goes
near, and as soon as it barks every one in the royal palace
wakens up, and for this reason we cannot get there, can you
undertake to shoot it dead?" "Yes," said he, "that will be quite
fun for me." After this he got into a boat and rowed over the
lake, and as soon as he landed, the little dog came running out,
and was about to bark, but the huntsman took his airgun and shot
it dead.
When the giants saw that, they rejoiced, and thought they
already had the king's daughter safe, but the huntsman wished
first to see how matters stood, and told them that they must
stay outside until he called them. Then he went into the castle,
and all was perfectly quiet within, and every one was asleep.
When he opened the door of the first room, a sword was hanging
on the wall which was made of pure silver, and there was a
golden star on it, and the name of the king, and on a table near
it lay a sealed letter which he broke open, and inside it was
written that whosoever had the sword could kill everything which
opposed him. So he took the sword from the wall, hung it at his
side and went onwards, then he entered the room where the king's
daughter was lying sleeping, and she was so beautiful that he
stood still and, holding his breath, looked at her. He thought
to himself, "How can I give an innocent maiden into the power of
the wild giants, who have evil in their minds?" He looked about
further, and under the bed stood a pair of slippers, on the
right one was her father's name with a star, and on the left her
own name with a star. She wore also a large scarf of silk
embroidered with gold, and on the right side was her father's
name, and on the left her own, all in golden letters. Then the
huntsman took a pair of scissors and cut the right corner off,
and put it in his knapsack, and then he also took the right
slipper with the king's name, and thrust that in. Now the maiden
still lay sleeping, and she was quite sewn into her night-dress,
and he cut a morsel from this also, and thrust it in with the
rest, but he did all without touching her.
Then he went forth and left her lying asleep undisturbed, and
when he came to the gate again, the giants were still standing
outside waiting for him, and expecting that he was bringing the
princess. But he cried to them that they were to come in, for
the maiden was already in their power, that he could not open
the gate to them, but there was a hole through which they must
creep. Then the first approached, and the huntsman wound the
giant's hair round his hand, pulled the head in, and cut it off
at one stroke with his sword, and then drew the rest of him in.
He called to the second and cut his head off likewise, and then
he killed the third also, and he was well pleased that he had
freed the beautiful maiden from her enemies, and he cut out
their tongues and put them in his knapsack. Then thought he, "I
will go home to my father and let him see what I have already
done, and afterwards I will travel about the world, the luck
which God is pleased to grant me will easily find me."
But when the king in the castle awoke, he saw the three
giants lying there dead. So he went into the sleeping-room of
his daughter, awoke her, and asked who could have killed the
giants. Then said she, "Dear father, I know not, I have been
asleep." But when she arose and would have put on her slippers,
the right one was gone, and when she looked at her scarf it was
cut, and the right corner was missing, and when she looked at
her night-dress a piece was cut out of it. The king summoned his
whole court together, soldiers and every one else who was there,
and asked who had set his daughter at liberty, and killed the
giants.
Now it happened that he had a captain, who was one-eyed and a
hideous man, and he said that he had done it. Then the old king
said that as he had accomplished this, he should marry his
daughter. But the maiden said, "Rather than marry him, dear
father, I will go away into the world as far as my legs can
carry me." But the king said that if she would not marry him she
should take off her royal garments and wear peasant's clothing,
and go forth, and that she should go to a potter, and begin a
trade in earthen vessels.
So she put off her royal apparel, and went to a potter and
borrowed crockery enough for a stall, and she promised him also
that if she had sold it by the evening, she would pay for it.
Then the king said she was to seat herself in a corner with it
and sell it, and he arranged with some peasants to drive over it
with their carts, so that everything should be broken into a
thousand pieces. When therefore the king's daughter had placed
her stall in the street, by came the carts, and broke all she
had into tiny fragments. She began to weep and said, "Alas, how
shall I ever pay for the pots now." The king, however, had
wished by this to force her to marry the captain; but instead of
that, she again went to the potter, and asked him if he would
lend to her once more. He said, no, she must first pay for what
she already had.
Then she went to her father and cried and lamented, and said
she would go forth into the world. Then said he, "I will have a
little hut built for you in the forest outside, and in it you
shall stay all your life long and cook for every one, but you
shall take no money for it." When the hut was ready, a sign was
hung on the door whereon was written, to-day given, to-morrow
sold. There she remained a long time, and it was rumored about
the world that a maiden was there who cooked without asking for
payment, and that this was set forth on a sign outside her door.
The huntsman heard it likewise, and thought to himself, that
would suit you. You are poor, and have no money. So he took his
air-gun and his knapsack, wherein all the things which he had
formerly carried away with him from the castle as tokens of his
truthfulness were still lying, and went into the forest, and
found the hut with the sign, to-day given, to-morrow sold. He
had put on the sword with which he had cut off the heads of the
three giants, and thus entered the hut, and ordered something to
eat to be given to him. He was charmed with the beautiful
maiden, who was indeed as lovely as any picture. She asked him
whence he came and whither he was going, and he said, "I am
roaming about the world." Then she asked him where he had got
the sword, for that truly her father's name was on it. He asked
her if she were the king's daughter. "Yes," answered she. "With
this sword," said he, "did I cut off the heads of three giants."
And he took their tongues out of his knapsack in proof. Then he
also showed her the slipper, and the corner of the scarf, and
the piece of the night-dress.
Hereupon she was overjoyed, and said that he was the one who
had delivered her. On this they went together to the old king,
and fetched him to the hut, and she led him into her room, and
told him that the huntsman was the man who had really set her
free from the giants. And when the aged king saw all the proofs
of this, he could no longer doubt, and said that he was very
glad he knew how everything had happened, and that the huntsman
should have her to wife, on which the maiden was glad at heart.
Then she dressed the huntsman as if he were a foreign lord, and
the king ordered a feast to be prepared. When they went to
table, the captain sat on the left side of the king's daughter,
but the huntsman was on the right, and the captain thought he
was a foreign lord who had come on a visit. When they had eaten
and drunk, the old king said to the captain that he would set
before him something which he must guess. "Supposing someone
said that he had killed the three giants and he were asked where
the giants, tongues were, and he were forced to go and look, and
there were none in their heads. How could that have happened?"
The captain said, "Then they cannot have had any." "Not so,"
said the king. "Every animal has a tongue," and then he likewise
asked what punishment should be meted out to anyone who made
such an answer. The captain replied, "He ought to be torn in
pieces." Then the king said he had pronounced his own sentence,
and the captain was put in prison and then torn in four pieces,
but the king's daughter was married to the huntsman. After this
he brought his father and mother, and they lived with their son
in happiness, and after the death of the old king he received
the kingdom.
|
The Two Kings' Children
There was once upon a time a king who had a little boy in
whose stars it had been foretold that he should be killed by a
stag when he was sixteen years of age, and when he had reached
that age the huntsmen once went hunting with him. In the forest,
the king's son was separated from the others, and all at once he
saw a great stag which he wanted to shoot, but could not hit. At
length he chased the stag so far that they were quite out of the
forest, and then suddenly a great tall man was standing there
instead of the stag, and said, "It is well that I have you. I
have already ruined six pairs of glass skates with running after
you, and have not been able to reach you."
Then he took the king's son with him, and dragged him through
a great lake to a great palace, and he had to sit down to table
with him and eat something. When they had eaten something
together the king said, "I have three daughters, you must keep
watch over the eldest for one night, from nine in the evening
till six in the morning, and every time the clock strikes, I
will come myself and call, and if you then give me no answer,
to-morrow morning you shall be put to death, but if you always
give me an answer, you shall have her to wife."
When the young folks went to the bedroom there stood a stone
image of St. Christopher, and the king's daughter said to it,
"My father will come at nine o'clock, and every hour till it
strikes three, when he calls, give him an answer instead of the
king's son." Then the stone image of St. Christopher nodded its
head quite quickly, and then more and more slowly till at last
it again stood still. The next morning the king said to him,
"You have done the business well, but I cannot give my daughter
away. You must now watch a night by my second daughter, and then
I will consider with myself, whether you can have my eldest
daughter to wife, but I shall come every hour myself, and when I
call you, answer me, and if I call you and you do not reply,
your blood shall flow."
Then they both went into the sleeping-room, and there stood a
still larger stone image of St. Christopher, and the king's
daughter said to it, "If my father calls, answer him." Then the
great stone image of St. Christopher again nodded its head quite
quickly and then more and more slowly, until at last it stood
still again. And the king's son lay down on the threshold, put
his hand under his head and slept. The next morning the king
said to him, "You have done the business really well, but I
cannot give my daughter away, you must now watch a night by the
youngest princess, and then I will consider with myself whether
you can have my second daughter to wife. But I shall come every
hour myself, and when I call you answer me, and if I call you
and you answer not, your blood shall flow for me."
Then they once more went to the sleeping-room together, and
there was a much greater and much taller image of St.
Christopher than the two first had been. The king's daughter
said to it, "When my father calls, answer." Then the great tall
stone image of St. Christopher nodded quite half an hour with
its head, until at length the head stood still again. And the
king's son laid himself down on the threshold of the door and
slept. The next morning the king said, "You have indeed watched
well, but I cannot give you my daughter now, I have a great
forest, if you cut it down for me between six o'clock this
morning and six at night, I will think about it."
Then he gave him a glass axe, a glass wedge, and a glass
mallet. When he got into the wood, he began at once to cut, but
the axe broke in two. Then he took the wedge, and struck it once
with the mallet, and it became as short and as small as sand.
Then he was much troubled and believed he would have to die, and
sat down and wept.
Now when it was noon the king said, "One of you girls must
take him something to eat." "No," said the two eldest, "we will
not take it to him, the one by whom he last watched, can take
him something." Then the youngest was forced to go and take him
something to eat. When she got into the forest, she asked him
how he was getting on. "Oh," said he, "I am getting on very
badly." Then she said he was to come and just eat a little.
"Nay," said he, "I cannot do that, I have to die anyway, so I
will eat no more." Then she spoke so kindly to him and begged
him just to try, that he came and ate something. When he had
eaten something she said, "I will pick your lice a while, and
then you will feel happier."
So she loused him, and he became weary and fell asleep, and
then she took her handkerchief and made a knot in it, and struck
it three times on the earth, and said, "Earth-workers, come
forth." In a moment, numbers of little earth-men came forth, and
asked what the king's daughter commanded. Then said she, "In
three hours, time the great forest must be cut down, and all the
wood laid in heaps." So the little earth-men went about and got
together the whole of their kindred to help them with the work.
They began at once, and when the three hours were over, all was
done, and they came back to the king's daughter and told her so.
Then she took her white handkerchief again and said,
"Earth-workers, go home." At this they all disappeared.
When the king's son awoke, he was delighted, and she said,
"Come home when it has struck six o'clock." He did as she told
him, and then the king asked, "Have you made away with the
forest?" "Yes," said the king's son. When they were sitting at
table, the king said, "I cannot yet give you my daughter to
wife, you must still do something more for her sake." So he
asked what it was to be. "I have a great fish-pond," said the
king. "You must go to it to-morrow morning and clear it of all
mud until it is as bright as a mirror, and fill it with every
kind of fish."
The next morning the king gave him a glass shovel and said,
"The fish-pond must be done by six o'clock." So he went away,
and when he came to the fish-pond he stuck his shovel in the mud
and it broke in two. Then he stuck his hoe in the mud, and it
broke also. Then he was much troubled. At noon the youngest
daughter brought him something to eat, and asked him how he was
getting on. So the king's son said everything was going very ill
with him, and he would certainly have to lose his head. "My
tools have broken to pieces again." "Oh," said she, "you must
just come and eat something, and then you will be in another
frame of mind." "No," said he, "I cannot eat, I am far too
unhappy for that." Then she gave him many good words until at
last he came and ate something.
Then she loused him again, and he fell asleep, so once more
she took her handkerchief, tied a knot in it, and struck the
ground thrice with the knot, and said, "Earth-workers, come
forth." In a moment a great many little earth-men came and asked
what she desired, and she told them that in three hours, time,
they must have the fish-pond entirely cleaned out, and it must
be so clear that people could see themselves reflected in it,
and every kind of fish must be in it. The little earth-men went
away and summoned all their kindred to help them, and in two
hours it was done. Then they returned to her and said, "We have
done as you have commanded." The king's daughter took the
handkerchief and once more struck thrice on the ground with it,
and said, "earth-workers, go home again." Then they all went
away.
When the king's son awoke the fish-pond was done. Then the
king's daughter went away also, and told him that when it was
six he was to come to the house. When he arrived at the house
the king asked, "Have you got the fish-pond done?" "Yes," said
the king's son. That was very good.
When they were again sitting at table the king said, "You
have certainly done the fish-pond, but I cannot give you my
daughter yet, you must just do one thing more." "What is that,
then?" asked the king's son. The king said he had a great
mountain on which there was nothing but briars which must all be
cut down, and at the top of it the youth must build a great
castle, which must be as strong as could be conceived, and all
the furniture and fittings belonging to a castle must be inside
it.
And when he arose next morning the king gave him a glass axe
and a glass gimlet, and he was to have all done by six o'clock.
As he was cutting down the first briar with the axe, it broke
off short, and so small that the pieces flew all round about,
and he could not use the gimlet either. Then he was quite
miserable, and waited for his dearest to see if she would not
come and help him in his need. When it was mid-day she came and
brought him something to eat. He went to meet her and told her
all, and ate something, and let her louse him and fell asleep.
Then she once more took the knot and struck the earth with
it, and said, "Earth-workers, come forth." Then came once again
numbers of earth-men, and asked what her desire was. Then said
she, "In the space of three hours you must cut down the whole of
the briars, and a castle must be built on the top of the
mountain that must be as strong as any one could conceive, and
all the furniture that pertains to a castle must be inside it."
They went away, and summoned their kindred to help them and when
the time was come, all was ready. Then they came to the king's
daughter and told her so, and the king's daughter took her
handkerchief and struck thrice on the earth with it, and said,
"Earth-workers, go home, on which they all disappeared." When
therefore the king's son awoke and saw everything done, he was
as happy as a bird in air.
When it had struck six, they went home together. Then said
the king, "Is the castle ready?" "Yes," said the king's son.
When they sat down to table, the king said, "I cannot give away
my youngest daughter until the two eldest are married." Then the
king's son and the king's daughter were quite troubled, and the
king's son had no idea what to do. But he went by night to the
king's daughter and ran away with her. When they had got a
little distance away, the king's daughter peeped round and saw
her father behind her. "Oh," said she, "what are we to do? My
father is behind us, and will take us back with him. I will at
once change you into a briar, and myself into a rose, and I will
shelter myself in the midst of the bush."
When the father reached the place, there stood a briar with
one rose on it, and he was about to gather the rose, when the
thorn pricked his finger so that he was forced to go home again.
His wife asked why he had not brought their daughter back with
him. So he said he had nearly got up to her, but that all at
once he had lost sight of her, and a briar with one rose was
growing on the spot. Then said the queen, "If you had but
gathered the rose, the briar would have been forced to come
too." So he went back again to fetch the rose, but in the
meantime the two were already far over the plain, and the king
ran after them. Then the daughter once more looked round and saw
her father coming, and said, "Oh, what shall we do now? I will
instantly change you into a church and myself into a priest, and
I will stand up in the pulpit, and preach." When the king got to
the place, there stood a church, and in the pulpit was a priest
preaching. So he listened to the sermon, and then went home
again.
Then the queen asked why he had not brought their daughter
with him, and he said, "Nay, I ran a long time after her, and
just as I thought I should soon overtake her, a church was
standing there and a priest was in the pulpit preaching." "You
should just have brought the priest," said his wife, "and then
the church would soon have come. It is no use to send you, I
must go there myself." When she had walked for some time, and
could see the two in the distance, the king's daughter peeped
round and saw her mother coming, and said, "Now we are undone,
for my mother is coming herself, I will immediately change you
into a fish-pond and myself into a fish."
When the mother came to the place, there was a large
fish-pond, and in the midst of it a fish was leaping about and
peeping out of the water, and it was quite merry. She wanted to
catch the fish, but she could not. Then she was very angry, and
drank up the whole pond in order to catch the fish, but it made
her so ill that she was forced to vomit, and vomited the whole
pond out again. Then she cried, "I see very well that nothing
can be done now, and asked them to come back to her." Then the
king's daughter went back again, and the queen gave her daughter
three walnuts, and said, "With these you can help yourself when
you are in your greatest need."
So the young folks once more went away together. And when
they had walked quite ten miles, they arrived at the castle from
whence the king's son came, and near it was a village. When they
reached it, the king's son said, "Stay here, my dearest, I will
just go to the castle, and then will I come with a carriage and
with attendants to fetch you."
When he got to the castle they all rejoiced greatly at having
the king's son back again, and he told them he had a bride who
was now in the village, and they must go with the carriage to
fetch her. Then they harnessed the horses at once, and many
attendants seated themselves outside the carriage. When the
king's son was about to get in, his mother gave him a kiss, and
he forgot everything which had happened, and also what he was
about to do. At this his mother ordered the horses to be taken
out of the carriage again, and everyone went back into the
house. But the maiden sat in the village and watched and
watched, and thought he would come and fetch her, but no one
came. Then the king's daughter took service in the mill which
belonged to the castle, and was obliged to sit by the pond every
afternoon and clean the tubs.
And the queen came one day on foot from the castle, and went
walking by the pond, and saw the well-grown maiden sitting
there, and said, "What a fine strong girl that is. She pleases
me well." Then she and all with her looked at the maid, but no
one knew her. So a long time passed by during which the maiden
served the miller honorably and faithfully. In the meantime, the
queen had sought a wife for her son, who came from quite a
distant part of the world. When the bride came, they were at
once to be married. And many people hurried together, all of
whom wanted to see everything. Then the girl said to the miller
that he might be so good as to give her leave to go also. So the
miller said, "Yes, do go there." When she was about to go, she
opened one of the three walnuts, and a beautiful dress lay
inside it. She put it on, and went into the church and stood by
the altar. Suddenly came the bride and bridegroom, and seated
themselves before the altar, and when the priest was just going
to bless them, the bride peeped half round and saw the maiden
standing there. Then she stood up again, and said she would not
be given away until she also had as beautiful a dress as that
lady there.
So they went back to the house again, and sent to ask the
lady if she would sell that dress. No, she would not sell it,
but the bride might perhaps earn it. Then the bride asked her
how she was to do this. Then the maiden said if she might sleep
one night outside the king's son's door, the bride might have
what she wanted. So the bride said, "Yes," she was willing to do
that. But the servants were ordered to give the king's son a
sleeping draught, and then the maiden laid herself down on the
threshold and lamented all night long. She had had the forest
cut down for him, she had had the fish-pond cleaned out for him,
she had had the castle built for him, she had changed him into a
briar, and then into a church, and at last into a fish-pond, and
yet he had forgotten her so quickly.
The king's son did not hear one word of it, but the servants
had been awakened, and had listened to it, and had not known
what it could mean. The next morning when they were all up, the
bride put on the dress, and went away to the church with the
bridegroom. In the meantime the maiden opened the second walnut,
and a still more beautiful dress was inside it. She put it on,
and went and stood by the altar in the church, and everything
happened as it had happened the time before. And the maiden
again lay all night on the threshold which led to the chamber of
the king's son, and the servant was once more to give him a
sleeping draught. The servant, however, went to him and gave him
something to keep him awake, and then the king's son went to
bed, and the miller's maiden bemoaned herself as before on the
threshold of the door, and told of all that she had done. All
this the king's son heard, and was sore troubled, and what was
past came back to him. Then he wanted to go to her, but his
mother had locked the door.
The next morning, however, he went at once to his beloved,
and told her everything which had happened to him, and prayed
her not to be angry with him for having forgotten her. Then the
king's daughter opened the third walnut, and within it was a
still more magnificent dress, which she put on, and went with
her bridegroom to church, and numbers of children came who gave
them flowers, and offered them gay ribbons to bind about their
feet, and they were blessed by the priest, and had a merry
wedding. But the false mother and the bride had to depart. And
the mouth of the person who last told all this is still warm.
|
The Blue Light
There was once on a time a soldier who for many years had
served the king faithfully, but when the war came to an end
could serve no longer because of the many wounds which he had
received. The king said to him, "You may return to your home, I
need you no longer, and you will not receive any more money, for
he only receives wages who renders me serve for them." Then the
soldier did not know how to earn a living, went away greatly
troubled, and walked the whole day, until in the evening he
entered a forest. When darkness came on, he saw a light, which
he went up to, and came to a house wherein lived a witch. "Do
give me one night's lodging, and a little to eat and drink,"
said he to her, "or I shall starve." "Oho," she answered, "who
gives anything to a run-away soldier? Yet will I be
compassionate, and take you in, if you will do what I wish."
"What do you wish?" said the soldier. "That you should dig all
round my garden for me, tomorrow." The soldier consented, and
next day labored with all his strength, but could not finish it
by the evening. "I see well enough," said the witch, "that you
can do no more today, but I will keep you yet another night, in
payment for which you must tomorrow chop me a load of wood, and
chop it small." The soldier spent the whole day in doing it, and
in the evening the witch proposed that he should stay one night
more. "Tomorrow, you shall only do me a very trifling piece of
work. Behind my house, there is an old dry well, into which my
light has fallen, it burns blue, and never goes out, and you
shall bring it up again."
Next day the old woman took him to the well, and let him down
in a basket. He found the blue light, and made her a signal to
draw him up again. She did draw him up, but when he came near
the edge, she stretched down her hand and wanted to take the
blue light away from him. "No," said he, perceiving her evil
intention, "I will not give you the light until I am standing
with both feet upon the ground." The witch fell into a passion,
let him fall again into the well, and went away.
The poor soldier fell without injury on the moist ground, and
the blue light went on burning, but of what use was that to him.
He saw very well that he could not escape death. He sat for a
while very sorrowfully, then suddenly he felt in his pocket and
found his tobacco pipe, which was still half full. "This shall
be my last pleasure," thought he, pulled it out, lit it at the
blue light and began to smoke. When the smoke had circled about
the cavern, suddenly a little black dwarf stood before him, and
said, "Lord, what are your commands?" "What my commands are?"
replied the soldier, quite astonished. "I must do everything you
bid me," said the little man. "Good," said the soldier, "then in
the first place help me out of this well." The little man took
him by the hand, and led him through an underground passage, but
he did not forget to take the blue light with him. On the way
the dwarf showed him the treasures which the witch had collected
and hidden there, and the soldier took as much gold as he could
carry. When he was above, he said to the little man, "Now go and
bind the old witch, and carry her before the judge."
In a short time she came by like the wind, riding on a wild
tom-cat and screaming frightfully. Nor was it long before the
little man re-appeared. "It is all done," said he, "and the
witch is already hanging on the gallows. What further commands
has my lord," inquired the dwarf. "At this moment, none,"
answered the soldier, "You can return home, only be at hand
immediately, if I summon you." "Nothing more is needed than that
you should light your pipe at the blue light, and I will appear
before you at once." Thereupon he vanished from his sight.
The soldier returned to the town from which he had come. He
went to the best inn, ordered himself handsome clothes, and then
bade the landlord furnish him a room as handsome as possible.
When it was ready and the soldier had taken possession of it, he
summoned the little black mannikin and said, "I have served the
king faithfully, but he has dismissed me, and left me to hunger,
and now I want to take my revenge." "What am I to do?" asked the
little man. "Late at night, when the king's daughter is in bed,
bring her here in her sleep, she shall do servant's work for
me." The mannikin said, "That is an easy thing for me to do, but
a very dangerous thing for you, for if it is discovered, you
will fare ill." When twelve o'clock had struck, the door sprang
open, and the mannikin carried in the princess. "Aha, are you
there?" cried the soldier, "Get to your work at once. Fetch the
broom and sweep the chamber." When she had done this, he ordered
her to come to his chair, and then he stretched out his feet and
said, "Pull off my boots," and then he threw them in her face,
and made her pick them up again, and clean and brighten them.
She, however, did everything he bade her, without opposition,
silently and with half-shut eyes. When the first cock crowed,
the mannikin carried her back to the royal palace, and laid her
in her bed.
Next morning when the princess arose she went to her father,
and told him that she had had a very strange dream. "I was
carried through the streets with the rapidity of lightning,"
said she, "and taken into a soldier's room, and I had to wait
upon him like a servant, sweep his room, clean his boots, and do
all kinds of menial work. It was only a dream, and yet I am just
as tired as if I really had done everything." "The dream may
have been true," said the king, "I will give you a piece of
advice. Fill your pocket full of peas, and make a small hole in
the pocket, and then if you are carried away again, they will
fall out and leave a track in the streets." But unseen by the
king, the mannikin was standing beside him when he said that,
and heard all. At night when the sleeping princess was again
carried through the streets, some peas certainly did fall out of
her pocket, but they made no track, for the crafty mannikin had
just before scattered peas in every street there was. And again
the princess was compelled to do servant's work until cock-crow.
Next morning the king sent his people out to seek the track,
but it was all in vain, for in every street poor children were
sitting, picking up peas, and saying, "It must have rained peas,
last night." "We must think of something else," said the king,
"keep your shoes on when you go to bed, and before you come back
from the place where you are taken, hide one of them there, I
will soon contrive to find it." The black mannikin heard this
plot, and at night when the soldier again ordered him to bring
the princess, revealed it to him, and told him that he knew of
no expedient to counteract this stratagem, and that if the shoe
were found in the soldier's house it would go badly with him.
"Do what I bid you," replied the soldier, and again this third
night the princess was obliged to work like a servant, but
before she went away, she hid her shoe under the bed.
Next morning the king had the entire town searched for his
daughter's shoe. It was found at the soldier's, and the soldier
himself, who at the entreaty of the dwarf had gone outside the
gate, was soon brought back, and thrown into prison. In his
flight he had forgotten the most valuable things he had, the
blue light and the gold, and had only one ducat in his pocket.
And now loaded with chains, he was standing at the window of his
dungeon, when he chanced to see one of his comrades passing by.
The soldier tapped at the pane of glass, and when this man came
up, said to him, "Be so kind as to fetch me that small bundle I
have lying in the inn, and I will give you a ducat for doing
it."
His comrade ran thither and brought him what he wanted. As
soon as the soldier was alone again, he lighted his pipe and
summoned the black mannikin. "Have no fear," said the latter to
his master. "Go wheresoever they take you, and let them do what
they will, only take the blue light with you." Next day the
soldier was tried, and though he had done nothing wicked, the
judge condemned him to death. When he was led forth to die, he
begged a last favor of the king. "What is it?" asked the king.
"That I may smoke one more pipe on my way." "You may smoke
three," answered the king, "but do not imagine that I will spare
your life." Then the soldier pulled out his pipe and lighted it
at the blue light, and as soon as a few wreaths of smoke had
ascended, the mannikin was there with a small cudgel in his
hand, and said, "What does my lord command?" "Strike down to
earth that false judge there, and his constable, and spare not
the king who has treated me so ill." Then the mannikin fell on
them like lightning, darting this way and that way, and
whosoever was so much as touched by his cudgel fell to earth,
and did not venture to stir again. The king was terrified, he
threw himself on the soldier's mercy, and merely to be allowed
to live at all, gave him his kingdom for his own, and his
daughter to wife.
|
The King's Son Who Feared Nothing
There was once a king's son, who was no longer content to
stay at home in his father's house, and as he had no fear of
anything, he thought, I will go forth into the wide world, there
the time will not seem long to me, and I shall see wonders
enough. So he took leave of his parents, and went forth, and on
and on from morning till night, and whichever way his path led
it was the same to him. It came to pass that he arrived at the
house of a giant, and as he was so tired he sat down by the door
and rested. And as he let his eyes roam here and there, he saw
the giant's playthings lying in the yard. These were a couple of
enormous balls, and nine-pins as tall as a man. After a while he
had a fancy to set the nine-pins up and then rolled the balls at
them, and screamed and cried out when the nine-pins fell, and
had a merry time of it.
The giant heard the noise, stretched his head out of the
window, and saw a man who was not taller than other men, and yet
played with his nine-pins. "Little worm," cried he, "why are you
playing with my balls? Who gave you strength to do it?" The
king's son looked up, saw the giant, and said, "Oh, you
blockhead, you think indeed that you only have strong arms, I
can do everything I want to do." The giant came down and watched
the bowling with great admiration, and said, "Child of man, if
you are one of that kind, go and bring me an apple of the tree
of life." "What do you want with it?" said the king's son. "I do
not want the apple for myself," answered the giant, "but I have
a betrothed bride who wishes for it. I have traveled far about
the world and cannot find the tree." "I will soon find it," said
the king's son, "and I do not know what is to prevent me from
getting the apple down." The giant said, "You really believe it
to be so easy. The garden in which the tree stands is surrounded
by an iron railing, and in front of the railing lie wild beasts,
each close to the other, and they keep watch and let no man go
in." "They will be sure to let me in," said the king's son.
"Yes, but even if you do get into the garden, and see the apple
hanging to the tree, it is still not yours. A ring hangs in
front of it, through which any one who wants to reach the apple
and break it off, must put his hand, and no one has yet had the
luck to do it." "That luck will be mine," said the king's son.
Then he took leave of the giant, and went forth over mountain
and valley, and through plains and forests, until at length he
came to the wondrous garden.
The beasts lay round about it, but they had put their heads
down and were asleep. Moreover, they did not awake when he went
up to them, so he stepped over them, climbed the fence, and got
safely into the garden. There, in the very middle of it, stood
the tree of life, and the red apples were shining upon the
branches. He climbed up the trunk to the top, and as he was
about to reach out for an apple, he saw a ring hanging before
it, but he thrust his hand through that without any difficulty,
and picked the apple. The ring closed tightly on his arm, and
all at once he felt a prodigious strength flowing through his
veins. When he had come down again from the tree with the apple,
he would not climb over the fence, but grasped the great gate,
and had no need to shake it more than once before it sprang open
with a loud crash. Then he went out, and the lion which had been
lying in front of the gate, was awake and sprang after him, not
in rage and fierceness, but following him humbly as its master.
The king's son took the giant the apple he had promised him,
and said, "You see, I have brought it without difficulty." The
giant was glad that his desire had been so soon satisfied,
hastened to his bride, and gave her the apple for which she had
wished. She was a beautiful and wise maiden, and as she did not
see the ring on his arm, she said, "I shall never believe that
you have brought the apple, until I see the ring on your arm."
The giant said, "I have nothing to do but go home and fetch it,"
and thought it would be easy to take away by force from the weak
man, what he would not give of his own free will. He therefore
demanded the ring from him, but the king's son refused it.
"Where the apple is, the ring must be also," said the giant. "If
you will not give it of your own accord, you must fight me for
it."
They wrestled with each other for a long time, but the giant
could not harm the king's son, who was strengthened by the
magical power of the ring. Then the giant thought of a ruse, and
said, "I have got warm with fighting, and so have you. We will
bathe in the river, and cool ourselves before we begin again."
The king's son, who knew nothing of falsehood, went with him to
the water, and pulled off with his clothes the ring also from
his arm, and sprang into the river. The giant instantly snatched
the ring, and ran away with it, but the lion, which had observed
the theft, pursued the giant, tore the ring out of his hand, and
brought it back to its master. Then the giant placed himself
behind an oak-tree, and while the king's son was busy putting on
his clothes again, surprised him, and put both his eyes out.
And now the unhappy king's son stood there, and was blind and
knew not how to help himself. Then the giant came back to him,
took him by the hand as if he were someone who wanted to guide
him, and led him to the top of a high rock. There he left him
standing, and thought, "Just two steps more, and he will fall
down and kill himself, and I can take the ring from him." But
the faithful lion had not deserted its master. It held him fast
by the clothes, and drew him gradually back again.
When the giant came and wanted to rob the dead man, he saw
that his cunning had been in vain. "Is there no way, then, of
destroying a weak child of man like that?" said he angrily to
himself, and seized the king's son and led him back again to the
precipice by another way, but the lion which saw his evil
design, helped its master out of danger here also. When they had
come close to the edge, the giant let the blind man's hand drop,
and was going to leave him behind alone, but the lion pushed the
giant so that he was thrown down and fell, dashed to pieces, on
the ground.
The faithful animal again drew its master back from the
precipice, and guided him to a tree by which flowed a clear
brook. The king's son sat down there, but the lion lay down, and
sprinkled the water in his face with its paws. Scarcely had a
couple of drops wetted the sockets of his eyes, than he was once
more able to see something, and noticed a little bird flying
quite close by, which hit itself against the trunk of a tree. So
it went down to the water and bathed itself therein, and then it
soared upwards and swept between the trees without touching
them, as if it had recovered its sight. Then the king's son
recognized a sign from God and stooped down to the water, and
washed and bathed his face in it. And when he arose he had his
eyes once more, brighter and clearer than they had ever been.
The king's son thanked God for his great mercy, and traveled
with his lion onwards through the world. And it came to pass
that he arrived before a castle which was enchanted. In the
gateway stood a maiden of beautiful form and fine face, but she
was quite black. She spoke to him and said, "Ah, if you could
but deliver me from the evil spell which is thrown over me."
"What shall I do?" said the king's son. The maiden answered,
"You must pass three nights in the great hall of this enchanted
castle, but you must let no fear enter your heart. When they are
doing their worst to torment you, if you bear it without letting
a sound escape you, I shall be free. Your life they dare not
take." Then said the king's son, "I have no fear, with God's
help I will try it." So he went gaily into the castle, and when
it grew dark he seated himself in the large hall and waited.
Everything was quiet, however, till midnight, when all at
once a great tumult began, and out of every hole and corner came
little devils. They behaved as if they did not see him, seated
themselves in the middle of the room, lighted a fire, and began
to gamble. When one of them lost, he said, "It is not right,
some one is here who does not belong to us, it is his fault that
I am losing." "Wait, you fellow behind the stove, I am coming,"
said another. The screaming became still louder, so that no one
could have heard it without terror. The king's son stayed
sitting quite calmly, and was not afraid, but at last the devils
jumped up from the ground, and fell on him, and there were so
many of them that he could not defend himself from them. They
dragged him about on the floor, pinched him, pricked him, beat
him, and tormented him, but no sound escaped from him. Towards
morning they disappeared, and he was so exhausted that he could
scarcely move his limbs, but when day dawned the black maiden
came to him. She bore in her hand a little bottle wherein was
the water of life wherewith she washed him, and he at once felt
all pain depart and new strength flow through his veins. She
said, "You have held out successfully for one night, but two
more lie before you." Then she went away again, and as she was
going, he observed that her feet had become white.
The next night the devils came and began their gambling anew.
They fell on the king's son, and beat him much more severely
than the night before, until his body was covered with wounds.
But as he bore all quietly, they were forced to leave him, and
when dawn appeared, the maiden came and healed him with the
water of life. And when she went away, he saw with joy that she
had already become white to the tips of her fingers. And now he
had only one night more to go through, but it was the worst. The
devils came again, "Are you still there?" cried they. "You shall
be tormented till your breath stops." They pricked him and beat
him, and threw him here and there, and pulled him by the arms
and legs as if they wanted to tear him to pieces, but he bore
everything, and never uttered a cry. At last the devils
vanished, but he lay fainting there, and did not stir, nor could
he raise his eyes to look at the maiden who came in, and
sprinkled and bathed him with the water of life. But suddenly he
was freed from all pain, and felt fresh and healthy as if he had
awakened from sleep, and when he opened his eyes he saw the
maiden standing by him, snow-white, and fair as day.
"Rise," said she, "and swing your sword three times over the
stairs, and then all will be delivered." And when he had done
that, the whole castle was released from enchantment, and the
maiden was a rich king's daughter. The servants came and said
that the table was set in the great hall, and dinner served up.
Then they sat down and ate and drank together, and in the
evening the wedding was solemnized with great rejoicings.
|
Donkey Cabbages
There was once a young huntsman who went into the forest to
lie in wait. He had a fresh and joyous heart, and as he was
going thither, whistling upon a leaf, an ugly old crone came up,
who spoke to him and said, "Good-day, dear huntsman, truly you
are merry and contented, but I am suffering from hunger and
thirst, do give me an alms." The huntsman took pity on the poor
old creature, felt in his pocket, and gave her what he could
afford.
He was then about to go further, but the old woman stopped
him and said, "Listen, dear huntsman, to what I tell you. I will
make you a present in return for your good heart. Go on your way
now, but in a little while you will come to a tree, whereon nine
birds are sitting which have a cloak in their claws, and are
fighting for it, take your gun and shoot into the midst of them.
They will let the cloak fall down to you, but one of the birds
will be hurt, and will drop down dead. Carry away the cloak, it
is a wishing-cloak. When you throw it over your shoulders, you
only have to wish to be in a certain place, and you will be
there in the twinkling of an eye. Take out the heart of the dead
bird and swallow it whole, and every morning early, when you get
up, you will find a gold piece under your pillow." The huntsman
thanked the wise woman, and thought to himself, "Those are fine
things that she has promised me, if all does but come true." And
verily when he had walked about a hundred paces, he heard in the
branches above him such a screaming and twittering that he
looked up and saw there a swarm of birds who were tearing a
piece of cloth about with their beaks and claws, and tugging and
fighting as if each wanted to have it all to himself. "Well,"
said the huntsman, "this is amazing, it has really come to pass
just as the old crone foretold," and he took the gun from his
shoulder, aimed and fired right into the midst of them, so that
the feathers flew about. The birds instantly took to flight with
loud outcries, but one dropped down dead, and the cloak fell at
the same time. Then the huntsman did as the old woman had
directed him, cut open the bird, sought the heart, swallowed it
down, and took the cloak home with him.
Next morning, when he awoke, the promise occurred to him, and
he wished to see if it also had been fulfilled. When he lifted
up the pillow, the gold piece shone in his eyes, and next day he
found another, and so it went on, every time he got up. He
gathered together a heap of gold, but at last he thought, "Of
what use is all my gold to me if I stay at home? I will go forth
and see the world."
He then took leave of his parents, buckled on his huntsman's
pouch and gun, and went out into the world. It came to pass,
that one day he traveled through a dense forest, and when he
came to the end of it, in the plain before him stood a fine
castle. An old woman was standing with a wonderfully beautiful
maiden, looking out of one of the windows. The old woman,
however, was a witch and said to the maiden, "There comes one
out of the forest, who has a wonderful treasure in his body. We
must filch it from him, daughter of my heart, it is more
suitable for us than for him. He has a bird's heart about him,
by means of which a gold piece lies every morning under his
pillow." She told her what she was to do to get it, and what
part she had to play, and finally threatened her, and said with
angry eyes, "And if you do not attend to what I say, it will be
the worse for you." Now when the huntsman came nearer he noticed
the maiden, and said to himself, "I have traveled about for such
a long time, I will take a rest for once, and enter that
beautiful castle. I have certainly money enough." Nevertheless,
the real reason was that he had caught sight of the beautiful
picture.
He entered the house, and was well received and courteously
entertained. Before long he was so much in love with the young
witch that he no longer thought of anything else, and only saw
things as she saw them, and liked to do what she desired. The
old woman then said, "Now we must have the bird's heart, he will
never miss it." She brewed a potion, and when it was ready,
poured it into a goblet and gave it to the maiden, who was to
present it to the huntsman. She did so, saying, "Now, my
dearest, drink to me."
So he took the goblet, and when he had swallowed the draught,
he brought up the heart of the bird. The girl had to take it
away secretly and swallow it herself, for the old woman would
have it so. Thenceforward he found no more gold under his
pillow, but it lay instead under that of the maiden, from whence
the old woman fetched it away every morning, but he was so much
in love and so befooled, that he thought of nothing else but of
passing his time with the girl.
Then the old witch said, "We have the bird's heart, but we
must also take the wishing-cloak away from him." The girl
answered, "We will leave him that, he has lost his wealth." The
old woman was angry and said, "Such a mantle is a wonderful
thing, and is seldom to be found in this world. I must and will
have it." She gave the girl several blows, and said that if she
did not obey, it should fare ill with her. So she did the old
woman's bidding, placed herself at the window and looked on the
distant country, as if she were very sorrowful. The huntsman
asked, "Why do you stand there so sorrowfully?" "Ah, my
beloved," was her answer, "over yonder lies the garnet mountain,
where the precious stones grow. I long for them so much that
when I think of them, I feel quite sad, but who can get them.
Only the birds, they fly and can reach them, but a man never."
"Have you nothing else to complain of?" said the huntsman. "I
will soon remove that burden from your heart." With that he drew
her under his mantle, wished himself on the garnet mountain, and
in the twinkling of an eye they were sitting on it together.
Precious stones were glistening on every side so that it was a
joy to see them, and together they gathered the finest and
costliest of them.
Now, the old woman had, through her sorceries, contrived that
the eyes of the huntsman should become heavy. He said to the
maiden, "We will sit down and rest awhile, I am so tired that I
can no longer stand on my feet." Then they sat down, and he laid
his head in her lap, and fell asleep. When he was asleep, she
unfastened the mantle from his shoulders, and wrapped herself in
it, picked up the garnets and stones, and wished herself back at
home with them.
But when the huntsman had slept his fill and awoke, and
perceived that his sweetheart had betrayed him, and left him
alone on the wild mountain, he said, "Oh, what treachery there
is in the world," and sat down there in trouble and sorrow, not
knowing what to do. But the mountain belonged to some wild and
monstrous giants who dwelt thereon and lived their lives there,
and he had not sat long before he saw three of them coming
towards him, so he lay down as if he were sunk in a deep sleep.
Then the giants came up, and the first kicked him with his
foot and said, "What sort of an earth-worm is this, lying here
contemplating his inside?" The second said, "Step upon him and
kill him." But the third said, contemptuously, "That would
indeed be worth your while, just let him live, he cannot remain
here, and when he climbs higher, toward the summit of of the
mountain, the clouds will lay hold of him and bear him away." So
saying they passed by. But the huntsman had paid heed to their
words, and as soon as they were gone, he rose and climbed up to
the summit of the mountain, and when he had sat there a while, a
cloud floated towards him, caught him up, carried him away, and
traveled about for a long time in the heavens. Then it sank
lower, and let itself down on a great cabbage-garden, girt round
by walls, so that he came softly to the ground on cabbages and
vegetables.
Then the huntsman looked about him and said, "If I had but
something to eat. I am so hungry, and to proceed on my way from
here will be difficult. I see here neither apples nor pears, nor
any other sort of fruit, everywhere nothing but cabbages, but at
length he thought, at a pinch I can eat some of the leaves, they
do not taste particularly good, but they will refresh me." With
that he picked himself out a fine head of cabbage, and ate it,
but scarcely had he swallowed a couple of mouthfuls than he felt
very strange and quite different.
Four legs grew on him, a thick head and two long ears, and he
saw with horror that he was changed into an ass. Still as his
hunger increased every minute, and as the juicy leaves were
suitable to his present nature, he went on eating with great
zest. At last he arrived at a different kind of cabbage, but as
soon as he had swallowed it, he again felt a change, and resumed
his former human shape.
Then the huntsman lay down and slept off his fatigue. When he
awoke next morning, he broke off one head of the bad cabbages
and another of the good ones, and thought to himself, this shall
help me to get my own again and punish treachery. Then he took
the cabbages with him, climbed over the wall, and went forth to
look for the castle of his sweetheart. After wandering about for
a couple of days he was lucky enough to find it again. He dyed
his face brown, so that his own mother would not have known him,
and begged for shelter, "I am so tired," said he, "that I can go
no further." The witch asked, "Who are you, countryman, and what
is your business?" "I am a king's messenger, and was sent out to
seek the most delicious salad which grows beneath the sun. I
have even been so fortunate as to find it, and am carrying it
about with me, but the heat of the sun is so intense that the
delicate cabbage threatens to wither, and I do not know if I can
carry it any further."
When the old woman heard of the exquisite salad, she was
greedy, and said, "Dear countryman, let me just try this
wonderful salad." "Why not?" answered he. "I have brought two
heads with me, and will give you one of them," and he opened his
pouch and handed her the bad cabbage. The witch suspected
nothing amiss, and her mouth watered so for this new dish that
she herself went into the kitchen and dressed it. When it was
prepared she could not wait until it was set on the table, but
took a couple of leaves at once, and put them in her mouth, but
hardly had she swallowed them than she was deprived of her human
shape, and she ran out into the courtyard in the form of an ass.
Presently the maid-servant entered the kitchen, saw the salad
standing there ready prepared, and was about to carry it up, but
on the way, according to habit, she was seized by the desire to
taste, and she ate a couple of leaves. Instantly the magic power
showed itself, and she likewise became an ass and ran out to the
old woman, and the dish of salad fell to the ground.
Meantime the messenger sat beside the beautiful girl, and as
no one came with the salad and she also was longing for it, she
said, "I don't know what has become of the salad." The huntsman
thought, the salad must have already taken effect, and said, "I
will go to the kitchen and inquire about it." As he went down he
saw the two asses running about in the courtyard, the salad,
however, was lying on the ground. "All right," said he, "the two
have taken their portion," and he picked up the other leaves,
laid them on the dish, and carried them to the maiden. "I bring
you the delicate food myself," said he, "in order that you may
not have to wait longer." Then she ate of it, and was, like the
others, immediately deprived of her human form, and ran out into
the courtyard in the shape of an ass.
After the huntsman had washed his face, so that the
transformed ones could recognize him, he went down into the
courtyard, and said, "Now you shall receive the wages of your
treachery," and bound them together, all three with one rope,
and drove them along until he came to a mill. He knocked at the
window, the miller put out his head, and asked what he wanted.
"I have three unmanageable beasts, answered he, which I don't
want to keep any longer. Will you take them in, and give them
food and stable room, and manage them as I tell you, and then I
will pay you what you ask?" The miller said, "Why not? But how
am I to manage them?" The huntsman then said that he was to give
three beatings and one meal daily to the old donkey, and that
was the witch, one beating and three meals to the younger one,
which was the servant-girl, and to the youngest, which was the
maiden, no beatings and three meals, for he could not bring
himself to have the maiden beaten. After that he went back into
the castle, and found therein everything he needed.
After a couple of days, the miller came and said he must
inform him that the old ass which had received three beatings
and only one meal daily was dead. The two others, he continued,
are certainly not dead, and are fed three times daily, but they
are so sad that they cannot last much longer. The huntsman was
moved to pity, put away his anger, and told the miller to drive
them back again to him. And when they came, he gave them some of
the good salad, so that they became human again. The beautiful
girl fell on her knees before him, and said, "Ah, my beloved,
forgive me for the evil I have done you, my mother drove me to
it. It was done against my will, for I love you dearly. Your
wishing-cloak hangs in a cupboard, and as for the bird's-heart I
will take a vomiting potion." But he thought otherwise, and
said, "Keep it. It is all the same, for I will take you for my
true wife." So the wedding was celebrated, and they lived
happily together until their death.
|
Ferdinand the Faithful
Once upon a time lived a man and a woman who so long as they
were rich had no children, but when they were poor they got a
little boy. They could find no godfather for him, so the man
said he would just go to another village to see if he could get
one there. On his way he met a poor man, who asked him where he
was going. He said he was going to see if he could get a
godfather, because he was so poor that no one would stand as
godfather for him. "Oh," said the poor man, "you are poor, and I
am poor. I will be godfather for you, but I am so badly off I
can give the child nothing. Go home and tell the midwife that
she is to come to the church with the child." When they all got
to the church together, the beggar was already there, and he
gave the child the name of Ferdinand the Faithful.
When he was going out of the church, the beggar said, "Now go
home, I can give you nothing, and you likewise ought to give me
nothing." But he gave a key to the midwife, and told her when
she got home she was to give it to the father, who was to take
care of it until the child was fourteen years old, and then he
was to go on the heath where there was a castle which the key
would fit, and that all which was therein should belong to him.
Now when the child was seven years old and had grown very
big, he once went to play with some other boys, and each of them
boasted that he had got more from his godfather than the other,
but the child could say nothing, and was vexed, and went home
and said to his father, "Did I get nothing at all, then, from my
godfather?" "Oh, yes," said the father, "you have a key. If
there is a castle standing on the heath, just go to it and open
it." Then the boy went thither, but no castle was to be seen, or
heard of.
After seven years more, when he was fourteen years old, he
again went thither, and there stood the castle. When he had
opened it, there was nothing within but a horse, - a white one.
Then the boy was so full of joy because he had a horse, that he
mounted on it and galloped back to his father. "Now I have a
white horse, and I will travel," said he.
So he set out, and as he was on his way, a pen was lying on
the road. At first he thought he would pick it up, but then
again he thought to himself, "You should leave it lying there,
you will easily find a pen where you are going, if you have need
of one." As he was thus riding away, a voice called after him,
"Ferdinand the Faithful, take it with you." He looked around,
but saw no one, so he went back again and picked it up.
When he had ridden a little way farther, he passed by a lake,
and a fish was lying on the bank, gasping and panting for
breath, so he said, "Wait, my dear fish, I will help you to get
into the water," and he took hold of it by the tail, and threw
it into the lake. Then the fish put its head out of the water
and said, "As you have helped me out of the mud I will give you
a flute. When you are in any need, play on it, and then I will
help you, and if ever you let anything fall in the water, just
play and I will reach it out to you."
Then he rode away, and there came to him a man who asked him
where he was going. "Oh, to the next place." "What is your
name?" "Ferdinand the Faithful." "So, then we have almost the
same name, I am called Ferdinand the Unfaithful." And they both
set out to the inn in the nearest place.
Now it was unfortunate that Ferdinand the Unfaithful knew
everything that the other had ever thought and everything he was
about to do. He knew it by means of all kinds of wicked arts.
There was in the inn an honest girl, who had a bright face and
behaved very prettily. She fell in love with Ferdinand the
Faithful because he was a handsome man, and she asked him
whither he was going. "Oh, I am just traveling round about,"
said he. Then she said he ought to stay there, for the king of
that country wanted an attendant or an outrider, and he ought to
enter his service. He answered he could not very well go to any
one like that and offer himself. Then said the maiden, "Oh, but
I will soon do that for you." And so she went straight to the
king, and told him that she knew of an excellent servant for
him. He was well pleased with that, and had Ferdinand the
Faithful brought to him, and wanted to make him his servant. He,
however, liked better to be an outrider, for where his horse
was, there he also wanted to be, so the king made him an
outrider.
When Ferdinand the Unfaithful learnt that, he said to the
girl, "What? Do you help him and not me?" "Oh," said the girl,
"I will help you too." She thought, I must keep friends with
that man, for he is not to be trusted. She went to the king, and
offered him as a servant, and the king was willing.
Now when the king met his lords in the morning, he always
lamented and said, "Oh, if I only had my love with me."
Ferdinand the Unfaithful, however, was always hostile to
Ferdinand the Faithful. So once, when the king was complaining
thus, he said, "You have the outrider, send him away to get her,
and if he does not do it, his head must be struck off." Then the
king sent for Ferdinand the Faithful, and told him that there
was, in this place or in that place, a girl he loved, and that
he was to bring her to him, and if he did not do it he should
die. Ferdinand the Faithful went into the stable to his white
horse, and complained and lamented, "Oh, what an unhappy man am
I." Then someone behind him cried, "Ferdinand the Faithful, why
do you weep?" He looked round but saw no one, and went on
lamenting. "Oh, my dear little white horse, now must I leave
you, now I must die." Then someone cried once more, "Ferdinand
the Faithful, why do you weep?" Then for the first time he was
aware that it was his little white horse who was putting that
question. "Do you speak, my little white horse? Can you do
that?" And again, he said, "I am to go to this place and to
that, and am to bring the bride. Can you tell me how I am to set
about it?" Then answered the white horse, "Go to the king, and
say if he will give you what you must have, you will get her for
him. If he will give you a ship full of meat, and a ship full of
bread, it will succeed. Great giants dwell on the lake, and if
you take no meat with you for them, they will tear you to
pieces, and there are the large birds which would pluck the eyes
out of your head if you had no bread for them. Then the king
made all the butchers in the land kill, and all the bakers bake,
that the ships might be filled."
When they were full, the little white horse said to Ferdinand
the Faithful, "Now mount me, and go with me into the ship, and
then when the giants come, say - peace, peace, my dear little
giants, I have had thought of ye, something I have brought for
ye. And when the birds come, you shall again say - peace, peace,
my dear little birds, I have had thought of ye, something I have
brought for ye. Then they will do nothing to you, and when you
come to the castle, the giants will help you. Then go up to the
castle, and take a couple of giants with you. There the princess
lies sleeping. You must, however, not awaken her, but the giants
must lift her up, and carry her in her bed to the ship." And now
everything took place as the little white horse had said, and
Ferdinand the Faithful gave the giants and the birds what he had
brought with him for them, and that made the giants willing, and
they carried the princess in her bed to the king. And when she
came to the king, she said she could not live, she must have her
writings, they had been left in her castle.
Then by the instigation of Ferdinand the Unfaithful,
Ferdinand the Faithful was called, and the king told him he must
fetch the writings from the castle, or he should die. Then he
went once more into the stable, and bemoaned himself and said,
"Oh, my dear little white horse, now I am to go away again, how
am I to do it?" Then the little white horse said he was just to
load the ships full again. So it happened again as it had
happened before, and the giants and the birds were satisfied,
and made gentle by the meat. When they came to the castle, the
white horse told Ferdinand the Faithful that he must go in, and
that on the table in the princess's bed-room lay the writings.
And Ferdinand the Faithful went in, and fetched them. When they
were on the lake, he let his pen fall into the water. Then said
the white horse, "Now I cannot help you at all." But he
remembered his flute, and began to play on it, and the fish came
with the pen in its mouth, and gave it to him. So he took the
writings to the castle, where the wedding was celebrated.
The queen, however, did not love the king because he had no
nose, but she would have much liked to love Ferdinand the
Faithful. Once, therefore, when all the lords of the court were
together, the queen said she could do feats of magic, that she
could cut off anyone's head and put it on again, and that one of
them ought just to try it. But none of them would be the first,
so Ferdinand the Faithful, again at the instigation of Ferdinand
the Unfaithful, undertook it and she hewed off his head, and put
it on again for him, and it healed together directly, so that it
looked as if he had a red thread round his throat. Then the king
said to her, "My child, and where have you learnt that?" "Oh,"
she said, "I understand the art. Shall I just try it on you
also." "Oh, yes," said he. So she cut off his head, but did not
put it on again, and pretended that she could not get it on, and
that it would not stay. Then the king was buried, but she
married Ferdinand the Faithful.
He, however, always rode on his white horse, and once when he
was seated on it, it told him that he was to go on to the heath
which he knew, and gallop three times round it. And when he had
done that, the white horse stood up on its hind legs, and was
changed into a king's son.
|
The Iron Stove
In the days when wishing was still of some use, a king's son
was bewitched by an old witch, and shut up in an iron stove in a
forest. There he passed many years, and no one could rescue him.
Then a king's daughter came into the forest, who had lost
herself, and could not find her father's kingdom again. After
she had wandered about for nine days, she at length came to the
iron stove.
Then a voice came forth from it, and asked her, "Whence do
you come, and whither are you going?" She answered, "I have lost
my father's kingdom, and cannot get home again." Then a voice
inside the iron stove said, "I will help you to get home again,
and that indeed most swiftly, if you will promise to do what I
desire of you. I am the son of a far greater king than your
father, and I will marry you."
Then was she afraid, and thought, "Good heavens. What can I
do with an iron stove?" But as she much wished to get home to
her father, she promised to do as he desired. But he said, "You
shall return here, and bring a knife with you, and scrape a hole
in the iron." Then he gave her a companion who walked near her,
but did not speak, and in two hours he took her home. There was
great joy in the castle when the king's daughter came home, and
the old king fell on her neck and kissed her. She, however, was
sorely troubled, and said, "Dear father, what I have suffered. I
should never have got home again from the great wild forest, if
I had not come to an iron stove, but I have been forced to give
my word that I will go back to it, set it free, and marry it."
Then the old king was so terrified that he all but fainted,
for he had but this one daughter. They therefore resolved they
would send, in her place, the miller's daughter, who was very
beautiful. They took her there, gave her a knife, and said she
was to scrape at the iron stove. So she scraped at it for
four-and-twenty hours, but could not bring off the least morsel
of it. When the day dawned, a voice in the stove said, "It seems
to me it is day outside." Then she answered, "It seems so to me
too, I fancy I hear the noise of my father's mill." "So you are
a miller's daughter. Then go your way at once, and let the
king's daughter come here."
Then she went away at once, and told the old king that the
man outside there would have none of her - he wanted the king's
daughter. Then the old king grew frightened, and the daughter
wept. But there was a swine-herd's daughter, who was even
prettier than the miller's daughter, and they determined to give
her a piece of gold to go to the iron stove instead of the
king's daughter. So she was taken thither and she also had to
scrape for four-and-twenty hours. She, however, was no better at
it. When the day broke, a voice inside the stove cried, "It
seems to me it is day outside." Then answered she, "So it seems
to me also, I fancy I hear my father's horn blowing." "Then you
are a swineherd's daughter. Go away at once, and tell the king's
daughter to come, and tell her all must be done as promised, and
if she does not come, everything in the kingdom shall be ruined
and destroyed, and not one stone be left standing on another."
When the king's daughter heard that she began to weep, but
now there was nothing for it but to keep her promise. So she
took leave of her father, put a knife in her pocket, and went
forth to the iron stove in the forest. When she got there, she
began to scrape, and the iron gave way, and when two hours were
over, she had already scraped a small hole. Then she peeped in,
and saw a youth so handsome, and so brilliant with gold and with
precious jewels, that her very soul was delighted. So she went
on scraping, and made the hole so large that he was able to get
out.
Then said he, "You are mine, and I am yours, you are my
bride, and have released me." He wanted to take her away with
him to his kingdom, but she entreated him to let her go once
again to her father, and the king's son allowed her to do so,
but she was not to say more to her father than three words, and
then she was to come back again. So she went home, but she spoke
more than three words, and instantly the iron stove disappeared,
and was taken far away over glass mountains and piercing swords,
but the king's son was set free, and no longer shut up in it.
After this she bade good-bye to her father, took some money with
her, but not much, and went back to the great forest, and looked
for the iron stove, but it was nowhere to be found.
For nine days she sought it, and then her hunger grew so
great that she did not know what to do, for she had nothing to
live on. When it was evening, she seated herself in a small
tree, and made up her mind to spend the night there, as she was
afraid of wild beasts. When midnight drew near she saw in the
distance a small light, and thought, ah, there I should be
saved. She got down from the tree, and went towards the light,
but on the way she prayed. Then she came to a little old house,
and much grass had grown all about it, and a small heap of wood
lay in front of it. She thought, "Ah, whither have I come?" and
peeped in through the window, but she saw nothing inside but
toads, big and little, except a table covered with wine and
roast meat, and the plates and glasses were of silver. Then she
took courage, and knocked at the door, and immediately the fat
toad cried, "Little green waiting-maid, Waiting-maid with the
limping leg, Little dog of the limping leg, Hop hither and
thither, And quickly see who is without."
And a small toad came walking by and opened the door to her.
When she entered, they all bade her welcome, and she was forced
to sit down. They asked, "Where have you come from, and whither
are you going?" Then she related all that had befallen her, and
how because she had transgressed the order which had been given
her not to say more than three words, the stove, and the king's
son also, had disappeared, and now she was about to seek him
over the hill and dale until she found him. Then the old fat one
said, "Little green waiting-maid, Waiting-maid with the limping
leg, Little dog of the limping leg, Hop hither and thither, And
bring me the great box."
Then the little one went and brought the box. After this they
gave her meat and drink, and took her to a well-made bed, which
felt like silk and velvet, and she laid herself therein, in
God's name, and slept. When morning came she arose, and the old
toad gave her three needles out of the great box which she was
to take with her, they would be needed by her, for she had to
cross a high glass mountain, and go over three piercing swords
and a great lake. If she did all this she would get her lover
back again.
Then she gave her three things, which she was to take the
greatest care of, namely, three large needles, a plough-wheel,
and three nuts. With these she traveled onwards, and when she
came to the glass mountain which was so slippery, she stuck the
three needles first behind her feet and then before them, and so
got over it, and when she was over it, she hid them in a place
which she marked carefully. After this she came to the three
piercing swords, and then she seated herslef on her
plough-wheel, and rolled over them. At last she arrived in front
of a great lake, and when she had crossed it, she came to a
large and beautiful castle. She went and asked for a place, she
was a poor girl, she said, and would like to be hired. She knew,
however, that the king's son whom she had released from the iron
stove in the great forest was in the castle. Then she was taken
as a scullery-maid at low wages. But already the king's son had
another maiden by his side whom he wanted to marry, for he
thought that she had long been dead.
In the evening, when she had washed up and was done, she felt
in her pocket and found the three nuts which the old toad had
given her. She cracked one with her teeth, and was going to eat
the kernel when lo and behold there was a stately royal garment
in it. But when the bride heard of this she came and asked for
the dress, and wanted to buy it, and said, "It is not a dress
for a servant-girl." "No," she said, she would not sell it, but
if the bride would grant her one thing she should have it, and
that was permission to sleep one night in her bridegroom's
chamber. The bride gave her permission because the dress was so
pretty, and she had never had one like it.
When it was evening she said to her bridegroom, "That silly
girl will sleep in your room." "If you are willing, so am I,"
said he. She, however, gave him a glass of wine in which she had
poured a sleeping-draught. So the bridegroom and the
scullery-maid went to sleep in the room, and he slept so soundly
that she could not waken him. She wept the whole night and
cried, "I set you free when you were in an iron stove in the
wild forest, I sought you, and walked over a glass mountain, and
three sharp swords, and a great lake before I found you, and yet
you will not hear me." The servants sat by the chamber-door, and
heard how she thus wept the whole night through, and in the
morning they told it to their lord.
And the next evening when she had washed up, she opened the
second nut, and a far more beautiful dress was within it, and
when the bride beheld it, she wished to buy that also. But the
girl would not take money, and begged that she might once again
sleep in the bridegroom's chamber. The bride, however, gave him
a sleeping-draught, and he slept so soundly that he could hear
nothing. But the scullery-maid wept the whole night long, and
cried, "I set you free when you were in an iron stove in the
wild forest, I sought you, and walked over a glass mountain, and
over three sharp swords and a great lake before I found you, and
yet you will not hear me." The servants sat by the chamber-door
and heard her weeping the whole night through, and in the
morning informed their lord of it.
And on the third evening, when she had washed up, she opened
the third nut, and within it was a still more beautiful dress
which was stiff with pure gold. When the bride saw that she
wanted to have it, but the maiden only gave it up on condition
that she might for the third time sleep in the bridegroom's
apartment. The king's son, however, was on his guard, and threw
the sleeping-draught away. Now when she began to weep and to
cry, "Dearest love, I set you free when you were in the iron
stove in the terrible wild forest" - the king's son leapt up and
said, "You are the true one, you are mine, and I am yours."
Thereupon, while it was still night, he got into a carriage
with her, and they took away the false bride's clothes so that
she could not get up. When they came to the great lake, they
sailed across it, and when they reached the three sharp-cutting
swords they seated themselves on the plough-wheel, and when they
got to the glass mountain they thrust the three needles in it,
and so at length they got to the little old house, but when they
went inside, it was a great castle, and the toads were all
disenchanted, and were king's children, and full of happiness.
Then the wedding was celebrated, and the king's son and the
princess remained in the castle, which was much larger than the
castle of their fathers. But as the old king grieved at being
left alone, they fetched him away, and brought him to live with
them, and they had two kingdoms, and lived in happy wedlock. A
mouse did run, This story is done.
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The Four Skilful Brothers
There was once a poor man who had four sons, and when they
were grown up, he said to them, "My dear children, you must now
go out into the world, for I have nothing to give you, so set
out, go abroad and learn a trade, and see how you can make your
way." So the four brothers took their sticks, bade their father
farewell, and went through the town-gate together. When they had
traveled about for some time, they came to a crossroads which
branched off in four different directions. Then said the eldest,
"Here we must separate, but on this day four years hence, we
will meet each other again at this spot, and in the meantime we
will seek our fortunes."
Then each of them went his way, and the eldest met a man who
asked him where he was going, and what he was intending to do.
"I want to learn a trade," he replied. Then the other said,
"Come with me," and be a thief. "No," he answered, "that is no
longer regarded as a reputable trade, and the end of it is that
one has to swing on the gallows." "Oh," said the man, "you need
not be afraid of the gallows, I will only teach you to get such
things as no other man could ever lay hold of, and no one will
ever detect you." So he allowed himself to be talked into it,
and while with the man became an accomplished thief, and so
dexterous that nothing was safe from him, if he once desired to
have it.
The second brother met a man who put the same question to him
- what he wanted to learn in the world. "I don't know yet," he
replied. "Then come with me, and be an astronomer, there is
nothing better than that, for nothing is hid from you." He liked
the idea, and became such a skillful astronomer that when he had
learnt everything, and was about to travel onwards, his master
gave him a telescope and said to him, "With that you can see
whatsoever takes place either on earth or in heaven, and nothing
can remain concealed from you."
A huntsman took the third brother into training, and gave him
such excellent instruction in everything which related to
huntsmanship that he became an experienced hunter. When he went
away, his master gave him a gun and said, "It will never fail
you, whatsoever you aim at, you are certain to hit." The
youngest brother also met a man who spoke to him, and inquired
what his intentions were. "Would you not like to be a tailor?"
said he. "Not that I know of," said the youth, "sitting doubled
up from morning till night, driving the needle and the goose
backwards and forwards, is not to my taste." "Oh, but you are
speaking in ignorance," answered the man. "With me you would
learn a very different kind of tailoring, which is respectable
and proper, and for the most part very honorable." So he let
himself be persuaded, and went with the man, and learnt his art
from the very beginning. When they parted, the man gave the
youth a needle, and said, "With this you can sew together
whatever is given you, whether it is as soft as an egg or as
hard as steel, and it will all become one piece of stuff, so
that no seam will be visible."
When the appointed four years were over, the four brothers
arrived at the same time at the cross-roads, embraced and kissed
each other, and returned home to their father. "So now," said
he, quite delighted, "the wind has blown you back again to me."
They told him of all that had happened to them, and that each
had learnt his own trade. Now they were sitting just in front of
the house under a large tree, and the father said, "I will put
you all to the test, and see what you can do." Then he looked up
and said to his second son, "Between two branches up at the top
of this tree, there is a chaffinch's nest, tell me how many eggs
there are in it." The astronomer took his glass, looked up and
said, "There are five." Then the father said to the eldest,
"Fetch the eggs down without disturbing the bird which is
sitting hatching them." The skillful thief climbed up, and took
the five eggs from beneath the bird, which never observed what
he was doing, and remained quietly sitting where she was, and
brought them down to his father.
The father took them, and put one of them on each corner of
the table, and the fifth in the middle, and said to the
huntsman, "With one shot you shall shoot me the five eggs in
two, through the middle." The huntsman aimed, and shot the eggs,
all five as the father had desired, and that at one shot. He
certainly must have had some of the powder for shooting round
corners. "Now it's your turn," said the father to the fourth
son, "You shall sew the eggs together again, and the young birds
that are inside them as well, and you must do it so that they
are not hurt by the shot." The tailor brought his needle, and
sewed them as his father wished. When he had done this the thief
had to climb up the tree again, and carry them to the nest, and
put them back again under the bird without her being aware of
it. The bird sat her full time, and after a few days the young
ones crept out, and they had a red line round their necks where
they had been sewn together by the tailor.
"Well," said the old man to his sons, "you really ought to be
praised to the skies, you have used your time well, and learnt
something good. I can't say which of you deserves the most
praise. That will be proved if you have but an early opportunity
of using your talents." Not long after this, there was a great
uproar in the country, for the king's daughter was carried off
by a dragon. The king was full of trouble about it, both by day
an night, and caused it to be proclaimed that whosoever brought
her back should have her to wife.
The four brothers said to each other, "This would be a fine
opportunity for us to show what we can do." And resolved to go
forth together and liberate the king's daughter. "I will soon
know where she is," said the astronomer, and looked through his
telescope and said, "I see her already, she is far away from
here on a rock in the sea, and the dragon is beside her watching
her."
Then he went to the king, and asked for a ship for himself
and his brothers, and sailed with them over the sea until they
came to the rock. There the king's daughter was sitting, and the
dragon was lying asleep on her lap. The huntsman said, "I dare
not fire, I should kill the beautiful maiden at the same time."
"Then I will try my art," said the thief, and he crept thither
and stole her away from under the dragon, so quietly and
dexterously, that the monster never noticed it, but went on
snoring.
Full of joy, they hurried off with her on board ship, and
steered out into the open sea, but the dragon, who when he awoke
had found no princess there, followed them, and came snorting
angrily through the air. Just as he was circling above the ship,
and about to descend on it, the huntsman shouldered his gun, and
shot him to the heart. The monster fell down dead, but was so
large and powerful that his fall shattered the whole ship.
Fortunately, however, they laid hold of a couple of planks, and
swam about the wide sea.
Then again they were in great peril, but the tailor, who was
not idle, took his wondrous needle, and with a few stitches
sewed the planks together and they seated themselves upon them,
and collected together all the fragments of the vessel. Then he
sewed these so skillfully together, that in a very short time
the ship was once more seaworthy, and they could go home again
in safety.
When the king once more saw his daughter, there were great
rejoicings. He said to the four brothers, one of you shall have
her to wife, but which of you it is to be you must settle among
yourselves. Then a heated argument arose among them, for each of
them preferred his own claim. The astronomer said, "If I had not
seen the princess, all your arts would have been useless, so she
is mine." The thief said, "What would have been the use of your
seeing, if I had not got her away from the dragon. So she is
mine." The huntsman said, "You and the princess, and all of you,
would have been torn to pieces by the dragon if my ball had not
hit him, so she is mine." The tailor said, "And if I, by my art,
had not sewn the ship together again, you would all of you have
been miserably drowned, so she is mine."
Then the king pronounced his verdict, each of you has an
equal right, and as all of you cannot have the maiden, none of
you shall have her, but I will give to each of you, as a reward,
half a kingdom. The brothers were pleased with this decision,
and said, it is better thus than that we should be at variance
with each other. Then each of them received half a kingdom, and
they lived with their father in the greatest happiness as long
as it pleased God.
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