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Grimm's Fairy Stories

by Jacob Grimm · English · Gutenberg #11027 · 285,994 chars · public domain (US)

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Title: Grimm's Fairy Stories

Author: Jacob Grimm
        Wilhelm Grimm

Illustrator: Johnny Gruelle
        Robert Emmett Owen


        
Release date: February 1, 2004 [eBook #11027]
                Most recently updated: October 28, 2024

Language: English

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GRIMM'S FAIRY STORIES

Colored Illustrations by JOHN B. GRUELLE

Pen and Ink Sketches by R. EMMETT OWEN

1922







CONTENTS


THE GOOSE-GIRL

THE LITTLE BROTHER AND SISTER

HANSEL AND GRETHEL

OH, IF I COULD BUT SHIVER!

DUMMLING AND THE THREE FEATHERS

LITTLE SNOW-WHITE

CATHERINE AND FREDERICK

THE VALIANT LITTLE TAILOR

LITTLE RED-CAP

THE GOLDEN GOOSE

BEARSKIN

CINDERELLA

FAITHFUL JOHN

THE WATER OF LIFE

THUMBLING

BRIAR ROSE

THE SIX SWANS

RAPUNZEL

MOTHER HOLLE

THE FROG PRINCE

THE TRAVELS OF TOM THUMB

SNOW-WHITE AND ROSE-RED

THE THREE LITTLE MEN IN THE WOOD

RUMPELSTILTSKIN

LITTLE ONE-EYE, TWO-EYES AND THREE-EYES




[Illustration: Grimm's Fairy Stories]




THE GOOSE-GIRL


An old queen, whose husband had been dead some years, had a beautiful
daughter. When she grew up, she was betrothed to a prince who lived a
great way off; and as the time drew near for her to be married, she got
ready to set off on her journey to his country. Then the queen, her
mother, packed up a great many costly things--jewels, and gold, and
silver, trinkets, fine dresses, and in short, everything that became a
royal bride; for she loved her child very dearly; and she gave her a
waiting-maid to ride with her, and give her into the bridegroom's hands;
and each had a horse for the journey. Now the princess' horse was called
Falada, and could speak.

When the time came for them to set out, the old queen went into her
bed-chamber, and took a little knife, and cut off a lock of her hair,
and gave it to her daughter, saying, "Take care of it, dear child; for
it is a charm that may be of use to you on the road." Then they took a
sorrowful leave of each other, and the princess put the lock of her
mother's hair into her bosom, got upon her horse, and set off on her
journey to her bridegroom's kingdom.

One day, as they were riding along by the side of a brook, the princess
began to feel very thirsty, and said to her maid, "Pray get down and
fetch me some water in my golden cup out of yonder brook, for I want to
drink." "Nay," said the maid, "if you are thirsty, get down yourself,
and lie down by the water and drink; I shall not be your waiting-maid
any longer." The princess was so thirsty that she got down, and knelt
over the little brook and drank, for she was frightened, and dared not
bring out her golden cup; and then she wept, and said, "Alas! what will
become of me?" And the lock of hair answered her, and said--

  "Alas! alas! if thy mother knew it,
  Sadly, sadly her heart would rue it."

But the princess was very humble and meek, so she said nothing to her
maid's ill behavior, but got upon her horse again.

Then all rode further on their journey, till the day grew so warm, and
the sun so scorching, that the bride began to feel very thirsty again;
and at last, when they came to a river, she forgot her maid's rude
speech, and said, "Pray get down and fetch me some water to drink in my
golden cup." But the maid answered her, and even spoke more haughtily
than before, "Drink if you will, but I shall not be your waiting-maid."
Then the princess was so thirsty that she got off her horse and lay
down, and held her head over the running stream, and cried, and said,
"What will become of me?" And the lock of hair answered her again--

  "Alas! alas! if thy mother knew it,
  Sadly, sadly her heart would rue it."

And as she leaned down to drink, the lock of hair fell from her bosom
and floated away with the water, without her seeing it, she was so much
frightened. But her maid saw it, and was very glad, for she knew the
charm, and saw that the poor bride would be in her power now that she
had lost the hair. So when the bride had finished drinking, and would
have got upon Falada again, the maid said, "I shall ride upon Falada,
and you may have my horse instead;" so she was forced to give up her
horse, and soon afterwards to take off her royal clothes, and put on her
maid's shabby ones.

At last, as they drew near the end of the journey, this treacherous
servant threatened to kill her mistress if she ever told anyone what had
happened. But Falada saw it all, and marked it well. Then the
waiting-maid got upon Falada, and the real bride was set upon the other
horse, and they went on in this way till at last they came to the royal
court. There was great joy at their coming, and the prince hurried to
meet them, and lifted the maid from her horse, thinking she was the one
who was to be his wife; and she was led upstairs to the royal chamber,
but the true princess was told to stay in the court below.

However, the old king happened to be looking out of the window, and saw
her in the yard below; and as she looked very pretty, and too delicate
for a waiting-maid, he went into the royal chamber to ask the bride whom
it was she had brought with her, that was thus left standing in the
court below. "I brought her with me for the sake of her company on the
road," said she. "Pray give the girl some work to do, that she may not
be idle." The old king could not for some time think of any work for
her, but at last he said, "I have a lad who takes care of my geese; she
may go and help him." Now the name of this lad, that the real bride was
to help in watching the king's geese, was Curdken.

Soon after, the false bride said to the prince, "Dear husband, pray do
me one piece of kindness." "That I will," said the prince. "Then tell
one of your slaughterers to cut off the head of the horse I rode upon,
for it was very unruly, and plagued me sadly on the road." But the truth
was, she was very much afraid lest Falada should speak, and tell all she
had done to the princess. She carried her point, and the faithful Falada
was killed; but when the true princess heard of it she wept, and begged
the man to nail up Falada's head against a large dark gate in the city
through which she had to pass every morning and evening, that there she
might still see him sometimes. Then the slaughterer said he would do as
she wished, so he cut off the head and nailed it fast under the dark
gate.

Early the next morning, as the princess and Curdken went out through the
gate, she said sorrowfully--

  "Falada, Falada, there thou art hanging!"

and the head answered--

  "Bride, bride, there thou are ganging!
  Alas! alas! if thy mother knew it,
  Sadly, sadly her heart would rue it."

Then they went out of the city, driving the geese. And when they came to
the meadow, the princess sat down upon a bank there and let down her
waving locks of hair, which were all of pure gold; and when Curdken saw
it glitter in the sun, he ran up, and would have pulled some of the
locks out; but she cried--

  "Blow, breezes, blow!
  Let Curdken's hat go!
  Blow breezes, blow!
  Let him after it go!

  "O'er hills, dales, and rocks,
  Away be it whirl'd,
  Till the golden locks
  Are all comb'd and curl'd!"

Then there came a wind, so strong that it blew off Curdken's hat, and
away it flew over the hills, and he after it; till, by the time he came
back, she had done combing and curling her hair, and put it up again
safely. Then he was very angry and sulky, and would not speak to her at
all; but they watched the geese until it grew dark in the evening, and
then drove them homewards.

The next morning, as they were going through the dark gate, the poor
girl looked up at Falada's head, and cried--

  "Falada, Falada, there thou art hanging!"

and it answered--

  "Bride, bride, there thou are ganging!
  Alas! alas! if thy mother knew it,
  Sadly, sadly her heart would rue it."

Then she drove on the geese and sat down again in the meadow, and began
to comb out her hair as before, and Curdken ran up to her, and wanted to
take of it; but she cried out quickly--

  "Blow, breezes, blow!
  Let Curdken's hat go!
  Blow breezes, blow!
  Let him after it go!
  O'er hills, dales, and rocks,
  Away be it whirl'd,
  Till the golden locks
  Are all comb'd and curl'd!"

Then the wind came and blew off his hat, and off it flew a great
distance over the hills and far away, so that he had to run after it:
and when he came back, she had done up her hair again, and all was safe.
So they watched the geese till it grew dark.

In the evening, after they came home, Curdken went to the old king, and
said, "I cannot have that strange girl to help me to keep the geese any
longer."

"Why?" inquired the king.

"Because she does nothing but tease me all day long."

Then the king made him tell him all that had passed.

And Curdken said, "When we go in the morning through the dark gate with
our flock of geese, she weeps, and talks with the head of a horse that
hangs upon the wall, and says--

  "Falada, Falada, there thou art hanging!"

and the head answers--

  "Bride, bride, there thou are ganging!
  Alas! alas! if thy mother knew it,
  Sadly, sadly her heart would rue it."

And Curdken went on telling the king what had happened upon the meadow
where the geese fed; and how his hat was blown away, and he was forced
to run after it, and leave his flock. But the old king told him to go
out again as usual the next day: and when morning came, he placed
himself behind the dark gate, and heard how the princess spoke, and how
Falada answered; and then he went into the field and hid himself in a
bush by the meadow's side, and soon saw with his own eyes how they drove
the flock of geese, and how, after a little time, she let down her hair
that glittered in the sun; and then he heard her say--

  "Blow, breezes, blow!
  Let Curdken's hat go!
  Blow breezes, blow!
  Let him after it go!
  O'er hills, dales, and rocks,
  Away be it whirl'd,
  Till the golden locks
  Are all comb'd and curl'd!"

And soon came a gale of wind, and carried away Curdken's hat, while the
girl went on combing and curling her hair.

All this the old king saw; so he went home without being seen; and when
the goose-girl came back in the evening, he called her aside, and asked
her why she did so; but she burst into tears, and said, "That I must not
tell you or any man, or I shall lose my life."

But the old king begged so hard that she had no peace till she had told
him all, word for word: and it was very lucky for her that she did so,
for the king ordered royal clothes to be put upon her, and he gazed with
wonder, she was so beautiful.

Then he called his son, and told him that he had only the false bride,
for that she was merely a waiting-maid, while the true one stood by.

And the young king rejoiced when he saw her beauty, and heard how meek
and patient she had been; and without saying anything, he ordered a
great feast to be prepared for all his court.

The bridegroom sat at the top, with the false princess on one side, and
the true one on the other; but nobody knew her, for she was quite
dazzling to their eyes, and was not at all like the little goose-girl,
now that she had on her brilliant dress.

When they had eaten and drunk, and were very merry, the old king told
all the story, as one that he had once heard of, and asked the true
waiting-maid what she thought ought to be done to anyone who would
behave thus.

"Nothing better," said this false bride, "than that she should be thrown
into a cask stuck around with sharp nails, and that two white horses
should be put to it, and should drag it from street to street till she
is dead."

"Thou art she!" said the old king; "and since thou hast judged thyself,
it shall be so done to thee."

Then the young king was married to his true wife, and they reigned over
the kingdom in peace and happiness all their lives.




THE LITTLE BROTHER AND SISTER


There was once a little brother who took his Sister by the hand, and
said, "Since our own dear mother's death we have not had one happy hour;
our stepmother beats us every day, and, when we come near her, kicks us
away with her foot. Come, let us wander forth into the wide world." So
all day long they travelled over meadows, fields, and stony roads. By
the evening they came into a large forest, and laid themselves down in a
hollow tree, and went to sleep. When they awoke the next morning, the
sun had already risen high in the heavens, and its beams made the tree
so hot that the little boy said to his sister, "I am so very thirsty,
that if I knew where there was a brook, I would go and drink. Ah! I
think I hear one running;" and so saying, he got up, and taking his
Sister's hand they went to look for the brook.

The wicked stepmother, however, was a witch, and had witnessed the
departure of the two children: so, sneaking after them secretly, as is
the habit of witches, she had enchanted all the springs in the forest.

Presently they found a brook, which ran trippingly over the pebbles, and
the Brother would have drunk out of it, but the Sister heard how it said
as it ran along, "Who drinks of me will become a tiger!" So the Sister
exclaimed, "I pray you, Brother, drink not, or you will become a tiger,
and tear me to pieces!" So the Brother did not drink, although his
thirst was very great, and he said, "I will wait till the next brook."
As they came to the second, the Sister heard it say, "Who drinks of me
becomes a wolf!" The Sister ran up crying, "Brother, do not, pray do not
drink, or you will become a wolf and eat me up!" Then the Brother did
not drink, saying, "I will wait until we come to the next spring, but
then I must drink, you may say what you will; my thirst is much too
great." Just as they reached the third brook, the Sister heard the voice
saying, "Who drinks of me will become a fawn--who drinks of me will
become a fawn!" So the Sister said, "Oh, my Brother do not drink, or you
will be changed into a fawn, and run away from me!" But he had already
kneeled down, and he drank of the water, and, as the first drops passed
his lips, his shape took that of a fawn.

At first the Sister wept over her little, changed Brother, and he wept
too, and knelt by her, very sorrowful; but at last the maiden said, "Be
still, dear little fawn, and I will never forsake you!" and, taking off
her golden garter, she placed it around his neck, and, weaving rushes,
made a girdle to lead him with. This she tied to him, and taking the
other end in her hand, she led him away, and they travelled deeper and
deeper into the forest. After they had gone a long distance they came to
a little hut, and the maiden, peeping in, found it empty, and thought,
"Here we can stay and dwell." Then she looked for leaves and moss to
make a soft couch for the Fawn, and every morning she went out and
collected roots and berries and nuts for herself, and tender grass for
the Fawn. In the evening when the Sister was tired, and had said her
prayers, she laid her head upon the back of the Fawn, which served for a
pillow, on which she slept soundly. Had but the Brother regained his own
proper form, their lives would have been happy indeed.

Thus they dwelt in this wilderness, and some time had elapsed when it
happened that the King of the country had a great hunt in the forest;
and now sounded through the trees the blowing of horns, the barking of
dogs, and the lusty cry of the hunters, so that the little Fawn heard
them, and wanted very much to join in. "Ah!" said he to his Sister, "let
me go to the hunt, I cannot restrain myself any longer;" and he begged
so hard that at last she consented. "But," she told him, "return again
in the evening, for I shall shut my door against the wild huntsmen, and,
that I may know you, do you knock, and say, 'Sister, dear, let me in,'
and if you do not speak I shall not open the door."

As soon as she had said this, the little Fawn sprang off quite glad and
merry in the fresh breeze. The King and his huntsmen perceived the
beautiful animal, and pursued him; but they could not catch him, and
when they thought they certainly had him, he sprang away over the
bushes, and got out of sight. Just as it was getting dark, he ran up to
the hut, and, knocking, said, "Sister mine, let me in." Then she
unfastened the little door, and he went in, and rested all night long
upon his soft couch. The next morning the hunt was commenced again, and
as soon as the little Fawn heard the horns and the tally-ho of the
sportsmen he could not rest, and said, "Sister, dear, open the door; I
must be off." The Sister opened it, saying, "Return at evening, mind,
and say the words as before." When the King and his huntsmen saw him
again, the Fawn with the golden necklace, they followed him, close, but
he was too nimble and quick for them. The whole day long they kept up
with him, but towards evening the huntsmen made a circle around him, and
one wounded him slightly in the hinder foot, so that he could run but
slowly. Then one of them slipped after him to the little hut, and heard
him say, "Sister, dear, open the door," and saw that the door was opened
and immediately shut behind him. The huntsman, having observed all this,
went and told the King what he had seen and heard, and he said, "On the
morrow I will pursue him once again."

The Sister, however, was terribly afraid when she saw that her Fawn was
wounded, and, washing off the blood, she put herbs upon the foot, and
said, "Go and rest upon your bed, dear Fawn, that your wound may heal."
It was so slight, that the next morning he felt nothing of it, and when
he heard the hunting cries outside, he exclaimed, "I cannot stop away--I
must be there, and none shall catch me so easily again!" The Sister wept
very much and told him, "Soon will they kill you, and I shall be here
alone in this forest, forsaken by all the world: I cannot let you go."

"I shall die here in vexation," answered the Fawn, "if you do not, for
when I hear the horn, I think I shall jump out of my skin." The Sister,
finding she could not prevent him, opened the door, with a heavy heart,
and the Fawn jumped out, quite delighted, into the forest. As soon as
the King perceived him, he said to his huntsmen, "Follow him all day
long till the evening, but let no one do him any harm." Then when the
sun had set, the King asked his huntsman to show him the hut; and as
they came to it he knocked at the door and said, "Let me in, dear
Sister." Upon this the door opened, and, stepping in, the King saw a
maiden more beautiful than he had ever beheld before. She was frightened
when she saw not her Fawn, but a man enter, who had a golden crown upon
his head. But the King, looking at her with a kindly glance, held out to
her his hand, saying, "Will you go with me to my castle, and be my dear
wife?" "Oh, yes," replied the maiden; "but the Fawn must go too: him I
will never forsake." The King replied, "He shall remain with you as long
as you live, and shall never want."

The King took the beautiful maiden upon his horse, and rode to his
castle, where the wedding was celebrated with great splendor and she
became Queen, and they lived together a long time; while the Fawn was
taken care of and played about the castle garden.

The wicked stepmother, however, on whose account the children had
wandered forth into the world, had supposed that long ago the Sister had
been torn into pieces by the wild beasts, and the little Brother in his
Fawn's shape hunted to death by the hunters. As soon, therefore, as she
heard how happy they had become, and how everything prospered with them,
envy and jealousy were aroused in her wicked heart, and left her no
peace; and she was always thinking in what way she could bring
misfortune upon them.

Her own daughter, who was as ugly as night, and had but one eye, for
which she was continually reproached, said, "The luck of being a Queen
has never happened to me." "Be quiet, now," replied the old woman, "and
make yourself contented: when the time comes I will help and assist
you." As soon, then, as the time came when the Queen gave birth to a
beautiful little boy, which happened when the King was out hunting, the
old witch took the form of a chambermaid, and got into the room where
the Queen was lying, and said to her, "The bath is ready, which will
restore you and give you fresh strength; be quick before it gets cold."
Her daughter being at hand, they carried the weak Queen between them
into the room, and laid her in the bath, and then, shutting the door,
they ran off; but first they made up an immense fire in the stove, which
must soon suffocate the poor young Queen.

When this was done, the old woman took her daughter, and, putting a cap
upon her head, laid her in the bed in the Queen's place. She gave her,
too, the form and appearance of the real Queen, as far as she was able;
but she could not restore the lost eye, and, so that the King might not
notice it, she turned her upon that side where there was no eye.

When midnight came, and every one was asleep, the nurse, who sat by
herself, wide awake, near the cradle, in the nursery, saw the door open
and the true Queen come in. She took the child in her arms, and rocked
it a while, and then, shaking up its pillow, laid it down in its cradle,
and covered it over again. She did not forget the Fawn, either, but
going to the corner where he was, stroked his head, and then went
silently out of the door. The nurse asked in the morning of the guards
if any one had passed into the castle during the night; but they
answered, "No, we have not seen anybody." For many nights afterwards she
came constantly, but never spoke a word; and the nurse saw her always,
but she would not trust herself to speak about it to any one.

When some time had passed away, the Queen one night began to speak, and
said--

  "How fares my child! how fares my fawn?
  Twice more will I come, but never again."

The nurse made no reply; but, when she had disappeared, went to the
King, and told him. The King exclaimed, "Oh, mercy! what does this
mean?--the next night I will watch myself by the child." So in the
evening he went into the nursery, and about midnight the Queen appeared,
and said--

  "How fares my child! how fares my fawn?
  Once more will I come, but never again."

And she nursed the child, as she usually did, and then disappeared. The
King dared not speak; but he watched the following night, and this time
she said--

  "How fares my child! how fares my fawn?
  This time have I come, but never again."

At these words the King could hold back no longer, but, springing up,
cried, "You can be no other than my dear wife!" Then she answered, "Yes,
I am your dear wife;" and at that moment her life was restored by God's
mercy, and she was again as beautiful and charming as ever. She told the
King the fraud which the witch and her daughter had practised upon him,
and he had them both tried, and sentence was pronounced against them.
The little Fawn was disenchanted, and received once more his human form;
and the Brother and Sister lived happily together to the end of their
days.




HANSEL AND GRETHEL


Once upon a time there dwelt near a large wood a poor woodcutter, with
his wife and two children by his former marriage, a little boy called
Hansel, and a girl named Grethel. He had little enough to break or bite;
and once, when there was a great famine in the land, he could not
procure even his daily bread; and as he lay thinking in his bed one
evening, rolling about for trouble, he sighed, and said to his wife,
"What will become of us? How can we feed our children, when we have no
more than we can eat ourselves?"

"Know, then, my husband," answered she, "we will lead them away, quite
early in the morning, into the thickest part of the wood, and there make
them a fire, and give them each a little piece of bread; then we will go
to our work, and leave them alone, so they will not find the way home
again, and we shall be freed from them." "No, wife," replied he, "that I
can never do. How can you bring your heart to leave my children all
alone in the wood, for the wild beasts will soon come and tear them to
pieces?"

"Oh, you simpleton!" said she, "then we must all four die of hunger; you
had better plane the coffins for us." But she left him no peace till he
consented, saying, "Ah, but I shall regret the poor children."

The two children, however, had not gone to sleep for very hunger, and so
they overheard what the stepmother said to their father. Grethel wept
bitterly, and said to Hansel, "What will become of us?" "Be quiet,
Grethel," said he; "do not cry--I will soon help you." And as soon as
their parents had fallen asleep, he got up, put on his coat, and,
unbarring the back door, slipped out. The moon shone brilliantly, and
the white pebbles which lay before the door seemed like silver pieces,
they glittered so brightly. Hansel stooped down, and put as many into
his pocket as it would hold; and then going back, he said to Grethel,
"Be comforted, dear sister, and sleep in peace; God will not forsake
us." And so saying, he went to bed again.

The next morning, before the sun arose, the wife went and awoke the two
children. "Get up, you lazy things; we are going into the forest to chop
wood." Then she gave them each a piece of bread, saying, "There is
something for your dinner; do not eat it before the time, for you will
get nothing else." Grethel took the bread in her apron, for Hansel's
pocket was full of pebbles; and so they all set out upon their way. When
they had gone a little distance, Hansel stood still, and peeped back at
the house; and this he repeated several times, till his father said,
"Hansel, what are you peeping at, and why do you lag behind? Take care,
and remember your legs."

"Ah, father," said Hansel, "I am looking at my white cat sitting upon
the roof of the house, and trying to say good-bye." "You simpleton!"
said the wife, "that is not a cat; it is only the sun shining on the
white chimney." But in reality Hansel was not looking at a cat; but
every time he stopped, he dropped a pebble out of his pocket upon the
path.

When they came to the middle of the forest, the father told the children
to collect wood, and he would make them a fire, so that they should not
be cold. So Hansel and Grethel gathered together quite a little mountain
of twigs. Then they set fire to them; and as the flame burnt up high,
the wife said, "Now, you children, lie down near the fire, and rest
yourselves, while we go into the forest and chop wood; when we are
ready, I will come and call you."

Hansel and Grethel sat down by the fire, and when it was noon, each ate
the piece of bread; and because they could hear the blows of an axe,
they thought their father was near: but it was not an axe, but a branch
which he had bound to a withered tree, so as to be blown to and fro by
the wind. They waited so long that at last their eyes closed from
weariness, and they fell fast asleep. When they awoke, it was quite
dark, and Grethel began to cry, "How shall we get out of the wood?" But
Hansel tried to comfort her by saying, "Wait a little while till the
moon rises, and then we will quickly find the way." The moon soon shone
forth, and Hansel, taking his sister's hand, followed the pebbles, which
glittered like new-coined silver pieces, and showed them the path. All
night long they walked on, and as day broke they came to their father's
house. They knocked at the door, and when the wife opened it, and saw
Hansel and Grethel, she exclaimed, "You wicked children! why did you
sleep so long in the wood? We thought you were never coming home again."
But their father was very glad, for it had grieved his heart to leave
them all alone.

Not long afterward there was again great scarcity in every corner of the
land; and one night the children overheard their stepmother saying to
their father, "Everything is again consumed; we have only half a loaf
left, and then the song is ended: the children must be sent away. We
will take them deeper into the wood, so that they may not find the way
out again; it is the only means of escape for us."

But her husband felt heavy at heart, and thought, "It were better to
share the last crust with the children." His wife, however, would listen
to nothing that he said, and scolded and reproached him without end.

He who says A must say B too; and he who consents the first time must
also the second.

The children, however, had heard the conversation as they lay awake, and
as soon as the old people went to sleep Hansel got up, intending to pick
up some pebbles as before; but the wife had locked the door, so that he
could not get out. Nevertheless, he comforted Grethel, saying, "Do not
cry; sleep in quiet; the good God will not forsake us."

Early in the morning the stepmother came and pulled them out of bed, and
gave them each a slice of bread, which was still smaller than the former
piece. On the way, Hansel broke his in his pocket, and, stooping every
now and then, dropped a crumb upon the path. "Hansel, why do you stop
and look about?" said the father; "keep in the path." "I am looking at
my little dove," answered Hansel, "nodding a good-bye to me."
"Simpleton!" said the wife, "that is no dove, but only the sun shining
on the chimney." But Hansel still kept dropping crumbs as he went along.

The mother led the children deep into the wood, where they had never
been before, and there making an immense fire, she said to them, "Sit
down here and rest, and when you feel tired you can sleep for a little
while. We are going into the forest to hew wood, and in the evening,
when we are ready, we will come and fetch you."

When noon came Grethel shared her bread with Hansel, who had strewn his
on the path. Then they went to sleep; but the evening arrived and no one
came to visit the poor children, and in the dark night they awoke, and
Hansel comforted his sister by saying, "Only wait, Grethel, till the
moon comes out, then we shall see the crumbs of bread which I have
dropped, and they will show us the way home." The moon shone and they
got up, but they could not see any crumbs, for the thousands of birds
which had been flying about in the woods and fields had picked them all
up. Hansel kept saying to Grethel, "We will soon find the way"; but they
did not, and they walked the whole night long and the next day, but
still they did not come out of the wood; and they got so hungry, for
they had nothing to eat but the berries which they found upon the
bushes. Soon they got so tired that they could not drag themselves
along, so they lay down under a tree and went to sleep.

It was now the third morning since they had left their father's house,
and they still walked on; but they only got deeper and deeper into the
wood, and Hansel saw that if help did not come very soon they would die
of hunger. At about noonday they saw a beautiful snow-white bird sitting
upon a bough, which sang so sweetly that they stood still and listened
to it. It soon ceased, and spreading its wings flew off; and they
followed it until it arrived at a cottage, upon the roof of which it
perched; and when they went close up to it they saw that the cottage was
made of bread and cakes, and the window-panes were of clear sugar.

"We will go in there," said Hansel, "and have a glorious feast. I will
eat a piece of the roof, and you can eat the window. Will they not be
sweet?" So Hansel reached up and broke a piece off the roof, in order to
see how it tasted, while Grethel stepped up to the window and began to
bite it. Then a sweet voice called out in the room, "Tip-tap, tip-tap,
who raps at my door?" and the children answered, "the wind, the wind,
the child of heaven"; and they went on eating without interruption.
Hansel thought the roof tasted very nice, so he tore off a great piece;
while Grethel broke a large round pane out of the window, and sat down
quite contentedly. Just then the door opened, and a very old woman,
walking upon crutches, came out. Hansel and Grethel were so frightened
that they let fall what they had in their hands; but the old woman,
nodding her head, said, "Ah, you dear children, what has brought you
here? Come in and stop with me, and no harm shall befall you"; and so
saying she took them both by the hand, and led them into her cottage. A
good meal of milk and pancakes, with sugar, apples, and nuts, was spread
on the table, and in the back room were two nice little beds, covered
with white, where Hansel and Grethel laid themselves down, and thought
themselves in heaven. The old woman behaved very kindly to them, but in
reality she was a wicked witch who waylaid children, and built the
bread-house in order to entice them in, but as soon as they were in her
power she killed them, cooked and ate them, and made a great festival of
the day. Witches have red eyes, and cannot see very far; but they have a
fine sense of smelling, like wild beasts, so that they know when
children approach them. When Hansel and Grethel came near the witch's
house she laughed wickedly, saying, "Here come two who shall not escape
me." And early in the morning, before they awoke, she went up to them,
and saw how lovingly they lay sleeping, with their chubby red cheeks,
and she mumbled to herself, "That will be a good bite." Then she took up
Hansel with her rough hands, and shut him up in a little cage with a
lattice-door; and although he screamed loudly it was of no use. Grethel
came next, and, shaking her till she awoke, the witch said, "Get up, you
lazy thing, and fetch some water to cook something good for your
brother, who must remain in that stall and get fat; when he is fat
enough I shall eat him." Grethel began to cry, but it was all useless,
for the old witch made her do as she wished. So a nice meal was cooked
for Hansel, but Grethel got nothing but a crab's claw.

Every morning the old witch came to the cage and said, "Hansel, stretch
out your finger that I may feel whether you are getting fat." But Hansel
used to stretch out a bone, and the old woman, having very bad sight,
thought it was his finger, and wondered very much that he did not get
fatter. When four weeks had passed, and Hansel still kept quite lean,
she lost all her patience, and would not wait any longer. "Grethel," she
called out in a passion, "get some water quickly; be Hansel fat or lean,
this morning I will kill and cook him." Oh, how the poor little sister
grieved, as she was forced to fetch the water, and fast the tears ran
down her cheeks! "Dear good God, help us now!" she exclaimed. "Had we
only been eaten by the wild beasts in the wood, then we should have died
together." But the old witch called out, "Leave off that noise; it will
not help you a bit."

So early in the morning Grethel was forced to go out and fill the
kettle, and make a fire. "First, we will bake, however," said the old
woman; "I have already heated the oven and kneaded the dough"; and so
saying, she pushed poor Grethel up to the oven, out of which the flames
were burning fiercely. "Creep in," said the witch, "and see if it is hot
enough, and then we will put in the bread"; but she intended when
Grethel got in to shut up the oven and let her bake, so that she might
eat her as well as Hansel. Grethel perceived what her thoughts were, and
said, "I do not know how to do it; how shall I get in?" "You stupid
goose," said she, "the opening is big enough. See, I could even get in
myself!" and she got up, and put her head into the oven. Then Grethel
gave her a push, so that she fell right in, and then shutting the iron
door she bolted it! Oh! how horribly she howled; but Grethel ran away,
and left the ungodly witch to burn to ashes.

Now she ran to Hansel, and, opening his door, called out, "Hansel, we
are saved; the old witch is dead!" So he sprang out, like a bird out of
his cage when the door is opened; and they were so glad that they fell
upon each other's neck, and kissed each other over and over again. And
now, as there was nothing to fear, they went into the witch's house,
where in every corner were caskets full of pearls and precious stones.
"These are better than pebbles," said Hansel, putting as many into his
pocket as it would hold; while Grethel thought, "I will take some too,"
and filled her apron full. "We must be off now," said Hansel, "and get
out of this enchanted forest." But when they had walked for two hours
they came to a large piece of water. "We cannot get over," said Hansel;
"I can see no bridge at all." "And there is no boat, either," said
Grethel; "but there swims a white duck, and I will ask her to help us
over." And she sang:

  "Little Duck, good little Duck,
    Grethel and Hansel, here we stand;
  There is neither stile nor bridge,
    Take us on your back to land."

So the duck came to them, and Hansel sat himself on, and bade his sister
sit behind him. "No," answered Grethel, "that will be too much for the
duck; she shall take us over one at a time." This the good little bird
did, and when both were happily arrived on the other side, and had gone
a little way, they came to a well-known wood, which they knew the better
every step they went, and at last they perceived their father's house.
Then they began to run, and, bursting into the house, they fell into
their father's arms. He had not had one happy hour since he had left the
children in the forest; and his wife was dead. Grethel shook her apron,
and the pearls and precious stones rolled out upon the floor, and Hansel
threw down one handful after the other out of his pocket. Then all their
sorrows were ended, and they lived together in great happiness.

My tale is done. There runs a mouse; whoever catches her may make a
great, great cap out of her fur.




OH, IF I COULD BUT SHIVER!


A father had two sons, the elder of whom was forward and clever enough
to do almost anything; but the younger was so stupid that he could learn
nothing, and when the people saw him they said, "Will thy father still
keep thee as a burden to him?" So, if anything was to be done, the elder
had at all times to do it; but sometimes the father would call him to
fetch something in the dead of night, and perhaps the way led through
the churchyard or by a dismal place, and then he used to answer, "No,
father, I cannot go there, I am afraid," for he was a coward. Or
sometimes of an evening, tales were told by the fireside which made one
shudder, and the listeners exclaimed, "Oh, it makes us shiver!" In a
corner, meanwhile, sat the younger son, listening, but he could not
comprehend what was said, and he thought, "They say continually, 'Oh, it
makes us shiver, it makes us shiver!' but perhaps shivering is an art
which I cannot understand." One day, however, his father said to him,
"Do you hear, you there in the corner? You are growing stout and big;
you must learn some trade to get your living by. Do you see how your
brother works? But as for you, you are not worth malt and hops."

"Ah, father," answered he, "I would willingly learn something. When
shall I begin? I want to know what shivering means, for of that I can
understand nothing."

The elder brother laughed when he heard this speech, and thought to
himself, "Ah! my brother is such a simpleton that he cannot earn his own
living. He who would make a good hedge must learn betimes to bend." But
the father sighed and said, "What shivering means you may learn soon
enough, but you will never get your bread by that."

Soon after the parish sexton came in for a gossip, so the father told
him his troubles, and how that his younger son was such a simpleton that
he knew nothing and could learn nothing. "Just fancy, when I asked him
how he intended to earn his bread, he desired to learn what shivering
meant!" "Oh, if that be all," answered the sexton, "he can learn that
soon enough with me; just send him to my place, and I will soon teach
him." The father was very glad, because he thought that it would do the
boy good; so the sexton took him home to ring the bells. About two days
afterward he called him up at midnight to go into the church-tower to
toll the bell. "You shall soon learn what shivering means," thought the
sexton, and getting up he went out too. As soon as the boy reached the
belfry, and turned himself round to seize the rope, he saw upon the
stairs, near the sounding-hole, a white figure. "Who's there?" he called
out; but the figure gave no answer, and neither stirred nor spoke.
"Answer," said the boy, "or make haste off; you have no business here
to-night." But the sexton did not stir, so that the boy might think it
was a ghost.

The boy called out a second time, "What are you doing here? Speak, if
you are an honest fellow, or else I will throw you downstairs."

The sexton said to himself, "That is not a bad thought"; but he remained
quiet as if he were a stone. Then the boy called out for the third time,
but it produced no effect; so, making a spring, he threw the ghost down
the stairs, so that it rolled ten steps, and then lay motionless in a
corner. Thereupon he rang the bell, and then going home, he went to bed
without saying a word, and fell fast asleep. The sexton's wife waited
some time for her husband, but he did not come; so at last she became
anxious, woke the boy, and asked him if he knew where her husband was,
who had gone before him to the belfry.

"No," answered the boy; "but there was someone standing on the steps who
would not give any answer, nor go away, so I took him for a thief and
threw him downstairs. Go now and see where he is; perhaps it may be he,
but I should be sorry for it." The wife ran off and found her husband
lying in a corner, groaning, with one of his ribs broken.

She took him up and ran with loud outcries to the boy's father, and said
to him, "Your son has brought a great misfortune on us; he has thrown my
husband down and broken his bones. Take the good-for-nothing fellow from
our house."

The terrified father came in haste and scolded the boy. "What do these
wicked tricks mean? They will only bring misfortune upon you."

"Father," answered the lad, "hear me! I am quite innocent. He stood
there at midnight like one who had done some evil; I did not know who it
was, and cried three times, 'Speak, or be off!'"

"Ah!" said the father, "everything goes badly with you. Get out of my
sight; I do not wish to see you again!"

"Yes, father, willingly; wait but one day, then I will go out and learn
what shivering means, that I may at least understand one business which
will support me."

"Learn what you will," replied the father, "all is the same to me. Here
are fifty dollars; go forth with them into the world, and tell no man
whence you came, or who your father is, for I am ashamed of you."

"Yes, father, as you wish; but if you desire nothing else, I shall
esteem that very lightly."

As soon as day broke the youth put his fifty dollars into a knapsack and
went out upon the high road, saying continually, "Oh, if I could but
shiver!"

Presently a man came up, who heard the boy talking to himself; and, as
they we're just passing the place where the gallows stood, the man said,
"Do you see? There is the tree where seven fellows have married the
hempen maid, and now swing to and fro. Sit yourself down there and wait
till midnight, and then you will know what it is to shiver!"

"Oh, if that be all," answered the boy, "I can very easily do that! But
if I learn so speedily what shivering is, then you shall have my fifty
dollars if you come again in the morning."

Then the boy went to the gallows, sat down, and waited for evening, and
as he felt cold he made a fire. But about midnight the wind blew so
sharp, that in spite of the fire he could not keep himself warm. The
wind blew the bodies against one another, so that they swung backward
and forward, and he thought, "If I am cold here below by the fire, how
must they freeze above!" So his compassion was excited, and, contriving
a ladder, he mounted, and, unloosening them one after another, he
brought down all seven. Then he poked and blew the fire, and set them
round that they might warm themselves; but as they sat still without
moving their clothing caught fire. So he said, "Take care of yourselves,
or I will hang all of you up again." The dead heard not, and silently
allowed their rags to burn. This made him so angry that he said, "If you
will not hear I cannot help you; but I will not burn with you." So he
hung them up again in a row, and sitting down by the fire he soon went
to sleep. The next morning the man came, expecting to receive his fifty
dollars, and asked, "Now do you know what shivering means?" "No," he
answered; "how should I know? Those fellows up there have not opened
their mouths, and were so stupid that they let the old rags on their
bodies be burnt." Then the man saw that he should not carry away the
fifty dollars that day, so he went away saying, "I never met with such a
one before."

The boy also went on his way and began again to say, "Ah, if only I
could but shiver--if I could but shiver!" A wagoner walking behind
overheard him, and asked, "Who are you?"

"I do not know," answered the boy.

The wagoner asked again, "What do you here?"

"I know not."

"Who is your father?"

"I dare not say."

"What is it you are continually grumbling about?"

"Oh," replied the youth, "I wish to learn what shivering is, but nobody
can teach me."

"Cease your silly talk," said the wagoner. "Come with me, and I will see
what I can do for you." So the boy went with the wagoner, and about
evening time they arrived at an inn where they put up for the night, and
while they were going into the parlor he said, quite aloud, "Oh, if I
could but shiver--if I could but shiver!" The host overheard him and
said, laughingly, "Oh, if that is all you wish, you shall soon have the
opportunity." "Hold your tongue," said his wife; "so many imprudent
people have already lost their lives, it were a shame and sin to such
beautiful eyes that they should not see the light again." But the youth
said, "If it were ever so difficult I would at once learn it; for that
reason I left home"; and he never let the host have any peace till he
told him that not far off stood an enchanted castle, where any one might
soon learn to shiver if he would watch there three nights. The King had
promised his daughter in marriage to whoever would venture, and she was
the most beautiful young lady that the sun ever shone upon. And he
further told him that inside the castle there was an immense amount of
treasure guarded by evil spirits; enough to make any one free, and turn
a poor man into a very rich one. Many, he added, had already ventured
into this castle, but no one had ever come out again.

The next morning this youth went to the King, and said, "If you will
allow me, I wish to watch three nights in the enchanted castle." The
King looked at him, and because his appearance pleased him, he said,
"You may make three requests, but they must be inanimate things you ask
for, and such as you can take with you into the castle." So the youth
asked for a fire, a lathe, and a cutting-board.

The King let him take these things by day into the castle, and when it
was evening the youth went in and made himself a bright fire in one of
the rooms, and, placing his cutting-board and knife near it, he sat down
upon his lathe. "Ah, if I could but shiver!" said he. "But even here I
shall never learn." At midnight he got up to stir the fire, and, as he
poked it, there shrieked suddenly in one corner, "Miau, miau! how cold I
am!" "You simpleton!" he exclaimed, "what are you shrieking for? If you
are so cold come and sit down by the fire and warm yourself!" As he was
speaking, two great black cats sprang up to him with an immense jump and
sat down one on each side, looking at him quite wildly with their fiery
eyes. When they had warmed themselves for a little while they said,
"Comrade, shall we have a game of cards?" "Certainly," he replied; "but
let me see your paws first." So they stretched out their claws, and he
said, "Ah, what long nails you have got; wait a bit, I must cut them off
first"; and so saying he caught them up by the necks, and put them on
his board and screwed their feet down. "Since I have seen what you are
about I have lost my relish for a game at cards," said he; and,
instantly killing them, threw them away into the water. But no sooner
had he quieted these two and thought of sitting down again by his fire,
than there came out of every hole and corner black cats and black dogs
with glowing chains, continually more and more, so that he could not
hide himself. They howled fearfully, and jumped upon his fire, and
scattered it about as if they would extinguish it. He looked on quietly
for some time, but at last, getting angry, he took up his knife and
called out, "Away with you, you vagabonds!" and chased them about until
a part ran off, and the rest he killed and threw into the pond. As soon
as he returned he blew up the sparks of his fire again and warmed
himself, and while he sat his eyes began to feel very heavy and he
wished to go to sleep. So looking around he saw a great bed in one
corner, in which he lay down; but no sooner had he closed his eyes, than
the bed began to move of itself and travelled all round the castle.
"Just so," said he, "only better still"; whereupon the bed galloped away
as if six horses pulled it up and down steps and stairs, until at last,
all at once, it overset, bottom upward, and lay upon him like a
mountain; but up he got, threw pillows and mattresses into the air, and
saying, "Now he who wishes may travel," laid himself down by the fire
and slept till day broke. In the morning the King came, and, seeing the
youth lying on the ground, he thought that the spectres had killed him,
and that he was dead; so he said, "It is a great misfortune that the
finest men are thus killed"; but the youth, hearing this, sprang up,
saying, "It is not come to that with me yet!" The King was much
astonished, but very glad, and asked him how he had fared. "Very well,"
replied he; "as one night has passed, so also may the other two." Soon
after he met his landlord, who opened his eyes when he saw him. "I never
thought to see you alive again," said he; "have you learnt now what
shivering means?" "No," said he; "it is all of no use. Oh, if any one
would but tell me!"

The second night he went up again into the castle, and sitting down by
the fire, began his old song, "If I could but shiver!" When midnight
came, a ringing and a rattling noise was heard, gentle at first and
louder and louder by degrees; then there was a pause, and presently with
a loud outcry half a man's body came down the chimney and fell at his
feet. "Holloa," he exclaimed; "only half a man answered that ringing;
that is too little." Then the ringing began afresh, and a roaring and
howling was heard, and the other half fell down. "Wait a bit," said he;
"I will poke up the fire first." When he had done so and looked round
again, the two pieces had joined themselves together, and an ugly man
was sitting in his place. "I did not bargain for that," said the youth;
"the bench is mine." The man tried to push him away, but the youth would
not let him, and giving him a violent push sat himself down in his old
place. Presently more men fell down the chimney, one after the other,
who brought nine thigh-bones and two skulls, which they set up, and then
they began to play at ninepins. At this the youth wished also to play,
so he asked whether he might join them. "Yes, if you have money!" "Money
enough," he replied, "but your balls are not quite round"; so saying he
took up the skulls, and, placing them on his lathe, turned them round.
"Ah, now you will roll well," said he. "Holloa! now we will go at it
merrily." So he played with them and lost some of his money, but as it
struck twelve everything disappeared. Then he lay down and went to sleep
quietly. On the morrow the King came for news, and asked him how he had
fared this time. "I have been playing ninepins," he replied, "and lost a
couple of dollars." "Have you not shivered?" "No! I have enjoyed myself
very much; but I wish some one would teach me that!"

On the third night he sat down again on his bench, saying in great
vexation, "Oh, if I could only shiver!" When it grew late, six tall men
came in bearing a coffin between them. "Ah, ah," said he, "that is
surely my little cousin, who died two days ago"; and beckoning with his
finger he called, "Come, little cousin, come!" The men set down the
coffin upon the ground, and he went up and took off the lid, and there
lay a dead man within, and as he felt the face it was as cold as ice.
"Stop a moment," he cried; "I will warm it in a trice"; and stepping up
to the fire he warmed his hands, and then laid them upon the face, but
it remained cold. So he took up the body, and sitting down by the fire,
he laid it on his lap and rubbed the arms that the blood might circulate
again. But all this was of no avail, and he thought to himself if two
lie in a bed together they warm each other; so he put the body in the
bed, and covering it up laid himself down by its side. After a little
while the body became warm and began to move about. "See, my cousin," he
exclaimed, "have I not warmed you?" But the body got up and exclaimed,
"Now I will strangle you." "Is that your gratitude?" cried the youth.
"Then you shall get into your coffin again"; and taking it up, he threw
the body in, and made the lid fast. Then the six men came in again and
bore it away. "Oh, deary me," said he, "I shall never be able to shiver
if I stop here all my lifetime!" At these words in came a man who was
taller than all the others, and looked more horrible; but he was very
old and had a long white beard. "Oh, you wretch," he exclaimed, "now
thou shalt learn what shivering means, for thou shalt die!"

"Not so quick," answered the youth; "if I die I must be brought to it
first."

"I will quickly seize you," replied the ugly one.

"Softly, softly; be not too sure. I am as strong as you, and perhaps
stronger."

"That we will see," said the ugly man. "If you are stronger than I, I
will let you go; come, let us try"; and he led him away through a dark
passage to a smith's forge. Then taking up an axe he cut through the
anvil at one blow down to the ground. "I can do that still better," said
the youth, and went to another anvil, while the old man followed him and
watched him, with his long beard hanging down. Then the youth took up an
axe, and, splitting the anvil at one blow, wedged the old man's beard in
it. "Now I have you; now death comes upon you!" and taking up an iron
bar he beat the old man until he groaned, and begged him to stop, and he
would give him great riches. So the youth drew out the axe, and let him
loose. Then the old man, leading him back into the castle, showed him
three chests full of gold in a cellar. "One share of this," said he,
"belongs to the poor, another to the King, and a third to yourself." And
just then it struck twelve and the old man vanished, leaving the youth
in the dark. "I must help myself out here," said he, and groping round
he found his way back to his room and went to sleep by the fire.

The next morning the King came and inquired, "Now have you learnt to
shiver?" "No," replied the youth; "what is it? My dead cousin came here,
and a bearded man, who showed me a lot of gold down below; but what
shivering means, no one has showed me!" Then the King said, "You have
won the castle, and shall marry my daughter."

"That is all very fine," replied the youth, "but still I don't know what
shivering means."

So the gold was fetched, and the wedding was celebrated, but the young
Prince (for the youth was a Prince now), notwithstanding his love for
his bride, and his great contentment, was still continually crying, "If
I could but shiver! if I could but shiver!" At last it fell out in this
wise: one of the chambermaids said to the Princess, "Let me bring in my
aid to teach him what shivering is." So she went to the brook which
flowed through the garden, and drew up a pail of water full of little
fish; and, at night, when the young Prince was asleep, his bride drew
away the covering and poured the pail of cold water and the little
fishes over him, so that they slipped all about him. Then the Prince
woke up directly, calling out, "Oh! that makes me shiver! dear wife,
that makes me shiver! Yes, now I know what shivering means!"




DUMMLING AND THE THREE FEATHERS


Once upon a time there lived a King who had three sons; the two elder
were learned and bright, but the youngest said very little and appeared
somewhat foolish, so he was always known as Dummling.

When the King grew old and feeble, feeling that he was nearing his end,
he wished to leave the crown to one of his three sons, but could not
decide to which. He thereupon settled that they should travel, and that
the one who could obtain the most splendid carpet should ascend the
throne when he died.

So that there could be no disagreement as to the way each one should go,
the King conducted them to the courtyard of the Palace, and there blew
three feathers, by turn, into the air, telling his sons to follow the
course that the three feathers took.

Then one of the feathers flew eastwards, another westwards, but the
third went straight up towards the sky, though it only sped a short
distance before falling to earth.

Therefore one son travelled towards the east, and the second went to the
west, both making fun of poor Dummling, who was obliged to stay where
his feather had fallen. Then Dummling, sitting down and feeling rather
miserable after his brothers had gone, looked about him, and noticed
that near to where his feather lay was a trap-door. On lifting this up
he perceived a flight of steps, down which he went. At the bottom was
another door, so he knocked upon it, and then heard a voice calling--

  "Maiden, fairest, come to me,
  Make haste to ope the door,
  A mortal surely you will see,
  From the world above is he,
  We'll help him from our store."

And then the door was flung open, and the young man found himself facing
a big toad sitting in the centre of a number of young toads. The big
toad addressed him, asking him what he wanted.

Dummling, though rather surprised when he saw the toads, and heard them
question him, being good-hearted replied politely--

"I am desirous to obtain the most splendid carpet in the world; just now
it would be extremely useful to me."

The toad who had just spoken, called to a young toad, saying--

  "Maiden, fairest, come to me,
  'Tis a mortal here you see;
  Let us speed all his desires,
  Giving him what he requires."

Immediately the young toad fetched a large box. This the old one opened,
and took out an exquisite carpet, of so beautiful a design, that it
certainly could have been manufactured nowhere upon the earth.

Taking it with grateful thanks, Dummling went up the flight of steps,
and was once more in the Palace courtyard.

The two elder brothers, being of the opinion that the youngest was so
foolish that he was of no account whatever in trying to obtain the
throne, for they did not think he would find anything at all, had said
to each other:

"It is not necessary for us to trouble much in looking for the carpet!"
so they took from the shoulders of the first peasant they came across a
coarse shawl, and this they carried to their father.

At the same time Dummling appeared with his beautiful carpet, which he
presented to the King, who was very much surprised, and said--

"By rights the throne should be for my youngest son."

But when the two brothers heard this, they gave the old King no rest,
saying--

"How is it possible that Dummling, who is not at all wise, could control
the affairs of an important kingdom? Make some other condition, we beg
of you!"

"Well," agreed the father, "the one who brings me the most magnificent
ring shall succeed to my throne," and once more he took his sons outside
the Palace. Then, again, he blew three feathers into the air to show the
direction each one should go; whereupon the two elder sons went east and
west, but Dummling's flew straight up, and fell close by the trap-door.
Then the youngest son descended the steps as before, and upon seeing the
large toad he talked with her, and told her what he desired. So the big
box was brought, and out of it the toad handed him a ring which was of
so exquisite a workmanship that no goldsmith's could equal it.

Meanwhile the two elder brothers made fun of the idea of Dummling
searching for a ring, and they decided to take no needless trouble
themselves.

Therefore, finding an old iron ring belonging to some harness, they took
that to the King. Dummling was there before them with his valuable ring,
and immediately upon his showing it, the father declared that in justice
the kingdom should be his.

In spite of this, however, the two elder sons worried the poor King into
appointing one test further, before bestowing his kingdom, and the King,
giving way, announced that the one who brought home the most beautiful
woman should inherit the crown.

Then Dummling again descended to the large toad and made known to her
that he wished to find the most beautiful woman alive.

"The most beautiful woman is not always at hand," said the toad,
"however, you shall have her."

Then she gave to him a scooped-out turnip to which half a dozen little
mice were attached. The young man regarded this a trifle despondently,
for it had no great resemblance to what he was seeking.

"What can I make of this?" he asked.

"Only place in it one of my young toads," replied the large toad, "and
then you can decide how to use it."

From the young toads around the old toad, the young man seized one at
hazard, and placed it in the scooped-out turnip, but hardly was it there
when the most astounding change occurred, for the toad was transformed
into a wondrously lovely maiden, the turnip became an elegant carriage,
and the six mice were turned into handsome horses. The young man kissed
the maiden and drove off to bring her to the King.

Not long afterwards the two brothers arrived.

In the same way, as the twice before, they had taken no trouble about
the matter, but had picked up the first passable looking peasant woman
whom they had happened to meet.

After glancing at the three, the King said: "Without doubt, at my death
the kingdom will be Dummling's."

Once more the brothers loudly expressed their discontent, and gave the
King no peace, declaring--

"It is impossible for us to agree to Dummling becoming ruler of the
kingdom," and they insisted that the women should be required to spring
through a hoop which was suspended from the ceiling in the centre of the
hall, thinking to themselves "Now, certainly our peasants will get the
best of it, they are active and sturdy, but that fragile lady will kill
herself if she jumps."

To this, again, the King consented, and the peasants were first given
trial.

They sprang through the hoop, indeed, but so clumsily that they fell,
breaking their arms and legs.

Upon which the lovely lady whom Dummling had brought home, leapt through
as lightly as a fawn, and this put an end to all contention.

So the crown came to Dummling, who lived long, and ruled his people
temperately and justly.




LITTLE SNOW WHITE


It was in the middle of winter, when the broad flakes of snow were
falling around, that a certain queen sat working at her window, the
frame of which was made of fine black ebony; and, as she was looking out
upon the snow, she pricked her finger, and three drops of blood fell
upon it. Then she gazed thoughtfully down on the red drops which
sprinkled the white snow and said, "Would that my little daughter may be
as white as that snow, as red as the blood, and as black as the ebony
window-frame!" And so the little girl grew up; her skin was a white as
snow, her cheeks as rosy as blood, and her hair as black as ebony; and
she was called Snow-White.

But this queen died; and the king soon married another wife, who was
very beautiful, but so proud that she could not bear to think that any
one could surpass her. She had a magical looking-glass, to which she
used to go and gaze upon herself in it, and say--

  "Tell me, glass, tell me true!
    Of all the ladies in the land,
  Who is fairest? tell me who?"

And the glass answered, "Thou, Queen, art fairest in the land"

But Snow-White grew more and more beautiful; and when she was seven
years old, she was as bright as the day, and fairer than the queen
herself. Then the glass one day answered queen, when she went to consult
it as usual--

  "Thou, Queen, may'st fair and beauteous be,
  But Snow-White is lovelier far than thee?"

When the queen heard this she turned pale with rage and envy; and
calling to one of her servants said, "Take Snow-White away into the wide
wood, that I may never see her more." Then the servant led the little
girl away; but his heart melted when she begged him to spare her life,
and he said, "I will not hurt thee, thou pretty child." So he left her
there alone; and though he thought it most likely that the wild beasts
would tear her to pieces, he felt as if a great weight were taken off
his heart when he had made up his mind not to kill her, but leave her to
her fate.

Then poor Snow-White wandered along through the wood in great fear; and
the wild beasts roared around, but none did her any harm. In the evening
she came to a little cottage, and went in there to rest, for her weary
feet would carry her no further. Everything was spruce and neat in the
cottage: on the table was spread a white cloth, and there were seven
little plates with seven little loaves and seven little glasses with
wine in them; and knives and forks laid in order, and by the wall stood
seven little beds. Then, as she was exceedingly hungry, she picked a
little piece off each loaf, and drank a very little wine out of each
glass; and after that she thought she would lie down and rest. So she
tried all the little beds; and one was too long, and another was too
short, till, at last, the seventh suited her; and there she laid herself
down and went to sleep. Presently in came the masters of the cottage,
who were seven little dwarfs that lived among the mountains, and dug and
searched about for gold. They lighted up their seven lamps, and saw
directly that all was not right. The first said, "Who has been sitting
on my stool?" The second, "Who has been eating off my plate?" The third,
"Who has been picking at my bread?" The fourth, "Who has been meddling
with my spoon?" The fifth, "Who has been handling my fork?" The sixth,
"Who has been cutting with my knife?" The seventh, "Who has been
drinking my wine?" Then the first looked around and said, "Who has been
lying on my bed?" And the rest came running to him, and every one cried
out that somebody had been upon his bed. But the seventh saw Snow-White,
and called upon his brethren to come and look at her; and they cried out
with wonder and astonishment, and brought their lamps and gazing upon
her, they said, "Good heavens! what a lovely child she is!" And they
were delighted to see her, and took care not to waken her; and the
seventh dwarf slept an hour with each of the other dwarfs in turn, till
the night was gone.

In the morning Snow-White told them all her story, and they pitied her,
and said if she would keep all things in order, and cook and wash, and
knit and spin for them, she might stay where she was, and they would
take good care of her. Then they went out all day long to their work,
seeking for gold and silver in the mountains; and Snow-White remained at
home; and they warned her, saying, "The queen will soon find out where
you are, so take care and let no one in." But the queen, now that she
thought Snow-White was dead, believed that she was certainly the
handsomest lady in the land; so she went to her glass and said--

  "Tell me, glass, tell me true!
    Of all the ladies in the land,
  Who is fairest? tell me who?"

And the glass answered--

  "Thou, Queen, thou are fairest in all this land;
  But over the Hills, in the greenwood shade,
  Where the seven dwarfs their dwelling have made,
  There Snow-White is hiding; and she
  Is lovelier far, O Queen, than thee."

Then the queen was very much alarmed; for she knew that the glass always
spoke the truth, and she was sure that the servant had betrayed her. And
as she could not bear to think that any one lived who was more beautiful
than she was, she disguised herself as an old pedlar woman and went her
way over the hills to the place where the dwarfs dwelt. Then she knocked
at the door and cried, "Fine wares to sell!" Snow-White looked out of
the window, and said, "Good day, good woman; what have you to sell?"
"Good wares, fine wares," replied she; "laces and bobbins of all
colors." "I will let the old lady in; she seems to be a very good sort
of a body," thought Snow-White; so she ran down, and unbolted the door.
"Bless me!" said the woman, "how badly your stays are laced. Let me lace
them up with one of my nice new laces." Snow-White did not dream of any
mischief; so she stood up before the old woman who set to work so
nimbly, and pulled the lace so tightly that Snow-White lost her breath,
and fell down as if she were dead. "There's an end of all thy beauty,"
said the spiteful queen, and went away home.

In the evening the seven dwarfs returned; and I need not say how grieved
they were to see their faithful Snow-White stretched upon the ground
motionless, as if she were quite dead. However, they lifted her up, and
when they found what was the matter, they cut the lace; and in a little
time she began to breathe, and soon came to herself again. Then they
said, "The old woman was the queen; take care another time, and let no
one in when we are away."

When the queen got home, she went to her glass, and spoke to it, but to
her surprise it replied in the same words as before.

Then the blood ran cold in her heart with spite and malice to hear that
Snow-White still lived; and she dressed herself up again in a disguise,
but very different from the one she wore before, and took with her a
poisoned comb. When she reached the dwarfs' cottage, she knocked at the
door, and cried, "Fine wares to sell!" but Snow-White said, "I dare not
let any one in." Then the queen said, "Only look at my beautiful combs;"
and gave her the poisoned one. And it looked so pretty that the little
girl took it up and put it into her hair to try it; but the moment it
touched her head the poison was so powerful that she fell down
senseless. "There you may lie," said the queen, and went her way. But by
good luck the dwarfs returned very early that evening; and when they saw
Snow-White lying on the ground, they thought what had happened, and soon
found the poisoned comb. And when they took it away, she recovered, and
told them all that had passed; and they warned her once more not to open
the door to any one.

Meantime the queen went home to her glass, and trembled with rage when
she received exactly the same answer as before; and she said,
"Snow-White shall die, if it costs me my life." So she went secretly
into a chamber, and prepared a poisoned apple: the outside looked very
rosy and tempting, but whosoever tasted it was sure to die. Then she
dressed herself up as a peasant's wife, and travelled over the hills to
the dwarfs' cottage, and knocked at the door; but Snow-White put her
head out of the window, and said, "I dare not let any one in, for the
dwarfs have told me not to." "Do as you please," said the old woman,
"but at any rate take this pretty apple; I will make you a present of
it." "No," said Snow-White, "I dare not take it." "You silly girl!"
answered the other, "what are you afraid of? do you think it is
poisoned? Come! do you eat one part, and I will eat the other." Now the
apple was so prepared that one side was good, though the other side was
poisoned. Then Snow-White was very much tempted to taste, for the apple
looked exceedingly nice; and when she saw the old woman eat, she could
refrain no longer. But she had scarcely put the piece into her mouth
when she fell down dead upon the ground. "This time nothing will save
thee," said the queen; and she went home to her glass, and at last it
said--"Thou, Queen, art the fairest of all the fair." And then her
envious heart was glad, and as happy as such a heart could be.

When evening came, and the dwarfs returned home, they found Snow-White
lying on the ground; no breath passed her lips, and they were afraid
that she was quite dead. They lifted her up, and combed her hair, and
washed her face with wine and water; but all was in vain. So they laid
her down upon a bier, and all seven watched and bewailed her three whole
days; and then they proposed to bury her; but her cheeks were still
rosy, and her face looked just as it did while she was alive; so they
said, "We will never bury her in the cold ground." And they made a
coffin of glass so that they might still look at her, and wrote her name
upon it in golden letters, and that she was a king's daughter. Then the
coffin was placed upon the hill, and one of the dwarfs always sat by it
and watched. And the birds of the air came, too, and bemoaned
Snow-White. First of all came an owl, and then a raven, but at last came
a dove.

And thus Snow-White lay for a long, long time, and still only looked as
though she were asleep; for she was even now as white as snow, and as
red as blood, and as black as ebony. At last a prince came and called at
the dwarfs' house; and he saw Snow-White and read what was written in
golden letters. Then he offered the dwarfs money, and earnestly prayed
them to let him take her away; but they said, "We will not part with her
for all the gold in the world." At last, however, they had pity on him,
and gave him the coffin; but the moment he lifted it up to carry it home
with him, the piece of apple fell from between her lips, and Snow-White
awoke, and exclaimed, "Where am I!" And the prince answered, "Thou art
safe with me." Then he told her all that had happened, and said, "I love
you better than all the world; come with me to my father's palace, and
you shall be my wife." Snow-White consented, and went home with the
prince; and everything was prepared with great pomp and splendor for
their wedding.

To the feast was invited, among the rest, Snow-White's old enemy, the
queen; and as she was dressing herself in fine, rich clothes, she looked
in the glass and said, "Tell me, glass, tell me true! Of all the ladies
in the land, Who is fairest? tell me who?" And the glass answered,
"Thou, lady, art the loveliest _here_, I ween; But lovelier far is the
new-made queen."

When she heard this, the queen started with rage; but her envy and
curiosity were so great, that she could not help setting out to see the
bride. And when she arrived, and saw that it was no other than
Snow-White, whom she thought had been dead a long while, she choked with
passion, and fell ill and died; but Snow-White and the prince lived and
reigned happily over that land, many, many years.




CATHERINE AND FREDERICK


Once upon a time there was a youth named Frederick and a girl called
Catherine, who had married and lived together as a young couple. One day
Fred said, "I am now going into the fields, dear Catherine, and by the
time I return let there be something hot upon the table, for I shall be
hungry, and something to drink, too, for I shall be thirsty."

"Very well, dear Fred," said she, "go at once, and I will make all right
for you."

As soon, then, as dinner-time approached, she took down a sausage out of
the chimney, and putting it in a frying-pan with batter, set it over the
fire. Soon the sausage began to frizzle and spit while Catherine stood
by holding the handle of the pan and thinking; and among other things
she thought that while the sausage was getting ready she might go into
the cellar and draw some beer. So she took a can and went down into the
cellar to draw the beer, and while it ran into the can, she bethought
herself that perhaps the dog might steal the sausage out of the pan, and
so up the cellar stairs she ran, but too late, for the rogue had already
got the meat in his mouth and was sneaking off. Catherine, however,
pursued the dog for a long way over the fields, but the beast was
quicker than she, and would not let the sausage go, but bolted off at a
great rate. "Off is off!" said Catherine, and turned round, and being
very tired and hot, she went home slowly to cool herself. All this while
the beer was running out of the cask, for Catherine had forgotten to
turn the tap off, and so, as soon as the can was full, the liquor ran
over the floor of the cellar until it was all out. Catherine saw the
misfortune at the top of the steps. "My gracious!" she exclaimed; "what
shall I do that Fred may not find this out?" She considered for some
time till she remembered that a sack of fine malt yet remained from the
last brewing, in one corner, which she would fetch down and strew about
in the beer. "Yes," said she, "it was spared at the right time to be
useful to me now in my necessity"; and down she pulled the sack so
hastily that she overturned the can of beer for Fred, and away it mixed
with the rest on the floor. "It is all right," said she, "where one is,
the other should be," and she strewed the malt over the whole cellar.
When it was done she was quite overjoyed at her work, and said, "How
clean and neat it does look, to be sure!"

At noontime Fred returned. "Now, wife, what have you ready for me?" said
he. "Ah, my dear Fred," she replied, "I would have fried you a sausage,
but while I drew the beer the dog stole it out of the pan, and while I
hunted the dog the beer all ran out, and as I was about to dry up the
beer with the malt I overturned your can; but be contented, the cellar
is quite dry again now."

"Oh, Catherine, Catherine!" said Fred; "you should not have done so! to
let the sausage be stolen! and the beer run out! and over all to shoot
our best sack of malt!"

"Well, Fred," said she, "I did not know that; you should have told me."

But the husband thought to himself, if one's wife acts so, one must look
after things oneself. Now, he had collected a tolerable sum of silver
dollars, which he changed into gold, and then he told his wife, "Do you
see, these are yellow counters which I will put in a pot and bury in the
stable under the cow's stall; but mind that you do not meddle with it,
or you will come to some harm."

Catherine promised to mind what he said, but as soon as Fred was gone
some hawkers came into the village with earthenware for sale, and
amongst others they asked her if she would purchase anything. "Ah, good
people," said Catherine, "I have no money, and cannot buy anything, but
if you can make use of yellow counters I will buy them."

"Yellow counters! ah! why not? Let us look at them," said they.

"Go into the stable," she replied, "and dig under the cows stall, and
there you will find the yellow counters. I dare not go myself."

The rogues went at once, and soon dug up the shining gold which they
quickly pocketed, and then they ran off, leaving behind them their pots
and dishes in the house. Catherine thought she might as well make use of
the new pottery, and since she had no need of anything in the kitchen,
she set out each pot on the ground, and then put others on the top of
the palings round the house for ornament. When Fred returned, and saw
the fresh decorations, he asked Catherine what she had done. "I have
bought them, Fred," said she, "with the yellow counters which lay under
the cow's stall; but I did not dig them up myself; the pedlars did
that."

"Ah, wife, what have you done?" replied Fred. "They were not counters,
but bright gold, which was all the property we possessed: you should not
have done so."

"Well, dear Fred," replied his wife, "you should have told me so before.
I did not know that."

Catherine stood considering for awhile, and presently she began, "Come,
Fred, we will soon get the gold back again; let us pursue the thieves."

"Well, come along," said Fred; "we will try at all events; but take
butter and cheese with you, that we may have something to eat on our
journey."

"Yes, Fred," said she, and soon made herself ready; but, her husband
being a good walker, she lagged behind. "Ah!" said she, "this is my
luck, for when we turn back I shall be a good bit forward." Presently
she came to a hill, on both sides of which there were very deep ruts.
"Oh, see!" said she, "how the poor earth is torn, flayed, and wounded;
it will never be well again all its life!" And out of compassion she
took out her butter, and greased the ruts over right and left, so that
the wheels might run more easily through them, and, while she stooped in
doing this, a cheese rolled out of her pocket down the mountain.
Catherine said when she saw it, "I have already once made the journey
up, and I am not coming down after you: another shall run and fetch
you." So saying, she took another cheese out of her pocket and rolled it
down; but as it did not return, she thought, "Perhaps they are waiting
for a companion and don't like to come alone"; and down she bowled a
third cheese. Still all three stayed, and she said, "I cannot think what
this means; perhaps it is that the third cheese has missed his way: I
will send a fourth, that he may call him as he goes by." But this one
acted no better than the others, and Catherine became so anxious that
she threw down a fifth and a sixth cheese also, and they were the last.
For a long time after this she waited, expecting they would come, but
when she found they did not she cried out, "You are nice fellows to send
after a dead man! you stop a fine time! but do you think I shall wait
for you? Oh, no! I shall go on; you can follow me; you have younger legs
than I."

So saying, Catherine walked on and came up with Fred, who was waiting
for her, because he needed something to eat. "Now," said he, "give me
quickly what you brought." She handed him the dry bread. "Where are the
butter and cheese?" cried her husband. "Oh, Fred, dear," she replied,
"with the butter I have smeared the ruts, and the cheeses will soon
come, but one ran away, and I sent the others after it to call it back!"

"It was silly of you to do so," said Fred, "to grease the roads with
butter, and to roll cheese down the hill!"

"If you had but told me so," said Catherine, vexedly.

So they ate the dry bread together, and presently Fred said, "Catherine,
did you make things fast at home before you came out?"

"No, Fred," said she, "you did not tell me."

"Then go back and lock up the house before we go farther; bring
something to eat with you, and I will stop here for you."

Back went Catherine, thinking, "Ah! Fred will like something else to
eat. Butter and cheese will not please; I will bring with me a bag of
dried apples and a mug of vinegar to drink." When she had put these
things together she bolted the upper half of the door, but the under
door she raised up and carried away on her shoulder, thinking that
certainly the house was well protected if she took such good care of the
door! Catherine walked along now very leisurely, for, said she to
herself, "Fred will have all the longer rest!" and as soon as she
reached him she gave him the door, saying, "There, Fred, now you have
the house door you can take care of the house yourself."

"Oh! my goodness," exclaimed the husband, "what a clever wife I have!
She has bolted the top door, but brought away the bottom part, where any
one can creep through! Now it is too late to go back to the house, but
since you brought the door here you may carry it onward."

"The door I will willingly carry," replied Catherine, "but the apples
and the vinegar will be too heavy, so I shall hang them on the door and
make that carry them!"

Soon after they came into a wood and looked about for the thieves, but
they, could not find them, and when it became dark they climbed up into
a tree to pass the night. But scarcely had they done this when up came
the fellows who carried away what should not go with them, and find
things before they are lost. They laid themselves down right under the
tree upon which Fred and Catherine were, and making a fire, prepared to
share their booty. Then Fred slipped down on the other side, and
collected stones, with which he climbed the tree again, to beat the
thieves with. The stones, however, did them no harm, for the fellows
called out, "Ah! it will soon be morning, for the wind is shaking down
the chestnuts." All this while Catherine still had the door upon her
shoulder, and, as it pressed very heavily, she thought the dried apples
were in fault, and said to Fred, "I must throw down these apples." "No,
Catherine," said he, "not now, they might discover us." "Ah, I must,
though, they are so heavy."

"Well, then, do it in the hangman's name!" cried Fred.

As they fell down the rogues said, "Ah! the birds are pulling off the
leaves."

A little while after Catherine said again, "Oh! Fred, I must pour out
the vinegar, it is so heavy."

"No, no!" said he, "it will discover us."

"Ah! but I must, Fred, it is very heavy," said Catherine.

"Well, then, do it in the hangman's name!" cried Fred.

So she poured out the vinegar, and as it dropped on them the thieves
said, "Ah! the dew is beginning to fall."

Not many minutes after Catherine found the door was still quite as
heavy, and said again to Fred, "Now I must throw down this door."

"No, Catherine," said he, "that would certainly discover us."

"Ah! Fred, but I must; it presses me so terribly."

"No, Catherine dear! do hold it fast," said Fred.

"There--it is gone!" said she.

"Then let it go in the hangman's name!" cried Fred, while it fell
crashing through the branches. The rogues below thought the Evil One was
descending the tree, and ran off, leaving everything behind them. And
early in the morning Fred and his wife descended, and found all their
gold under the tree.

As soon as they got home again, Fred said, "Now, Catherine, you must be
very industrious and work hard."

"Yes, my dear husband," said she; "I will go into the fields to cut
corn." When she was come into the field she said to herself, "Shall I
eat before I cut, or sleep first before I cut?" She determined to eat,
and soon became so sleepy over her meal that when she began to cut she
knew not what she was doing, and cut off half her clothes--gown,
petticoat and all. When, after a long sleep, Catherine awoke, she got up
half-stripped, and said to herself, "Am I myself? or am I not? Ah! I am
not myself." By and by night came on, and Catherine ran into the
village, and, knocking at her husband's window, called, "Fred!"

"What is the matter?" cried he.

"I want to know if Catherine is indoors!" said she.

"Yes, yes!" answered Fred, "she is certainly within, fast asleep."

"Then I am at home," said she, and ran away.

Standing outside Catherine found some thieves, wanting to steal, and
going up to them she said, "I will help you."

At this the thieves were very glad, not doubting but that she knew where
to light on what they sought. But Catherine, stepping in front of the
houses, called out, "Good people, what have you that we can steal?" At
this the thieves said, "You will do for us with a vengeance!" and they
wished they had never come near her; but in order to rid themselves of
her they said, "Just before the village the parson has some roots lying
in his field; go and fetch some."

Catherine went as she was bid, and began to grub for them, and soon made
herself very dirty with the earth. Presently a man came by and saw her,
and stood still, for he thought it was the Evil One who was grovelling
so among the roots. Away he ran into the village to the parson, and told
him the Evil One was in his field, rooting up the turnips. "Ah!
heavens!" said the parson, "I have a lame foot, and I cannot go out to
exorcize him."

"Then I will carry you a-pickaback," said the man, and took him up.

Just as they arrived in the field, Catherine got up and drew herself up
to her full height.

"Oh! it is the Evil One!" cried the parson, and both he and the man
hurried away; and, behold! the parson ran faster with his lame legs,
through fear and terror, than the countryman could with his sound legs!




THE VALIANT LITTLE TAILOR


One fine day a Tailor was sitting on his bench by the window in very
high spirits, sewing away most diligently, and presently up the street
came a country woman, crying, "Good jams for sale! Good jams for sale!"
This cry sounded nice in the Tailor's ears, and, poking his diminutive
head out of the window, he called, "Here, my good woman, just bring your
jams in here!" The woman mounted the three steps up to the Tailor's
house with her large basket, and began to open all the pots together
before him. He looked at them all, held them up to the light, smelt
them, and at last said, "These jams seem to me to be very nice, so you
may weigh me out two ounces, my good woman; I don't object even if you
make it a quarter of a pound." The woman, who hoped to have met with a
good customer, gave him all he wished, and went off grumbling, and in a
very bad temper.

"Now!" exclaimed the Tailor, "Heaven will send me a blessing on this
jam, and give me fresh strength and vigor;" and, taking the bread from
the cupboard, he cut himself a slice the size of the whole loaf, and
spread the jam upon it. "That will taste very nice," said he; "but,
before I take a bite, I will just finish this waistcoat." So he put the
bread on the table and stitched away, making larger and larger stitches
every time for joy. Meanwhile the smell of the jam rose to the ceiling,
where many flies were sitting, and enticed them down, so that soon a
great swarm of them had pitched on the bread. "Holloa! who asked you?"
exclaimed the Tailor, driving away the uninvited visitors; but the
flies, not understanding his words, would not be driven off, and came
back in greater numbers than before. This put the little man in a great
passion, and, snatching up in his anger a bag of cloth, he brought it
down with a merciless swoop upon them. When he raised it again he
counted as many as seven lying dead before him with outstretched legs.
"What a fellow you are!" said he to himself, astonished at his own
bravery. "The whole town must hear of this." In great haste he cut
himself out a band, hemmed it, and then put on it in large letters,
"SEVEN AT ONE BLOW!" "Ah," said he, "not one city alone, the whole world
shall hear it!" and his heart danced with joy, like a puppy-dog's tail.

The little Tailor bound the belt around his body, and made ready to
travel forth into the wide world, feeling the workshop too small for his
great deeds. Before he set out, however, he looked about his house to
see if there were anything he could carry with him, but he found only an
old cheese, which he pocketed, and observing a bird which was caught in
the bushes before the door, he captured it, and put that in his pocket
also. Soon after he set out boldly on his travels; and, as he was light
and active, he felt no fatigue. His road led him up a hill, and when he
arrived at the highest point of it he found a great Giant sitting there,
who was gazing about him very composedly.

But the little Tailor went boldly up, and said, "Good day, friend; truly
you sit there and see the whole world stretched below you. I also am on
my way thither to seek my fortune. Are you willing to go with me?"

The Giant looked with scorn at the little Tailor, and said, "You rascal!
you wretched creature!"

"Perhaps so," replied the Tailor; "but here may be seen what sort of a
man I am;" and, unbuttoning his coat, he showed the Giant his belt. The
Giant read, "SEVEN AT ONE BLOW"; and supposing they were men whom the
Tailor had killed, he felt some respect for him. Still he meant to try
him first; so taking up a pebble, he squeezed it so hard that water
dropped out of it. "Do as well as that," said he to the other, "if you
have the strength."

"If it be nothing harder than that," said the Tailor, "that's child's
play." And, diving into his pocket, he pulled out the cheese and
squeezed it till the whey ran out of it, and said, "Now, I fancy that I
have done better than you."

The Giant wondered what to say, and could not believe it of the little
man; so, catching up another pebble, he flung it so high that it almost
went out of sight, saying, "There, you pigmy, do that if you can."

"Well done," said the Tailor; "but your pebble will fall down again to
the ground. I will throw one up which will not come down;" and, dipping
into his pocket, he took out the bird and threw it into the air. The
bird, glad to be free, flew straight up, and then far away, and did not
come back. "How does that little performance please you, friend?" asked
the Tailor.

"You can throw well," replied the giant; "now truly we will see if you
are able to carry something uncommon." So saying, he took him to a large
oak tree, which lay upon the ground, and said, "If you are strong
enough, now help me to carry this tree out of the forest."

"With pleasure," replied the Tailor; "you may hold the trunk upon your
shoulder, and I will lift the boughs and branches, they are the
heaviest, and carry them."

The Giant took the trunk upon his shoulder, but the Tailor sat down on
one of the branches, and the Giant, who could not look round, was
compelled to carry the whole tree and the Tailor also. He being behind,
was very cheerful, and laughed at the trick, and presently began to sing
the song, "There rode three tailors out at the gate," as if the carrying
of trees were a trifle. The Giant, after he had staggered a very short
distance with his heavy load, could go no further, and called out, "Do
you hear? I must drop the tree." The Tailor, jumping down, quickly
embraced the tree with both arms, as if he had been carrying it, and
said to the Giant, "Are you such a big fellow, and yet cannot you carry
a tree by yourself?"

Then they travelled on further, and as they came to a cherry-tree, the
Giant seized the top of the tree where the ripest cherries hung, and,
bending it down, gave it to the Tailor to hold, telling him to eat. But
the Tailor was far too weak to hold the tree down, and when the Giant
let go, the tree flew up in the air, and the Tailor was taken with it.
He came down on the other side, however, unhurt, and the Giant said,
"What does that mean? Are you not strong enough to hold that twig?" "My
strength did not fail me," said the Tailor; "do you imagine that that
was a hard task for one who has slain seven at one blow? I sprang over
the tree simply because the hunters were shooting down here in the
thicket. Jump after me if you can." The Giant made the attempt, but
could not clear the tree, and stuck fast in the branches; so that in
this affair, too, the Tailor had the advantage.

Then the Giant said, "Since you are such a brave fellow, come with me to
my house, and stop a night with me." The Tailor agreed, and followed
him; and when they came to the cave, there sat by the fire two other
Giants, each with a roast sheep in his hand, of which he was eating. The
Tailor sat down thinking. "Ah, this is very much more like the world
than is my workshop." And soon the Giant pointed out a bed where he
could lie down and go to sleep. The bed, however, was too large for him,
so he crept out of it, and lay down in a corner. When midnight came, and
the Giant fancied the Tailor would be in a sound sleep, he got up, and
taking a heavy iron bar, beat the bed right through at one stroke, and
believed he had thereby given the Tailor his death-blow. At the dawn of
day the Giants went out into the forest, quite forgetting the Tailor,
when presently up he came, quite cheerful, and showed himself before
them. The Giants were frightened, and, dreading he might kill them all,
they ran away in a great hurry.

The Tailor travelled on, always following his nose, and after he had
journeyed some long distance, he came into the courtyard of a royal
palace; and feeling very tired he laid himself down on the ground and
went to sleep. Whilst he lay there the people came and viewed him on all
sides, and read upon his belt, "Seven at one blow." "Ah," they said,
"what does this great warrior here in time of peace? This must be some
valiant hero." So they went and told the King, knowing that, should war
break out, here was a valuable and useful man, whom one ought not to
part with at any price. The King took advice, and sent one of his
courtiers to the Tailor to beg for his fighting services, if he should
be awake. The messenger stopped at the sleeper's side, and waited till
he stretched out his limbs and unclosed his eyes, and then he mentioned
to him his message. "Solely for that reason did I come here," was his
answer; "I am quite willing to enter into the King's service." Then he
was taken away with great honor, and a fine house was appointed him to
dwell in.

The courtiers, however, became jealous of the Tailor, and wished him at
the other end of the world. "What will happen?" said they to one
another. "If we go to war with him, when he strikes out seven will fall
at one stroke, and nothing will be left for us to do." In their anger
they came to the determination to resign, and they went all together to
the King, and asked his permission, saying, "We are not prepared to keep
company with a man who kills seven at one blow." The King was sorry to
lose all his devoted servants for the sake of one, and wished that he
had never seen the Tailor, and would gladly have now been rid of him. He
dared not, however dismiss him, because he feared the Tailor might kill
him and all his subjects, and seat himself upon the throne. For a long
time he deliberated, till finally he came to a decision; and, sending
for the Tailor, he told him that, seeing he was so great a hero, he
wished to beg a favor of him. "In a certain forest in my kingdom," said
the King, "there are two Giants, who, by murder, rapine, fire, and
robbery, have committed great damage, and no one approaches them without
endangering his own life. If you overcome and slay both these Giants, I
will give you my only daughter in marriage, and half of my kingdom for a
dowry: a hundred knights shall accompany you, too, in order to render
you assistance."

"Ah, that is something for a man like me," thought the Tailor to
himself: "a lovely Princess and half a kingdom are not offered to one
every day." "Oh, yes," he replied, "I will soon settle these two Giants,
and a hundred horsemen are not needed for that purpose; he who kills
seven at one blow has no fear of two."

Speaking thus, the little Tailor set out, followed by the hundred
knights, to whom he said, immediately they came to the edge of the
forest, "You must stay here; I prefer to meet these Giants alone."

Then he ran off into the forest, peering about him on all sides; and
after a while he saw the two Giants sound asleep under a tree, snoring
so loudly that the branches above them shook violently. The Tailor, bold
as a lion, filled both his pockets with stones and climbed up the tree.
When he got to the middle of it he crawled along a bough, so that he sat
just above the sleepers, and then he let fall one stone after another
upon the body of one of them. For some time the Giant did not move,
until, at last awaking, he pushed his companion, and said, "Why are you
hitting me?"

"You have been dreaming," he answered; "I did not touch you." So they
laid themselves down again to sleep, and presently the Tailor threw a
stone down upon the other. "What is that?" he cried. "Why are you
knocking me about?"

"I did not touch you; you are dreaming," said the first. So they argued
for a few minutes; but, both being very weary with the day's work, they
soon went to sleep again. Then the Tailor began his fun again, and,
picking out the largest stone, threw it with all his strength upon the
chest of the first Giant. "This is too bad!" he exclaimed; and, jumping
up like a madman, he fell upon his companion, who considered himself
equally injured, and they set to in such good earnest, that they rooted
up trees and beat one another about until they both fell dead upon the
ground. Then the Tailor jumped down, saying, "What a piece of luck they
did not pull up the tree on which I sat, or else I must have jumped on
another like a squirrel, for I am not used to flying." Then he drew his
sword, and, cutting a deep wound in the breast of both, he went to the
horsemen and said, "The deed is done; I have given each his
death-stroke; but it was a tough job, for in their defence they uprooted
trees to protect themselves with; still, all that is of no use when such
an one as I come, who slew seven at one stroke."

"And are you not wounded?" they asked.

"How can you ask me that? they have not injured a hair of my head,"
replied the little man. The knights could hardly believe him, till,
riding into the forest, they found the Giants lying dead, and the
uprooted trees around them.

Then the Tailor demanded the promised reward of the King; but he
repented of his promise, and began to think of some new plan to shake
off the hero. "Before you receive my daughter and the half of my
kingdom," said he to him, "you must execute another brave deed. In the
forest there lives a unicorn that commits great damage, you must first
catch him."

"I fear a unicorn less than I did two Giants! Seven at one blow is my
motto," said the Tailor. So he carried with him a rope and an axe and
went off to the forest, ordering those, who were told to accompany him,
to wait on the outskirts. He had not to hunt long, for soon the unicorn
approached, and prepared to rush at him as if it would pierce him on the
spot. "Steady! steady!" he exclaimed, "that is not done so easily"; and,
waiting till the animal was close upon him, he sprang nimbly behind a
tree. The unicorn, rushing with all its force against the tree, stuck
its horn so fast in the trunk that it could not pull it out again, and
so it remained prisoner.

"Now I have got him," said the Tailor; and coming from behind the tree,
he first bound the rope around its neck, and then cutting the horn out
of the tree with his axe, he arranged everything, and, leading the
unicorn, brought it before the King.

The King, however, would not yet deliver over the promised reward, and
made a third demand, that, before the marriage, the Tailor should
capture a wild boar which did much damage, and he should have the
huntsmen to help him. "With pleasure," was the reply; "it is a mere
nothing." The huntsmen, however, he left behind, to their great joy, for
this wild boar had already so often hunted them, that they saw no fun in
now hunting it. As soon as the boar perceived the Tailor, it ran at him
with gaping mouth and glistening teeth, and tried to throw him down on
the ground; but our flying hero sprang into a little chapel which stood
near, and out again at a window, on the other side, in a moment. The
boar ran after him, but he, skipping around, closed the door behind it,
and there the furious beast was caught, for it was much too unwieldy and
heavy to jump out of the window.

The Tailor now ordered the huntsmen up, that they might see his prisoner
with their own eyes; but our hero presented himself before the King, who
was obliged at last, whether he would or no, to keep his word, and
surrender his daughter and the half of his kingdom.

If he had known that it was no warrior, but only a Tailor, who stood
before him, it would have grieved him still more.

So the wedding was celebrated with great magnificence, though with
little rejoicing, and out of a Tailor there was made a King.

A short time afterwards the young Queen heard her husband talking in his
sleep, saying, "Boy, make me a coat, and then stitch up these trowsers,
or I will lay the yard-measure over your shoulders!" Then she understood
of what condition her husband was, and complained in the morning to her
father, and begged he would free her from her husband, who was nothing
more than a tailor. The King comforted her by saying, "This night leave
your chamber-door open: my servants shall stand outside, and when he is
asleep they shall come in, bind him, and carry him away to a ship, which
shall take him out into the wide world." The wife was pleased with the
proposal; but the King's armor-bearer, who had overheard all, went to
the young King and revealed the whole plot. "I will soon put an end to
this affair," said the valiant little Tailor. In the evening at their
usual time they went to bed, and when his wife thought he slept she got
up, opened the door, and laid herself down again.

The Tailor, however, only pretended to be asleep, and began to call out
in a loud voice, "Boy, make me a coat, and then stitch up these
trowsers, or I will lay the yard-measure about your shoulders. Seven
have I slain with one blow, two Giants have I killed, a unicorn have I
led captive, and a wild boar have I caught, and shall I be afraid of
those who stand outside my room?"

When the men heard these words spoken by the Tailor, a great fear came
over them, and they ran away as if wild huntsmen were following them;
neither afterwards dared any man venture to oppose him. Thus the Tailor
became a King, and so he lived for the rest of his life.




LITTLE RED CAP


Many years ago there lived a dear little girl who was beloved by every
one who knew her; but her grand-mother was so very fond of her that she
never felt she could think and do enough to please this dear
grand-daughter, and she presented the little girl with a red silk cap,
which suited her so well, that she would never wear anything else, and
so was called Little Red-Cap.

One day Red-Cap's mother said to her, "Come, Red-Cap, here is a nice
piece of meat, and a bottle of wine: take these to your grandmother; she
is weak and ailing, and they will do her good. Be there before she gets
up; go quietly and carefully."

The grandmother lived far away in the wood, a long walk from the
village, and as Little Red-Cap came among the trees she met a Wolf; but
she did not know what a wicked animal it was, and so she was not at all
frightened. "Good morning, Little Red-Cap," he said.

"Thank you, Mr. Wolf," said she.

"Where are you going so early, Little Red-Cap?"

"To my grandmother's," she answered.

"And what are you carrying in that basket?"

"Some wine and meat," she replied. "We baked the meat yesterday, so that
grandmother, who is very weak, might have a nice strengthening meal."

"And where does your grandmother live?" asked the Wolf.

"Oh, quite twenty minutes walk further in the forest. The cottage stands
under three great oak trees; and close by are some nut bushes, by which
you will at once know it."

The Wolf was thinking to himself, "She is a nice tender thing, and will
taste better than the old woman; I must act cleverly, that I may make a
meal of both."

[Illustration: THE VALIANT LITTLE TAILOR.]

Presently he came up again to Little Red-Cap, and said, "Just look at
the beautiful flowers which grow around you; why do you not look about
you? I believe you don't hear how sweetly the birds are singing. You
walk as if you were going to school; see how cheerful everything is
about you in the forest."

And Little Red-Cap opened her eyes; and when she saw how the sunbeams
glanced and danced through the trees, and what bright flowers were
blooming in her path, she thought, "If I take my grandmother a fresh
nosegay, she will be very much pleased; and it is so very early that I
can, even then, get there in good time;" and running into the forest,
she looked about for flowers. But when she had once begun she did not
know how to leave off, and kept going deeper and deeper amongst the
trees looking for some still more beautiful flower. The Wolf, however,
ran straight to the house of the old grandmother, and knocked at the
door.

"Who's there?" asked the old lady.

"Only Little Red-Cap, bringing you some meat and wine; please open the
door," answered the Wolf. "Lift up the latch," cried the grandmother; "I
am much too ill to get up myself."

So the Wolf lifted the latch, and the door flew open; and without a
word, he jumped on to the bed, and gobbled up the poor old lady. Then he
put on her clothes, and tied her night-cap over his head; got into the
bed, and drew the blankets over him. All this time Red-Cap was gathering
flowers; and when she had picked as many as she could carry, she thought
of her grandmother, and hurried to the cottage. She wondered greatly to
find the door open; and when she got into the room, she began to feel
very ill, and exclaimed, "How sad I feel! I wish I had not come to-day."
Then she said, "Good morning," but received no reply; so she went up to
the bed, and drew back the curtains, and there lay her grandmother, as
she imagined, with the cap drawn half over her eyes, and looking very
fierce.

"Oh, grandmother, what great ears you have!" she said.

"All the better to hear you with," was the reply.

"And what great eyes you have!"

"All the better to see you with."

"And what great hands you have!"

"All the better to touch you with."

"But, grandmother, what very great teeth you have!"

"All the better to eat you with;" and hardly were the words spoken when
the Wolf made a jump out of bed, and swallowed up poor Little Red-Cap
also.

As soon as the Wolf had thus satisfied his hunger, he laid himself down
again on the bed, and went to sleep and snored very loudly. A huntsman
passing by overheard him, and said, "How loudly that old woman snores! I
must see if anything is the matter."

So he went into the cottage; and when he came to the bed, he saw the
Wolf sleeping in it. "What! are you here, you old rascal? I have been
looking for you," exclaimed he; and taking up his gun, he shot the old
Wolf through the head.

But it is also said that the story ends in a different manner; for that
one day, when Red-Cap was taking some presents to her grandmother, a
Wolf met her, and wanted to mislead her; but she went straight on, and
told her grandmother that she had met a Wolf, who said good day, and who
looked so hungrily out of his great eyes, as if he would have eaten her
up had she not been on the high-road.

So her grandmother said, "We will shut the door, and then he cannot get
in." Soon after, up came the Wolf, who tapped, and exclaimed, "I am
Little Red-Cap, grandmother; I have some roast meat for you." But they
kept quite quiet, and did not open the door; so the Wolf, after looking
several times round the house, at last jumped on the roof, thinking to
wait till Red-Cap went home in the evening, and then to creep after her
and eat her in the darkness. The old woman, however, saw what the
villain intended. There stood before the door a large stone trough, and
she said to Little Red-Cap, "Take this bucket, dear: yesterday I boiled
some meat in this water, now pour it into the stone trough." Then the
Wolf sniffed the smell of the meat, and his mouth watered, and he wished
very much to taste. At last he stretched his neck too far over, so that
he lost his balance, and fell down from the roof, right into the great
trough below, and there he was drowned.




THE GOLDEN GOOSE


There was once a man who had three sons. The youngest was called
Dummerly, and was on all occasions scorned and ill-treated by the whole
family. It happened that the eldest took it into his head one day to go
into the forest to cut wood; and his mother gave him a delicious meat
pie and a bottle of wine to take with him, that he might sustain himself
at his work. As he went into the forest, a little old man bid him good
day, and said, "Give me a little bit of meat from your plate, and a
little wine out of your flask; I am very hungry and thirsty." But this
clever young man said, "Give you my meat and wine! No, I thank you;
there would not be enough left for me;" and he went on his way. He soon
began to chop down a tree; but he had not worked long before he missed
his stroke, and cut himself, and was obliged to go home and have the
wound bound up. Now, it was the little old man who caused him this
mischief.

Next the second son went out to work; and his mother gave him, too, a
meat pie and a bottle of wine. And the same little old man encountered
him also, and begged him for something to eat and drink. But he, too,
thought himself extremely clever, and said, "Whatever you get, I shall
be without; so go your way!" The little man made sure that he should
have his reward; and the second stroke that he struck at a tree, hit him
on the leg, so that he too was compelled to go home.

Then Dummerly said, "Father, I should like to go and cut fuel too." But
his father replied, "Your brothers have both maimed themselves; you had
better stop at home, for you know nothing of the job." But Dummerly was
very urgent; and at last his father said, "Go your way; you will be
wiser when you have suffered for your foolishness." And his mother gave
him only some dry bread, and a bottle of sour ale; but when he went into
the forest, he met the little old man, who said, "Give me some meat and
drink, for I am very hungry and thirsty." Dummerly said, "I have nothing
but dry bread and sour beer; if that will do for you, we will sit down
and eat it together." So they sat down, and when the lad took out his
bread, behold it was turned into a splendid meat pie, and his sour beer
became delicious wine! They ate and drank heartily, and when they had
finished, the little man said, "As you have a kind heart, and have been
willing to share everything with me I will bring good to you. There
stands an old tree; chop it down, and you will find something at the
root." Then he took his leave and went his way.

Dummerly set to work, and cut down the tree; and when it fell, he
discovered in a hollow under the roots a goose with plumage of pure
gold. He took it up, and went on to an inn, where he proposed sleep for
the night. The landlord had three daughters, and when they saw the
goose, they were very curious to find out what this wonderful bird could
be, and wished very much to pluck one of the feathers out of its tail.
At last the eldest said, "I must and will have a feather." So she waited
till his back was turned, and then caught hold of the goose by the wing;
but to her great surprise, there she stuck, for neither hand nor finger
could she pull away again. Presently in came the second sister, and
thought to have a feather too; but the instant she touched her sister,
there she too hung fast. At last came the third, and desired a feather;
but the other two cried out, "Keep away! for heaven's sake, keep away!"
However, she did not understand what they meant. "If they are there,"
thought she, "I may as well be there too," so she went up to them. But
the moment she touched her sisters she stuck fast, and hung to the goose
as they did. And so they abode with the goose all night.

The next morning Dummerly carried off the goose under his arm, and took
no heed of the three girls, but went out with them sticking fast behind;
and wherever he journeyed, the three were obliged to follow, whether
they wished or not, as fast as their legs could carry them.

In the middle of a field the parson met them; and when he saw the
procession, he said, "Are you not ashamed of yourselves, you bold girls,
to run after the young man like that over the fields? Is that proper
behavior?"

Then he took the youngest by the hand to lead her away; but the moment
he touched her he, too, hung fast, and followed in the procession.

Presently up came the clerk; and when he saw his master, the parson,
running after the three girls, he was greatly surprised, and said,
"Hollo! hollo! your reverence! whither so fast! There is a christening
to-day."

Then he ran up, and caught him by the gown, and instantly he was fast
too.

As the five were thus trudging along, one after another, they met two
laborers with their mattocks coming from work; and the parson called out
to them to set him free. But hardly had they touched him, when they,
too, joined the ranks, and so made seven, all running after Dummerly and
his goose.

At last they came to a city, where reigned a King who had an only
daughter. The princess was of so thoughtful and serious a turn of mind
that no one could make her laugh; and the King had announced to all the
world that whoever could make her laugh should have her for his wife.
When the young man heard this, he went to her with the goose and all its
followers; and as soon as she saw the seven all hanging together, and
running about, treading on each other's heels, she could not help
bursting into a long and loud laugh.

Then Dummerly claimed her for his bride; the wedding took place, and he
was heir to the kingdom, and lived long and happily with his wife.




BEARSKIN


There was once upon a time a young fellow who enlisted for a soldier,
and became so brave and courageous that he was always in the front ranks
when it rained blue beans.[1] As long as the war lasted all went well,
but when peace was concluded he received his discharge, and the captain
told him he might go where he liked. His parents meanwhile had died, and
as he had no longer any home to go to he paid a visit to his brothers,
and asked them to give him shelter until war broke out again. His
brothers, however, were hard-hearted, and said, "What could we do with
you? We could make nothing of you; see to what you have brought
yourself"; and so turned a deaf ear. The poor Soldier had nothing but
his musket left; so he mounted this on his shoulder and set out on a
tramp. By and by he came to a great heath with nothing on it but a
circle of trees, under which he sat down, sorrowfully considering his
fate. "I have no money," thought he; "I have learnt nothing but
soldiering, and now, since peace is concluded, there is no need of me. I
see well enough I shall have to starve." All at once he heard a
rustling, and as he looked round he perceived a stranger standing before
him, dressed in a gray coat, who looked very stately, but had an ugly
cloven foot. "I know quite well what you need," said this being; "gold
and other possessions you shall have, as much as you can spend; but
first I must know whether you are a coward or not, that I may not spend
my money foolishly."

"A soldier and a coward!" replied the other, "that cannot be; you may
put me to any proof."

"Well, then," replied the stranger, "look behind you."

[Footnote 1: Small shot.]

The Soldier turned and saw a huge bear, which eyed him very ferociously.
"Oho!" cried he, "I will tickle your nose for you, that you shall no
longer be able to grumble"; and, raising his musket, he shot the bear in
the forehead, so that he tumbled in a heap upon the ground, and did not
stir afterward. Thereupon the stranger said, "I see quite well that you
are not wanting in courage; but there is yet one condition which you
must fulfil." "If it does not interfere with my future happiness," said
the Soldier, who had remarked who it was that addressed him; "if it does
not interfere with that, I shall not hesitate."

"That you must see about yourself!" said the stranger. "For the next
seven years you must not wash yourself, nor comb your hair or beard,
neither must you cut your nails nor say one paternoster. Then I will
give you this coat and mantle, which you must wear during these seven
years; and if you die within that time you are mine, but if you live you
are rich, and free all your life long."

The Soldier reflected for awhile on his great necessities, and,
remembering how often he had braved death, he at length consented, and
ventured to accept the offer. Thereupon the Evil One pulled off the gray
coat, handed it to the soldier, and said, "If you at any time search in
the pockets of your coat when you have it on, you will always find your
hand full of money." Then also he pulled off the skin of the bear, and
said, "That shall be your cloak and your bed; you must sleep on it, and
not dare to lie in any other bed, and on this account you shall be
called 'Bearskin.'" Immediately the Evil One disappeared.

The Soldier now put on the coat, and dipped his hands into the pockets,
to assure himself of the reality of the transaction. Then he hung the
bearskin around himself, and went about the world chuckling at his good
luck, and buying whatever suited his fancy which money could purchase.
For the first year his appearance was not very remarkable, but in the
second he began to look quite a monster. His hair covered almost all his
face, his beard appeared like a piece of dirty cloth, his nails were
claws, and his countenance was so covered with dirt that one might have
grown cresses upon it if one had sown seed! Whoever looked at him ran
away; but because he gave the poor in every place gold coin they prayed
that he might not die during the seven years; and because he paid
liberally everywhere, he found a night's lodging without difficulty. In
the fourth year he came to an inn where the landlord would not take him
in, and refused even to give him a place in his stables, lest the horses
should be frightened and become restive. However, when Bearskin put his
hand into his pocket and drew it out full of gold ducats the landlord
yielded the point, and gave him a place in the outbuildings, but not
till he had promised that he would not show himself, for fear the inn
should gain a bad name.

While Bearskin sat by himself in the evening, wishing from his heart
that the seven years were over, he heard in the corner a loud groan. Now
the old Soldier had a compassionate heart, so he opened the door and saw
an old man weeping violently and wringing his hands. Bearskin stepped
nearer, but the old man jumped up and tried to escape; but when he
recognized a human voice he let himself be persuaded, and by kind words
and soothings on the part of the old Soldier he at length disclosed the
cause of his distress. His property had dwindled away by degrees, and he
and his daughters would have to starve, for he was so poor that he had
not the money to pay the host, and would therefore be put into prison.

"If you have no care except that," replied Bearskin, "I have money
enough"; and causing the landlord to be called, he paid him, and put a
purse full of gold besides into the pocket of the old man. The latter,
when he saw himself released from his troubles, knew not how to be
sufficiently grateful, and said to the Soldier, "Come with me; my
daughters are all wonders of beauty, so choose one of them for a wife.
When they hear what you have done for me they will not refuse you. You
appear certainly an uncommon man, but they will soon put you to rights."

This speech pleased Bearskin, and he went with the old man. As soon as
the eldest daughter saw him, she was so terrified at his countenance
that she shrieked out and ran away. The second one stopped and looked at
him from head to foot; but at last she said, "How can I take a husband
who has not a bit of a human countenance? The grizzly bear would have
pleased me better who came to see us once, and gave himself out as a
man, for he wore a hussar's hat, and had white gloves on besides."

But the youngest daughter said, "Dear father, this must be a good man
who has assisted you out of your troubles; if you have promised him a
bride for the service your word must be kept"

It was a pity the man's face was covered with dirt and hair, else one
would have seen how glad at heart these words made him. Bearskin took a
ring off his finger, broke it in two, and, giving the youngest daughter
one half, he kept the other for himself. On her half he wrote his name,
and on his own he wrote hers, and begged her to preserve it carefully.
Thereupon he took leave, saying, "For three years longer I must wander
about; if I come back again, then we will celebrate our wedding; but if
I do not, you are free, for I shall be dead. But pray to God that he
will preserve my life."

When he was gone the poor bride clothed herself in black, and whenever
she thought of her bridegroom burst into tears. From her sisters she
received nothing but scorn and mocking. "Pay great attention when he
shakes your hand," said the eldest, "and you will see his beautiful
claws!" "Take care!" said the second, "bears are fond of sweets, and if
you please him he will eat you up, perhaps!" "You must mind and do his
will," continued the eldest, "or he will begin growling!" And the second
daughter said further, "But the wedding will certainly be merry, for
bears dance well!" The bride kept silence, and would not be drawn from
her purpose by all these taunts; and meanwhile Bearskin wandered about
in the world, doing good where he could, and giving liberally to the
poor, for which they prayed heartily for him. At length the last day of
the seven years approached, and Bearskin went and sat down again on the
heath beneath the circle of trees. In a very short time the wind
whistled, and the Evil One presently stood before him and looked at him
with a vexed face. He threw the Soldier his old coat and demanded his
gray one back. "We have not got so far as that yet," replied Bearskin;
"you must clean me first." Then the Evil One had, whether he liked it or
no, to fetch water, wash the old Soldier, comb his hair out, and cut his
nails. This done, he appeared again like a brave warrior, and indeed was
much handsomer than before.

As soon as the Evil One had disappeared, Bearskin became quite
light-hearted; and going into the nearest town he bought a fine velvet
coat, and hired a carriage drawn by four white horses, in which he was
driven to the house of his bride. Nobody knew him; the father took him
for some celebrated general, and led him into the room where his
daughters were. He was compelled to sit down between the two eldest, and
they offered him wine, and heaped his plate with the choicest morsels;
for they thought they had never seen any one so handsome before. But the
bride sat opposite to him dressed in black, neither opening her eyes nor
speaking a word. At length the Soldier asked the father if he would give
him one of his daughters to wife, and immediately the two elder sisters
arose, and ran to their chambers to dress themselves out in their most
becoming clothes, for each thought she should be chosen. Meanwhile the
stranger, as soon as he found himself alone with his bride, pulled out
the half of the ring and threw it into a cup of wine, which he handed
across the table. She took it, and as soon as she had drunk it and seen
the half ring lying at the bottom her heart beat rapidly, and she
produced the other half, which she wore round her neck on a riband. She
held them together, and they joined each other exactly, and the stranger
said, "I am your bridegroom, whom you first saw as Bearskin; but through
God's mercy I have regained my human form, and am myself once more."
With these words he embraced and kissed her; and at the same time the
two eldest sisters entered in full costume. As soon as they saw that the
very handsome man had fallen to the share of their youngest sister, and
heard that he was the same as "Bearskin," they ran out of the house full
of rage and jealousy.




CINDERELLA


The wife of a rich man fell sick: and when she felt that her end drew
nigh, she called her only daughter to her bedside, and said, "Always be
a good girl, and I will look down from heaven and watch over you." Soon
afterwards she shut her eyes and died, and was buried in the garden; and
the little girl went every day to her grave and wept, and was always
good and kind to all about her. And the snow spread a beautiful white
covering over the grave; but by the time the sun had melted it away
again, her father had married another wife. This new wife had two
daughters of her own: they were fair in face but foul at heart, and it
was now a sorry time for the poor little girl. "What does the
good-for-nothing thing want in the parlor?" said they; and they took
away her fine clothes, and gave her an old frock to put on, and laughed
at her and turned her into the kitchen.

Then she was forced to do hard work; to rise early, before daylight, to
bring the water, to make the fire, to cook and to wash. She had no bed
to lie down on, but was made to lie by the hearth among the ashes, and
they called her Cinderella.

It happened once that her father was going to the fair, and asked his
wife's daughters what he should bring to them. "Fine clothes," said the
first. "Pearls and diamonds," said the second. "Now, child," said he to
his own daughter, "what will you have?" "The first sprig, dear father,
that rubs against your hat on your way home," said she. Then he bought
for the two first the fine clothes and pearls and diamonds they had
asked for: and on his way home, as he rode through a green copse, a
sprig of hazel brushed against him, so he broke it off and when he got
home he gave it to his daughter. Then she took it, and went to her
mother's grave and planted it there, and cried so much that it was
watered with her tears; and there it grew and became a fine tree, and
soon a little bird came and built its nest upon the tree, and talked
with her and watched over her, and brought her whatever she wished for.

Now it happened that the king of the land held a feast which was to last
three days, and out of those who came to it his son was to choose a
bride for himself; and Cinderella's two sisters were asked to come. So
they called Cinderella, and said, "Now, comb our hair, brush our shoes,
and tie our sashes for us, for we are going to dance at the king's
feast." Then she did as she was told, but when all was done she could
not help crying, for she thought to herself, she would have liked to go
to the dance too, and at last she begged her mother very hard to let her
go, "You! Cinderella?" said she; "you who have nothing to wear, no
clothes at all, and who cannot even dance--you want to go to the ball?"
And when she kept on begging, to get rid of her, she said at last, "I
will throw this basinful of peas into the ash heap, and if you have
picked them all out in two hours' time you shall go to the feast too."
Then she threw the peas into the ashes; but the little maiden ran out at
the back door into the garden, and cried out--

  "Hither, thither, through the sky, turtle-doves and linnets, fly!
  Blackbird, thrush, and chaffinch gay, hither, thither, haste away!
  One and all, come, help me quick! haste ye, haste ye--pick, pick,
  pick!"

Then first came two white doves; and next two turtle-doves; and after
them all the little birds under heaven came, and the little doves
stooped their heads down and set to work, pick, pick, pick; and then the
others began to pick, pick, pick, and picked out all the good grain and
put it into a dish, and left the ashes. At the end of one hour the work
was done, and all flew out again at the windows. Then she brought the
dish to her mother. But the mother said, "No, no! indeed, you have no
clothes and cannot dance; you shall not go." And when Cinderella begged
very hard to go, she said, "If you can in one hour's time pick two of
these dishes of pease out of the ashes, you shall go too." So she shook
two dishes of peas into the ashes; but the little maiden went out into
the garden at the back of the house, and called as before and all the
birds came flying, and in half an hour's time all was done, and out they
flew again. And then Cinderella took the dishes to her mother, rejoicing
to think that she should now go to the ball. But her mother said, "It is
all of no use, you cannot go; you have no clothes, and cannot dance; and
you would only put us to shame;" and off she went with her two daughters
to the feast.

Now when all were gone, and nobody left at home, Cinderella went
sorrowfully and sat down under the hazel-tree, and cried out--

  "Shake, shake, hazel-tree, gold and silver over me!"

Then her friend the bird flew out of the tree and brought a gold and
silver dress for her, and slippers of spangled silk; and she put them
on, and followed her sisters to the feast. But they did not know her,
she looked so fine and beautiful in her rich clothes.

The king's son soon came up to her, and took her by the hand and danced
with her and no one else; and he never left her hand, but when any one
else came to ask her to dance, he said, "This lady is dancing with me."
Thus they danced till a late hour of the night, and then she wanted to
go home; and the king's son said, "I shall go and take care of you to
your home," for he wanted to see where the beautiful maid lived. But she
slipped away from him unawares, and ran off towards home, and the prince
followed her; then she jumped up into the pigeon-house and shut the
door. So he waited till her father came home, and told him that the
unknown maiden who had been at the feast had hidden herself in the
pigeon-house. But when they had broken open the door they found no one
within; and as they came back into the house, Cinderella lay, as she
always did, in her dirty frock by the ashes; for she had run as quickly
as she could through the pigeon-house and on to the hazel-tree, and had
there taken off her beautiful clothes, and laid them beneath the tree,
that the bird might carry them away; and had seated herself amid the
ashes again in her little old frock.

The next day, when the feast was again held, and her father, mother and
sisters were gone, Cinderella went to the hazel-tree, and all happened
as the evening before.

The king's son, who was waiting for her, took her by the hand and danced
with her; and, when any one asked her to dance, he said as before, "This
lady is dancing with me." When night came she wanted to go home; and the
king's son went with her, but she sprang away from him all at once into
the garden behind her father's house. In this garden stood a fine large
pear-tree; and Cinderella jumped up into it without being seen. Then the
king's son waited till her father came home, and said to him, "The
unknown lady has slipped away, and I think she must have sprung into the
pear-tree." The father ordered an axe to be brought, and they cut down
the tree, but found no one upon it. And when they came back into the
kitchen, there lay Cinderella in the ashes as usual; for she had slipped
down on the other side of the tree, and carried her beautiful clothes
back to the bird at the hazel-tree, and then put on her little old
frock.

The third day, when her father and mother and sisters were gone, she
went again into the garden, and said--

  "Shake, shake, hazel-tree, gold and silver over me!"

Then her kind friend the bird brought a dress still finer than the
former one, and slippers which were all of gold; and the king's son
danced with her alone, and when any one else asked her to dance, he
said, "This lady is my partner." Now when night came she wanted to go
home; and the king's son would go with her, but she managed to slip away
from him, though in such a hurry that she dropped her left golden
slipper upon the stairs.

So the prince took the shoe, and went the next day to the king, his
father, and said, "I will take for my wife the lady that this golden
shoe fits."

Then both the sisters were overjoyed to hear this; for they had
beautiful feet, and had no doubt that they could wear the golden
slipper. The eldest went first into the room where the slipper was, and
wanted to try it on, and the mother stood by. But her big toe could not
go into it, and the shoe was altogether much too small for her. Then the
mother said, "Never mind, cut it off. When you are queen you will not
care about toes; you will not want to go on foot." So the silly girl cut
her big toe off, and squeezed the shoe on, and went to the king's son.
Then he took her for his bride, and rode away with her.

But on their way home they had to pass by the hazel-tree that Cinderella
had planted, and there sat a little dove on the branch, singing--

  "Back again! back again! look to the shoe!
  The shoe is too small, and not made for you!
  Prince! prince! look again for thy bride,
  For she's not the true one that sits by thy side."

Then the prince looked at her foot, and saw by the blood that streamed
from it what a trick she had played him. So he brought the false bride
back to her home, and said, "This is not the right bride; let the other
sister try and put on the slipper." Then she went into the room and got
her foot into the shoe, all but the heel, which was too large. But her
mother squeezed it in till the blood came, and took her to the king's
son; and he rode away with her. But when they came to the hazel-tree,
the little dove sat there still, and sang as before. Then the king's son
looked down, and saw that the blood streamed from the shoe. So he
brought her back again also. "This is not the true bride," said he to
the father; "have you no other daughters?"

Then Cinderella came and she took her clumsy shoe off, and put on the
golden slipper, and it fitted as if it had been made for her. And when
he drew near and looked at her face the prince knew her, and said, "This
is the right bride."

Then he took Cinderella on his horse and rode away. And when they came
to the hazel-tree the white dove sang--

  "Prince! prince! take home thy bride,
  For she is the true one that sits by thy side!"




FAITHFUL JOHN


Once upon a time there lived an old King, who fell very sick, and
thought he was lying upon his death-bed; so he said, "Let faithful John
come to me." This faithful John was his affectionate servant, and was so
called because he had been true to him all his lifetime. As soon as John
came to the bedside, the King said, "My faithful John, I feel that my
end approaches, and I have no other care than about my son, who is still
so young that he cannot always guide himself aright. If you do not
promise to instruct him in everything he ought to know, and to be his
guardian, I cannot close my eyes in peace." Then John answered, "I will
never leave him; I will always serve him truly, even if it costs me my
life." So the old King was comforted, and said, "Now I can die in peace.
After my death you must show him all the chambers, halls, and vaults in
the castle, and all the treasures which are in them; but the last room
in the long corridor you must not show him, for in it hangs the portrait
of the daughter of the King of the Golden Palace; if he sees her
picture, he will conceive a great love for her, and will fall down in a
swoon, and on her account undergo great perils, therefore you must keep
him away." The faithful John pressed his master's hand again in token of
assent, and soon after the King laid his head upon the pillow and
expired.

After the old King had been borne to his grave, the faithful John
related to the young King all that his father had said upon his
death-bed, and declared, "All this I will certainly fulfil; I will be as
true to you as I was to him, if it costs me my life." When the time of
mourning was passed, John said to the young King, "It is now time for
you to see your inheritance; I will show you your paternal castle." So
he led the King all over it, upstairs and downstairs, and showed him all
the riches, and all the splendid chambers; only one room he did not
open, containing the perilous portrait, which was so placed that one saw
it directly the door was opened, and, moreover, it was so beautifully
painted that one thought it breathed and moved; nothing in all the world
could be more lifelike or more beautiful. The young King remarked,
however, that the faithful John always passed by one door, so he asked,
"Why do you not open that one?" "There is something in it," he replied,
"which will frighten you."

But the King said, "I have seen all the rest of the castle, and I will
know what is in there," and he went and tried to open the door by force.
The faithful John pulled him back, and said, "I promised your father
before he died that you should not see the contents of that room; it
would bring great misfortunes both upon you and me."

"Oh, no," replied the young King, "if I do not go in it will be my
certain ruin; I should have no peace night nor day until I had seen it
with my own eyes. Now I will not stir from the place till you unlock the
door."

Then the faithful John saw that it was of no use talking; so, with a
heavy heart and many sighs, he picked the key out of the great bunch.
When he had opened the door, he went in first, and thought he would
cover up the picture, that the King should not see it; but it was of no
use, for the King stepped upon tiptoes and looked over his shoulder; and
as soon as he saw the portrait of the maiden, which was so beautiful and
glittered with precious stones, he fell down on the ground insensible.
The faithful John lifted him up and carried him to his bed, and thought
with great concern, "Mercy on us! the misfortune has happened; what will
come of it?" and he gave the young King wine until he came to himself.
The first words he spoke were, "Who does that beautiful picture
represent?" "That is the daughter of the King of the Golden Palace," was
the reply.

"Then," said the King, "my love for her is so great that if all the
leaves on the trees had tongues, they should not gainsay it; my life is
set upon the search for her. You are my faithful John, you must
accompany me."

The trusty servant deliberated for a long while how to set about this
business, for it was very difficult to get into the presence of the
King's daughter. At last he bethought himself of a way, and said to the
King, "Everything which she has around her is of gold--chairs, tables,
dishes, bowls, and all the household utensils. Among your treasures are
five tons of gold; let one of the goldsmiths of your kingdom manufacture
vessels and utensils of all kinds therefrom--all kinds of birds, and
wild and wonderful beasts, such as will please her, then we will travel
with these, and try our luck." Then the King summoned all his
goldsmiths, who worked day and night until many very beautiful things
were ready. When all had been placed on board a ship, the faithful John
put on merchant's clothes, and the King likewise, so that they might
travel quite unknown. Then they sailed over the wide sea, and sailed
away until they came to the city where dwelt the daughter of the King of
the Golden Palace.

The faithful John told the King to remain in the ship, and wait for him.
"Perhaps," said he, "I shall bring the King's daughter with me;
therefore take care that all is in order, and set out the golden vessels
and adorn the whole ship." Thereupon John placed in a napkin some of the
golden cups, stepped upon land, and went straight to the King's palace.
When he came into the castle yard, a beautiful maid stood by the brook,
who had two golden pails in her hand, drawing water; and when she had
filled them and had turned round, she saw a strange man, and asked who
he was. Then John answered, "I am a merchant"; and opening his napkin he
showed her its contents. Then she exclaimed, "Oh, what beautiful golden
things!" and, setting the pails down, she looked at the cups one after
another, and said, "The King's daughter must see these; she is so
pleased with anything made of gold that she will buy all these." And
taking him by the hand, she led him in; for she was the lady's maid.
When the King's daughter saw the golden cups, she was much pleased, and
said, "They are so finely worked that I will purchase them all." But the
faithful John replied, "I am only the servant of a rich merchant; what I
have here is nothing in comparison to those which my master has in his
ship, than which nothing more delicate or costly has ever been worked in
gold." Then the King's daughter wished to have them all brought; but he
said, "It would take many days, and so great is the quantity that your
palace has not halls enough in it to place them around." Then her
curiosity and desire were still more excited, and at last she said,
"Take me to the ship; I will go myself and look at your master's
treasure."

The faithful John conducted her to the ship with great joy, and the
King, when he beheld her, saw that her beauty was still greater than the
picture had represented, and thought nothing else but that his heart
would jump out of his mouth. Presently she stepped on board, and the
King conducted her below; but the faithful John remained on deck by the
steersman, and told him to unmoor the ship and put on all the sail he
could, that it might fly as a bird through the air. Meanwhile the King
showed the Princess all the golden treasures--the dishes, cups, bowls,
the birds, the wild and wonderful beasts. Many hours passed away while
she looked at everything, and in her joy she did not remark that the
ship sailed on and on. As soon as she had looked at the last, and
thanked the merchant, she wished to depart. But when she came on deck,
she perceived that they were upon the high sea, far from the shore, and
were hastening on with all sail. "Ah," she exclaimed in affright, "I am
betrayed; I am carried off and taken away in the power of a strange
merchant. I would rather die!"

But the King, taking her by the hand, said, "I am not a merchant, but a
king, thine equal in birth. It is true that I have carried thee off; but
that is because of my overwhelming love for thee. Dost thou know that
when I first saw the portrait of thy beauteous face I fell down in a
swoon before it?" When the King's daughter heard these words, she was
reassured, and her heart was inclined toward him, so that she willingly
became his bride. While they thus went on their voyage on the high sea,
it happened that the faithful John, as he sat on the deck of the ship,
playing music, saw three crows in the air, who came flying toward them.
He stopped playing, and listened to what they were saying to each other,
for he understood them perfectly. The first one exclaimed, "There he is,
carrying home the daughter of the King of the Golden Palace." "But he is
not home yet," replied the second. "But he has her," said the third;
"she is sitting by him in the ship." Then the first began again, and
exclaimed, "What matters that? When they go on shore a fox-colored horse
will spring toward them, on which he will mount; and as soon as he is on
it, it will jump up with him into the air, so that he will never again
see his bride." The second one asked, "Is there no escape?" "Oh, yes, if
another mounts behind quickly, and takes out the firearms which are in
the holster, and with them shoots the horse dead, then the young King
will be saved. But who knows that? And if any one does know it, and
tells him, such a one will be turned to stone from the toe to the knee."
Then the second spoke again, "I know still more: if the horse should be
killed, the young King will not then retain his bride; for when they
come into the castle a beautiful bridal shirt will lie there upon a
dish, and seem to be woven of gold and silver, but it is nothing but
sulphur and pitch, and if he puts it on it will burn him to his marrow
and bones." Then the third Crow asked, "Is there no escape?" "Oh, yes,"
answered the second, "if some one takes up the shirt with his glove on,
and throws it into the fire, so that it is burnt, the young King will be
saved. But what does that signify? Whoever knows it, and tells him, will
be turned to stone from his knee to his heart." Then the third Crow
spoke: "I know still more: even if the bridal shirt be consumed, still
the young King will not retain his bride. For if, after the wedding, a
dance is held, while the young Queen dances she will suddenly turn pale,
and fall down as if dead; and if some one does not raise her up, and
take three drops of blood from her right breast and throw them away, she
will die. But whoever knows that, and tells it, will have his whole body
turned to stone, from the crown of his head to the toes of his feet."

After the crows had thus talked with one another, they flew away, and
the trusty John, who had perfectly understood all they had said, was
from that time very quiet and sad; for if he concealed from his master
what he had heard, misfortune would happen to him, and if he told him
all he must give up his own life. But at last he thought, "I will save
my master, even if I destroy myself."

As soon as they came on shore, it happened just as the Crow had
foretold, and an immense fox-red horse sprang up. "Capital!" said the
King, "this shall carry me to my castle," and he tried to mount; but the
faithful John came straight up, and swinging himself quickly on, drew
the firearms out of the holster and shot the horse dead. Then the other
servants of the King, who were not on good terms with the faithful John,
exclaimed, "How shameful to kill the beautiful creature, which might
have borne the King to the castle!" But the King replied, "Be silent,
and let him go; he is my very faithful John--who knows the good he may
have done?" Now they went into the castle, and there stood a dish in the
hall, and the splendid bridal shirt lay in it, and seemed nothing else
than gold and silver. The young King went up to it and wished to take it
up, but the faithful John pushed him away, and taking it up with his
gloves on, bore it quickly to the fire and let it burn. The other
servants thereupon began to murmur, saying, "See, now he is burning the
King's bridal shirt!" But the young King replied, "Who knows what good
he has done? Let him alone--he is my faithful John."

Soon after, the wedding was celebrated, and a grand ball was given, and
the bride began to dance. So the faithful John paid great attention, and
watched her countenance; all at once she grew pale, and fell as if dead
to the ground. Then he sprang up hastily, raised her up and bore her to
a chamber, where he laid her down, kneeled beside her, and drawing the
three drops of blood out of her right breast, threw them away. As soon
as she breathed again, she raised herself up; but the young King had
witnessed everything, and not knowing why the faithful John had done
this was very angry, and called out, "Throw him into prison!" The next
morning the trusty John was brought up for trial, and led to the
gallows; and as he stood upon them, and was about to be executed, he
said, "Every one condemned to die may once before his death speak. Shall
I also have that privilege?" "Yes," answered the King, "it shall be
granted you." Then the faithful John replied, "I have been unrighteously
judged, and have always been true to you"; and he narrated the
conversation of the crows which he heard at sea; and how, in order to
save his master, he was obliged to do all he had done. Then the King
cried out, "Oh, my most trusty John, pardon, pardon; lead him away!" But
the trusty John had fallen down at the last word and was turned into
stone.

At this event both the King and the Queen were in great grief, and the
King thought, "Ah, how wickedly have I rewarded his great fidelity!" and
he had the stone statue raised up and placed in his sleeping-chamber,
near his bed; and as often as he looked at it, he wept and said, "Ah,
could I bring you back to life again, my faithful John!"

After some time had passed, the Queen bore twins, two little sons, who
were her great joy. Once, when the Queen was in church, and the two
children at home playing by their father's side, he looked up at the
stone statue full of sorrow, and exclaimed with a sigh, "Ah, could I
restore you to life, my faithful John!" At these words the statue began
to speak, saying, "Yes, you can make me alive again, if you will bestow
on me that which is dearest to you." The King replied, "All that I have
in the world I will give up for you." The statue spake again: "If you,
with your own hand, cut off the heads of both your children, and
sprinkle me with their blood, I shall be brought to life again." The
King was terrified when he heard that he must himself kill his two dear
children; but he remembered his servant's great fidelity, and how the
faithful John had died for him, and drawing his sword he cut off the
heads of both his children with his own hand. And as soon as he had
sprinkled the statue with blood, life came back to it, and the trusty
John stood again alive and well before him, and said, "Your faith shall
not go unrewarded"; and taking the heads of the two children he set them
on again, and anointed their wounds with their blood, and thereupon they
healed again in a moment, and the children sprang away and played as if
nothing had happened.

Now the King was full of happiness, and as soon as he saw the Queen
coming, he hid the faithful John and both the children in a great
closet. As soon as she came in he said to her, "Have you prayed in the
church?" "Yes," she answered; "but I thought continually of the faithful
John, who has come to such misfortune through us." Then he replied, "My
dear wife, we can restore his life again to him, but it will cost us
both our little sons, whom we must sacrifice." The Queen became pale and
was terrified at heart, but she said, "We are guilty of his life on
account of his great fidelity." Then he was very glad that she thought
as he did, and going up to the closet, he unlocked it, brought out the
children and the faithful John, saying, "God be praised! he is saved,
and we have still our little sons"; and then he told her all that
happened. Afterward they lived happily together to the end of their
days.




THE WATER OF LIFE


Once upon a time there was a King who was so ill that everybody
despaired of his life, and his three sons were very sorry, and went out
into the palace gardens to weep. There they met an old man, who asked
the cause of their grief, and they told him their Father was so ill that
he must die, for nothing could save him. The old Man said, "I know a
means of saving him: if he drinks of the water of life it will restore
him to health; but it is very difficult to find."

"I will soon find it," said the eldest Son, and, going to the sick King,
he begged his permission to set out in search of the water of life,
which alone could save him. "No; the danger is too great," said the
King; "I prefer to die." Nevertheless, the Son begged and entreated so
long that the King consented, and the Prince went away, thinking in his
own heart, "If I bring this water I am the dearest to my Father, and I
shall inherit his kingdom."

After he had ridden a long way he met a Dwarf on the road, who asked
him, "Whither away so quickly?"

"You stupid dandyprat," replied the Prince proudly, "why should I tell
you that?" and he rode off. But the little Man was angry and he wished
an evil thing, so that, soon after, the Prince came into a narrow
mountain-pass, and the farther he rode the narrower it grew, till at
last it was so close that he could get no farther; but neither could he
turn his horse round, nor dismount, and he sat there like one amazed.
Meanwhile the sick King waited a long while for him, but he did not
come; and the second Son asked leave to go too and seek the water, for
he thought to himself, "If my Brother is dead the kingdom comes to me."
At first the King refused to spare him, but he gave way, and the Prince
set out on the same road as the elder one had taken, and met also the
same Dwarf, who stopped him and asked him, "Whither ride you so
hastily?" "Little dandyprat," replied the Prince, "what do you want to
know for?" and he rode off without looking round. The Dwarf, however,
enchanted him, and it happened to him as it had to his Brother: he came
to a defile where he could move neither forward nor backward. Such is
the fate of all haughty people.

Now, when the second Son did not return, the youngest begged leave to go
and fetch the water, and the King was obliged at last to give his
consent. When he met the Dwarf, and was asked whither he was going so
hurriedly, he stopped and replied, "I seek the water of life, for my
Father is sick unto death." "Do you know where to find it?" asked the
Dwarf. "No," replied the Prince. "Since you have behaved yourself as you
ought," said the Dwarf, "and not haughtily like your false Brothers, I
will give you information and show you where you may obtain the water of
life. It flows from a fountain in the court of an enchanted castle, into
which you can never penetrate if I do not give you an iron rod and two
loaves of bread. With the rod knock thrice at the iron door of the
castle, and it will spring open. Within lie two lions with open jaws,
but if you throw down to each a loaf of bread they will be quiet. Then
hasten and fetch some of the water of life before it strikes twelve, for
then the door will shut again, and you will be imprisoned."

The Prince thanked the Dwarf, and, taking the rod and bread, he set out
on his journey, and as he arrived at the castle he found it as the Dwarf
had said. At the third knock the door sprang open; and, when he had
stilled the lions with the bread, he walked into a fine, large hall,
where sat several enchanted Princes, from whose fingers he drew off the
rings, and he also took away with him a sword and some bread which lay
there. A little farther on he came to a room wherein stood a beautiful
maiden, who was so pleased to see him that she kissed him and said he
had freed her, and should have her whole kingdom, and if he came in
another year their wedding should be celebrated. Then she told him where
the fountain of water of life was placed, and he hastened away lest it
should strike twelve ere he gained it. He came next into a room where a
fine, clean covered bed stood, and, being tired, he lay down to rest
himself a bit. But he went to sleep, and when he awoke it struck the
quarter to twelve, and the sound made him hurry to the fountain, from
which he took some water in a cup which stood near. This done, he
hastened to the door, and was scarcely out before it struck twelve, and
the door swung to so heavily that it carried away a piece of his heel.

But he was very glad, in spite of this, that he had procured the water,
and he journeyed homeward, and passed again where the Dwarf stood. When
the Dwarf saw the sword and bread which he had brought away he declared
he had done well, for with the sword he could destroy whole armies--but
the bread was worth nothing. Now, the Prince was not willing to return
home to his Father without his Brothers, and so he said to the Dwarf,
"Dear Dwarf, can you tell me where my Brothers are? They went out before
me in search of the water of life, and did not return." "They are stuck
fast between two mountains," replied the Dwarf; "because they were so
haughty, I enchanted them there."

Then the Prince begged for their release, till at last the Dwarf brought
them out; but he warned the youngest to beware of them, for they had
evil in their hearts.

When his Brothers came he was very glad, and he related to them all that
had happened to him; how he had found the water of life and brought away
a cupful of it; and how he had rescued a beautiful Princess, who for a
whole year was going to wait for him, and then he was to return to be
married to her, and receive a rich kingdom. After this tale the three
Brothers rode away together, and soon entered a province where there
were war and famine raging, and the King thought he should perish, so
great was his necessity. The youngest Prince went to this King and gave
him the bread, with which he fed and satisfied his whole people; and
then the Prince gave him the sword, wherewith he defeated and slew all
his enemies, and regained peace and quiet. This effected, the Prince
took back the bread and sword, and rode on farther with his Brothers,
and by and by they came to two other provinces where also war and famine
were destroying the people. To each King the Prince lent his bread and
sword, and so saved three kingdoms. After, this they went on board a
ship to pass over the sea which separated them from home, and during the
voyage the two elder Brothers said to one another, "Our Brother has
found the water of life and we have not; therefore our Father will give
the kingdom which belongs to us to him, and our fortune will be taken
away." Indulging these thoughts they became so envious that they
consulted together how they should kill him, and one day, waiting till
he was fast asleep, they poured the water out of his cup and took it for
themselves, while they filled his up with bitter salt water. As soon as
they arrived at home the youngest Brother took his cup to the sick King,
that he might drink out of it and regain his health. But scarcely had he
drunk a very little of the water when he became worse than before, for
it was as bitter as wormwood. While the King lay in this state, the two
elder Princes came, and accused their Brother of poisoning their Father;
but they had brought the right water, and they handed it to the King.
Scarcely had he drunk a little out of the cup when the King felt his
sickness leave him, and soon he was as strong and healthy as in his
young days. The two Brothers now went to the youngest Prince, mocking
him, and saying, "You certainly found the water of life; but you had the
trouble and we had the reward; you should have been more cautious and
kept your eyes open, for we took your cup while you were asleep on the
sea; and, moreover, in a year one of us intends to fetch your Princess.
Beware, however, that you betray us not; the King will not believe you,
and if you say a single word your life will be lost; but if you remain
silent you are safe." The old King, nevertheless, was very angry with
his youngest Son, who had conspired, as he believed, against his life.
He caused his court to be assembled, and sentence was given to the
effect that the Prince should be secretly shot; and once as he rode out
hunting, unsuspicious of any evil, the Huntsman was sent with him to
perform the deed. By and by, when they were alone in the wood, the
Huntsman seemed so sad that the Prince asked him what ailed him. The
Huntsman replied, "I cannot and yet must tell you." "Tell me boldly what
it is," said the Prince, "I will forgive you." "Ah, it is no other than
that I must shoot you, for so has the King ordered me," said the
Huntsman, with a deep sigh.

The Prince was frightened, and said, "Let me live, dear Huntsman, let me
live! I will give you my royal coat and you shall give me yours in
exchange." To this the Huntsman readily assented, for he felt unable to
shoot the Prince, and after they had exchanged their clothing the
Huntsman returned home, and the Prince went deeper into the wood.

A short time afterward three wagons laden with gold and precious stones
came to the King's palace for his youngest Son. They were sent by the
three Kings in token of gratitude for the sword which had defeated their
enemies, and the bread which had nourished their people. At this arrival
the old King said to himself, "Perhaps, after all, my Son was
guiltless," and he lamented to his courtiers that he had let his Son be
killed. But the Huntsman cried out, "He lives yet! for I could not find
it in my heart to fulfil your commands"; and he told the King how it had
happened. The King felt as if a stone had been removed from his heart,
and he caused it to be proclaimed everywhere throughout his dominions
that his Son might return and would again be taken into favor.

Meanwhile the Princess had caused a road to be made up to her castle of
pure shining gold, and she told her attendants that whoever should ride
straight up this road would be the right person, and one whom they might
admit into the castle; but, on the contrary, whoever should ride up not
on the road, but by the side, they were ordered on no account to admit,
for he was not the right person. When, therefore, the time came round
which the Princess had mentioned to the youngest Prince, the eldest
Brother thought he would hasten to her castle and announce himself as
her deliverer, that he might gain her as a bride and the kingdom
besides. So he rode away, and when he came in front of the castle and
saw the fine golden road he thought it would be a shame to ride thereon,
and so he turned to the left hand and rode up out of the road. But as he
came up to the door the guards told him he was not the right person, and
he must ride back again. Soon afterward the second Prince also set out,
and he, likewise, when he came to the golden road and his horse set its
forefeet upon it, thought it would be a pity to travel upon it, so he
turned aside to the right hand and went up. When he came to the gate the
guards refused him admittance, and told him he was not the person
expected, and so he had to return homeward. The youngest Prince, who had
all this time been wandering about in the forest, had also remembered
that the year was up, and soon after his Brothers' departure he appeared
before the castle and rode up straight on the golden road, for he was so
deeply engaged in thinking of his beloved Princess that he did not
observe it. As soon as he arrived at the door it was opened, and the
Princess received him with joy, saving he was her deliverer and the lord
of her dominions. Soon after their wedding was celebrated, and when it
was over the Princess told her husband that his Father had forgiven him
and desired to see him. Thereupon he rode to the old King's palace, and
told him how his Brothers had betrayed him while he slept, and had sworn
him to silence. When the King heard this he would have punished the
false Brothers, but they had prudently taken themselves off in a ship,
and they never returned home afterward.




THUMBLING


There was once a poor peasant who sat in the evening by the hearth and
poked the fire, and his wife sat and span. Then said he, "How sad it is
that we have no children! With us all is so quiet, and in other houses
it is noisy and lively."

"Yes," replied the wife, and sighed, "even if we had only one, and it
were quite small, and only as big as a thumb, I should be quite
satisfied, and we would still love it with all our hearts." Now it so
happened that their wish was granted and a child was given them, but
although it was perfect in all its limbs, it was no longer than a thumb.
Then said they, "It is as we wished it to be, and it shall be our dear
child;" and because of its size, they called it Thumbling. They did not
let it want for food, but the child did not grow taller, but remained as
it had been at the first, nevertheless it looked sensibly out of its
eyes, and soon showed itself to be a wise and nimble creature, for
everything it did turned out well.

One day the peasant was getting ready to go into the forest to cut wood,
when he said as if to himself, "How I wish that there was any one who
would bring the cart to me!" "Oh, father," cried Thumbling, "I will soon
bring the cart; rely on that; it shall be in the forest at the appointed
time." The man smiled and said, "How can that be done; you are far too
small to lead the horse by the reins?" "That's of no consequence,
father, if my mother will only harness it, I will sit in the horse's
ear, and call out to him how he is to go." "Well," answered the man,
"for once we will try it."

When the time came, the mother harnessed the horse, and placed Thumbling
in its ear, and then the little creature cried, "Gee up, gee up!"

Then it went quite properly as if with its master, and the cart went the
right way into the forest. It so happened that just as he was turning a
corner, and the little one was crying, "Gee up," two strange men came
towards him. "My word!" said one of them. "What is this? There is a cart
coming, and a driver is calling to the horse, and still he is not to be
seen!" "That can't be right," said the other, "we will follow the cart
and see where it stops." The cart, however, drove right into the forest,
and exactly to the place where the wood had been cut. When Thumbling saw
his father, he cried to him, "See, father, here I am with the cart; now
take me down." The father got hold of the horse with his left hand, and
with the right took his little son out of the ear. Thumbling sat down
quite merrily on a straw, but when the two strange men saw him, they did
not know what to say for astonishment. Then one of them took the other
aside and said, "Hark, the little fellow would make our fortune if we
exhibited him in a large town, for money. We will buy him." They went to
the peasant and said, "Sell us the little man. He shall be well treated
with us." "No," replied the father, "he is the apple of my eye, and all
the money in the world cannot buy him from me." Thumbling, however, when
he heard of the bargain, had crept up the folds of his father's coat,
placed himself on his shoulder, and whispered in his ear. "Father, do
give me away; I will soon come back again." Then the father parted with
him to the two men for a handsome bit of money. "Where do you want to
sit?" they said to him. "Oh, just set me on the rim of your hat, and
then I can walk backwards and forwards and look at the country, and
still not fall down." They did as he wished, and when Thumbling had
taken leave of his father, they went away with him. They walked until it
was dusk, and then the little fellow said, "Do take me down; I want to
come down." The man took his hat off, and put the little fellow on the
ground by the wayside, and he leapt and crept about a little between the
sods, and then he suddenly slipped into a mouse-hole which he had sought
out. "Good-evening, gentlemen, just go home without me," he cried to
them, and mocked them. They ran thither and stuck their sticks into the
mouse-hole, but it was all lost labor. Thumbling crept still farther in,
and as it soon became quite dark, they were forced to go home with their
vexation and their empty purses.

When Thumbling saw that they were gone, he crept back out of the
subterranean passage. "It is so dangerous to walk on the ground in the
dark," said he; "how easily a neck or a leg is broken!" Fortunately, he
knocked against an empty snail-shell. "Thank God!" said he. "In that I
can pass the night in safety," and got into it. Not long afterwards,
when he was just going to sleep, he heard two men go by, and one of them
was saying, "How shall we contrive to get hold of the rich pastor's
silver and gold?" "I could tell you that," cried Thumbling, interrupting
them. "What was that?" said one of the thieves in a fright; "I heard
some one speaking." They stood still listening, and Thumbling spoke
again and said, "Take me with you, and I'll help you."

"But where are you?" "Just look on the ground, and observe from where my
voice comes," he replied. There the thieves at length found him, and
lifted him up. "You little imp, how will you help us?" they said. "A
great deal," said he; "I will creep into the pastor's room through the
iron bars, and will reach out to you whatever you want to have." "Come,
then," they said, "and we will see what you can do." When they got to
the pastor's house, Thumbling crept into the room, but instantly cried
out with all his might, "Do you want to have everything that is here?"
The thieves were alarmed, and said, "But do speak softly, so as not to
waken any one!" Thumbling, however, behaved as if he had not understood
this, and cried again, "What do you want? Do you want to have everything
that is here?" The cook, who slept in the next room, heard this and sat
up in bed, and listened. The thieves, however, had in their fright run
some distance away, but at last they took courage, and thought, "The
little rascal wants to mock us." They came back and whispered to him,
"Come, be serious, and reach something out to us." Then Thumbling again
cried as loudly as he could, "I really will give you everything, only
put your hands in." The maid who was listening, heard this quite
distinctly, and jumped out of bed and rushed to the door. The thieves
took flight, and ran as if the Wild Huntsman were behind them, but as
the maid could not see anything, she went to strike a light. When she
came to the place with it, Thumbling, unperceived, hid himself in the
granary, and the maid, after she had examined every corner and found
nothing, lay down in her bed again, and believed that, after all, she
had only been dreaming with open eyes and ears.

Thumbling had climbed up among the hay and found a beautiful place to
sleep in: there he intended to rest until day, and then go home again to
his parents. But he had other things to go through. Truly there is much
affliction and misery in this world! When day dawned, the maid arose
from her bed to feed the cows. Her first walk was into the barn, where
she laid hold of an armful of hay, and precisely that very one in which
poor Thumbling was lying asleep. He, however, was sleeping so soundly
that he was aware of nothing, and did not awake until he was in the
mouth of the cow, who had picked him up with the hay. "Ah, heavens!"
cried he, "how have I got into the fulling mill?" but he soon discovered
where he was. Then it was necessary to be careful not to let himself go
between the teeth and be dismembered, but he was nevertheless forced to
slip down into the stomach with the hay. "In this little room the
windows are forgotten," said he, "and no sun shines in, neither will a
candle be brought." His quarters were especially unpleasing to him, and
the worst was, more and more hay was always coming in by the door, and
the space grew less and less. Then, at length in his anguish, he cried
as loud as he could, "Bring me no more fodder, bring me no more fodder."
The maid was just milking the cow, and when she heard some one speaking,
and saw no one, and perceived that it was the same voice that she had
heard in the night, she was so terrified that she slipped off her stool,
and spilt the milk. She ran in the greatest haste to her master, and
said, "Oh, heavens, pastor, the cow has been speaking!" "You are mad,"
replied the pastor; but he went himself to the byre to see what was
there. Hardly, however, had he set his foot inside than Thumbling again
cried, "Bring me no more fodder, bring me no more fodder." Then the
pastor himself was alarmed, and thought that an evil spirit had gone
into the cow, and ordered her to be killed. She was killed, but the
stomach, in which Thumbling was, was thrown on the midden. Thumbling had
great difficulty in working his way out; however, he succeeded so far as
to get some room, but, just as he was going to thrust his head out, a
new misfortune occurred. A hungry wolf ran thither, and swallowed the
whole stomach at one gulp. Thumbling did not lose courage. "Perhaps,"
thought he, "the wolf will listen to what I have got to say," and he
called to him from out of his stomach, "Dear wolf, I know of a
magnificent feast for you."

"Where is it to be had?" said the wolf.

"In such and such a house; you must creep into it through the
kitchen-sink; you will find cakes, and bacon, and sausages, and as much
of them as you can eat," and he described to him exactly his father's
house. The wolf did not require to be told this twice, squeezed himself
in at night through the sink, and ate to his heart's content in the
larder. When he had eaten his fill, he wanted to go out again, but he
had become so big that he could not go out by the same way. Thumbling
had reckoned on this, and now began to make a violent noise in the wolfs
body, and raged and screamed as loudly as he could. "Will you be quiet,"
said the wolf; "you will waken up the people!" "Eh, what," replied the
little fellow, "you have eaten your fill, and I will make merry
likewise," and began once more to scream with all his strength. At last
his father and mother were aroused by it, and ran to the room and looked
in through the opening in the door. When they saw that a wolf was
inside, they ran away, and the husband fetched his axe, and the wife the
scythe. "Stay behind," said the man, when they entered the room. "When I
have given him a blow, if he is not killed by it, you must cut him down
and hew his body to pieces." Then Thumbling heard his parents' voices,
and cried, "Dear father, I am here; I am in the wolf's body." Said the
father, full of joy, "Thank God, our dear child has found us again," and
bade the woman take away her scythe, that Thumbling might not be hurt
with it. After that he raised his arm, and struck the wolf such a blow
on his head that he fell down dead, and then they got knives and
scissors and cut his body open, and drew the little fellow forth. "Ah,"
said the father, "what sorrow we have gone through for your sake." "Yes,
father, I have gone about the world a great deal. Thank heaven, I
breathe fresh air again!" "Where have you been, then?" "Ah, father, I
have been in a mouse's hole, in a cow's stomach, and then in a wolf's;
now I will stay with you." "And we will not sell you again; no, not for
all the riches in the world," said his parents, and they embraced and
kissed their dear Thumbling.




BRIAR ROSE


Once upon a time there lived a king and queen who had no children; and
this they lamented very much. But one day, as the queen was walking by
the side of the river, a little fish lifted its head out of the water,
and said, "Your wish shall be fulfilled, and you shall soon have a
daughter."

What the little fish had foretold soon came to pass; and the queen had a
little girl who was so very beautiful that the king could not cease
looking on her for joy, and determined to hold a great feast. So he
invited not only his relations, friends, and neighbors, but also all the
fairies, that they might be kind and good to his little daughter. Now
there were thirteen fairies in his kingdom, and he had only twelve
golden dishes for them to eat out of, so that he was obliged to leave
one of the fairies without an invitation. The rest came, and after the
feast was over they gave all their best gifts to the little princess;
one gave her virtue, another beauty, another riches, and so on till she
had all that was excellent in the world. When eleven had done blessing
her, the thirteenth, who had not been invited, and was very angry on
that account, came in, and determined to take her revenge. So she cried
out, "The king's daughter shall in her fifteenth year be wounded by a
spindle, and fall down dead." Then the twelfth, who had not yet given
her gift, came forward and said that the bad wish must be fulfilled, but
that she could soften it, and that the king's daughter should not die,
but fall asleep for a hundred years.

But the king hoped to save his dear child from the threatened evil, and
ordered that all the spindles in the kingdom should be bought up and
destroyed. All the fairies' gifts were in the meantime fulfilled; for
the princess was so beautiful, and well-behaved and amiable, and wise,
that every one who knew her loved her.

Now it happened that on the very day she was fifteen years old the king
and queen were not at home, and she was left alone in the palace. So she
roamed about by herself, and looked at all the rooms and chambers, till
at last she came to an old tower, to which there was a narrow staircase
ending with a little door. In the door there was a golden key, and when
she turned it the door sprang open, and there sat an old lady spinning
away very busily.

"Why, how now, good mother," said the princess, "what are you doing
there?"

"Spinning," said the old lady, and nodded her head. "How prettily that
little thing turns round!" said the princess, and took the spindle and
began to spin. But scarcely had she touched it before the prophecy was
fulfilled, and she fell down lifeless on the ground.

However, she was not dead, but had only fallen into a deep sleep; and
the king and the queen, who just then came home, and all their court,
fell asleep too, and the horses slept in the stables, and the dogs in
the yard, and the pigeons on the house-top, and the flies on the walls.
Even the fire on the I  hearth left off blazing, and went to sleep; and
the meat that was roasting stood still; and the cook, who was at that
moment pulling the kitchen-boy by the hair to give him a box on the ear
for something he had done amiss, let him go, and both fell asleep; and
so everything stood still, and slept soundly.

A high hedge of thorns soon grew around the palace, and every year it
became higher and thicker, till at last the whole palace was surrounded
and hidden, so that not even the roof or the chimneys could be seen.

But there went a report through all the land of the beautiful sleeping
Briar Rose, for thus was the king's daughter called; so that from time
to time several kings' sons came, and tried to break through the thicket
into the palace.

This they could never do; for the thorns and bushes laid hold of them as
it were with hands, and there they stuck fast and died miserably.

After many, many years there came another king's son into that land, and
an old man told him the story of the thicket of thorns, and how a
beautiful palace stood behind it, in which was a wondrous princess,
called Briar Rose, asleep with all her court. He told, too, how he had
heard from his grandfather that many, many princes had come, and had
tried to break through the thicket, but had stuck fast and died.

Then the young prince said, "All this shall not frighten me; I will go
and see Briar Rose." The old man tried to dissuade him, but he persisted
in going.

Now that very day the hundred years were completed; and as the prince
came to the thicket he saw nothing but beautiful flowering shrubs,
through which he passed with ease, and they closed after him as firm as
ever.

Then he came at last to the palace, and there in the yard lay the dogs
asleep, and the horses in the stables, and on the roof sat the pigeons
fast asleep with their heads under their wings; and when he came into
the palace, the flies slept on the walls, and the cook in the kitchen
was still holding up her hand as if she would beat the boy, and the maid
sat with a black fowl in her hand ready to be plucked.

Then he went on still further, and all was so still that he could hear
every breath he drew; till at last he came to the old tower and opened
the door of the little room in which Briar Rose was, and there she lay
fast asleep, and looked so beautiful that he could not take his eyes
off, and he stooped down and gave her a kiss. But the moment he kissed
her she opened her eyes and awoke, and smiled upon him.

Then they went out together, and presently the king and queen also
awoke, and all the court, and they gazed on each other with great
wonder.

And the horses got up and shook themselves, and the dogs jumped about
and barked; the pigeons took their heads from under their wings, and
looked about and flew into the fields; the flies on the walls buzzed
away; the fire in the kitchen blazed up and cooked the dinner, and the
roast meat turned round again; the cook gave the boy the box on his ear
so that he cried out, and the maid went on plucking the fowl.

And then was the wedding of the prince and Briar Rose celebrated, and
they lived happily together all their lives.




THE SIX SWANS


A King was once hunting in a large wood, and pursued his game so hotly
that none of his courtiers could follow him. But when evening approached
he stopped, and looking around him perceived that he had lost himself.
He sought a path out of the forest but could not find one, and presently
he saw an old woman, with a nodding head, who came up to him. "My good
woman," said he to her, "can you not show me the way out of the forest?"
"Oh, yes, my lord King," she replied; "I can do that very well, but upon
one condition, which if you do not fulfil, you will never again get out
of the wood, but will die of hunger."

"What, then, is this condition?" asked the King.

"I have a daughter," said the old woman, "who is as beautiful as any one
you can find in die whole world, and well deserves to be your bride.
Now, if you will make her your Queen, I will show you your way out of
the wood." In the anxiety of his heart, the King consented, and the old
woman led him to her cottage, where the daughter was sitting by the
fire. She received the King as if she had expected him, and he saw at
once that she was very beautiful, but yet she did not quite please him,
for he could not look at her without a secret shuddering. However, he
took the maiden upon his horse, and the old woman showed him the way,
and the King arrived safely at his palace, where the wedding was to be
celebrated.

The King had been married once before, and had seven children by his
first wife, six boys and a girl, whom he loved above everything else in
the world. He became afraid, soon, that the step-mother might not treat
his children very well, and might even do them some great injury, so he
took them away to a lonely castle which stood in the midst of a forest.
The castle was so entirely hidden, and the way to it was so difficult to
discover, that he himself could not have found it if a wise woman had
not given him a ball of cotton which had the wonderful property, when he
threw it before him, of unrolling itself and showing him the right path.
The King went, however, so often to see his dear children, that the
Queen, noticing his absence, became inquisitive, and wished to know what
he went to fetch out of the forest. So she gave his servants a great
quantity of money, and they disclosed to her the secret, and also told
her of the ball of cotton which alone could show her the way. She had
now no peace until she discovered where this ball was concealed, and
then she made some fine silken shirts, and, as she had learnt of her
mother, she sewed within each a charm. One day soon after, when the King
was gone out hunting, she took the little shirts and went into the
forest, and the cotton showed her the path. The children, seeing some
one coming in the distance, thought it was their dear father, and ran
out full of joy. Then she threw over each of them a shirt, that, as it
touched their bodies, changed them into Swans, which flew away over the
forest. The Queen then went home quite contented, and thought she was
free of her step-children; but the little girl had not met her with the
brothers, and the Queen did not know of her.

The following day the King went to visit his children, but he found only
the Maiden. "Where are your brothers?" asked he. "Ah, dear father," she
replied, "they are gone away and have left me alone"; and she told him
how she had looked out of the window and seen them changed into Swans,
which had flown over the forest; and then she showed him the feathers
which they had dropped in the courtyard, and which she had collected
together. The King was much grieved, but he did not think that his wife
could have done this wicked deed, and, as he feared the girl might also
be stolen away, he took her with him. She was, however, so much afraid
of the step-mother, that she begged him not to stop more than one night
in the castle.

The poor Maiden thought to herself, "This is no longer my place; I will
go and seek my brothers"; and when night came she escaped and went quite
deep into the wood. She walked all night long, and a great part of the
next day, until she could go no further from weariness. Just then she
saw a rough-looking hut, and going in, she found a room with six little
beds, but she dared not get into one, so crept under, and laying herself
upon the hard earth, prepared to pass the night there. Just as the sun
was setting, she heard a rustling, and saw six white Swans come flying
in at the window. They settled on the ground and began blowing one
another until they had blown all their feathers off, and their swan's
down slipped from them like a shirt. Then the Maiden knew them at once
for her brothers, and gladly crept out from under the bed, and the
brothers were not less glad to see their sister, but their joy was of
short duration. "Here you must not stay," said they to her; "this is a
robbers' hiding-place; if they should return and find you here, they
would murder you."

"Can you not protect me, then?" inquired the sister.

"No," they replied; "for we can only lay aside our swan's feathers for a
quarter of an hour each evening, and for that time we regain our human
form, but afterwards we resume our changed appearance."

Their sister then asked them, with tears, "Can you not be restored
again?"

"Oh, no," replied they; "the conditions are too difficult. For six long
years you must neither speak nor laugh, and during that time you must
sew together for us six little shirts of star-flowers, and should there
fall a single word from your lips, then all your labor will be in vain."
Just as the brothers finished speaking, the quarter of an hour elapsed,
and they all flew out of the window again like Swans.

The little sister, however, made a solemn resolution to rescue her
brothers, or die in the attempt; and she left the cottage, and,
penetrating deep into the forest, passed the night amid the branches of
a tree. The next morning she went out and collected the star-flowers to
sew together. She had no one to converse with and for laughing she had
no spirits, so there up in the tree she sat, intent upon her work.

After she had passed some time there, it happened that the King of that
country was hunting in the forest, and his huntsmen came beneath the
tree on which the Maiden sat. They called to her and asked, "Who art
thou?" But she gave no answer. "Come down to us," continued they; "we
will do thee no harm." She simply shook her head, and when they pressed
her further with questions, she threw down to them her gold necklace,
hoping therewith to satisfy them. They did not, however, leave her, and
she threw down her girdle, but in vain! and even her rich dress did not
make them desist. At last the huntsman himself climbed the tree and
brought down the Maiden, and took her before the King.

The King asked her, "Who art thou? What dost thou upon that tree?" But
she did not answer; and then he questioned her in all the languages that
he knew, but she remained dumb to all, as a fish. Since, however, she
was so beautiful, the King's heart was touched, and he conceived for her
a strong affection. Then he put around her his cloak, and, placing her
before him on his horse, took her to his castle. There he ordered rich
clothing to be made for her, and, although her beauty shone as the
sunbeams, not a word escaped her. The King placed her by his side at
table, and there her dignified mien and manners so won upon him, that he
said, "This Maiden will I marry, and no other in the world;" and after
some days he wedded her.

Now, the King had a wicked step-mother, who was discontented with his
marriage, and spoke evil of the young Queen. "Who knows whence the wench
comes?" said she. "She who cannot speak is not worthy of a King." A year
after, when the Queen brought her first-born into the world, the old
woman took him away. Then she went to the King and complained that the
Queen was a murderess. The King, however, would not believe it, and
suffered no one to do any injury to his wife, who sat composedly sewing
at her shirts and paying attention to nothing else. When a second child
was born, the false stepmother used the same deceit, but the King again
would not listen to her words, saying, "She is too pious and good to act
so; could she but speak and defend herself, her innocence would come to
light." But when again, the old woman stole away the third child, and
then accused the Queen, who answered not a word to the accusation, the
King was obliged to give her up to be tried, and she was condemned to
suffer death by fire.

When the time had elapsed, and the sentence was to be carried out, it
happened that the very day had come round when her dear brothers should
be set free; the six shirts were also ready, all but the last, which yet
wanted the left sleeve. As she was led to the scaffold, she placed the
shirts upon her arm, and just as she had mounted it, and the fire was
about to be kindled, she looked around, and saw six Swans come flying
through the air. Her heart leapt for joy as she perceived her deliverers
approaching, and soon the Swans, flying towards her, alighted so near
that she was enabled to throw over them the shirts, and as soon as she
had done so, their feathers fell off and the brothers stood up alive and
well; but the youngest was without his left arm, instead of which he had
a swan's wing. They embraced and kissed each other, and the Queen, going
to the King, who was thunderstruck, began to say, "Now may I speak, my
dear husband, and prove to you that I am innocent and falsely accused;"
and then she told him how the wicked woman had stolen away and hidden
her three children. When she had concluded, the King was overcome with
joy, and the wicked stepmother was led to the scaffold and bound to the
stake and burnt to ashes. The King and Queen for ever after lived in
peace and prosperity with their six brothers.




RAPUNZEL


There were once a man and a woman who had long in in vain wished for a
child. At length the woman hoped that God was about to grant her desire.
These people had a little window at the back of their house from which a
splendid garden could be seen, which was full of the most beautiful
flowers and herbs. It was, however, surrounded by a high wall, and no
one dared to go into it because it belonged to an enchantress, who had
great power and was dreaded by all the world. One day the woman was
standing by this window and looking down into the garden, when she saw a
bed which was planted with the most beautiful rampion (rapunzel), and it
looked so fresh and green that she longed for it, and had the greatest
desire to eat some. This desire increased every day, and as she knew
that she could not get any of it, she quite pined away, and looked pale
and miserable. Then her husband was alarmed, and asked, "What ails you,
dear wife?" "Ah," she replied, "if I can't get some of the rampion which
is in the garden behind our house, to eat, I shall die." The man, who
loved her, thought, "Sooner than let your wife die, bring her some of
the rampion yourself, let it cost you what it will." In the twilight of
evening, he clambered down over the wall into the garden of the
enchantress, hastily clutched a handful of rampion, and took it to his
wife. She at once made herself a salad of it, and ate it with much
relish. She, however, liked it so much, so very much, that the next day
she longed for it three times as much as before. If he was to have any
rest, her husband must once more descend into the garden. In the gloom
of evening, therefore, he let himself down again; but when he had
clambered down the wall he was terribly afraid, for he saw the
enchantress standing before him. "How can you dare," said she with angry
look, "to descend into my garden and steal my rampion like a thief? You
shall suffer for it!" "Ah," answered he, "let mercy take the place of
justice. I only made up my mind to do it out of necessity. My wife saw
your rampion from the window, and felt such a longing for it that she
would have died if she had not got some to eat." Then the enchantress
allowed her anger to be softened, and said to him, "If the case be as
you say, I will allow you to take away with you as much rampion as you
will, only I make one condition, you must give me the child which your
wife will bring into the world; it shall be well treated, and I will
care for it like a mother." The man in his terror consented to
everything, and when the little one came to them, the enchantress
appeared at once, gave the child the name of Rapunzel, and took it away
with her.

Rapunzel grew into the most beautiful child beneath the sun. When she
was twelve years old, the enchantress shut her into a tower, which lay
in a forest, and had neither stairs nor door, but quite at the top was a
little window. When the enchantress wanted to go in, she placed herself
beneath this, and cried,

  "Rapunzel, Rapunzel,
  Let down your hair to me."

Rapunzel had magnificent long hair, fine as spun gold, and when she
heard the voice of the enchantress she unfastened her braided tresses,
wound them round one of the hooks of the window above, and then the hair
fell twenty yards down, and the enchantress climbed up by it.

After a year or two, it came to pass that the King's son rode through
the forest and went by the tower. Then he heard a song, which was so
charming that he stood still and listened. This was Rapunzel, who in her
solitude passed her time in letting her sweet voice resound. The King's
son wanted to climb up to her, and looked for the door of the tower, but
none was to be found. He rode home, but the singing had so deeply
touched his heart, that every day he went out into the forest and
listened to it. Once when he was thus standing behind a tree, he saw
that an enchantress came there, and he heard how she cried,

  "Rapunzel, Rapunzel,
  Let down your hair."

Then Rapunzel let down the braids of her hair, and the enchantress
climbed up to her. "If that is the ladder by which one mounts, I will
for once try my fortune," said he, and the next day, when it began to
grow dark, he went to the tower and cried.

  "Rapunzel, Rapunzel,
  Let down your hair."

Immediately the hair fell down, and the King's son climbed up.

At first Rapunzel was terribly frightened when a man such as her eyes
had never yet beheld came to her; but the King's son began to talk to
her quite like a friend, and told her that his heart had been so stirred
that it had let him have no rest, and he had been forced to see her.
Then Rapunzel lost her fear, and when he asked her if she would take him
for a husband, and she saw that he was young and handsome, she thought,
"He will love me more than old Dame Gothel does;" and she said yes, and
laid her hand in his. She said, "I will willingly go away with you, but
I do not know how to get down. Bring with you a skein of silk every time
that you come, and I will weave a ladder with it, and when that is ready
I will descend, and you will take me on your horse." They agreed that
until that time he should come to her every evening, for the old woman
came by day. The enchantress remarked nothing of this, until once
Rapunzel said to her, "Tell me, Dame Gothel, how it happens that you are
so much heavier for me to draw up than the young King's son--he is with
me in a moment." "Ah! you wicked child," cried the enchantress, "what do
I hear you say! I thought I had separated you from all the world, and
yet you have deceived me!" In her anger she clutched Rapunzel's
beautiful tresses, wrapped them twice round her left hand, seized a pair
of scissors with the right, and snip, snip, they were cut off, and the
lovely braids lay on the ground. And she was so pitiless that she took

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