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Digitized by the Internet Arciiive in 2009

littp://www.arcliive.org/details/grimmscompletefaOOgrim

GRIMM'S

Complete Fairy Tales

GRIMM'S

Complete Fairy Tales

International Collectors Library Garden City, New York

Printed in the United States of America

Contents

1. The Frog Prince i

2. The Gallant Tailor 4

3. The Giant and the Tailor 11

4. The Little Farmer 13

5. The Golden Key 17

6. Sharing Joy and Sorrow 18

7. The Nail 19

8. Tom Thumb 19

9. Tom Thumb's Travels 24

10. The Young Giant 28

11. Sweet Porridge 34

12. The Elves 35

13. Fair Katrinelje and Pif-Paf-Poltrie 38

14. The Old Beggar- Woman 39

15. The Jew Among Thorns 39

16. King Thrushbeard 43

17. Clever Gretel 47

18. Fitcher's Bird 49

19. The Robber Bridegroom 5^

20. Old Hildebrand 55

21. The Singing Bone 58

22. Maid Maleen 60

23. The Goose-Girl 65

24. The Skilful Huntsman 7^

25. The Princess in Disguise 75

26. Cinderella 80

27. Simeli Mountain 86

28. The Glass Coffin 88

29. Rapunzel 93

30. The Sleeping Beauty 96

31. Old Rinkrank 99

32. Hansel and Gretel 101

33. The Straw, the Coal, and the Bean 107

34. The Death of the Hen 108

35. The Rabbit's Bride 110

vi Contents

36. The Hare and the Hedgehog 111

37. The Dog and the Sparrow 114

38. Old Sultan 116

39. Mr. Korbes 118

40. The Vagabonds 119

41. The Owl 121

42. The Bremen Town Musicians 123

43. The Wonderful Musician 126

44. The Mouse, the Bird, and the Sausage 128

45. The Crumbs on the Table 129

46. The Cat and the Mouse in Partnership 130

47. The Spider and the Flea 132

48. The Wolf and the Seven Little Kids 134

49. The Wolf and the Fox 136

50. The Wolf and the Man 13!8

51. Gossip Wolf and the Fox 139

52. Little Red Riding Hood 140

53. How Mrs. Fox Married Again 143

54. The Fox and the Geese 146

55. The Fox and the Horse 147

56. The Fox and the Cat 148

57. The Sole 148

58. The Willow-Wren 149

59. The Willow- Wren and the Bear 152

60. The Little Folks' Presents 154

61. The Elf 156

62. The Foundling Bird 160

63. The Water of Life 162

64. The Water Sprite 167

65. The Table, the Ass, and the Stick 168

66. One-Eye, Two-Eyes, and Three-Eyes 176

67. The Knapsack, the Hat, and the Horn 183

68. Sweetheart Roland 187

69. The Devil's Three Gold Hairs 191

70. The Griflfin i97

71. The Sea-Hare 203

72. The Maiden Without Hands 205

73. The Pink 211

74. Mother Hulda 215

75. The True Bride 218

76. The Three Little Birds 223 jj. The Three Snake-Leaves 227

Contents vii

^ 78. The White Snake	231
79. The Three Spinners	234
80. Rumpelstiltskin	236
81. The Queen Bee	239
82. The Golden Goose	241
83. The Three Feathers	244
84. The Hut in the Forest	247
85. Donkey Cabbages	251
86. Snow-White and Rose-Red	257
87. The Poor Miller's Boy and the Cat	262
88. The Old Woman in the Wood	265
89. The Lambkin and the Little Fish	267
90. The Juniper Tree	268
91. Jorinda and Joringel	276
92. The Goose-Girl at the Well	278
93. The Three Little Men in the Wood	286
94. The White Bride and the Black Bride	290
95, Brother and Sister	294
96. The Gold Children	299
97. The Twin Brothers	304
98. Ferdinand the Faithful and Ferdinand the Unfaithful	324
99. The Three Black Princesses	328
100. Snow-White and the Seven Dwarfs	330
10 1. The Shoes That Were Danced to Pieces	337
102. The Boots of Buffalo Leather	340
103. The Six Servants	343
104. Six Soldiers of Fortune	349
105. The Two Travelers	353
106. The Ear of Com	361
107. The Aged Mother	362
108. The Hazel Branch	363
109. The Old Grandfather's Comer	364
110. The Ungrateful Son	364
111. The Bittern and the Hoopoe	365
112. The Three Languages	366
113. The Star Money	368
114. The Poor Man and the Rich Man	368
115. The Stolen Pennies	372
116. The Shroud	373
117. The Wilful Child	373
118. The Rose	374
119. The Tailor in Heaven	374

viii Contents

120. Poverty and Humility Lead to Heaven 376

121. The Flail from Heaven 377

122. The Moon 378

123. The Peasant in Heaven 380

124. Eve's Various Children 380

125. The Pooi Bo> in the Grave 382

126. Our Lady's Child 385

127. Gambling Hansel 388

128. The Old Man Made Young Again 391

129. The Loids Animals and the Devil's 392

130. Master Pfriem 393

131. The Heavenly Wedding 396

132. God's Food 397

133. St. Joseph in the Forest 398

134. The Three Green Twigs 400

135. Our Lady's Little Glass 402

136. Brother Frolick 403

137. The Bright Sun Brings It to Light 411

138. The Sparrow and His Four Children 413

139. The Duration of Life 415

140. The Twelve Apostles 416

141. Faithful John 417

142. The Six Swans 424

143. The Seven Ravens 428

144. The Twelve Brothers 431

145. Iron John 435

146. The King's Son Who Feared Nothing 441

147. The Drummer 446

148. The Two Kings' Children 454

149. The Iron Stove 461

150. The Singing, Soaring Lark 465

151. The Nixie of the Mill-Pond 470

152. The Raven 474

153. The Crystal Ball 479

154. The Donkey 481

155. Hans the Hedgehog 484

156. The King of the Golden Mountain 488

157. The Golden Bird 493

158. Strong Hans 500

159. The Blue Light 505

160. The Fisherman and His Wife 509 i6i. The Good Bargain 515

Contents jx

162. Prudent Hans	519
163. Hans in Luck	523
164. Clever Else	527
165. Hans Married	530
166. The Youth Who Could Not Shiver and Shake	532
167. Fred and Kate	541
168. Wise Folks	547
169. The Lazy Spinner	550
170. The Three Sluggards	552
171. The Twelve Idle Servants	553
172. La2y Harry	555
173. Odds and Ends	557
174. Brides on Trial	558
175. The Spindle, the Shuttle, and the Needle	558
176. The Peasant's Wise Daughter	561
177. The Shepherd Boy	564
178. The Master-Thief	565
179. The Three Brothers	571
180. The Four Skilful Brothers	572
181. Tales of Snakes	576
182. The Turnip	577
183. The Twelve Huntsmen	580
184. The Maid of Brakel	583
185. Going Traveling	583
186. Knoist and His Three Sons	584
187. The Story of Schlauraffen Land	585
188. The Ditmarsch Tale of Wonders	586
189. Domestic Servants	586
190. The Rogue and His Master	587
191. The Wise Servant	589
192. The Seven Swabians	589
193. Lean Lisa	592
194. Godfather Death	593
195. Death's Messengers	596
196. The Wonderful Glass	597
197. The Old Witch	599
198. The Devil's Sooty Brother	600
199. Bearskin	602
200. The Devil and His Grandmother	606
201. The Grave Mound	609
202. The Peasant and the Devil	612
203. The Three Apprentices	613

X Contents

204. Doctor Knowall 616

205. The Three Army Surgeons 617

206. The Spirit in the Bottle 620

207. The Three Children of Fortune 623

208. The Cunning Little Tailor 626

209. The Riddle 628

210. A Riddling Tale 631

211. The Beam 631

GRIMM'S

Complete Fairy Tales

The Frog Prince

Long ago, when wishes often came true, there lived a King whose daughters were all handsome, but the youngest was so beautiful that the sun himself, who has seen everything, was bemused every time he shone over her because of her beauty. Near the royal castle there was a great dark wood, and in the wood under an old linden tree was a well; and when the day was hot, the King's daughter used to go forth into the wood and sit by the brink of the cool well, and if the time seemed long, she would take out a golden ball, and throw it up and catch it again, and this was her favorite pastime.

Now it happened one day that the golden ball, instead of falling back into the maiden's little hand which had sent it aloft, dropped to the ground near the edge of the well and rolled in. The King's daughter followed it with her eyes as it sank, but the well was deep, so deep that the bottom could not be seen. Then she began to weep, and she wept and wept as if she could never be comforted.

And in the midst of her weeping she heard a voice saying to her, ''What ails you. King's daughter? Your tears would melt a heart of stone."

And when she looked to see where the voice came from, there was nothing but a frog stretching his thick ugly head out of the water. "Oh, is it you, old waddler?" said she; "I weep because my golden ball has fallen into the well."

"Never mind, do not weep," answered the frog; *T can help you; but what will you give me if I fetch up your ball again?"

"Whatever you like, dear frog," said she; "any of my clothes, my pearls and jewels, or even the golden crown that I wear."

"Your clothes, your pearls and jewels, and your golden crown are not for me," answered the frog; 'TDut if you would love me, and have me for your companion and play-fellow, and let me sit by you at table, and eat from your plate, and drink from yoiur cup, and

2 Grimm's Complete Fairy Tales

sleep in your little bed— if you would promise all this, then would I dive below the water and fetch you your golden ball again."

"Oh yes," she answered; "I will promise it all, whatever you want; if you will only get me my ball again." But she thought to herself, "What nonsense he tallcsl as if he could do anything but sit in the water and croak with the other frogs, or could possibly be any one's companion."

But the frog, as soon as he heard her promise, drew his head luider the water and sank down out of sight, but after a while he came to the surface again with the ball in his mouth, and he threw it on the grass.

The King's daughter was overjoyed to see her pretty plaything again, and she caught it up and ran oflF with it.

"Stop, stop!" cried the frog; "take me up too; I cannot run as fast as you!"

But it was of no use, for croak, croak after her as he might, she would not listen to him, but made haste home, and very soon forgot all about the poor frog, who had to betake himself to his well again.

The next day, when the King's daughter was sitting at table with the King and all the court, and eating from her golden plate, there came something pitter-patter up the marble stairs, and then there came a knocking at the door, and a voice crying, "Yoimgest King's daughter, let me in!"

And she got up and ran to see who it could be, but when she opened the door, there was the frog sitting outside. Then she shut the door hastily and went back to her seat, feeling very imeasy.

The King noticed how quickly her heart was beating, and said, "My child, what are you afraid of? Is there a giant standing at the door ready to carry you away?" "Oh no," answered she; "no giant, but a horrid frog." "And what does the frog want?" asked the King.

"O dear father," answered she, "when I was sitting by the well yesterday, and playing with my golden ball, it fell into the water, and while I was crying for the loss of it, the frog came and got it again for me on condition I would let him be my companion, but I never thought that he could leave the water and come after me; but now there he is outside the door, and he wants to come in to me."

And then they all heard him knocking the second time and crying,

"youngest King's daughter. Open to me! By the well water What promised you me?

The Frog Prince 3

Youngest King's daughter Now open to meF'

"That which thou hast promised must thou perform," said the King; "so go now and let him in."

So she went and opened the door, and the frog hopped in, fol- lowing at her heels, till she reached her chair. Then he stopped and cried, "Lift me up to sit by you."

But she delayed doing so until the King ordered her. When once the frog was on the chair, he wanted to get on the table, and there he sat and said, "Now push your golden plate a little nearer, so that we may eat together."

And so she did, but everybody might see how unwilling she was, and the frog feasted heartily, but every morsel seemed to stick in her throat.

"I have had enough now," said the frog at last, "and as I am tired, you must carry me to your room, and make ready your silken bed, and we will lie down and go to sleep."

Then the King's daughter began to weep, and was afraid of the cold frog, that nothing would satisfy him but he must sleep in her pretty clean bed. Now the King grew angry with her, saying, "That which thou hast promised in thy time of necessity, must thou now perform."

So she picked up the frog with her finger and thumb, carried him upstairs and put him in a comer, and when she had lain down to sleep, he came creeping up, saying, "I am tired and want sleep as much as you; take me up, or I wiU tell your father."

Then she felt beside herself with rage, and picking him up, she threw him with all her strength against the wall, crying, "Now will you be quiet, you horrid frogi"

But as he fell, he ceased to be a frog, and became all at once a Prince with beautiful kind eyes. And it came to pass that, with her father s consent, they became bride and bridegroom. And he told her how a wicked witch had bound him by her spells, and how no one but she alone could have released him, and that they two would go together to his father's kingdom. And there came to the door a carriage drawn by eight white horses, with white plumies on their heads, and with golden harness, and behind the carriage was standing faithful Henry, the servant of the young Prince.

Now, faithful Henry had suffered such care and pain when his master was turned into a frog, that he had been obliged to wear three iron bands over his heart, to keep it from breaking with trou-

4 Grimm's Complete Fairy Tales

ble and anxiety. When the carriage started to take the Prince to his kingdom, and faithful Henry had helped them both in, he got up behind, and was full of joy at his master's deliverance. And when they had gone a part of the way, the Prince heard a sound at the back of the carriage, as if something had broken, and he turned round and cried, "Henry, the wheel must be breakingl" but Henry answered,

"The wheel does not break, 'Tis the hand round my heart That, to lessen its ache. When I grieved for your sake, I bound round my heart."

Again, and yet once again there was the same sound, and the Prince thought it must be the wheel breaking. But it was the break- ing of the other bands from faithful Henry's heart, because he was so relieved and happy.

The Gallant Tailor

One summer morning a little tailor was sitting on his board near the window, and working cheerfully with all his might, when an old woman came down the street crying, "Good jelly to selll Good jelly to selll"

The cry soimded pleasant in the little tailor's ears, so he put his head out of the window, and called out, "Here, my good woman- come here, if you want a customer."

So the poor woman cHmbed the steps with her heavy basket, and was obliged to impack and display all her pots to the tailor. He looked at every one of them, and lifting all the lids, applied his nose to each, and said at last, "The jelly seems pretty good; you may weigh me out four half ounces, or I don't mind having a quar- ter of a pound."

The woman, who had expected to find a good customer, gave him what he asked for, but went off angry and grumbling.

"This jelly is the very thing for me," cried the little tailor; "it will give me strength and cunning"; and he took down the bread from the cupboard, cut a whole round of the loaf, and spread the jelly on

The Gallant Tailor 5

it, laid it near him, and went on stitching more gallantly than ever. All the while the scent of the sweet jelly was spreading throughout the room, where there were quantities of flies, who were attracted by it and flew to partake.

"Now then, who asked you to come?" said the tailor, and drove the unbidden guests away. But the flies, not understanding his lan- guage, were not to be got rid of like that, and returned in larger numbers than before. Then the tailor, not being able to stand it any longer, took from his chimney-comer a ragged cloth, and saying, "Now, I'll let you have itl" beat it among them unmercifully. When he ceased, and counted the slain, he found seven lying dead before him. "This is indeed somewhat," he said, wondering at his own gal- lantry; "the whole town shall know this."

So he hastened to cut out a belt, and he stitched it, and put on it in large capitals, "Seven at one blowl" "—The town, did I sayl" said the Httle tailor; "the whole world shall know itl" And his heart quivered with joy, like a lamb's tail.

The tailor fastened the belt round him, and began to think of going out into the world, for his workshop seemed too small for his worship. So he looked about in all the house for something that would be useful to take with him, but he found nothing but an old cheese, which he put in his pocket. Outside the door he noticed that a bird had got caught in the bushes, so he took that and put it in his pocket with the cheese. Then he set out gallantly on his way, and as he was light and active he felt no fatigue.

The way led over a mountain and when he 1 cached the topmost peak he saw a terrible giant sitting there and looking about him at his ease. The tailor went bravely up to him, called out to him, and said, "Comrade, good day! There you sit looking over the Made world! I am on the way thither to seek my fortune; have you a fancy to go with me?"

The giant looked at the tailor contemptuously, and said, "You lit- tle rascall You miserable fellowl"

"That may be!" answered the little tailor, and undoing his coat he showed the giant his belt; "you can read there whether I am a man or not!"

The giant read: "Seven at one blow!" and thinking it meant men that the tailor had killed, felt at once more respect for the little fellow. But as he wanted to prove him, he took up a stone and squeezed it so hard that water came out of it. "Now you can do that," said the giant— "that is, if you have the strength for it."

"That's not much," said the little tailor, "1 call that play," and he

6 Grimms Complete Fairy Tales

put his hand in his pocket and took out the cheese and squeezed it, so that the whey ran out of it. "Well," said he, "what do you think of that?"

The giant did not know what to say to it, for he could not have believed it of the little man. Then the giant took up a stone and threw it so high that it was nearly out of sight. "Now, little fellow, suppose you do that!"

"Well thrown," said the tailor; "but the stone fell back to earth again— I will throw you one that vnll never come back." So he felt in his pocket, took out the bird, and threw it into the air. And the bird, when it found itself at liberty, took wing, flew off, and re- turned no more. "What do you think of that, comrade?" asked the tailor.

"There is no doubt that you can throw," said the giant; "but we vidll see if you can carry."

He led the little tailor to a mighty oak tree which had been feUed, and was lying on the ground, and said, "Now, if you are strong enough, help me to carry this tree out of the wood."

"Willingly," answered the Httle man; "you take the trunk on your shoulders, I vnU. take the branches with all their foliage, that is much the most diflBcult."

So the giant took the trunk on his shoulders, and the tailor seated himself on a branch, and the giant, who could not see what he was doing, had the whole tree to carry, and the little man on it as well. And the little man was very cheerful and merry, and whistled the tune: "There were three tailors riding by" as if carrying the tree was mere child's play. The giant, when he had struggled on under his heavy load a part of the way, was tired out, and cried, "Look here, I must let go the treel"

The tailor jumped off quickly, and taking hold of the tree with both arms, as if he were carrying it, said to the giant, "You see you can't carry the tree though you are such a big fellowl"

They went on together a little farther, and presently they came to a cherry tree, and the giant took hold of the topmost branches, where the ripest fruit hung, and pulling them downwards, gave them to the tailor to hold, bidding him eat. But the little tailor was much too weak to hold the tree, and as the giant let go, the tree sprang back, and the tailor was caught up into the air. And when he dropped down again without any damage, the giant said to him, "How is this? Haven't you strength enough to hold such a weak sprig as that?"

'Tt is not strength that is lacking," answered the little tailor;

The Gallant Tailor 7

*Tiow should it be to one who has slain seven at one blowl I just jumped over the tree because the hunters are shooting down there in the bushes. You jump it too, if you can."

The giant made the attempt, and not being able to vault the tree, he remained hanging in the branches, so that once more the little tailor got the better of him. Then said the giant, "As you are such a gallant fellow, suppose you come with me to oiur den, and stay the night."

The tailor was quite willing, and he followed him. When they reached the den there sat some other giants by the fire, and each had a roasted sheep in his hand, and was eating it. The little tailor looked round and thought, There is more elbow-room here than in my workshop."

And the giant showed him a bed, and told him he had better lie down upon it and go to sleep. The bed was, however, too big for the tailor, so he did not stay in it, but crept into a comer to sleep. As soon as it was midnight the giant got up, took a great staff of iron and beat the bed through with one stroke, and supposed he had made an end of that grasshopper of a tailor. Very early in the morning the giants went into the wood and forgot all about the lit- tle tailor, and when they saw him coming after them alive and merry, they were terribly frightened, and, thinking he was going to Idll them, they ran away in all haste.

So the httle tailor marched on, always following his nose. And after he had gone a great way he entered the court-yard belonging to a King's palace, and there he felt so overpowered with fatigue that he lay down and fell asleep. In the meanwhile came various people, who looked at him very curiously, and read on his belt, "Seven at one blowl"

"Ohl" said they, "why should this great lord come here in time of peace? What a mighty champion he must bel"

Then they went and told the King about him, and they thought that if war should break out what a worthy and useful man he would be, and that he ought not to be allowed to depart at any price. The King then summoned his council, and sent one of his courtiers to the little tailor to beg him, as soon as he should wake up, to consent to serve in the King's army. So the messenger stood and waited at the sleeper's side until his limbs began to stretch, and his eyes to open, and then he carried his answer back. And the an- swer was: "That was the reason for which I came. I am ready to enter the King's service."

8 Grimm's Complete Fairy Tales

So he was received into it very honorably, and a separate dwell- ing set apart for him.

But the rest of the soldiers were very much set against the little tailor, and they wished him a thousand miles away. "What shall be done about it?" they said among themselves; "if we pick a quarrel and fight with him then seven of us will fall at each blow. That will be of no good to us."

So they came to a resolution, and went all together to the King to ask for their discharge. "We never intended," said they, "to serve with a man who kills seven at a blow."

The King felt sorry to lose all his faithful servants because of one man, and he wished that he had never seen him, and would will- ingly get rid of him if he might. But he did not dare to dismiss the httle tailor for fear he should kiU all the King's people, and place himself upon the throne. He thought a long while about it, and at last made up his mind what to do. He sent for the Httle tailor, and told him that as he was so great a warrior he had a proposal to make to him. He told him that in a wood in his dominions dwelt two giants, who did great damage by robbery, murder, and fire, and that no man durst go near them for fear of his life. But that if the tailor should overcome and slay both these giants the King would give him his only daughter in marriage, and half his kingdom as dowry, and that a hundred horsemen should go with him to give him assistance.

"That would be something for a man like mel" thought the Httle tailor, "a beautiful Princess and half a kingdom are not to be had every day," and he said to the King, "Oh yes, I can soon overcome the giants, and yet have no need of the hundred horsemen; he who can Idll seven at one blow has no need to be afraid of two."

So the Httle tailor set out, and the hundred horsemen followed him. When he came to the border of the wood he said to his escort, "Stay here while I go to attack the giants."

Then he sprang into the wood, and looked about him right and left. After a while he caught sight of the two giants; they were lying down under a tree asleep, and snoring so that aU the branches shook. The Httle tailor, all aHve, filled both his pockets with stones and cHmbed up into the tree, and made his way to an overhanging bough, so that he could seat himself just above the sleepers; and from there he let one stone after another fall on the chest of one of the giants. For a long time the giant was quite unaware of this, but at last he waked up and pushed his comrade, and said, "What are you hitting me for?"

The Gallant Tailor 9

"You are dreaming," said the other, "I am not touching you." And they composed themselves again to sleep, and the tailor let fall a stone on the other giant.

"What can that be?" cried he, "what are you casting at me?" "I am casting nothing at you," answered the first, grumbhng.

They disputed about it for a while, but as they were tired, they gave it up at last, and their eyes closed once more. Then the little tailor began his game anew, picked out a heavier stone and threw it down with force upon the first giant's chest.

"This is too muchl" cried he, and sprang up like a madman and struck his companion such a blow that the tree shook above them. The other paid him back with ready coin, and they fought with such fury that they tore up trees by their roots to use for weapons against each other, so that at last they both of them lay dead upon the ground. And now the little tailor got down.

"Another piece of luckl" said he, "that the tree I was sitting in did not get torn up too, or else I should have had to jump like a squirrel from one tree to another."

Then he drew his sword and gave each of the giants a few hacks in the breast, and went back to the horsemen and said, "The deed is done, I have made an end of both of them, but it went hard with me; in the struggle they rooted up trees to defend themselves, but it was of no use, they had to do with a man who can kill seven at one blow."

"Then are you not wounded?" asked the horsemen. "Nothing of the sortl" answered the tailor, "I have not turned a hair."

The horsemen still would not believe it, and rode into the wood to see, and there they found the giants wallowing in their blood, and all about them lying the uprooted trees.

The little tailor then claimed the promised boon, but the King repented him of his offer, and he sought again how to rid himself of the hero. "Before you can possess my daughter and the half of my kingdom," said he to the tailor, "you must perform another heroic act. In the wood lives a unicorn who does great damage; you must secure him."

"A unicorn does not strike more terror into me than two giants. Seven at one blow!— that is my way," was the tailor's answer.

So, taking a rope and an axe with him, he went out into the wood, and told those who were ordered to attend him to wait out- side. He had not far to seek, the unicorn soon came out and sprang at him, as if he would make an end of him without delay. "Softly, softly," said he "most haste, worst speed," and remained standing

10 Grimm's Complete Fairy Tales

until the animal came quite near, then he slipped quietly behind a tree. The unicorn ran wi^ all his might against the tree and stuck his horn so deep into the trunk that he could not get it out again, and so was taken.

"Now I have you," said the tailor, coming out from behind the tree, and, putting the rope round the unicorn's neck, he took the axe, set free the horn, and when all his party were assembled he led forth the animal and brought it to the King.

The King did not yet wish to give him the promised reward, and set him a third task to do. Before the wedding could take place the tailor was to secure a wild boar which had done a great deal of damage in the wood. The huntsmen were to accompany him.

"All right," said the tailor, "this is child's play."

But he did not take the huntsmen into the wood, and they were all the better pleased, for the wild boar had many a time before re- ceived them in such a way that they had no fancy to disturb him. When the boar caught sight of the tailor he ran at him with foam- ing mouth and gleaming tusks to bear him to the ground, but the nimble hero rushed into a chapel which chanced to be near, and jumped quickly out of a window on the other side. The boar ran after him, and when he got inside the door shut after him, and there he was imprisoned, for the creature was too big and un- wieldy to jimip out of the window too. Then the Uttle tailor called the huntsmen that they might see the prisoner with their own eyes; and then he betook himself to the King, who now, whether he liked it or not, was obliged to fulfil his promise, and give him his daugh- ter and the half of his kingdom. But if he had known that the great warrior was only a httle tailor he would have taken it still more to heart. So the wedding was celebrated with great splendor and little joy, and the tailor was made into a King.

One night the young Queen heard her husband talking in his sleep and saying, "Now boy, make me that waistcoat and patch me those breeches, or I will lay my yard measure about your shoul- ders!"

And so, as she perceived of what low birth her husband was, she went to her father the next morning and told him all, and begged him to set her free from a man who was nothing better than a tai- lor. The King bade her be comforted, saying, "Tonight leave your bedroom door open, my guard shall stand outside, and when he is asleep they shall come in and bind him and carry him off to a ship, and he shall be sent to the other side of the world."

So the wife felt consoled, but the King's water-bearer, who had

The Giant and the Tailor ii

been listening all the while, went to the little tailor and disclosed to him the whole plan.

"I shall put a stop to all this," said he.

At night he lay down as usual in bed, and when his wife thought that he was asleep, she got up, opened the door and lay down again. The little tailor, who only made believe he waa asleep, bei^an to murmur plainly, "Now, boy, make me that waistcoat and patch me those breeches, or I will lay my yard measure about your shoul- ders! I have slain seven at one blow, killed two giants, caught a uni- corn, and taken a wild boar, and shall I be afraid of those who are standing outside my room door?"

And when they heard the tailor say this, a great fear seized them; they fled away as if they had been wild hares, and none of them would venture to attack him.

And so the little tailor remained a King all his lifetime.

The Giant and the Tailor

A CERTAIN TAILOR who was great at boasting but poor at doing, took it into his head to go abroad for a while, and look about the world. As soon as he could manage it, he left his workshop, and wandered on his way, over hill and dale, sometimes hither, sometimes thither, but ever on and on. Once when he was out he perceived in the blue distance a steep hill, and behind it a tower reaching to the clouds, which rose up out of a wild dark forest. "Thunder and lightning," cried the tailor, "what is that?" and as he was strongly goaded by curiosity, he went boldly towards it. But what made the tailor open his eyes and mouth when he came near it, was to see that the tower had legs, and leapt in one bound over the steep hill, and was now standing as an all-powerful giant before him.

"What do you want here, you little fly's leg?" cried the giant, v^th a voice as if it were thundering on every side. The tailor whimpered, "I want just to look about and see if I can earn a bit of bread for myself in this forest." "If that is what you are after," said the giant, "you may have a place with me." "If it must be why not? What wages shall I receive?" "You shall hear what wages you shall have. Every year three hundred and sixty-five days, and when it is leap-year, one more into the bargain. Does that suit you?" "AH

12 Grimm's Complete Fairy Tales

right," replied the tailor, and thought, in his own mind, "a man must cut his coat according to his cloth; I will try to get away as fast as I can."

On this the giant said to him, "Go, little ragamuffin, and fetch me a jug of water." "Had I not better bring the well itself at once, and the spring too?" asked the boaster, and went with the pitcher to the water. "WhatI the well and the spring too," growled the giant in his beard, for he was rather clownish and stupid, and began to be afraid. "That knave is not a fool, he has a wizard in his body. Be on your guard, old Hans, this is no serving-man for you."

When the tailor had brought the water, the giant bade him go into the forest, and cut a couple of blocks of wood and bring them back. "Why not the whole forest at once, with one stroke. The whole forest, young and old, with all that is there, both rough and smooth?" asked the little tailor, and went to cut the wood. "What! the whole forest, young and old, with all that is there, both rough and smooth, and the well and its spring too," growled the credulous giant in his beard, and was still more terrified. "The knave can do much more than bake apples, and has a wizard in his body. Be on your guard, old Hans, this is no serving-man for youl"

When the tailor had brought the wood, the giant commanded him to shoot two or three wild boars for supper. "Why not rather a thousand at one shot, and bring them all here?" inquired the osten- tatious tailor. "Whatl" cried the timid giant in great terror. "Let well alone tonight, and lie down to rest."

The giant was so terribly alarmed that he could not close an eye all night long for thinking what would be the best way to get rid of this accursed sorcerer of a servant. Time brings counsel. Next morning the giant and the tailor went to a marsh, round which stood a number of willow trees. Then said the giant, "Hark you, tailor, seat yourself on one of the willow-branches, I long of aU things to see if you are big enough to bend it down." All at once the tailor was sitting on it, holding his breath, and making himself so heavy that the bough bent down. When, however, he was com- pelled to draw breath, it hurried him (for unfortunately he had not put his goose in his pocket) so high into the air that he never was seen again, and this to the great delight of the giant. If the tailor has not fallen down again, he must stiU be hovering about in the air.

The Little Farmer

There was a certain village where lived many rich farmers and only one poor one, whom they called the Little Farmer. He had not even a cow, and still less had he money to buy one; and he and his vidfe greatly wished for such a thing. One day he said to her, "Lis- ten, I have a good idea; it is that your godfather the joiner shall make us a calf of wood and paint it brown, so as to look just like any other; and then in time perhaps it will grow big and become a cow."

This notion pleased the wife, and godfather joiner set to work to saw and plane, and soon turned out a calf complete, with its head down and neck stretched out as if it were grazing.

The next morning, as the cows were driven to pasture, the Little Farmer called out to the drover, "Look here, I have got a little calf to go, but it is still young and must be carried."

"All right!" said the drover, and tucked it imder his arm, carried it into the meadows, and stood it in the grass. So the calf stayed where it was put, and seemed to be eating all the time, and the drover thought to himself, 'It wiM soon be able to run alone, if it grazes at that rate!"

In the evening, when the herds had to be driven home, he said to the calf, 'If you can stand there eating like that, you can just walk ofiF on your own four legs; I am not going to lug you imder my arm again!"

But the Little Farmer was standing by his house-door, and wait- ing for his calf; and when he saw the cow-herd coming through the village v^dthout it, he asked what it meant. The cow-herd answered, 'It is stiU out there eating away, and never attended to the call, and would not come vvdth the rest."

Then the Little Farmer said, "I wiH teU you what, I must have my beast brought home."

And they went together through the fields in quest of it, but some one had stolen it, and it was gone. And the drover said, "Mostly likely it has run away."

But the Little Farmer said, "Not it!" and brought the cow-herd before the bailiff, who ordered him for his carelessness to give the Little Farmer a cow for the missing calf.

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So now the Little Farmer and his wife possessed their long- wished-for cow; they rejoiced with all their hearts, but unfortu- nately they had no fodder for it, and could give it nothing to eat, so that before long they had to Idll it. Its flesh they salted down, and the Little Fanner went to the town to sell the skin and buy a new calf with what he got for it. On the way he came to a mill, where a raven was sitting with broken wings, and he took it up out of pity and wrapped it in the skin. The weather was very stormy, and it blew and rained, so he turned into the mill and asked for shelter.

The miller s wife was alone in the house, and she said to the Lit- tle Farmer, "Well, come in and lie down in the straw," and she gave him a piece ot bread and cheese. So the Little Farmer ate, and then lay down with his skin near him, and the miller's wife thought he was sleeping with fatigue. After a while in came another man, and the miller's wife received him very well, saying, "My husband is out; we will make good cheer."

The Little Farmer Hstened to what they said, and when he heard good cheer spoken of, he grew angry to think he had been put ofiE with bread and cheese. For the miller's wife presently brought out roast meat, salad, cakes, and wine.

Now as the pair were sitting down to their feast, there came a knock at the door. "Oh dear," cried the woman, "it is my husband!" In a twinkling she popped the roast meat into the oven, the wine under the pillow, the salad in the bed, the cakes under the bed, and the man in the linen-closet. Then she opened the door to her hus- band, saying, "Thank goodness, you are here I What weather it is, as if the world were coming to an endl"

When the miller saw the Little Farmer lying in the straw, he said, "What fellow have you got there?" "Oh!" said the wife, "the poor chap came in the midst of the wind and rain and asked for shelter, and I gave him some bread and cheese and spread some straw for him."

The husband answered, "Oh well, I have no objection, only get me something to eat at once." But the wife said, "There is nothing but bread and cheese."

"Anything will do for me," answered the miller, "bread and cheese for ever!" and catching sight of the Little Farmer, he cried, "Come along, and keep me company!" The Little Fanner did not wait to be asked twice, but sat down and ate.

After a while the miller noticed the sldn lying on the ground with the raven wrapped up in it, and he said, "What have you got there?" The Little Farmer answered, "A fortime-teller." And the

The Little Farmer 15

miller asked, "Can he teU my fortune?" "Why not?" answered the Little Farmer. "He will tell four things, and the fifth he keeps to himself." Now the miller became very curious, and said, "Ask him to say something."

And the Little Farmer pinched the raVen, so that it croaked, "Crr, err." "What does he say?" asked the miller. And the Little Farmer answered, "First he says that there is wine under the pil- low."

"That would be jollyl" cried the miller, and he went to look, and found the wine, and then asked, "What next?"

So the Little Farmer made the raven croak again, and then said, "He says, secondly, that there is roast meat in the oven."

"That would be jollyl" cried the miller, and he went and looked, and found the roast meat. The Little Farmer made the fortune- teller speak again, and then said, "He says, thirdly, that there is salad in the bed."

"That would be jollyl" cried the miller, and went and looked and found the salad. Once more the Little Farmer pinched the raven, so that he croaked, and said, "He says, foiuthly and lastly, that there are cakes under the bed."

"That would be jollyl" cried the miller, and he went and looked, and found the cakes.

And now the two sat down to table, and the miller's wife felt very uncomfortable, and she went to bed and took all the keys with her. The miller was eager to know what the fifth thing could be, but the Little Farmer said, "Suppose we eat the four things in peace first, for the fifth thing is a great deal worse."

So they sat and ate, and while they ate, they bargained to- gether as to how much the miller would give for knowing the fifth thing; and at last they agreed upon three hundred doUars. Then the Little Farmer pinched the raven, so that he croaked aloud. And the miller asked what he said, and the Little Farmer answered, "He says that there is a demon in the linen-closet."

"Then," said the miller, "that demon must come out of the linen- closet," and he unbarred the house-door, while the Little Farmer got the key of the Unen-closet from the miller's wife, and opened it. Then the man rushed forth, and out of the house, and the miller said, "1 saw the black rogue with my own eyes; so that is a good riddance."

And the Little Farmer took himself off by daybreak next morning with the three hundred dollars.

And after this the Little Farmer by degrees got on in the world.

i6 Grimms Complete Fairy Tales

and built himself a good house, and the other fanners said, "Surely the Little Fanner has been where it rains gold pieces, and has brought home money by the bushel."

And he was simimoned before the bailiff to say whence his riches came. And all he said was, "I sold my calf s sldn for three hundred dollars."

When the other farmers heard this they wished to share such good luck, and ran home, killed all their cows, skinned them in order to sell them also for the same high price as the Little Farmer. And the bailiff said, '1 must be beforehand with them." So he sent his servant into the town to the skin-buyer, and he only gave her three dollars for the sldn, and that was faring better than the others, for when they came, they did not get as much as that, for the sldn-buyer said, "What am I to do with all these skins?"

Now the other farmers were very angry with the Little Farmer for misleading them, and they vowed vengeance against him, and went to complain of his deceit to the bailiff. The poor Little Farmer was with one voice sentenced to death, and to be put into a cask with holes in it, and rolled into the water. So he was led to execu- tion, and a priest was fetched to say a mass for him, and the rest of the people had to stand at a distance. As soon as the Little Farmer caught sight of the priest he knew him for the man who was hid in the linen-closet at the miller's. And he said to him, "As I let you out of the cupboard, you must let me out of the cask."

At that moment a shepherd passed with a flock of sheep, and the Little Farmer knowing him to have a great wish to become bailiff himself, called out with all his might, "No, I will not, and if all the world asked me, I would noti"

The shepherd, hearing him, came up and asked what it was he would not do. The Little Farmer answered, "They want to make me bailiff, if I sit in this cask, but I will not do it!"

The shepherd said, 'If that is all there is to do in order to be- come bailiff I will sit in the cask and welcome." And the Little Farmer answered, "Yes, that is all, just you get into the cask, and you will become bailiff." So the shepherd agreed, and got in, and the Little Farmer fastened on the top; then he collected the herd of sheep and drove them away.

The priest went back to the parish-assembly, and told them the mass had been said. Then they came and began to roll the cask into the water, and as it went the shepherd inside called out, "I consent to be bailiffl"

They thought that it was the Little Farmer who spoke, and they

The Golden Key 17

answered, "All right; but first you must go down below and look about you a little," and they rolled the cask into the water.

Upon that the farmers went home, and when they reached the village, there they met the Little Farmer driving a flock of sheep, and looking quite calm and contented. The farmers were astonished and cried, "Little Farmer, whence come you? How did you get out of the water?"

"Oh, easily," answered he, "I sank and sank until I came to the bottom; then I broke through the cask and came out of it, and there were beautiful meadows and plenty of sheep feeding, so I brought away this flock with me."

Then said the farmers, "Are there any left?" "Oh yes," answered the Little Farmer, "more than you can possibly need."

Then the farmers agreed that they would go and fetch some sheep also, each man a flock for himself; and the baiUff said, "Me first." And they all went together, and in the blue sky there were lit- tle fleecy clouds Hke lambkins, and they were reflected in the water; and the farmers cried out, "There are the sheep down there at the bottom."

When the baihff heard that he pressed forward and said, '1 will go first and look about me, and if things look well, I will call to you." And he jiunped plump into the water, and they all thought that the noise he made meant "Come," so the whole company jumped in one after the other.

So perished all the proprietors of the village, and the Little Farmer, as sole heir, became a rich man.

The Golden Key

In the winter time, when deep snow lay on the groimd, a poor boy was forced to go out on a sledge to fetch wood. When he had gathered it together, and packed it, he wished, as he was so frozen with cold, not to go home at once, but to light a fire and warm him- self a Kttle. So he scraped away the snow, and as he was thus clear- ing the ground, he found a tiny, gold key. Hereupon he thought that where the key was, the lock must be also, and dug in the ground and foimd an iron chest. "If the key does but fit it!" thought he; "no doubt there are precious things in that little box." He

i8 Grimm's Complete Fairy Tales

searched, but no keyhole was there. At last he discovered one, but so small that it was hardly visible. He tried it, and the key fitted it exactly. Then he turned it once round, and now we must wait until he has quite unlocked it and opened the lid, and then we shall learn what wonderful things were lying in that box.

Sharing Joy and Sorrow

There was once a tailor, who was a quarrelsome fellow, and his vdfe, who was good, industrious, and pious, never could please him. Whatever she did, he was not satisfied, but grumbled and scolded, and knocked her about and beat her. As the authorities at last heard of it, they had him summoned and put in prison in order to make him better. He was kept for a while on bread and water, and then set free again. He was forced, however, to promise not to beat his wife any more, but to live with her in peace, and share joy and sorrow with her, as married people ought to do.

All went on well for a time, but theil he fell into his old ways, and was surly and quarrelsome. And because he dared not beat her, he would seize her by the hair and tear it out. The woman escaped from him, and sprang out into the yard, but he ran after her with his yard-meastire and scissors, and chased her about, and threw the yard-measure and scissors at her, and whatever else came in his way. When he hit her he laughed, and when he missed her, he stormed and swore. This went on so long that the neighbors came to the wife's assistance.

The tailor was again simimoned before the magistrates, and re- minded of his promise. "Dear gentlemen," said he, "I have kept my word; I have not beaten her, but have shared joy and sorrow with her." "How can that be," said the judge, "when she continually brings such heavy complaints against you?" "1 have not beaten her, but just because she looked so strange I wanted to comb her hair with my hand; she, however, got away from me, and left me quite spitefully. Then I hurried after her, and in order to bring her back to her duty, I threw at her as a well-meant admonition whatever came readily to hand. I have shared joy and sorrow with her also, for whenever I hit her I was full of joy, and she of sorrow; and

Tom Thumb 19

if I missed her, then she was joyful, and I sorry." The judges were not satisfied with this answer, but gave him the reward he deserved.

The Nail

A MERCHAJ^ had done good business at the fair; he had sold his wares, and lined his money-bags with gold and silver. Then he wanted to travel homewards, and be in his own house before night- fall. So he packed his trunk with the money on his horse, and rode away.

At noon he rested in a town, and when he wanted to go farther the stable-boy brought out his horse and said, "A nail is wanting, sir, in the shoe of its left hind foot." "Let it be wanting," answered the merchant; "the shoe will certainly stay on for six miles I have still to go. I am in a hiury."

In the afternoon, when he once more alighted and had his horse fed, the stable-boy went into the room to him and said, "Sir, a shoe is missing from your horse's left hind foot. Shall I take him to the blacksmith?" "Let it still be wanting," answered the man; "the horse can very well hold out for the couple of miles which remain. I am in haste."

He rode forth, but before long the horse began to limp. It had not limped long before it began to stumble, and it had not stmnbled long before it fell down and broke its leg. The merchant was forced to leave the horse where it was, and unbuckle the trunk, take it on his back, and go home on foot. And there he did not arrive until quite late at night. "And that unlucky nail," said he to himself, "has caused all this disaster."

Make haste slowly.

Tom Thumb

There was once a poor countryman who used to sit in the chimney- comer all evening and poke the fire, while his wife sat at her spin- ning-wheel.

20 Grimm's Complete Fairy Tales

And he used to say, "How dull it is without any children about US; our house is so quiet, and other people's houses so noisy and merryl"

"Yes," answered his wife, and sighed, "if we could only have one, and that one ever so little, no bigger than my thumb, how happy I should be! It would, indeed, be having our heart's desire."

Now, it happened that after a while the woman had a child who was perfect in all his limbs, but no bigger than a thumb. Then the parents said, "He is just what we wished for, and we love him very much," and they named him according to his stature, "Tom Thvmib." And though they gave him plenty of nourishment, he grew no bigger, but remained exactly the same size as when he was first bom; and he had very good faculties, and was very quick and prudent, so that all he did prospered.

One day his father made ready to go into the forest to cut wood, and he said, as if to himself, "Now, I wish there was some one to bring the cart to me." "O father," cried Tom Thumb, "if I can bring the cart, let me alone for that, and in proper time, too!"

Then the father laughed, and said, "How will you manage that? You are much too Httle to hold the reins." "That has nothing to do with it, father; while my mother goes on with her spinning I will sit in the horse's ear and tell him where to go." "Well," answered the father, "we will try it for once."

When it was time to set off, the mother went on spinning, after setting Tom Thumb in the horse's ear; and so he drove off, crying, "Gee-up, gee-wo!"

So the horse went on quite as if his master were driving him, and drew the wagon along the right road to the wood.

Now it happened just as they tinned a comer, and the little fellow was calling out "Gee-up!" that two strange men passed by.

"Look," said one of them, "how is this? There goes a wagon, and the driver is calling to the horse, and yet he is nowhere to be seen." *Tt is very strange," said the other; "we will follow the wagon, and see where it belongs."

And the wagon went right through the forest, up to the place where the wood had been hewed. When Tom Thumb caught sight of his father, he cried out, 'Xook, father, here am I with the wagon; now, take me down."

The father held the horse with his left hand, and with the right he lifted down his little son out of the horse's ear, and Tom Thumb sat down on a stump, quite happy and content. When the two strangers saw him they were struck dumb with wonder. At last one

Tom Thumb 21

of them, taking the other aside, said to him, "Look here, the little chap would make our fortune if we were to show him in the town for money. Suppose we buy him."

So they went up to the woodcutter, and said, "Sell the little man to US; we will take care he shall come to no harm." "No," answered the father; "he is the apple of my eye, and not for all the money in the world would I sell him."

But Tom Thmnb, when he heard what was going on, climbed up by his father's coat tails, and, perching himself on his shoulder, he whispered in his ear, "Father, you might as well let me go. I will soon come back again."

Then the father gave him up to the two men for a large piece of money. They asked him where he would hke to sit. "Oh, put me on the brim of your hat," said he. "There I can walk about and view the country, and be in no danger of falling off."

So they did as he wished, and when Tom Thumb had taken leave of his father, they set off all together. And they traveled on until it grew dusk, and the little fellow asked to be set down a little while for a change, and after some diflBculty they consented. So the man took him down from his hat, and set him in a field by the roadside, and he ran away directly, and, after creeping about among the fur- rows, he slipped suddenly into a mouse-hole, just what he was look- ing for.

"Good evening, my masters, you can go home without me!" cried he to them, laughing. They ran up and felt about with their sticks in the mouse-hole, but in vain. Tom Thumb crept farther and far- ther in, and as it was growing dark, they had to make the best of their way home, full of vexation, and with empty piurses.

When Tom Thumb found they were gone, he crept out of his hiding-place underground. "It is dangerous work groping about these holes in the darkness," said he; "1 might easily break my neck."

But by good fortime he came upon an empty snail shell. "That's all right," said he. "Now I can get safely through the night"; and he settled himself down in it.

Before he had time to get to sleep, he heard two men pass by, and one was saying to the other, "How can we manage to get hold of the rich parson's gold and silver?" "I can tell you how," cried Tom Thumb. "How is this?" said one of the thieves, quite fright- ened, "I hear some one speaki"

So they stood still and listened, and Tom Thmnb spoke again: "Take me with you; I will show you how to do it!" "Where are

22 Grimm's Complete Fairy Tales

you, then?" asked they. "Look about on the ground and notice where the voice comes from," answered he.

At last they found him, and lifted him up. "You little elf," said they, "how can you help us?" "Look here," answered he, "I can easily creep between the iron bars of the parson's room and hand out to you whatever you would Hke to have." "Very well," said they, "we will try what you can do."

So when they came to the parsonage-house, Tom Thumb crept into the room, but cried out with all his might, "Will you have all that is here?" So the thieves were terrified, and said, "Do speak more softly, lest any one should be awaked."

But Tom Thumb made as if he did not hear them, and cried out again, "What would you like? Will you have all that is here?" so that the cook, who was sleeping in a room hard by, heard it, and raised herself in bed and listened. The thieves, however, in their fear of being discovered, had run back part of the way, but they took courage again, thinking that it was only a jest of the Uttle fellow's. So they came back and whispered to him to be serious, and to hand them out something.

Then Tom Thumb called out once more as loud as he could, "Oh yes, I will give it all to you, only put out your hands."

Then the listening maid heard him distinctly that time, and jumped out of bed, and burst open the door. The thieves ran off as if the wild huntsman were behind them; but the maid, as she could see nothing, went to fetch a light. And when she came back with one, Tom Thumb had taken himself off, without being seen by her, into the bam; and the maid, when she had looked in every hole and corner and found nothing, went back to bed at last, and thought that she must have been dreaming with her eyes and ears open.

So Tom Thumb crept among the hay, and found a comfortable nook to sleep in, where he intended to remain until it was day, and then to go home to his father and mother. But other things were to befall him; indeed, there is nothing but trouble and worry in this worldl

The maid got up at dawn of day to feed the cows. The first place she went to was the bam, where she took up an armful of hay, and it happened to be the very heap in which Tom Thumb lay asleep. And he was so fast asleep, that he was aware of nothing, and never waked until he was in the mouth of the cow, who had taken him up with the hay.

"Oh dear," cried he, "how is it that I have got into a mill!" but he soon found out where he was, and he had to be very careful not

Tom Thumb 23

to get between the cow's teeth, and at last he had to descend into the cow's stomach. "The windows were forgotten when this little room was built," said he, "and the sunshine cannot get in; there is no light to be had."

His quarters were in every way unpleasant to him, and, what was the worst, new hay was constantly coming in, and the space was being filled up. At last he cried out in his extremity, as loud as he could, "No more hay for me! No more hay for me!" The maid was then milking the cow, and as she heard a voice, but could see no one, and as it was the same voice that she had heard in the night, she was so frightened that she fell off her stool, and spilt the milk. Then she ran in great haste to her master, crying, "Oh, master dear, the cow spoke!"

"You must be crazy," answered her master,' and he went himself to the cow-house to see what was the matter. No sooner had he put his foot inside the door, than Tom Thumb cried out again, "No more hay for mel No more hay for me!"

Then the parson himself was frightened, supposing that a bad spirit had entered into the cow, and he ordered her to be put to death. So she was kiUed, but the stomach, where Tom Thiunb was lying, was thrown upon a dunghill. Tom Thumb had great trouble to work his way out of it, and he had just made a space big enough for his head to go through, when a new misfortune happened. A hungry wolf ran up and swallowed the whole stomach at one gulp.

But Tom Thumb did not lose courage. "Perhaps," thought he, "the wolf will listen to reason," and he cried out from the inside of the wolf, "My dear wolf, I can tell you where to get a splendid meal!" "Where is it to be had?" asked the wolf. "In such and such a house, and you must creep into it through the drain, and there you will find cakes and bacon and broth, as much as you can eat," and he described to him his father's house.

The wolf needed not to be told twice. He squeezed himself through the drain in the night, and feasted in the store-room to his heart's content. When at last he was satisfied, he wanted to go away again, but he had become so big, that to creep the same way back was impossible. This Tom Thumb had reckoned upon, and began to make a terrible din inside the wolf, crying and calling as loud as he could.

"Will you be quiet?" said the wolf; "you will wake the folks up!" "Look here," cried the little man, "you are very well satisfied, and now I will do something for my own enjoyment," and began again to make all the noise he could.

24 Grimm's Complete Fairy Tales

At last the father and mother were awakened, and they ran to the room-door and peeped through the chink, and when they saw a wolf in ocxjupation, they ran and fetched weapons— the man an axe, and the wife a scythe. *'Stay behind," said the man, as they entered the room; "when I have given him a blow, and it does not seem to have killed him, then you must cut at him with your scythe."

Then Tom Thumb heard his father s voice, and cried, "Dear fa- ther, I am here in the wolfs inside."

Then the father called out full of joy, 'Thank heaven that we have found our dear child!" and told his wife to keep the scythe out of the way, lest Tom Thumb should be hurt with it. Then he drew near and struck the wolf such a blow on the head that he fell down dead; and then he fetched a knife and a pair of scissors, slit up the wolfs body, and let out the little fellow.

"Oh, what anxiety we have felt about youl" said the father. "Yes, father, I have seen a good deal of the world, and I am very glad to breathe fresh air again."

"And where have you been aU this time?" asked his father. "Oh, I have been in a mouse-hole and a snail's shell, in a cow's stomach and a wolfs inside; now I think I will stay at home."

"And we will not part with you for all the kingdoms of the world," cried the parents, as they kissed and hugged their dear little Tom Thumb. And they gave him something to eat and drink, and a new suit of clothes, as his old ones were soiled with travel.

Tom Thumb's Travels

Thebe was once a tailor who had a son no higher than a thumb, so he was called Tom Thumb. Notwithstanding his small size, he had plenty of spirit, and one day he said to his father, "Father, go out into the world I must and will."

"Very well, my son," said the old man, and taking a long darning needle, he put a knob of sealing-wax on the end, saying, "Here is a sword to take with you on your journey."

Now the little tailor wanted to have one more meal first, and so he trotted into the kitchen to see what sort of farewell feast his mother had cooked for him. It was all ready, and the dish was

Tom Thumb's Travels 25

standing on the hearth. Then said he, "Mother, what is the fare today?"

**You can see for yourself," said the mother. Then Tom Thumb ran to the hearth and peeped into the dish, but as he stretched his neck too far over it, the steam caught him and carried him up the chimney. For a time he floated about with the steam in the air, but at last he sank down to the ground. Then the little tailor found him- self out in the wide world, and he wandered about, and finally en- gaged himself to a master tailor, but the food was not good enough for him.

"Mistress," said Tom Thumb, "if you do not give us better vic- tuals, I shall go out early in the morning and write with a piece of chalk on the house-door, 'Plenty of potatoes to eat, and but little meat; so good-bye, Mr. Potato.'"

"What are you after, grasshopper?" said the mistress, and grow- ing angry she seized a piece of rag to beat him o£F; but he crept un- derneath her thimble, and then peeped at her, and put his tongue out at her. She took up the thimble, and would have seized him, but he hopped among the rags, and as the mistress turned them over to find him, he stepped into a crack in the table. "He-heel Mistressl" cried he, sticking out his head, and when she was just go- ing to grasp him, he jumped into the table-drawer. But in the end she caught him, and drove him out of the house.

So he wandered on until he came to a great wood; and there he met a gang of robbers that were going to rob the King's treasury. When they saw the little tailor, they thought to themselves, "Such a little fellow might easily creep through a key-hole, and serve instead of a pick-lock." "Holloal" cried one, "you giant Goliath, will you come with us to the treasure-chamber? You can slip in, and then throw us out the money."

Tom Thumb considered a little, but at last he consented and went with them to the treasure-chamber. Then he looked all over the door above and below, but there was no crack to be seen; at last he found one broad enough to let him pass, and he was get- ting through, when one of the sentinels that stood before the door saw him, and said to the other, "See what an ugly spider is crawl- ing therel I will put an end to him." 'Xet the poor creatm-e alone," said the other, "it has done you no harm."

So Tom Thirnib got safely through the crack into the treasure- chamber, and he opened the window beneath which the thieves

26 Grimm's Complete Fairy Tales

were standing, and he threw them out one dollar after another. Just as he had well settled to the work, he heard the King coming to take a look at his treasure, and so Tom Thumb had to creep away. The King presently remarked that many good dollars were want- ing, but could not imagine how they could have been stolen, as the locks and bolts were in good order, and everything seemed secure. And he went away, saying to the two sentinels, "Keep good guard; there is some one after the money."

When Tom Thumb had set to work anew, they heard the chink, chink of the money, and hastily rushed in to catch the thief. But the little tailor, as he heard them coming, was too quick for them, and, hiding in a comer, he covered himself up with a doUar, so that nothing of him was to be seen, and then he mocked the sentinels, crying, "Here I am!" They ran about, and when they came near him, he was soon in another comer under a doUar, crying, "Here I ami" Then the sentinels ran towards him, and in a moment he was in a third comer, crying, "Here I ami" In this way he made fools of them, and dodged them so long about the treasure-chamber, that they got tired and went away. Then he set to work, and threw the dollars out of the window, one after the other, till they were all gone; and when it came to the last, as he flung it with aU his might, he jumped nimbly on it, and flew with it out of the window.

The robbers gave him great praise, saying, "You are a most val- iant hero; will you be oiu: captain?"

But Tom Thumb thanked them, and said he would like to see the world first. Then they divided the spoil; but the Httle tailor's share was only one feirthing, which was all he was able to cairy.

Then binding his sword to his side, he bid the robbers good day, and started on his way. He applied to several master tailors, but they would not have anything to do with him; and at last he hired himself as indoor servant at an inn. The maid-servants took a great dislike to him, for he used to see everything they did without being seen by them, and he told the master and mistress about what they took from the plates, and what they carried away out of the cellar. And they said, "Wait a little, we will pay you out," and took coun- sel together to play him some mischievous trick.

Once when one of the maids was mowing the grass in the garden she saw Tom Thumb jimiping about and creeping among the cab- bages, and she* mowed him with the grass, tied all together in a bundle, and threw it to the cows. Among the cows was a big black one, who swallowed him down, without doing him any harm. But

Tom Thumb's Travels 27

he did not like his lodging, it was so dark, and there was no candle to be had. When the cow was being milked, he cried out,

"Strip, strap, strull. Will the pail soon be fullF'

But he was not understood because of the noise of the milk.

Presently the landlord came into the stable and said, "Tomorrow this cow is to be slaughtered."

At that Tom Thumb felt very terrified; and with his shrillest voice he cried, "Let me out first; I am sitting inside here!"

The master heard him quite plainly, but could not tell where the voice came from. "Where are you?" asked he. "Inside the black one," answered Tom Thumb, but the master, not understanding the meaning of it all, went away.

The next morning the cow was slaughtered. Happily, in all the cutting and slashing he escaped all harm, and he slipped among the sausage-meat. When the butcher came near to set to work, he cried with all his might, "Don't cut so deep, don't cut so deep, I am un- derneath I" But for the sound of the butcher's knife his voice was not heard.

Now, poor Tom Thumb was in great straits, and he had to jump nimbly out of the way of the knife, and finally he came through With a whole sldn. But he could not get quite away, and he had to let himself remain with the lumps of fat to be put in a black pud- ding. His quarters were rather narrow, and he had to be hung up in the chimney in the smoke, and to remain there a very long while. At last, when winter came, he was taken down, for the black pud- ding was to be set before a guest. And when the landlady cut the black pudding in slices, he had to great care not to lift up his head too much, or it might be shaved off at the neck. At last he saw his opportimity, took courage, and jumped out.

But as things had gone so badly with him in that house, Tom Thumb did not mean to stay there, but betook himself again to his wanderings. His freedom, however, did not last long. In the open fields there came a fox who snapped him up without thinking.

"Oh, Mr. Fox," cried Tom Thumb, "here I am sticking in your throat; let me out again." "Very well," answered the fox. "It is true you are no better than nothing; promise me the hens in your fa- ther's yard, then I will let you go." "With all my heart," answered Tom Thumb, "you shall have them all, I promise you."

Then the fox let him go, and he ran home. When the father saw

28 Grimm's Complete Fairy Tales

his dear little son again, he gave the fox willingly all the hens that he had.

"And look, besides, what a fine piece of money I've got for youl" said Tom Thumb, and handed over the farthing which he had earned in his wanderings.

But how, you ask, could they let the fox devour aU the poor chicks? Why, you silly child, you know that yoiu: father would rather have you than the hens in his yardi

The Young Giant

A LONG TIME ago a countryman had a son who was as big as a thumb, and did not become any bigger, and during several years did not grow one hair's breadth. Once when the father was going out to plough, the httle one said, "Father, I will go out with thee." "Thou wouldst go out with me?" said the father. "Stay here, thou wilt be of no use out there, besides thou mightst get lostl" Then ThmnbUng began to cry, and for the sake of peace his father put him in his pocket, and took him with him.

When he was outside in the field, he took him out again, and set him in a freshly-cut furrow.

While he was there, a great giant came over the hill. "Dost thou see that great monster?" said the father, for he wanted to frighten the Httle fellow to make him good. "He is coming to fetch thee." The giant, however, had scarcely taken two steps with his long legs before he was in the furrow. He took up little Thumbling carefully with two fingers, examined him, and without saying one word went away with him. His father stood by, but could not utter a sound for terror, and he thought nothing else but that his child was lost, and that as long as he lived he should never set eyes on him again.

The giant, however, carried him home, suckled him, and Thum- bling grew and became taU and strong after the manner of giants. When two years had passed, the old giant took him into the forest, wanted to try him, and said, "Pull up a stick for thyself." Then the boy was already so strong that he tore up a young tree out of the earth by the roots. But the giant thought, "We must do better than that," took him back again, and suckled him two years longer.

When he tried him, his strength had increased so much that he

The Young Giant 29

could tear an old tree out of the ground. That was still not enough for the giant; he again suckled him for two years, and when he then went with him into the forest and said, "Now, just tear up a proper stick for me," the boy tore up the strongest oak tree from the earth, so that it spHt, and that was a mere trifle to him. "Now that will do," said the giant, "thou art perfect," and took him back to the field from whence he had brought him. His father was there follow- ing the plough. The young giant went up to him, and said, "Does my father see what a fine man his son has grown into?"

The farmer was alarmed, and said, "No, thou art not my son; I don't want thee— leave mel" "Truly I am your son; allow me to do your work, I can plough as well as you, nay better." "No, no, thou art not my son, and thou canst not plough— go awayl" However, as he was afraid of this great man, he left hold of the plough, stepped back and stood at one side of the piece of land. Then the youth took the plough, and just pressed it with one hand, but his grasp was so strong that the plough went deep into the earth. The farmer could not bear to see that, and called to him, "If thou art deter- mined to plough, thou must not press so hard on it, that makes bad work." The youth, however, unharnessed the horses, and drew the plough himself, saying, "Just go home, father, and bid my mother make ready a large dish of food, and in the meantime I will go over the field." Then the farmer went home, and ordered his wife to prepare the food; but the youth ploughed the field, which was two acres large, quite alone, and then he harnessed himself to the har- row, and harrowed the whole of the land, using two harrows at once. When he had done it, he went into the forest, and pulled up two oak trees, laid them across his shoulders, and hung one harrow on them behind and one before, and also one horse behind and one before, and carried all as if it had been a bundle of straw, to his parents' house.

When he entered the yard, his mother did not recognize him, and asked, "Who is that horrible tall man?" The farmer said, "That is our son." She said, "No, that caimot be our son, we never had such a tall one, ours was a little thing." She called to him, "Go away, we do not want thee!" The youth was silent, but led his horses to the stable, gave them oats and hay, and all that they wanted. When he had done this, he went into the parlor, sat down on the bench and said, "Mother, now I should like something to eat, will it soon be ready?" Then she said, "Yes," and brought in two immense dishes full of food, which would have been enough to satisfy herself and her husband for a week. The youth, however, ate the whole of it

30 Grimm's Complete Fairy Tales

himself, and asked if she had nothing more to set before him. "No," she replied, "that is all we have." "But that was only a taste, I must have more."

She did not dare to oppose him, and went and put a huge cal- dron full of food on the fire, and when it was ready, carried it in. "At length come a few crumbs," said he, and ate all there was, but it was still not suflBcient to appease his hunger. Then said he, "Fa- ther, I see well that with thee I shall never have food enough; if thou will get me an iron staff which is strong, and which I cannot break against my knees, I will go out into the world."

The farmer was glad, put his two horses in his cart, and fetched from the smith a staff so large and thick that the two horses could only just bring it away. The youth laid it across his knees, and snap! he broke it in two in the middle like a beanstick, and threw it away.

The father then harnessed four horses, and brought a bar which was so long and thick, that the four horses could only just drag it. The son snapped this also in twain against his knees, threw it away, and said, "Father, this can be of no use to me, thou must harness more horses, and bring a stronger staff." So the father harnessed eight horses, and brought one which was so long and thick, that the eight horses could only just carry it. When the son took it in his hand, he broke a bit from the top of it also, and said, 'Tather, I see that thou wilt not be able to procure me any such staff as I want, I will remain no longer with thee."

So he went away, and gave out that he was a smith's apprentice. He arrived at a village, wherein Hved a smith who was a greedy fellow, who never did a kindness to any one, but wanted everything for himself. The youth went into the smithy to him, and asked if he needed a journeyman. "Yes," said the smith, and looked at him, and thought, "That is a strong fellow who will strike out well, and earn his bread." So he asked, "How much wages dost thou want" "1 don't want any at all," he replied, "only every fortnight, when the other journeymen are paid, I will give thee two blows, and thou must bear them." The miser was heartily satisfied, and thought he would thus save much money.

Next morning, the strange journeyman was to begin to work, but when the master brought the glowing bar, and the youth struck his first blow, the iron flew asunder, and the anvil sank so deep into the earth, that there was no bringing it out again. Then the miser grew angry, and said, "Oh, but I can't make any use of thee, thou strikest far too powerfully; what wilt thou have for the one blow?"

Then said he, "1 will only give thee quite a small blow, that's

The Young Giant 31

all." And he raised his foot, and gave him such a kick that he flew away over four loads of hay. Then he sought out the thickest iron bar in the smithy for himself, took it as a stick in his hand, and went onwards.

When he had walked for some time, he came to a small farm, and asked the bailiff if he did not require a head-servant. "Yes," said the bailiff, "I can make use of one; you look a strong fellow who can do something, how much a year do you want as wages?" He again replied that he wanted no wages at all, but that every year he would give him three blows, which he must bear. Then the bailiff was satisfied, for he, too, was a covetous fellow. Next morn- ing all the servants were to go into the wood, and the others were already up, but the head-servant was still in bed. Then one of them called to him, "Get up, it is time; we are going into the wood, and thou must go vvdth us."

"Ah," said he quite roughly and surlily, "you may just go, then; I shall be back again before any of you."

Then the others went to the bailiff, and told him that the head- man was still lying in bed, and would not go into the wood with them. The bailiff said they were to awake him again, and tell him to harness the horses. The head-man, however, said as before, "Just go there, I shall be back again before any of you." And then he stayed in bed two hours longer. At length he arose from the feathers, but first he got himself two bushels of peas from the loft, made himself some broth with them, ate it at his leisure, and when that was done, went and harnessed the horses, and drove into the wood.

Not far from the wood was fe ravine through which he had to pass, so he first drove the horses on, and then stopped them, and went behind the cart, took trees and brushwood, and made a great barricade, so that no horse could get through. When he was enter- ing the wood, the others were just driving out of it with their loaded carts to go home; then said he to ihem, "Drive on, I wi]l still get home before you do." He did not drive far into the wood, but at once tore two of the very largest trees of all out of the earth, threw them on his cart, and tirnied round. When he came to the barri- cade, the others were still standing there, not able to get through. "Don't you see," said he, "that if you had stayed with me, you would have got home just as quickly, and would have had another hour's sleep?"

He now wanted to drive on, but his horses could not work their way through, so he unharnessed them, laid them at the top of the

32 Grimm's Complete Fairy Tales

cart, took tlie shafts in his own hands, and drew it over, and he did this just as easily as if it had been laden with feathers. When he was over, he said to the others, "There, you see, I have got over quicker than you," and drove on, and the others had to stay where they were. In the yard, however, he took a tree in his hand, showed it to the bailiff, and said, "Isn't that a fine bundle of wood?" Then said the bailiff to his wife, "The servant is a good one, if he does sleep long, he is stiU home before the others."

So he served the bailiff a year, and when that was over, and the other servants were getting their wages, he said it was time for him to have his too. The bailiff, however, was afraid of the blows which he was to receive, and earnestly entreated him to excuse him from having them; for rather than that, he himself would be head-ser- vant, and the youth should be bailiff. "No," said he, "I will not be a bailiff, I am head-servant, and will remain so, but I will administer that which we agreed on." The bailiff was willing to give him what- soever he demanded, but it was of no use, the head-servant said no to everything.

Then the bailiff did not know what to do, and begged for a fort- night's delay, for he wanted to find some way to escape. The head- servant consented to this delay. The baihff summoned all his clerks together, and they were to think the matter over, and give him ad- vice. The clerks pondered for a long time, but at last they said that no one was sure of his life with the head-servant, for he could kill a man as easily as a midge, and that the bailiff ought to make him get into the well and clean it, and when he was down below, they would roll up one of the mill-stones which was lying there, and throw it on his head; and then he would never return to daylight.

The advice pleased the bailiff, and the head-servant was quite willing to go down the well. When he was standing down below at the bottom, they rolled down the largest miU-stone and thought they had broken his skull, but he cried, "Chase away those hens from the well, they are scratching in the sand up there, and throw- ing the grains into my eyes, so that I can't see." So the bailiff cried, "Sh-sh"— and pretended to frighten the hens away.

When the head-servant had finished his work, he climbed up and said, "Just look what a beautiful necktie I have on," and behold it was the miU-stone which he was wearing round his neck. The head- servant now wanted to take his reward, but the bailiff again begged for a fortnight's delay. The clerks met together and advised him to send the head-servant to the haimted mill to grind corn by night, for from thence as yet no man had ever returned in the morning

The Young Giant 33

alive. The proposal pleased the bailiflF, he called the head-servant that very evening, and ordered him to take eight bushels of com to the mill, and grind it that night, for it w^as wanted.

So the head-servant went to the loft, and put two bushels in his right pocket, and two in his left, and took foiu: in a wallet, half on his back, and half on his breast, and thus laden went to the haunted mill. The miller told him that he could grind there very well by day, but not by night, for the mill was haunted, and that up to the present time whosoever had gone into it at night had been found in the morning, lying dead inside. He said, "1 wiU manage it, just you go away to bed." Then he went into the mill, and poured out the corn.

About eleven o'clock he went into the miller's room, and sat down on the bench. When he had sat there a while, a door sud- denly opened, and a large table came in, and on the table, wine and roasted meats placed themselves, and much good food besides, but everything came of itself, for no one was there to carry it. After this the chairs pushed themselves up, but no people came, until all at once he beheld fingers, which handled knives and forks, and laid food on the plates, but with this exception he saw nothing. As he was hungry, and saw the food, he, too, placed himself at the table, ate with those who were eating, and enjoyed it.

When he had had enough, and the others also had quite emptied their dishes, he distinctly heard all the candles being suddenly snuffed out, and as it was now pitch dark, he felt something like a box on the ear. Then he said, 'If anything of that Idnd comes again, I shall strike out in return." And when he had received a sec- ond box on the ear, he, too, struck out. And so it continued the whole night, he took nothing wdthout returning it, but repaid every- thing v^ath interest, and did not lay about him in vain.

At daybreak, however, everything ceased. When the miller had got up, he wanted to look after him, and wondered if he were still aUve. Then the youth said, "I have eaten my fill, have received some boxes on the ear, but I have given some in return." The miller rejoiced, and said that the mill was now released from the spell, and wanted to give him much money as a reward. But he said, "Money, I will not have, I have enough of it." So he took his meal on his back, went home, and told the bailiff that he had done what he had been told to do, and would now have the reward agreed on.

When the bailiff heard that, he was seriously alarmed and quite beside himself; he walked backwards and forwards in the room, and drops of perspiration ran down from his forehead. Then he

34 GHmm's Complete Fairy Tales

opened the window to get some fresh air, but before he was aware the head-servant had given him such a kick that he flew through the window out into the air, and so far away that no one ever saw him again. Then said the head-servant to the bailiffs wife, "If he does not come back, thou must take the other blow." She cried, "No, no, I cannot bear it," and opened the other window, because drops of perspiration were running down her forehead. Then he gave her such a kick that she, too, flew out, and as she was lighter she went much higher than her husband. Her husband cried, "Do come to me," but she rephed, "Come thou to me, I cannot come to thee."

They hovered about there in the air, and could not get to each other, and whether they are still hovering about or not, I do not know, but the young giant took up his iron bar, and went on his way.

Sweet Porridge

There was a poor but good little girl who lived alone with her mother, and they no longer had anything to eat. So the child went into the forest, and there an aged woman met her who was aware of her sorrow, and presented her with a little pot, which when she said, "Cook, little pot, cook," would cook good, sweet porridge; and when she said, "Stop, little pot," it ceased to cook. The girl took the pot home to her mother, and now they were freed from their pov- erty and hunger, and ate sweet porridge as often as they chose.

Once on a time when the girl had gone out, her mother said, "Cook, little pot, cook." And it did cook and she ate till she was satisfied, and then she wanted the pot to stop cooking, but did not know the word. So it went on cooking and the porridge rose over the edge, and still it cooked on until the kitchen and whole house were full, and then the next house, and then the whole street, just as if it wanted to satisfy the hunger of the whole world; and there was the greatest distress, but no one knew how to stop it.

At last when only one single house remained, the child came home and just said, "Stop, little pot," and it stopped and gave up cooking, and whosoever vidshed to return to the town had to eat his way back.

The Elves

1

There was once a shoemaker, who, through no fault of his own, be- came so poor that at last he had nothing left but just enough leather to make one pair of shoes. He cut out the shoes at night, so as to set to work upon them next morning; and as he had a good conscience, he laid himself quietly down in his bed, committed himself to heaven, and fell asleep.

In the morning, after he had said his prayers, and was going to get to work, he fotmd the pair of shoes made and finished, and standing on his table. He was very much astonished, and could not tell what to think, and he took the shoes in his hand to examine them more closely; and they were so well made that every stitch was in its right place, just as if they had come from the hand of a master- workman.

Soon after, a purchaser entered, and as the shoes fitted him very well, he gave more than the usual price for them, so that the shoe- maker had enough money to buy leather for two more pairs of shoes. He cut them out at night, and intended to set to work the next morning with fresh spirit; but that was not to be, for when he got up they were already finished, and even a customer was not lacking, who gave him so much money that he was able to buy leather enough for four new pairs. Early next morning he found the four pairs also finished, and so it always happened; whatever he cut out in the evening was worked up by the morning, so that he was soon in the way of making a good living, and in the end became very well-to-do.

One night, not long before Christmas, when the shoemaker had finished cutting out, and before he went to bed, he said to his wife, "How would it be if we were to sit up tonight and see who it is that does us this service?"

His wife agreed, and set a light to bum. Then they both hid in a comer of the room behind some coats that were hanging up, and then they began to watch. As soon as it was midnight they saw come in two neatly-formed naked little men, who seated themselves

36 Grimm's Complete Fairy Tales

before the shoemaker's table, and took up the work that was al- ready prepared, and began to stitch, to pierce, and to hammer so cleverly and quickly with their Httle fingers that the shoemaker's eyes could scarcely follow them, so full of wonder was he. And they never left oflE until everything was finished and was standing ready on the table, and then they jumped up and ran off.

The next morning the shoemaker's wife said to her husband, "Those little men have made us rich, and we ought to show our- selves grateful. With all their running about, and having nothing to cover them, they must be very cold. I'U tell you what; I will make little shirts, coats, waistcoats, and breeches for them, and knit each of them a pair of stockings, and you shall make each of them a pair of shoes."

The husband consented willingly, and at night, when everything was finished, they laid the gifts together on the table, instead of the cut-out work, and placed themselves so that they could observe how the Httle men would behave. When midnight came, they rushed in, ready to set to work, but when they found, instead of the pieces of prepared leather, the neat little garments put ready for them, they stood a moment in surprise, and then they showed the greatest delight. With the greatest swiftness they took up the pretty garments and sHpped them on, singing,

"What spruce and dandy boys are wel No longer cobblers we will beT

Then they hopped and danced about, jumping over the chairs and tables, and at last they danced out at the door.

From that time they were never seen again; but it always went well with the shoemaker as long as he Hved, and whatever he took in hand prospered.

11

There was once a poor servant maid, who was very cleanly and industrious; she swept down the house every day, and put the sweepings on a great heap by the door. One morning, before she began her work, she found a letter, and as she could not read, she laid her broom in the comer, and took the letter to her master and mistress, to see what it was about; and it was an invitation from the elves, who wished the maid to come and stand godmother to one of

The Elves 37

their children. The maid did not know what to do; and as she was told that no one ought to refuse the elves anything, she made up her mind to go.

So there came three little elves, who conducted her into the mid- dle of a high mountain, where the Httle people lived. Here every- thing was of a very small size, but more fine and elegant than can be told. The mother of the child lay in a bed made of ebony, stud- ded with pearls; the counterpane was embroidered with gold, the cradle was of ivory, and the bathing-tub of gold. So the maid stood godmother, and was then for going home, but the elves begged her to stay at least three more days with them; and so she consented, and spent the time in mirth and jollity, and the elves seemed very fond of her. At last, when she was ready to go away, they filled her pockets full of gold, and led her back again out of the mountain.

When she got back to the house, she was going to begin working again, and took her broom in her hand— it was still standing in the comer where she had left it— and began to sweep. Then came up some strangers and asked her who she was, and what she was doing. And she foimd that instead of three days, she had been seven years with the elves in the mountain, and that during that time her master and mistress had died.

Ill

The elves once took a child away from its mother, and left in its place a changeling with a big head and staring eyes, who did noth- ing but eat and drink. The mother in her trouble went to her neigh- bors and asked their advice. The neighbors told her to take the changeling into the kitchen and put it near the hearth, and then to make up the fire, and boil water in two egg-shells; that would make the changeling laugh, and if he laughed, it would be all over with him. So the woman did as her neighbors advised. And when she set the egg-shells of water on the fire, the changeling said,

"Though old I be As forest tree. Cooking in an egg-shell never did I see!"

and began to laugh. And directly there came in a crowd of elves bringing in the right child; and they laid it near the hearth, and carried the changeling away with them.

Fair Katrinelje and Pif-Paf-Poltrie

Good-day, Father Hollenthe." "Many thanks, Pif-paf-poltrie.'* "May I be allowed to have your daughter?" "Oh, yes, if Mother Mal- cho (Milch-cow), Brother High-and-Mighty, Sister Kasetraut, and fair Katrinelje are willing, you can have her." "Where is Mother Malcho, then?" "She is in the cow-house, milking the cow."

"Good-day, Mother Malcho." "Many thanks, Pif-paf-poltrie." "May I be allowed to have your daughter?" "Oh, yes, if Father HoUenthe, Brother High-and-Mighty, Sister Kasetraut, and fair Ka- trinelje are willing, you can have her." "Where is Brother High- and-Mighty, then?" "He is in the room chopping some wood."

"Good-day, Brother High-and-Mighty." "Many thanks, Pif-paf- poltrie." "May I be allowed to have your sister?" "Oh, yes, if Fa- ther Hollenthe, Mother Malcho, Sister Kasetraut, and fair Ka- trinelje are willing, you can have her." "Where is Sister Kasetraut, then?" "She is in the garden cutting cabbages."

"Good-day, Sister Kasetraut." "Many thanks, Pif-paf-poltrie." "May I be allowed to have your sister?" "Oh, yes, if Father Hol- lenthe, Mother Malcho, Brother High-and-Mighty, and fair Ka- trinelje are willing, you may have her." "Where is fair Katrinelje, then?" "She is in the room counting out her farthings."

"Good-day, fair Katrinelje." "Many thanks, Pif-paf-poltrie." "Wilt thou be my bride?" "Oh, yes, if Father Hollenthe, Mother Malcho, Brother High-and-Mighty, and Sister Kasetraut are willing, I am ready."

"Fair Katrinelje, how much dowry hast thou?" "Fourteen far- things in ready money, three and a half groschen owing to me, half a pound of dried apples, a handful of fried bread, and a handful of spices.

And many other things are mine. Have I not a dowry fine?

Pif-paf-poltrie, what is thy trade? Art thou a tailor?" "Something better." "A shoemaker?" "Something better." "A husbandman?" "Something better." "A joiner?" "Something better." "A smith?" "Something better." "A miller?" "Something better." "Perhaps a broom-maker?" "Yes, that's what I am, is it not a fine trade?"

The Old Beggar- Woman

There was once an old woman, but thou hast surely seen an old woman go a-begging before now? This woman begged likewise, and when she got anything she said, "May God reward you." The beggar-woman came to a door, and there by the fire a friendly rogue of a boy was standing warming himself. The boy said kindly to the poor old woman as she was standing shivering thus by the door, "Come, old mother, and warm yourself." She came in, but stood too near the fire, so that her old rags began to bum, and she was not aware of it. The boy stood and saw that, but he ought to have put the flames out. And if he could not find any water, then should he have wept all the water in his body out of his eyes, and that would have supplied two fine streams with which to extinguish them.

The Jew Among Thorns

There was once a rich man who had a servant who served him diligently and honestly. Every morning the servant was the first out of bed, and the last to go to rest at night; and, whenever there was a difficult job to be done, which nobody cared to undertake, he was always the first to set himself to it. Moreover, he never complained, but was contented with everything, and always merry.

When a year was ended, his master gave him no wages, for he said to himself, "That is the cleverest way; for I shall save some- thing, and he will not go away, but stay quietly in my service." The servant said nothing, but did his work the second year as he had done it the first; and when at the end of this, likewise, he received no wages, he made himself happy, and still stayed on.

When the third year also was past, the master considered, put his hand in his pocket, but pulled nothing out. Then at last the servant said, "Master, for three years I have served you honestly; be so

40 Griinm*s Complete Fairy Tales

good as to give me what I ought to have, for I wish to leave, and look about me a little more in the world."

''Yes, my good fellow," answered the old miser; "you have served me industriously, and therefore you shall be cheerfully rewarded"; and he put his hand into his pocket, but counted out only three far- things, saying, "There, you have a farthing for each year; that is large and liberal pay, such as you would have received from few masters."

The honest servant, who understood little about money, put his fortune into his pocket, and thought, "Ah! now that I have my purse full, why need I trouble and plague myself any longer with hard work!" So on he went, up hill and down dale; and sang and jumped to his heart's content. Now it came to pass that as he was going by a thicket a little man stepped out, and called to him, ''Whither away, merry brother? I see you do not carry many cares." *Why should I be sad?" answered the servant; "I have enough; three years' wages are jingling in my pocket."

"How much is your treasure?" the dwarf asked him. "How much? Three farthings sterling, all told."

"Look here," said the dwarf, *T am a poor needy man, give me your three farthings; I can work no longer, but you are young, and can easily earn your bread."

And as the servant had a good heart, and felt pity for the old man, he gave him the three farthings, saying, "Take them in the name of Heaven, I shaU not be any the worse for it."

Then the little man said, "As I see you have a good heart I grant you three wishes, one for each farthing, they shall all be fulfilled."

"Aha?" said the servant, "you are one of those who can work wonders! Well, then, if it is to be so, I wish, first, for a gun, which shall hit everything that I aim at; secondly, for a fiddle, which when I play on it, shall compel aU who hear it to dance; thirdly, that if I ask a favor of any one he shall not be able to refuse it."

"All that shall you have," said the dwarf; and put his hand into the bush; and only think, there lay a fiddle and gun, all ready, just as if they had been ordered. These he gave to the servant, and then said to him, "Whatever you may ask at any time, no man in the world shaU be able to deny you."

"Heart alive! What more can one desire?" said the servant to himself, and went merrily onwards. Soon afterwards he met a Jew with a long goafs-beard, who was standing listening to the song of a bird whidi was sitting up at the top of a tree. "Good heavens," he was exclaiming, "that such a small creature should have subh a

The Jew Among Thorns 41

fearfully loud voice! If it were but mine! If only some one would sprinkle some salt upon its tail!"

"If that is all," said the servant, "the bird shall soon be down here"; and taking aim he pulled the trigger, and down fell the bird into the thorn-bushes. "Go, you rogue," he said to the Jew, "and fetch the bird out for yourself!"

"Oh!" said the Jew, "leave out the rogue, my master, and I will do it at once. I will get the bird out for myself, as you reaUy have hit it." Then he lay down on the ground, and began to crawl into the thicket.

When he was fast among the thorns, the good servant's humor so tempted him that he took up his fiddle and began to play. In a mo- ment the Jew's legs began to move, and to jump into the air, and the more the servant fiddled the better went the dance. But the thorns tore his shabby coat for him, combed his beard, and pricked and plucked him all over the body. "Oh dear," cried the Jew, "what do I want with your fiddling? Leave the fiddle alone, master; I do not want to dance."

But the servant did not listen to him, and thought, "You have fleeced people often enough, now the thom-bushes shall do the same to you"; and he began to play over again, so that the Jew had to jmnp higher than ever, and scraps of his coat were left hanging on the thorns. "Oh, woe's me!" cried the Jew; "I will give the gen- tleman whatsoever he asks i£ only he leaves off fiddling— a purse full of gold." "If you are so liberal," said the servant, "I will stop my music; but this I must say to your credit, that you dance to it so well that it is quite an art"; and having taken the purse he went his way.

The Jew stood stiU and watched the servant quietly until he was far off and out of sight, and then he screamed out with all his might, "You miserable musician, you beer-house fiddler! Wait till I catch you alone, I will hunt you till the soles of your shoes fall off! You ragamuffin! Just put five farthings in yom* mouth, and then you may be worth three halfpence!" and went on abusing him as fast as he could speak.

As soon as he had refreshed himself a little in this way, and got his breath again, he ran into the town to the justice. "My lord judge," he said, "I have come to make a complaint; see how a ras- cal has robbed and ill-treated me on the public highway! A stone on the ground might pity me; my clothes aU torn, my body pricked and scratched, my little aU gone with my pvurse— good ducats, each

42 Grimm's Complete Fairy Tales

piece better than the last; for God's sake let the man be thrown into prisonl"

"Was it a soldier," said the judge, "who cut you thus with his sabre?" "Nothing of the sortl" said the Jew; "it was no sword that he had, but a gun hanging at his back, and a fiddle at his neck; the wretch may easily be known."

So the judge sent his people out after the man, and they found the good servant, who had been going quite slowly along, and they found, too, the purse with the money upon him. As soon as he was taken before the judge he said, "I did not touch the Jew, nor take his money; he gave it to me of his own free wiU, that I might leave oflE fiddling because he could not bear my music." "Heaven defend us!" cried the Jew, "his lies are as thick as flies upon the wall."

But the judge also did not believe his tale, and said, "This is a bad defense, no Jew would do that." And because he had commit- ted robbery on the public highway, he sentenced the good servant to be hanged. As he was being led away the Jew again screamed after him, "You vagabond! You dog of a fiddler! now you are going to receive your well-earned reward!"

The servant walked quietly with the hangman up the ladder, but upon the last step he turned round and said to the judge, "Grant me just one request before I die." "Yes, if you do not ask your life," said the judge. "I do not ask for life," answered the servant, "but as a last favor let me play once more upon my fiddle."

The Jew raised a great cry of "Murder! murder! for goodness' sake do not allow it! Do not allow it!" But the judge said, "Why should I not let him have this short pleasure? It has been granted to him, and he shall have it." However, he could not have refused on account of the gift which had been bestowed on the servant.

Then the Jew cried, "Oh! woe's me! tie me, tie me fast!" while the good servant took his fiddle from his neck, and made ready. As he gave the first scrape, they all began to quiver and shake, the judge, his clerk, and the hangman and his men, and the cord fell out of the hand of the one who was going to tie the Jew fast. At the second scrape all raised their legs, and the hangman let go his hold of the good servant, and made himself ready to dance. At the third scrape they all leaped up and began to dance; the judge and the Jew being the best at jumping. Soon all who had gathered in the market-place out of curiosity were dancing with them; old and young, fat and lean, one with another. The dogs, likewise, which had run there got up on their hind legs and capered about; and the

King Thrushheard 43

longer he played, the higher sprang the dancers, so that they knocked against each other's heads, and began to shriek terribly.

At length the judge cried, quite out of breath, "I will give you your life if you will only stop fiddling." The good servant thereupon had compassion, took his fiddle and hung it round his neck again, and stepped down the ladder. Then he went up to the Jew, who was lying upon the ground panting for breath, and said, "You ras- cal, now confess, whence you got the money, or I wiU take my fiddle and begin to play again." "I stole it, I stole itl" cried he; "Tsut you have honestly earned it." So the judge had the Jew taken to the gallows and hanged as a thief.

King Thrushbeard

A KING had a daughter who was beautiful beyond measure, but so proud and overbearing that none of her suitors were good enough for her; she not only refused one after the other, but made a laugh- ing-stock of them.

Once the King appointed a great feast, and bade all the mar- riageable men to it from far and near. And tiiey were all put in rows, according to their rank and station: first came the Kings, then the Princes, the dukes, the earls, the barons, and lastly the noblemen. The Princess was led in front of the rows, but she had a mocking epithet for each. One was too fat, "What a tubl" said she; another too tall, "Long and lean is ill to be seen," said she; a third too short, 'Tat and short, not fit to court," said she. A fourth was too pale— "A regular death's-head"; a fifth too red-faced— "A game- cock," she called him. The sixth was not well-made enough— "Green wood ill driedl" cried she. So every one had something against him, and she made especially merry over a good King who was very tall, and whose chin had grown a little peaked. "Only look," cried she, laughing, "he has a chin like a thrush's beak."

And from that time they called him King Thrushbeard. But the old King, when he saw that his daughter mocked every one, and scorned all the assembled suitors, swore in his anger that she should have the first beggar that came to the door for a husband.

A few days afterwards came a traveling ballad-singer, and sang under the window in hopes of a small alms. When the King heard

44 Grimms Complete Fairy Tales

of it, he said that he must come in. And so the ballad-singer entered in his dirty tattered garments, and sang before the King and his daughter; when he had done, he asked for a small reward. But the King said, "Your song has so well pleased me, that I will give you my daughter to wife."

The Princess was horrified; but the King said, "I took an oath to give you to the first beggar that came, and so it must be done."

There was no remedy. The priest was fetched, and she had to be married to the ballad-finger out of hand. When all was done, the King said, "Now, as you are a beggar-wife, you can stay no longer in my castle, so off with you and your husband."

The beggar-man led her away, and she was obliged to go forth with him on foot. On the way they came to a great wood, and she asked,

"Oh, whose is this forest, so thick and so fineF* He answered,

"It is King Thrushheards, and might have been thine"

And she cried,

"Oh, I was a silly young thing, Tm af eared. Would I had taken that good King Thrushbeard!"

Then they passed through a meadow, and she asked, "Oh, whose is this meadow, so green and so fine?"

He answered, "It is King Thrushheards, and might have been thine."

And she cried,

"I was a silly young thing, Tm af eared. Would I had taken that good King ThrushbeardF'

Then they passed through a great town, and she asked,

"Whose is this city, so great and so fine?" He answered,

"Oh, it is King Thrushbeard' s, and might have been thine."

And she cried,

"I was a silly young thing, Tm af eared. Would I had taken that good King Thrushbeard!"

King Thrushbeard 45

Then said the beggar-man, "It does not please me to hear you al- ways wishing for another husband; am I not good enough for you?" At last they came to a very smaU house, and she said,

"Oh dear me! what poor little house do I see? And whose, I would know, may the wretched hole beF'

The man answered, 'That is my house and yours, where we must live together."

She had to stoop before she could go in at the door.

"Where are the servants?" asked the King's daughter.

"What servants?" answered the beggar-man, "what you want to have done you must do yoiurself. Make a fire quickly, and put on water, and cook me some food; I am very tired."

But the King's daughter understood nothing about fire-maldng and cooking, and the beggar-man had to lend a hand himself in order to manage it at all. And when they had eaten their poor fare, they went to bed; but the man called up his wiie very early in the morning, in order to clean the house.

For a few days they lived in this indifferent manner, until they came to the end of their store. "Wife," said the man, "this will not do, stopping here and earning nothing; you must make baskets."

So he went out and cut wiUows, and brought them home; and she began to weave them, but the hard twigs wounded her tender hands. "I see this wiU not do," said the man, "you had better try spinning."

So she sat her down and tried to spin, but the harsh thread cut her soft fingers, so that the blood flowed. "Look nowl" said the man, "you are no good at any sort of work; I made a bad bargain when I took you. I must see what I can do to make a trade of pots and earthen vessels; you can sit in the market and offer them for sale."

"Oh dearl" thought she, "suppose while I am selling in the mar- ket people belonging to my father's kingdom should see me, how they would mock at me!" But there was no help for it; she had to submit, or else die of hunger.

The first day all went well; the people bought her wares eagerly, because she was so beautiful, and gave her whatever she asked, and some of them gave her the money and left the pots after all behind them. And they lived on these earnings as long as they lasted; and then the man bought a nimiber of new pots. So she seated herself in a comer of the market, and stood the wares before her for sale. All at once a drunken horse-soldier came plimging by.

46 Grimm's Complete Fairy Tales

and rode straight into the midst of her pots, breaking them into a thousand pieces. She could do nothing for weeping. "Oh dear, what will become of me," cried she; "what will my husband say?" and she hastened home and told him her misfortune.

"Who ever heard of such a thing as sitting in the comer of the market with earthenware potsl" said the man; "now leave oflF cry- ing; I see you are not fit for any regular work. I have been asking at your father's castle if they want a kitchen-maid, and they say they don't mind taking you; at any rate you will get your victuals free."

And the ICing's daughter became a kitchen-maid, to be at the cook's beck and call, and to do the hardest work. In each of her pockets she fastened a little pot, and brought home in them what- ever was left, and upon that she and her husband were fed. It hap- pened one day, when the wedding of the eldest Prince was cele- brated, the poor woman went upstairs, and stood by the parlor door to see what was going on. And when the place was Ughted up, and the company arrived, each person handsomer than the one before, and all was brilliancy and splendor, she thought on her own fate wdth a sad heart, and bewailed her former pride and haughtiness which had brought her so low, and plunged her in so great poverty. And as the rich and delicate dishes smeUing so good were carried to and fro every now and then, the servants would throw her a few fragments, which she put in her pockets, intending to take home. And then the Prince himself passed in, clothed in siUc and velvet, with a gold chain round his neck. And when he saw the beautiful woman standing in the doorway, he seized her hand and urged her to dance with him, but she refused, all trembhng, for she saw it was King Thrushbeard, who had come to court her, whom she had turned away wdth mocking. It was of no use her resisting, he drew her into the room; and all at once the band to which her pockets were fastened broke, and the pots fell out, and the soup ran about, and the fragments were scattered all round. And when the people saw that, there was great laughter and mocking, and she felt so ashamed, that she wished herself a thousand fathoms underground.

She rushed to the door to fly from the place, when a man caught her just on the steps, and when she looked at him, it was King Thrushbeard again. He said to her in a Idnd tone, "Do not be afraid, I and the beggar-man v^dth whom you lived in the wretched Httle hut are one. For love of you I disguised myself, and it was I who broke your pots in the guise of a horse-soldier. I did all that to bring down your proud heart, and to punish your haughtiness, which caused you to mock at me."

Clever Gretel 47

Then she wept bitterly, and said, "I have done great wrong, and am not worthy to be your wife."

But he said, "Take courage, the evil days are gone over; now let us keep our wedding-day."

Then came the ladies-in-waiting and put on her splendid cloth- ing; and her father came, and the whole coiut, and wished her joy on her marriage with King Thrushbeard; and then the merry-mak- ing began in good earnest. I cannot help wishing that you and I could have been there too.

Clever Gretel

There was once a cook called Gretel, who wore shoes with red heels, and when she went out in them she gave herself great airs, and thought herself very fine indeed. When she came home again, she would take a drink of wine to refresh herself, and as that gave her an appetite, she would take some of the best of whatever she was cooking, until she had had enough— "for," said she, "a cook must know how things taste."

It happened that one day her master came to her and said, "Gre- tel, I expect a guest this evening; you must make ready a pair of fowls." "I will see to it," answered Gretel.

So she killed the fowls, cleaned them, and plucked them, and put them on the spit, and then, as evening drew near, placed them be- fore the fire to roast. And they began to be brown, and were nearly done, but the guest had not come.

"li he does not make haste," cried Gretel to her master, "I must take them away from the fire; it's a pity and a shame not to eat them now, just when they are done to a turn." And the master said he would run himself and fetch the guest. As soon as he had turned his back, Gretel took the fowls from before the fire.

"Standing so long before the fire," said she, "makes one hot and thirsty— and who knows when they will cornel In the meanwhile I will go to the cellar and have a drink." So down she ran, took up a mug, and saying, "Here's to mel" took a good draught. "One good drink deserves another," she said "and it should not be cut short"; so she took another hearty draught. Then she went and put the fowls down to the fire again, and, basting them with butter, she

48 Grimm's Complete Fairy Tales

turned the spit briskly round. And now they began to smell so good that Gretel saying, "I must find out whether they really are all right," hcked her fingers, and then cried, "Well, I never 1 the fowls are good; it's a sin and a shame that no one is here to eat them I"

So she ran to the window to see if her master and his guest were coming, but as she could see nobody she went back to her fowls. "Why, one of the wings is bumingl" she cried presently, "I had better eat it and get it out of the way." So she cut it off and ate it up, and it tasted good, and then she thought, "I had better cut off the other too, in case the master should miss anything." And when both wings had been disposed of she went and looked for the master, but still he did not come.

"Who knows," said she, "whether they are coming or not? they may have put up at an inn." And after a pause she said again, "Come, I may as well make myself happy, and first I will make sure of a good drink and then of a good meal, and when all is done I shall be easy; the gifts of the gods are not to be despised." So first she ran down into the cellar and had a famous drink, and ate up one of the fowls with great relish. And when that was done, and still the master did not come, Gretel eyed the other fowl, saying, "What one is the other must be, the two belong to each other, it is only fair that they should be both treated alike; perhaps when I have had another drink, I shall be able to manage it." So she took another hearty drink, and then the second fowl went the way of the first.

Just as she was in the middle of it the master came back. "Make haste, Gretel," cried he, "the guest is coming directlyl" "Very well, master," she answered, "it vdll soon be ready." The master went to see that the table was properly laid, and, taking the great carving knife with which he meant to carve the fowls, he sharpened it upon the step. Presently came the guest, knocking very genteeUy and softly at the front door. Gretel ran and looked to see who it was, and when she caught sight of the guest she put her finger on her lip saying, "Hushl make the best haste you can out of this, for if my master catches you, it wiU be bad for you; he asked you to come to supper, but he really means to cut off your ears! Just listen how he is sharpening his knifel"

The guest, hearing the noise of the sharpening, made off as fast as he could go. And Gretel ran screaming to her master. "A pretty guest you have asked to the house!" cried she. "How so, Gretel? what do you mean?" asked he. "What indeedl" said she; "why, he

Pitchers Bird 49

has gone and run away with my pair of fowk that I had just dished up.

"That's pretty sort of conduct!" said the master, feeling very sorry about the fowls; 'Tie might at least have left me one, that I might have had something to eat." And he called out to him to stop, but the guest made as if he did not hear him; then he ran after him, the knife still in his hand, crying out, "Only onel only onel" mean- ing that the guest should let him have one of the fowls and not take both; but the guest thought he meant to have only one of his ears, and he ran so much the faster that he might get home with both of them safe.

Pitcher's Bird

Theee was once a wizard who used to take the form of a poor man. He went to houses and begged, and caught pretty girls. No one knew whither he carried them, for they were never seen more. One day he appeared before the door of a man who had three pretty daughters. He looked like a poor weak beggar, and carried a basket on his back, as if he meant to collect charitable gifts in it. He begged for a httle food, and when the eldest daughter came out and was just reaching him a piece of bread, he did but touch her, and she was forced to jump into his basket. Thereupon he hurried away with long strides, and carried her away into a dark forest to his house, which stood in the midst of it.

Everything in the house was magnificent; he gave her whatsoever she could possibly desire, and said, "My darHng, thou wilt certainly be happy with me, for thou hast everything thy heart can wish for." This lasted a few days, and then he said, "I must journey forth, and leave thee alone for a short time; there are the keys of the house; thou mayst go everywhere and look at everything except into one room, which this Uttle key here opens, and there I forbid thee to go on pain of death." He Hkewise gave her an egg and said, "Preserve the egg carefully for me, and carry it continually about with thee, for a great misfortune would arise from the loss of it."

She took the keys and the egg, and promised to obey him in ev- erything. When he was gone, she went all round the house from the bottom to the top, and examined everything. The rooms shone with

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silver and gold, and she thought she had never seen such great splendor.

At length she came to the forbidden door; she wished to pass it by, but curiosity let her have no rest. She examined the key, it looked just Hke any other; she put it in the keyhole and tiumed it a little, and the door sprang open. But what did she see when she went in? A great bloody basin stood in the middle of the room, and therein lay human beings, dead and hewn to pieces, and hard by was a block of wood, and a gleaming axe lay upon it. She was so terribly alarmed that the egg which she held in her hand fell into the basin. She got it out and washed the blood off, but in vain, it ap- peared again in a moment. She washed and scrubbed, but she could not get it out.

It was not long before the man came back from his journey, and the first things which he asked for were the key and the egg. She gave them to him, but she trembled as she did so, and he saw at once by the red spots that she had been in the bloody chamber. "Since thou hast gone into the room against my wiU," said he, "thou shalt go back into it against thine own. Thy life is ended." He threw her down, dragged her thither by her hair, cut her head off on the block, and hewed her in pieces so that her blood ran on the ground. Then he threw her into the basin with the rest.

"Now I will fetch myself the second," said the wizard, and again he went to the house in the shape of a poor man, and begged. Then the second daughter brought him a piece of bread; he caught her like the first, by simply touching her, and carried her away. She did not fare better than her sister. She allowed herself to be led away by her curiosity, opened the door of the bloody chamber, looked in, and had to atone for it with her life on the wizard's return.

Then he went and brought the third sister. But she was clever and crafty. When he had given her the keys and the egg, and had left her, she first put the egg away with great care, and then she ex- amined the house, and at last went into the forbidden room. Alas, what did she beholdl Both her sisters lay there in the basLn, cruelly murdered, and cut in pieces. She began to gather their limbs to- gether and put them in order, head, body, arms and legs. And when nothing fiuther was lacking, the limbs began to move and unite themselves together, and both the maidens opened their eyes and were once more aUve. Then they rejoiced and kissed and caressed each other.

On his arrival, the man at once demanded the keys and the egg,

Fitchet^s Bird 51

and as he could perceive no trace of any blood on it, he said, "Thou hast stood the test, thou shalt be my bride." He now had no longer any power over her, and was forced to do whatsoever she desired. "Oh, very well," said she, "thou shalt first take a basketful of gold to my father and mother, and carry it thyself on thy back; in the meantime I will prepare for the wedding."

Then she ran to her sisters, whom she had hidden in a Mttle chamber and said, "The moment has come when I can save you. The wretch shall himself carry you home again, but as soon as you are at home send help to me." She put both of them in a basket and covered them quite over with gold, so that nothing of them was to be seen, then she called in the wizard and said to him, "Now carry the basket away, but I shall look through my little window and watch to see if thou stoppest on the way to stand or to rest."

The wizard raised the basket on his back and went away with it, but it weighed him down so heavily that the perspiration streamed from his face. Then he sat down and wanted to rest awhile, but immediately one of the girls in the basket cried, "I am looking through my little window, and I see that thou art resting. Wilt thou go on at once?" He thought his bride was calling that to him; and got up on his legs again. Once more he was going to sit down, but instantly she cried, "I am looking through my httle window, and I see that thou art resting. Wilt thou go on directly?"

Whenever he stood still, she cried this, and then he was forced to go onwards, until at last, groaning and out of breath, he took the basket with the gold and the two maidens into their parents' house. At home, however, the bride prepared the marriage-feast, and sent invitations to the friends of the wizard. Then she took a skull with grinning teeth, put some ornaments on it and a wreath of flowers, carried it upstairs to the garret-window, and let it look out from thence. When all was ready, she got into a barrel of honey, and then cut the feather-bed open and rolled herself in it, until she looked like a wondrous bird, and no one could recognize her. Then she went out of the house, and on her way she met some of the wedding-guests, who asked,

"O, Fitcher's bird, how comst thou here?"

"I come from Fitcher's house quite near,"

"And what may the young bride be doing?"

"From cellar to garret she's swept all clean. And now from the window she's peeping, I ween."

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At last she met the bridegroom, who was coming slowly back. He, like the others, asked,

"O, Fitche/s bird, how com'sf thou hereF'

"I come from Fitche/s house quite near."

"And what may the young bride be doing?"

"From cellar to garret she's swept all clean. And now from the uAndow she's peeping, I ween^

The bridegroom looked up, saw the decked-out skuU, thought it was his bride, and nodded to her, greeting her kindly. But when he and his guests had all gone into the house, the brothers and kins- men of the bride, who had been sent to rescue her, arrived. They locked all the doors of the house, that no one might escape, set fire to it, and the wizard and all his crew were burned.

The Robber Bridegroom

Thesie was once a miller who had a beautiful daughter, and when she was grown up he became anxious that she should be weU mar- ried and taken care of; so he thought, "If a decent sort of man comes and asks her in marriage, I wiU give her to him."

Soon after a suitor came forward who seemed very well-to-do, and as the miller knew nothing to his disadvantage, he promised him his daughter. But the girl did not seem to love him as a bride should love her bridegroom; she had no confidence in him; as often as she saw him or thought about him, she felt a chiU at her heart.

One day he said to her, "You are to be my bride, and yet you have never been to see me." The girl answered, "\ do not know where your house is." Then he said, "My house is a long way in the wood."

She began to make excuses, and said she could not find the way to it; but the bridegroom said, "You must come and pay me a visit next Sunday; I have already invited company, and I will strew ashes on the path through the wood, so that you will be srnre to find it."

When Sunday came, and the girl set out on her way, she felt very uneasy without knowing exactly why; and she filled both pockets

The Robber Bridegroom 53

full of peas and lentils. There were ashes strewn on the path through the wood, but nevertheless, at each step she cast to the right and left a few peas on the ground. So she went on the whole day until she came to the middle of the wood, where it was darkest, and there stood a lonely house, not pleasant in her eyes, for it was dismal and unhomeUke. She walked in, but there was no one there, and the greatest stillness reigned. Suddenly she heard a voice cry,

"Turn back, turn back, thou pretty bride. Within this house thou must not bide. For here do evil things betide."

The girl glanced round, and perceived that the voice came from a bird who was hanging in a cage by the wall. And again it cried,

"Turn back, turn back, thou pretty bride. Within this house thou must not bide. For here do evil things betide"

Then the pretty bride went on from one room into another through the whole house, but it was quite empty, and no soul to be found in it. At last she reached the cellar, and there sat a very old woman nodding her head.

"Can you teU me," said the bride, "if my bridegroom lives here?"

"Oh, poor child," answered the old woman, "do you know what has happened to you? You are in a place of cutthroats. You thought you were a bride, and soon to be married, but death will be your spouse. Look here, I have a great kettle of water to set on, and when once they have you in their power they will cut you in pieces without mercy, cook you, and eat you, for they are carmibals. Un- less I have pity on you, and save you, all is over with youl"

Then the old woman hid her behind a great cask, where she could not be seen. "Be as still as a mouse," said she; "do not move or go away, or else you are lost. At night, when the robbers are asleep, we will escape. I have been waiting a long time for an op- portunity."

No sooner was it settled than the wicked gang entered the house. They brought another young woman with them, dragging her along, and they were drunk, and would not listen to her cries and groans. They gave her wine to drink, three glasses full, one of white wine, one of red, and one of yellow, and then they cut her in pieces; the poor bride all the while shaking and trembling when she saw what a fate the robbers had intended for her.

One of them noticed on the little finger of their victim a golden

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ring, and as he could not draw it oflE easily, he took an axe and chopped it oflE, but the finger jumped away, and feU behind the cask on the bride's lap. The robber took up a Hght to look for it, but he could not find it. Then said one of the others, "Have you looked behind the great cask?" But the old woman cried, "Come to supper, and leave off looking till tomorrow; the finger cannot run away."

Then the robbers said the old woman was right, and they left off searching, and sat down to eat, and the old woman dropped some sleeping stuff into their wine, so that before long they stretched themselves on the cellar floor, sleeping and snoring.

When the bride heard that, she came from behind the cask, and had to make her way among the sleepers lying aU about on the ground, and she felt very much afraid lest she might awaken any of them. But by good luck she passed through, and the old woman with her, and they opened the door, and they made haste to leave that house of murderers. The wind had carried away the ashes from the path, but the peas and lentils had budded and sprung up, and the moonshine upon them showed the way. And they went on through the night, till in the morning they reached the mill. Then the girl related to her father aU that had happened to her.

When the wedding-day came, the friends and neighbors as- sembled, the miller having invited them, and the bridegroom also appeared. When they were all seated at table, each one had to teU a story. But the bride sat stiU, and said nothing, tiU at last the bridegroom said to her, "Now, sweetheart, do you know no story? TeU us something."

She answered, '1 wiU teU you my dream. I was going alone through a wood, and I came at last to a house in which there was no living soul, but by the waU was a bird in a cage, who cried,

'Turn back, turn back, thou pretty bride. Within this house thou must not bide. For here do evil things betide'

"And then again it said it. Sweetheart, the dream is not ended. Then I went through aU the rooms, and they were all empty, and it was so lonely and wretched. At last I went down into the ceUar, and there sat an old old woman, nodding her head. I asked her if my bridegroom lived in that house, and she answered, 'Ah, poor child, you have come into a place of cutthroats; your bridegroom does live here, but he wiU kiU you and cut you in pieces, and then cook and eat you.' Sweetheart, the dream is not ended. But the old woman hid me behind a great cask, and no sooner had she done so

Old Hildebrand 55

than the robbers came home, dragging with them a young woman, and they gave her to drink wine thrice, white, red, and yellow. Sweetheart, the dream is not yet ended. And then they killed her, and cut her in pieces. Sweetheart, my dream is not yet ended. And one of the robbers saw a gold ring on the jBnger of the young woman, and as it was diflBcult to get oflF, he took an axe and chopped ofiE the finger, which jumped upwards, and then fell be- hind the great cask on my lap. And here is the finger with the ringl"

At these words she drew it forth, and showed it to the company.

The robber, who during the story had grown deadly white, sprang up, and would have escaped, but the folks held him fast, and delivered him up to justice. And he and his whole gang were, for their evil deeds, condemned and executed.

Old Hildebrand

Once upon a time lived a peasant and his wife, and the parson of the village had a fancy for the wife, and had wished for a long while to spend a whole day happily with her, and the peasant woman, too, was quite willing. One day, therefore, he said to the woman, "Listen, my dear friend, I have now thought of a way by which we can for once spend a whole day happily together. I'll tell you what: on Wednesday, you must take to your bed, and tell your husband you are ill, and if you only complain and act being ill properly, and go on doing it imtil Simday when I have to preach, I will then say in my sermon that whosoever has at home a sick child, a sick husband, a sick wife, a sick father, a sick mother, a sick sister, brother or whosoever else it may be, and makes a pilgrimage to the Gockerli hill in Italy, where you can get a peck of laurel-leaves for a kreuzer, the sick child, the sick husband, the sick wiie, the sick fa- ther, or sick mother, the sick sister, or whosoever else it may be, will be restored to health immediately."

"1 will manage it," said the woman directly. Now therefore, on the Wednesday, the peasant woman took to her bed, and com- plained and lamented as agreed on, and her husband did every- thing for her that he could think of, but nothing did her any good, and when Sunday came the woman said, "l feel as iU as if I were

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going to die at once, but there is one thing I should like to do be- fore my end— I should like to hear the parson's sermon that he is going to preach today." On that the peasant said, "Ah, my child, do not do it— you might make yourself worse if you were to get up. Look, I will go to the sermon, and will attend to it very carefully, and will tell you everything the parson says."

"Well," said the woman, "go, then, and pay great attention, and repeat to me all that you hear." So the peasant went to the sermon, and the parson began to preach and said, if any one had at home a sick child, a sick husband, a sick wife, a sick father, a sick mother, a sick sister, brother or any one else, and would make a pilgrimage to the Gockerli hill in Italy, where a peck of laiuel-leaves costs a kreuzer, the sick child, sick husband, sick wife, sick father, sick mother, sick sister, brother, or whosoever else it might be, would be restored to health instantly; and whosoever wished to undertake the journey was to go to him after the service was over, and he would give him the sack for the laurel-leaves and the kreuzer.

No one was more rejoiced than the peasant, and after the service was over, he went at once to the parson, who gave him the bag for the laurel-leaves and the kreuzer. After that he went home, and even at the house door he cried, "Hurrah! dear wife, it is now al- most the same thing as if you were well! The parson has preached today that whosoever had at home a sick child, a sick husband, a sick wife, a sick father, a sick mother, a sick sister, brother or who- ever it might be, and would make a pilgrimage to the GockerH hiU in Italy, where a peck of laurel-leaves costs a kreuzer, the sick child, sick husband, sick wife, sick father, sick mother, sick sister, brother, or whosoever else it was, would be cured immediately; and now I have already got the bag and the kreuzer from the parson, and will at once begin my journey so that you may get well the faster," and thereupon he went away. He was, however, hardly gone before the women got up, and the parson was there directly.

But now we will leave these two for a while, and follow the peas- ant, who walked on quickly without stopping, in order to get the sooner to the Gockerli hiU; and on his way he met his gossip. His gossip was an egg-merchant, and was just coming from the market, where he had sold his eggs. "May you be blessed," said the gossip, "where are you off to so fast?"

"To all eternity, my friend," said the peasant, "my wife is iU, and I have been today to hear the parson's sermon, and he preached that if any one had in his house a sick child, a sick husband, a sick

Old Hildebrand 57

wife, a sick father, a sick mother, a sick sister, brother or any one else, and made a pilgrimage to the Gockerli hill in Italy, where a peck of laurel-leaves costs a kreuzer; the sick child, the sick hus- band, the sick wife, the sick father, the sick mother, the sick sister, brother, or whosoever else it was, would be cured immediately; and so I have got the bag for the laurel-leaves and the kreuzer from the parson, and now I am beginning my pilgrimage." "But listen, gos- sip," said the egg-merchant to the peasant, "are you, then, stupid enough to believe such a thing as that? Don't you know what it means? The parson wants to spend a whole day alone with your wife in peace, so he has given you this job to do to get you out of the way."

"My word!" said the peasant. "How I'd like to know if that's truel"

"Come, then," said the gossip, "I'll tell you what to do. Get into my egg-basket and I will carry you home, and then you will see for yourself." So that was settled, and the gossip put the peasant into his egg-basket, and carried him home.

When they got to the house, hurrahl but all was going merrily there I The woman had already had nearly everything killed that was in the farmyard, and had made pancakes; and the parson was there, and had brought his fiddle with him. The gossip knocked at the door, and the woman asked who was there. "It is I, gossip," said the egg-merchant, "give me shelter this night; I have not sold my eggs at the market, so now I have to carry them home again, and they are so heavy that I shall never be able to do it, for it is dark already."

'Indeed, my friend," said the woman, "you come at a very incon- venient time for me, but as you are here it can't be helped; come in, and take a seat there on the bench by the stove." Then she placed the gossip and the basket which he carried on his back on the bench by the stove. The parson, however, and the woman were as merry as possible. At length the parson said, "Listen, my dear friend, you can sing beautifully; sing something to me." "Oh," said the woman, "1 cannot sing now, in my young days indeed I could sing well enough, but that's all over now." "Come," said the parson once more, "do sing some little song."

Then the woman sang,

"I've sent my husband atoay from me To the Gockerli hill in Italy.'*

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Thereupon the parson sang,

"I wish 'twas a year before he came back, Td never ask him for the laurel-leaf sack.

Hallelujah."

Then the gossip, who was in the background, began to sing (but I ought to tell you the peasant was called Hildebrand), so the gos- sip sang,

"What art thou doing, my Hildebrand dear. There on the bench by the stove so near?

Hallelujah."

Then the peasant sang from his basket,

"All singing I ever shall hate from this day, And here in this basket no longer I'll stay.

Hallelujah."

And he got out of the basket and drove the parson out of the house.

The Singing Bone

A CERTAIN COUNTRY was greatly troubled by a wild boar that at- tacked workers in the fields, killed men, and tore them to pieces with its terrible tusks. The King of the country had offered rich re- wards to any one who would rid the land of this terror. But the beast was so huge and ferocious that no man could even be per- suaded to enter the forest where the animal made its home.

At last the King made a proclamation that he would give his only daughter in marriage to any man who would bring the wild boar to him, dead or alive.

There lived two brothers in that country, the sons of a poor man, who gave notice of their readiness to enter on this perilous under- taking. The elder, who was clever and crafty, was influenced by pride; the younger, who was innocent and simple, offered himself from kindness of heart.

Thereupon the King advised that, as the best and safest way would be to take opposite directions in the wood, the elder was to go in the evening and the younger in the morning.

The Singing Bone 59

The younger had not gone far when a little fairy stepped up to him. He held in his hand a black spear, and said, "I will give you this spear because your heart is innocent and good. With this you can go out and discover the v^ld boar, and he shall not be able to harm you."

He thanked the httle man, took the spear, placed it on his shoul- der, and without delay went further into the forest. It was not long before he espied the animal coming toward him, and fiercely mak- ing ready to spring. But the youth stood still and held the spear firmly in front of him. In wild rage the fierce beast ran violently to- ward him, and was met by the spear, on the point of which he threw himself, and, as it pierced his heart, he fell dead.

Then the youngster took the dead monster on his shoulder and went to find his brother. As he approached the other side of the wood, where stood a large hall, he heard music, and found a num- ber of people dancing, drinking wine, and making merry. His elder brother was among them, for he thought the wdld boar would not run far away, and he wished to get up his courage for the evening by cheerful company and wdne.

When he caught sight of his younger brother coming out of the forest laden wdth his booty, the most restless jealousy and mahce rose in his heart. But he disguised his bitter feehngs and spoke kindly to his brother, and said, "Come in and stay v^dth us, dear brother, and rest awhile, and get up your strength by a cup of wdne."

So the youth, not suspecting anything wrong, carried the dead boar into his brother's house, and told him of the little man he had met in the wood, who had given him the spear, and how he had killed the wild animal.

The elder brother persuaded him to stay and rest till the evening, and then they went out together in the twilight and walked by the river till it became quite dark. A Httle bridge lay across the river, over which they had to pass, and the elder brother let the young one go before him. When they arrived at the middle of the stream the wicked man gave his younger brother a blow from behind, and he fell down dead instantly.

But fearing he might not be quite dead, he threw the body over the bridge into the river, and through the clear waters saw it sink into the sand. After this wicked deed he ran home quickly, took the dead wild boar on his shoulders, and carried it to the King, with the pretense that he had killed the animal, and that therefore he

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could claim the Princess as his wife, according to the King's promise.

But these dark deeds are not often concealed, for something hap- pens to bring them to light. Not many years after, a herdsman, passing over the bridge with his flock, saw beneath him in the sand a little bone as white as snow, and thought that it would make a very nice mouthpiece for his horn.

As soon as the flock passed over the bridge, he waded into the middle of the stream— for the water was very shallow— took up the bone, and carried it home to make a mouthpiece for his horn.

But the first time he blew the horn after the bone was in it, it fiUed the herdsman with wonder and amazement; for it began to sing of itself, and these were the words it sang:

"Ah! dear shepherd, you are blowing your horn With one of my bones, which night and morn Lie still unburied, beneath the uMve Where I was thrown in a sandy grave. I killed the wild boar, and my brother slew me. And gained the Princess by pretending 'twas he."

**What a wonderful horn," said the shepherd, "that can sing of it- self! I must certainly take it to my lord, the King."

As soon as the horn was brought before the King and blown by the shepherd, it at once began to siag the same song and the same words.

The King was at first surprised, but his suspicion being aroused, he ordered that the sand under the bridge should be examined im- mediately, and then the entire skeleton of the murdered man was discovered, and the whole wicked deed came to Hght.

The wicked brother could not deny the deed. He was therefore ordered to be tied in a sack and drowned, while the remains of his murdered brother were carefully carried to the churchyard, and laid to rest in a beautiful grave.

Maid Maleen

There was once a King who had a son who asked in marriage the daughter of a mighty King; she was called Maid Maleen, and was

Maid Maleen 6i

very beautiful. As her father wished to give her to another, the Prince was rejected; but as they both loved each other with all their hearts, they would not give each other up, and Maid Maleen said to her father, "I can and v^oll take no other for my husband."

Then the King flew into a passion, and ordered a dark tower to be built, into which no ray of sunlight or moonlight should enter. When it was finished, he said, "Therein shalt thou be imprisoned for seven years, and then I will come and see if thy perverse spirit is broken." Meat and drink for the seven years were carried into the tower, and then she and her waiting-woman were led into it and walled up, and thus cut off from the sky and from the earth. There they sat in the darkness, and knew not when day or night began. The King's son often went round and round the tower, and called their names, but no sound from without pierced through the thick walls. What else could they do but lament and complain?

Meanwhile the time passed, and by the diminution of the food and drink they knew that the seven years were coming to an end. They thought the moment of their dehverance was come; but no stroke of the hammer was heard, no stone fell out of the wall, and it seemed to Maid Maleen that her father had forgotten her. As they only had food for a short time longer, and saw a miserable death awaiting them, Maid Maleen said, "We must try our last chance, and see if we can break through the wall." She took the bread- knife, and picked and bored at the mortar of a stone, and when she was tired, the waiting-maid took her turn. With great labor they succeeded in getting out one stone, and then a second, and third, and when three days were over the first ray of light fell on their darkness, and at last the opening was so large that they could look out.

The sky was blue, and a fresh breeze played on their faces; but how melancholy everything looked all aroundl Her father's castle lay in ruins, the town and the villages were, so far as could be seen, destroyed by fire, the fields far and wide laid to waste, and no human being was visible. When the opening in the wall was large enough for them to slip through, the waiting-maid sprang down first, and then Maid Maleen followed. But where were they to go? The enemy had ravaged the whole kingdom, driven away the King, and slain all the inhabitants. They wandered forth to seek another country, but nowhere did they find a shelter, or a human being to give them a mouthful of bread, and their need was so great that they were forced to appease their hunger vidth nettles. When, after

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long journeying, they came into another country, they tried to get work everywhere; but wherever they knocked they were turned away, and no one would have pity on them. At last they arrived in a large city and went to the royal palace. There also they were or- dered to go away, but at last the cook said that they might stay in the kitchen and be scullions.

The son of the King in whose kingdom they were, was, however, the very man who had been betrothed to Maid Maleen. His father had chosen another bride for him, whose face was as ugly as her heart was wicked. The wedding was fixed, and the maiden had al- ready arrived; because of her great ugliness, however, she shut her- self in her room, and allowed no one to see her, and Maid Maleen had to take her her meals from the kitchen. When the day came for the bride and the bridegroom to go to church, she was ashamed of her ugHness, and afraid that if she showed herself in the streets, she would be mocked and laughed at by the people.

Then said she to Maid Maleen, "A great piece of luck has befal- len thee. I have sprained my foot, and caimot well walk through the streets; thou shalt put on my wedding-clothes and take my place; a greater honor than that thou canst not have!" Maid Ma- leen, however, refused it, and said, "I wish for no honor which is not suitable for me." It was in vain, too, that the bride offered her gold. At last she said angrily, "If thou dost not obey me, it shall cost thee thy life. I have but to speak the word, and thy head will lie at thy feet." Then she was forced to obey, and put on the bride's magnificent clothes and all her jewels. When she entered the royal haU, every one was amazed at her great beauty, and the King said to his son, "This is the bride whom I have chosen for thee, and whom thou must lead to church." The bridegroom was astonished, and thought, "She is Hke my Maid Maleen, and I should believe that it was she herself, but she has long been shut up in the tower, or dead." He took her by the hand and led her to church. On the way was a nettle-plant, and she said,

"Oh, nettle-plant. Little nettle-plant. What dost thou here alone? I have known the time When I ate thee unboiled, When I ate thee unroasted."

"What art thou saying?" asked the King's son. "Nothing," she replied, "I was only thinking of Maid Maleen." He was surprised

Maid Maleen 63

that she knew about her, but kept silence. When they came to the foot-plank into the churchyard, she said,

"Foot-bridge, do not break, I am not the true bride."

*What art thou saying there?" asked the King's son. 'Toothing," she replied, "1 was only thinking of Maid Maleen." 'TDost thou know Maid Maleen?" "No," she answered, "how should I know her; I have only heard of her." When they came to the church-door, she said once more,

"Church-door, break not, I am not the true bride."

"What art thou saying there?" asked he. "Ah," she answered, "I was only thinking of Maid Maleen." Then he took out a precious chain, put it round her neck, and fastened the clasp. Thereupon they entered the church, and the priest joined their hands together before the altar, and married them. He led her home, but she did not speak a single word the whole way. When they got back to the royal palace, she hurried into the bride's chamber, put off the magnificent clothes and the jewels, dressed herself in her gray gown, and kept nothing but the jewel on her neck, which she had received from the bridegroom.

When the night came, and the bride was to be led into the Prince's apartment, she let her veil fall over her face, that he might not observe the deception. As soon as every one had gone away, he said to her, "What didst thou say to the nettle-plant which was grow- ing by the wayside?" "To which nettle-plant?" asked she; "I don't talk to nettle-plants." "If thou didst not do it, then thou art not the true bride," said he. So she bethought herself, and said,

"I must go out unto my maid. Who keeps my thoughts for me."

She went out and sought Maid Maleen. "Girl, what hast thou been saying to the nettle?" "I said nothing but,

'Oh, nettle-plant. Little nettle-plant. What dost thou here alone? I have known the time When I ate thee unboiled. When I ate thee unroasted.'"

The bride ran back into the chamber, and said, "I know now

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what I said to the nettle," and she repeated the words which she had just heard. "But what didst thou say to the foot-bridge when we went over it?" asked the King's son. "To the foot-bridge?" she answered; "I don't talk to foot-bridges." "Then thou art not the true bride." She again said,

"I must go out unto my maid. Who keeps my thoughts for me"

and ran out and found Maid Maleen, "Girl, what didst thou say to the foot-bridge?" "I said nothing but,

'Foot-bridge, do not break, I am not the true bride.'"

"That costs thee thy lifel" cried the bride, but she hurried into the room, and said, "I know now what I said to the foot-bridge," and she repeated the words. "But what didst thou say to the church-door?" "To the church-door?" she replied; "I don't talk to church-doors." "Then thou art not the true bride."

She went out and found Maid Maleen, and said, "Girl, what didst thou say to the church-door?" "I said nothing but,

'Church-door, break not, I am not the true bride'"

"That will break thy neck for thee!" cried the bride, and flew into a terrible passion, but she hastened back into the room, and said, "I know now what I said to the church-door," and she repeated the words. "But where hast thou the jewel which I gave thee at the church-door?" "What jewel?" she answered; "thou didst not give me any jewel." "I myself put it round thy neck, and I myself fas- tened it; if thou dost not know that, thou art not the true bride." He drew the veil from her face, and when he saw her immeasurable ugliness, he sprang back terrified, and said, "How comest thou here? Who art thou?" "I am thy betrothed bride, but because I feared lest the people should mock me when they saw me out of doors, I commanded the scullery-maid to dress herself in my clothes, and to go to chiurch instead of me." "Where is the girl?" said he; "I want to see her, go and bring her here." She went out and told the servants that the scullery-maid was an impostor, and that they must take her out into the court-yard and strike oflF her head. The servants laid hold of Maid Maleen and wanted to drag her out, but she screamed so loudly for help, that the King's son

The Goose-Girl 65

heard her voice, hurried out of his chamber and ordered them to set the maiden free instantly.

Lights were brought, and then he saw on her neck the gold chain which he had given her at the church-door. "Thou art the true bride," said he, "who went with me to church; come with me now to my room." When they were both alone, he said, "On the way to the church thou didst name Maid Maleen, who was my betrothed bride; if I could believe it possible, I should think she was standing before me— thou art like her in every respect." She answered, "I am Maid Maleen, who for thy sake was imprisoned seven years in the darkness, who suflEered hunger and thirst, and has lived so long in want and poverty. Today, however, the sun is shining on me once more. I was married to thee in the church, and I am thy lawful wife." Then they kissed each other, and were happy all the days of their lives. The false bride was rewarded for what she had done by having her head cut o£E.

The tower in which Maid Maleen had been imprisoned remained standing for a long time, and when the children passed by it they sang,

"Kling, klang, gloria. Who sits within this tower? A Kin^s daughter, she sits tvithin, A sight of her I cannot win. The wall it will not break. The stone cannot be pierced. Little Hans, with your coat so gay. Follow me, follow me, fast as you may."

The Goose-Girl

Thebe was once upon a time an old Queen whose husband had been dead for many years, and she had a beautiful daughter. When the Princess grew up she was betrothed to a Prince who lived at a great distance. When the time came for her to be married, and she had to journey forth into the distant kingdom, the aged Queen packed up for her many costly vessels of silver and gold, and trin- kets also of gold and silver, and cups and jewels; in short, everything

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which appertained to a royal dowry, for she loved her child with all her heart. She likewise sent her maid in waiting, who was to ride with her, and hand her over to the bridegroom, and each had a horse for the journey, but the horse of the King's daughter was called Falada, and could speak. So when the hour of parting had come, the aged mother went into her bed-room, took a small knife and cut her finger with it until it bled, then she held a white hand- kerchief to it into which she let three drops of blood fall, gave it to her daughter and said, "Dear child, preserve this carefully; it will be of service to you on your way."

So they took a sorrowful leave of each other; the Princess put the piece of cloth in her bosom, mounted her horse, and then went away to her bridegroom. After she had ridden for a while she felt a burning thirst, and said to her waiting-maid, "Dismount, and take my cup which you have brought for me, and get me some water from the stream, for I should like to drink." "If you are thirsty," said the waiting-maid, "get off yomr horse yourself, and lie down and drink out of the water, I don't choose to be your servant." So in her great thirst the Princess alighted, bent down over the water in the stream and drank, and was not allowed to drink out of the golden cup. Then she said, "Ah, Heavenl" And the three drops of blood answered, "If your mother knew this, her heart would break." But the King's daughter was humble, said nothing, and mounted her horse again.

She rode some miles further, but the day was warm, the sun scorched her, and she was thirsty once more, and when they came to a stream of water, she again cried to her waiting-maid, "Dis- mount, and give me some water in my golden cup," for she had long ago forgotten the girl's ill words. But the waiting-maid said still more haughtily, "If you wish to drink, drink as you can, I don't choose to be your maid." Then in her great thirst the King's daugh- ter aKghted, bent over the flowing stream, wept and said, "Ah, Heavenl" And the drops of blood again replied, "If your mother knew this, her heart would break." And as she was thus drinking and leaning right over the stream, the handkerchief with the three drops of blood fell out of her bosom, and floated away with the water without her observing it, so great was her trouble.

The waiting-maid, however, had seen it, and she rejoiced to think that she had now power over the bride, for since the Princess had lost the drops of blood, she had become weak and powerless. So now when she wanted to mount her horse again, the one that was

The Goose-Girl 67

called Falada, the waiting-maid said, "Falada is more suitable for me, and my nag will do for you," and the Princess had to be con- tent with that. Then the waiting-maid, with many hard words, bade the Princess exchange her royal apparel for her own shabby clothes; and at length she was compelled to swear by the clear sky above her, that she would not say one word of this to any one at the royal court, and if she had not taken this oath she would have been killed on the spot. But Falada saw all this, and observed it well.

The waiting-maid now mounted Falada, and the true bride the bad horse, and thus they traveled onwards, until at length they en- tered the royal palace. There were great rejoicings over her arrival, and the Prince sprang forward to meet her, lifted the waiting-maid from her horse, and thought she was his consort. She was con- ducted upstairs, but the real Princess was left standing below. Then the old King looked out of the window and saw her standing in the courtyard, and how dainty and delicate and beautiful she was, and instantly went to the royal apartment, and asked the bride about the girl she had with her who was standing down below in the courtyard, and who she was. "I picked her up on my way for a companion; give the girl something to work at, that she may not stand idle."

But the old King had no work for her, and knew of none, so he said, "I have a little boy who tends the geese, she may help him." The boy was called Conrad, and the true bride had to help him tend the geese. Soon afterwards the false bride said to the young King, "Dearest husband, I beg you to do me a favor." He an- swered, "I will do so most willingly." 'Then send for the knacker, and have the head of the horse on which I rode here cut ofiF, for it vexed me on the way." In reality, she was afraid that the horse might tell how she had behaved to the King's daughter. Then she succeeded in making the King promise that it should be done, and the faithful Falada was to die.

This came to the ears of the real Princess, and she secretly prom- ised to pay the knacker a piece of gold if he would perform a small service for her. There was a great dark-looking gateway in the town, through which morning and evening she had to pass with the geese; would he be so good as to nail up Falada's head on it, so that she might see him again, more than once. The knacker's man prom- ised to do that, and cut off the head, and nailed it fast beneath the dark gateway.

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Early in the morning, when she and Conrad drove out their flock beneath this gateway, she said in passing,

"Alas, Falada, hanging there!"

Then the head answered,

"Alas, young Queen, how ill you fare! If this your tender mother knew. Her heart would surely break in two."

Then they went still further out of the town, and drove their geese into the country. And when they had come to the meadow, she sat down and unbound her hair which was like pure gold, and Conrad saw it and delighted in its brightness, and wanted to pluck out a few hairs. Then she said,

"Blow, blow, thou gentle unnd, I say. Blow Conrad's little hat away. And make him chase it here and there. Until I have braided all my hair. And bound it up again."

And there came such a violent wind that it blew Conrad's hat far away across country, and he was forced to rxm after it. When he came back she had finished combing her hair and was putting it up again, and he could not get any of it. Then Conrad was angry, and would not speak to her, and thus they watched the geese until the evening, and then they went home.

Next day when they were driving the geese out through the dark gateway, the maiden said,

"Alas, Falada, hanging thereF'

Falada answered,

"Alas, young Queen, how ill you fare! If this your tender mother knew. Her heart would surely break in two."

And she sat down again in the field and began to comb out her hair, and Conrad ran and tried to clutch it, so she said in haste,

"Blow, blow, thou gentle wind, I say. Blow Conrad's little hat away, And make him chase it here and there. Until I have braided all my hair. And bound it up again."

The Goose-Girl 69

Then the wind blew, and blew his little hat oflF his head and far away, and Conrad was forced to run after it, and when he came back, her hair had been put up a long time, and he could get none of it, and so they looked after their geese till evening came.

But in the evening after they had got home, Conrad went to the old King, and said, "I won't tend the geese with that girl any longerl" "Why not?" inquired the aged King. "Oh, because she vexes me the whole day long." Then the aged King commanded him to relate what it was that she did to him. And Conrad said, "In the morning when we pass beneath the dark gateway with the flock, there is a sorry horse's head on the wall, and she says to it,

'Alas, Falada, hanging thereF

"And the head replies,

'Alas, young Queen, how ill you fare!

If this your tender mother knew.

Her heart would surely break in two.'"

And Conrad went on to relate what happened on the goose pas- ture, and how when there he had to chase his hat.

The aged King commanded him to drive his flock out again next day, and as soon as morning came, he placed himself behind the dark gateway, and heard how the maiden spoke to the head of Falada, and then he too went into the country, and hid himself in the thicket in the meadow. There he soon saw with his own eyes the goose-girl and the goose-boy bringing their flock, and how after a while she sat down and unplaited her hair, which shone with radi- ance. And soon she said,

"Blow, blow, thou gentle wind, I say. Blow Conrads little hat away. And make him chase it here and there. Until I have braided all my hair. And bound it up again."

Then came a blast of wind and carried off Conrad's hat, so that he had to run far away, while the maiden quietly went on combing and plaiting her hair, all of which the King observed. Then, quite unseen, he went away, and when the goose-girl came home in the evening, he called her aside, and asked why she did all these things. "I may not tell you that, and I dare not lament my sorrows to any human being, for I have sworn not to do so by the heaven which is above me; if I had not done that, I should have lost my

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life." He urged her and left her no peace, but he could draw noth- ing from her. Then said he, "If you will not tell me anything, tell your sorrows to the iron-stove there," and he went away.

Then she crept into the iron-stove, and began to weep and la- ment, and emptied her whole heart, and said, "Here am I deserted by the whole world, and yet I am a King's daughter, and a false waiting-maid has by force brought me to such a pass that I have been compelled to put off my royal apparel, and she has taken my place with my bridegroom, and I have to perform menial service as a goose-girl. If my mother did but know that, her heart would break."

The aged King, however, was standing outside by the pipe of the stove, and was listening to what she said, and heard it. Then he came back again, and bade her come out of the stove. And royal garments were placed on her, and it was marvelous how beautiful she wasl The aged King summoned his son, and revealed to him that he had got the false bride who was only a waiting-maid, but that the true one was standing there, as the sometime goose-girl. The young King rejoiced with all his heart when he saw her beauty and youth, and a great feast was made ready to which all the peo- ple and all good friends were invited.

At the head of the table sat the bridegroom with the King's daughter at one side of him, and the waiting-maid on the other, but the waiting-maid was bhnded, and did not recognize the Princess in her dazzling array. When they had eaten and drunk, and were merry, the aged King asked the waiting-maid as a riddle, what a person deserved who had behaved in such and such a way to her master, and at the same time related the whole story, and asked what sentence such an one merited.

Then the false bride said, "She deserves no better fate than to be stripped entirely naked, and put in a barrel which is studded inside with pointed nails, and two white horses should be harnessed to it, which will drag her along through one street after another, till she is dead." "It is you," said the aged King, "and you have pro- nounced yoiur own sentence, and thus shall it be done unto you." When the sentence had been carried out, the young King married his true bride, and both of them reigned over their kingdom in peace and happiness.

The Skilful Huntsman

There once was a young fellow who had learnt the trade of lock- smith, and told his father he would now go out into the world and seek his fortune. "Very well," said the father, "I am quite content with that," and gave him some money for his journey. So he trav- eled about and looked for work. After a time he resolved not to fol- low the trade of locksmith any more, for he no longer liked it, but he took a fancy for hunting. Then there met him in his rambles a huntsman dressed in green, who asked whence he came and whither he was going. The youth said he was a locksmith's appren- tice, but that the trade no longer pleased him, and he had a lildng for huntsmanship— would he teach it to him? "Oh, yes," said the huntsman, "if thou wilt go with me."

The young fellow went with him, bound himself to him for some years, and learnt the art of hunting. After this he wished to try his luck elsewhere, and the huntsman gave him nothing in the way of payment but an air-gun, which had, however, this property, that it hit its mark without fail whenever he shot with it. Then he set out and found himself in a very large forest, which he could not get to the end of in one day. When evening came he seated himself in a high tree in order to escape from the wild beasts.

Towards midnight, it seemed to him as if a tiny little light glim- mered in the distance. He looked down through the branches to- wards it, and kept well in his mind where it was. But in the first place, he took off his hat and threw it down in the direction of the light, so that he might go to the hat as a mark when he had de- scended. Then he got down and went to his hat, put it on again and went straight forwards. The farther he went, the larger the light grew, and when he got close to it he saw that it was an enormous fire, and that three giants were sitting by it, who had an ox on the spit, and were roasting it. Presently one of them said, "I must just taste if the meat will soon be fit to eat," and pulled a piece off, and was about to put it in his mouth when the huntsman shot it out of his hand. "Well, really," said the giant, "if the wind has not blown the bit out of my hand!" and helped himself to another. But when he was just about to bite into it, the huntsman again shot it away from him. On this the giant gave the one who was sitting next him

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a box on the ear, and cried angrily, "Why art thou snatching my piece away from me?" "I have not snatched it away," said the other, "a sharpshooter must have shot it away from thee." The giant took another piece, but could not, however, keep it in his hand, for the huntsman shot it out. Then the giant said. That must be a good shot to shoot the bit out of one's very mouth, such an one would be useful to us." And he cried aloud, "Come here, thou sharpshooter, seat thyself at the fire beside us and eat thy fill, we will not hurt thee; but if thou wilt not come, and we have to bring thee by force, thou art a lost manl"

At this invitation the youth went up to them and told them he was a skilled huntsman, and that whatever he aimed at with his gun, he was certain to hit. Then they said if he would go with them he should be well treated, and they told him that outside the forest there was a great lake, behind which stood a tower, and in the tower was imprisoned a lovely Princess, whom they wished very much to carry ofiE. "Yes," said he, "I will soon get her for you." Then they added, "But there is still something else; there is a tiny Httle dog, which begins to bark directly any one goes near, and as soon as it barks every one in the royal palace wakens up, and for this reason we cannot get there; canst thou imdertake to shoot it dead?" "Yes," said he, "that will be a Httle bit of fun for me." After this he got into a boat and rowed over the lake, and as soon as he landed, the little dog came running out, and was about to bark, but the huntsman took his air-gun and shot it dead. When the giants saw that, they rejoiced, and thought they already had the King's daughter safe, but the huntsman wished first to see how matters stood, and told them that they must stay outside until he called them. Then he went into the castle, and aU was perfectly quiet within, and every one was asleep.

When he opened the door of the first room, a sword was hanging on the wall which was made of pure silver, and there was a golden star on it, and the name of the King, and on a table near it lay a sealed letter which he broke open, and inside it was written that whosoever had the sword could kill everything which opposed him. So he took the sword from the wall, hung it at his side and went onwards; then he entered the room where the King's daughter was lying sleeping, and she was so beautiful that he stood still and, holding his breath, looked at her. He thought to himself, "How can I give an innocent maiden into the power of the wild giants, who have evil in their minds?" He looked about further, and under the bed stood a pair of slippers; on the right one was her father's name

The Skilful Huntsman 73

with a star, and on the left her own name with a star. She wore ako a great neck-kerchief of silk embroidered with gold, and on the right side was her father's name, and on the left her own, all in golden letters. Then the huntsman took a pair of scissors and cut the right comer off, and put it in his knapsack, and then he also took the right slipper with the King^s name, and thrust that in.

The maiden still lay sleeping, and she was quite sewn into her night-dress, and he cut a morsel from this also, and thrust it in with the rest, but he did all without touching her. Then he went forth and left her lying asleep undisturbed, and when he came to the gate again, the giants were still standing outside waiting for him, and expecting that he was bringing the Princess. But he cried to them that they were to come in, for the maiden was already in their power, that he could not open the gate to them, but there was a hole through which they must creep. Then the first approached, and the huntsman wound the giant's hair round his hand, pulled the head in, and cut it off at one stroke with his sword, and then drew the rest of him in. He called to the second and cut his head off likewise, and then he killed the third also, and he was well pleased that he had freed the beautiful maiden from her enemies, and he cut out their tongues and put them in his knapsack. Then thought he, "1 will go home to my father and let him see what I have already done, and afterwards I wiU travel about the world; the luck which God is pleased to grant me wiU easily find me."

When the King in the castle awoke, he saw the three giants lying there dead. So he went into the sleeping-room of his daughter, awoke her, and asked who could have killed the giants. Then said she, T>ear father, I know not, I have been asleep." But when she arose and would have put on her sfippers, the right one was gone, and when she looked at her neck-kerchief it was cut, and the right comer was missing, and when she looked at her night-dress a piece was cut out of it. The King summoned his whole court together, soldiers and every one else who was there, and asked who had set his daughter at liberty, and killed the giants.

Now it happened that he had a captain, who was one-eyed and a hideous man, and he said that he had done it. Then the old King said that as he had accomplished this, he should marry his daugh- ter. But the maiden said, "Rather than marry him, dear father, I will go away into the world as far as my legs can carry me." The King said that if she would not marry him she should take off her royal garments and wear peasant's clothing, and go forth, and that she should go to a potter, and begin a trade in earthen vessels. So

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she put off her royal apparel, and went to a potter and borrowed crockery enough for a stall, and she promised him also that if she had sold it by the evening, she would pay for it. Then the King said she was to seat herself in a comer with it and seU it, and he ar- ranged with some peasants to drive over it with their carts, so that everything should be broken into a thousand pieces. When there- fore the King's daughter had placed her stall in the street, by came the carts, and broke all she had into tiny fragments. She began to weep and said, "Alas, how shall I ever pay for the pots now?" The King had, however, wished by this to force her to marry the cap- tain; but instead of that, she again went to the potter, and asked him if he would lend to her once more. He said, "No," she must first pay for the things she had already had.

Then she went to her father and cried and lamented, and said she would go forth into the world. Then said he, "I will have a little hut built for thee in the forest outside, and in it thou shalt stay aU thy life long and cook for every one, but thou shalt take no money for it." When the hut was ready, a sign was hung on the door whereon was written, "Today given, tomorrow sold." There she remained a long time, and it was rumored about the world that a maiden was there who cooked without asking for payment, and that this was set forth on a sign outside her door. The huntsman heard it likewise, and thought to himself, "That would suit thee. Thou art poor, and hast no money." So he took his air-gun and his knapsack, wherein all the things which he had formerly carried away with him from the castle as tokens of his truthfulness were still lying, and went into the forest, and found the hut with the sign, "Today given, tomorrow sold."

He had put on the sword with which he had cut off the heads of the three giants, and thus entered the hut, and ordered something to eat to be given to him. He was charmed with the beautiful maiden, who was indeed as lovely as any picture. She asked him whence he came and whither he was going, and he said, "I am roaming about the world." Then she asked him where he had got the sword, for that truly her father's name was on it. He asked her if she were the King's daughter. "Yes," answered she. "With this sword," said he, "did I cut off the heads of three giants," And he took their tongues out of his knapsack in proof. Then he also showed her the sHpper, and the comer of the neck-kerchief, and the bit of the night-dress. Hereupon she was overjoyed, and said that he was the one who had delivered her.

They went together to the old King, and fetched him to the hut,

The Princess in Disguise 75

and she led him into her room, and told him that the huntsman was the man who had really set her free from the giants. And when the aged King saw all the proofs of this, he could no longer doubt, and said that he was very glad he knew how everything had happened, and that the huntsman should have her to wife, on which the mai- den was glad at heart. Then she dressed the huntsman as if he were a foreign lord, and the King ordered a feast to be prepared. When they went to table, the captain sat on the left side of the King's daughter, but the huntsman was on the right, and the captain thought he was a foreign lord who had come on a visit.

When they had eaten and drunk, the old King said to the captain that he would set before him something which he must guess. "Supposing any one said that he had killed the three giants and he were asked where the giants' tongues were, and he were forced to go and look, and there were none in their heads, how could that happen?" The captain said, "Then they cannot have had any." "Not So," said the King. "Every animal has a tongue," and then he like- wise asked what any one would deserve who made such an answer. The captain replied, "He ought to be torn in pieces." Then the King said he had pronounced his own sentence, and the captain was put in prison and then torn in four pieces; but the King's daughter was married to the huntsman. After this he brought his father and mother, and they lived with their son in happiness, and after the death of the old King he received the kingdom.

The Princess in Disguise

A KING once had a wife with golden hair who was so beautiful that none on earth could be found equal to her. It happened that she fell ill, and as soon as she knew she must die, she sent for the King and said to him, "After my death I know you will marry another wife; but you must promise me that, however beautiful she may be, if she is not as beautiful as I am and has not golden hair Uke mine you will not marry her."

The King had no sooner given his promise than she closed her eyes and died.

For a long time he refused to be comforted, and thought it was impossible he could ever take another wife. At length his counselors

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came to him, and said, "A King should not remain unmarried; we ought to have a Queen."

So he at last consented, and then messengers were sent far and wide to find a bride whose beauty should equal that of the dead Queen. But none was to be found in the whole world; for even when equally beautiful they had not golden hair. So the messengers returned without obtaining what they sought.

Now, the King had a daughter who was quite as beautiful as her dead mother, and had also golden hair. She had all this while been growing up, and very soon the King noticed how exactly she re- sembled her dead mother. So he sent for his counselors, and said to them, "1 wiU marry my daughter; she is the image of my dead wife, and no other bride can be found to enable me to keep my promise to her."

When the counselors heard this, they were dreadfully shocked, and said, 'It is forbidden for a father to marry his daughter; noth- ing but evil could spring from such a sin, and the kingdom will be ruined."

When the King's daughter heard of her father's proposition she was greatly alarmed, the more so as she saw how resolved he was to carry out his intention. She hoped, however, to be able to save him and herself from such ruin and disgrace, so she said to him, "Before I consent to yoiu- wish I shall require three things— a dress as golden as the sim, another as silvery as the moon, and a third as glittering as the stars; and besides this, I shall require a mantle made of a thousand sldns of rough fur sewn together, and every an- imal in the kingdom must give a piece of his skin toward it."

"Ahl" she thought, 1 have asked for impossibilities, and I hope I shall be able to make my father give up his wicked intentions."

The King, however, was not to be diverted from his purpose. All the most skilful young women in the kingdom were employed to weave the three dresses, one to be as golden as the sun, another as silvery as the moon, and the third as glittering as the stars. He sent hunters into the forest to kill the wild animals and bring home their sldns, of which the mantle was to be made; and at last when all was finished he brought them and laid them before her, and then said, "Tomorrow our marriage shall take place."

Then the King's daughter saw that there was no hope of chang- ing her father's heart, so she determined to run away from the castle.

In the night, when every one slept, she rose and took from her jewel-case a gold ring, a gold spinning-wheel, and a golden hook.

The Princess in Disguise 77

The three dresses of the sun, moon, and stars she folded in so small a parcel that they were placed in a walnut-shell; then she put on the fur mantle, stained her face and hands black with walnut-jwice, and committing herself to the care of Heaven, she left her home.

After traveling the whole night she came at last to a large forest, and feeling very tired she crept into a hollow tree and went to sleep. The sun rose, but she still slept on, and did not awake till nearly noon.

It happened on this very day that the King to whom the wood belonged was hunting in the forest, and when his hoimds came to the tree they sniffed about, and ran round and roimd the tree bark- ing loudly. The King called to his hunters, and said, "J^^* go and see what wild animal the dogs are barking at."

They obeyed, and quickly returning told the King that in the hol- low tree was a most beautiful creatiure, such as they had never seen before, that the sldn was covered with a thousand different sorts of fur, and that it was fast asleep.

"Then," said the King, "go and see if you can captiure it alive. Then bind it on the wagon and bring it home."

While the hunters were binding the maiden she awoke, and full of terror cried out to them, "I am only a poor child, forsaken by my father and mother; take pity on me, and take me with youl" "Well," they replied, "you may be useful to the cook, little Roughsldn. Come with us; you can at least sweep up the ashes."

So they seated her on the wagon and took her home to the King's castle. They showed her a little stable under the steps, where no daylight ever came, and said, "Roughsldn, here you can Hve and sleep." So the King's daughter was sent into the kitchen to fetch the wood, draw the water, stir the fire, pluck the fowls, look after the vegetables, sweep the ashes, and do all the hard work.

Poor Roughskin, as they called her, lived for a long time most miserably, and the beautiful icing's daughter knew not when it would end or how. It happened, however, after a time that a festi- val was to take place in the castle, so she said to the cook, "May I go out for a Httle while to see the company arrive? I will stand out- side the door." "Yes, you may go," he replied, 'Taut in half an hour I shall want you to sweep up the ashes and put the kitchen in order."

Then she took her little oil-lamp, went into the stable, threw off the fur coat, washed the nut-stains from her face and hands, so that her full beauty appeared before the day. After this she opened the nutshell and took out the dress that was golden as the sun, and put it on. As soon as she was quite dressed she went out and presented

78 Grimm's Complete Fairy Tales

herself at the entrance of the castle as a visitor. No one recognized her as Roughskin; they thought she was a King's daughter, and sent and told the King of her arrival. He went to receive her, ofiFered her his hand, and while they danced together he thought in his heart, "My eyes have never seen any maiden before so beautiful as this."

As soon as the dance was over she bowed to the King, and before he could look round she had vanished, no one knew where. The sentinel at the castle gate was called and questioned, but he had not seen any one pass.

But she had run to her stable, quickly removed her dress, stained her face and hands, put on her fur coat, and was again Roughskin. When she entered the kitchen and began to do her work and sweep up the ashes, the cook said, "Leave that alone till tomorrow; I want you to cook some soup for the King. I will also taste a httle when it is ready. But do not let one of your hairs faU in, or you will get nothing to eat in future from me."

Then the cook went out, and Roughskin made the King's soup as nicely as she could, and cut bread for it, and when it was ready she fetched from her Httle stable her gold ring and laid it in the dish in which the soup was prepared.

After the King had left the baU-room he called for the soup, and while eating it thought he had never tasted better soup in his life. But when the dish was nearly empty he saw to his surprise a gold ring lying at the bottom, and could not imagine how it came there. Then he ordered the cook to come to him, and he was in a terrible fright