{"collection":"Northern European Mythology","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/browse/neu/grimm/ht29.htm","path":"neu/grimm/ht29.htm","source_url":"https://sacred-texts.com/neu/grimm/ht29.htm","text":"Hans In Luck\nHans had served his master for seven years, so he said to him, \"Master,\nmy time is up; now I should be glad to go back home to my mother; give me my\nwages.\" The master answered, \"You have served me faithfully and honestly; as\nthe service was, so shall the reward be;\" and he gave Hans a piece of gold as\nbig as his head. Hans pulled his handkerchief out of his pocket, wrapped up\nthe lump in it, put it on his shoulder, and set out on the way home.\nAs he went on, always putting one foot before the other, he saw a\nhorseman trotting quickly and merrily by on a lively horse. \"Ah!\" said Hans\nquite loud, \"what a fine thing it is to ride! There you sit as on a chair; you\nstumble over no stones, you save your shoes, and get on, you don't know how.\"\nThe rider, who had heard him, stopped and called out, \"Hollo! Hans, why\ndo you go on foot then?\"\n\"I must,\" answered he, \"for I have this lump to carry home; it is true\nthat it is gold, but I cannot hold my head straight for it, and it hurts my\nshoulder.\"\n\"I will tell you what,\" said the rider, \"we will exchange: I will give\nyou my horse, and you can give me your lump.\"\n\"With all my heart,\" said Hans, \"but I can tell you, you will have to\ncrawl along with it.\"\nThe rider got down, took the gold, and helped Hans up; then gave him the\nbridle tight in his hands and said, \"If you want to go at a really good pace,\nyou must click your tongue and call out, \"Jup! Jup!\"\nHans was heartily delighted as he sat upon the horse and rode away so\nbold and free. After a little while he thought that it ought to go faster, and\nbegan to click with his tongue and call out, \"Jup! Jup!\" The horse put himself\ninto a sharp trot, and before Hans knew where he was, he was thrown off and\nlying in a ditch which separated the field from the highway. The horse would\nhave gone off too if it had not been stopped by a countryman, who was coming\nalong the road and driving a cow before him.\nHans got his limbs together and stood up on his legs again, but he was\nvexed, and said to the countryman, \"It is a poor joke, this riding, especially\nwhen one gets hold of a mare like this, that kicks and throws one off, so that\none has a chance of breaking one's neck. Never again will I mount it. Now I\nlike your cow, for one can walk quietly behind her, and have, over and above,\none's milk, butter and cheese every day without fail. What would I not give to\nhave such a cow.\" \"Well,\" said the countryman, \"if it would give you so much\npleasure, I do not mind giving the cow for the horse.\" Hans agreed with the\ngreatest delight; the countryman jumped upon the horse, and rode quickly away.\nHans drove his cow quietly before him, and thought over his lucky\nbargain. \"If only I have a morsel of bread - and that can hardly fail me - I\ncan eat butter and cheese with it as often as I like; if I am thirsty, I can\nmilk my cow and drink the milk. Good heart, what more can I want?\"\nWhen he came to an inn, he made a halt, and in his great content ate up\nwhat he had with him - his dinner and supper - and all he had, and with his\nlast few farthings had half a glass of beer. Then he drove his cow onwards\nalong the road to his mother's village.\nAs it drew nearer mid-day, the heat was more oppressive, and Hans found\nhimself upon a moor which it took about an hour to cross. He felt it very hot\nand his tongue clave to the roof of his mouth with thirst. \"I can find a cure\nfor this,\" thought Hans; \"I will milk the cow now and refresh myself with the\nmilk.\" He tied her to a withered tree, and as he had no pail he put his\nleather cap underneath; but try as he would, not a drop of milk came. And as\nhe set himself to work in a clumsy way, the impatient beast at last gave him\nsuch a blow on his head with its hind foot, that he fell on the ground, and\nfor a long time could not think where he was.\nBy good fortune a butcher just then came along the road with a wheel -\nbarrow, in which lay a young pig. \"What sort of a trick is this?\" cried he,\nand helped the good Hans up. Hans told him what had happened. The butcher gave\nhim his flask and said, \"Take a drink and refresh yourself. The cow will\ncertainly give no milk, it is an old beast; at the best it is only fit for the\nplough, or for the butcher.\" \"Well, well,\" said Hans, as he stroked his hair\ndown on his head, \"who would have thought it? Certainly it is a fine thing\nwhen one can kill a beast like that at home; what meat one has! But I do not\ncare much for beef, it is not juicy enough for me. A young pig like that now\nis the thing to have; it tastes quite different; and then there are the\nsausages!\"\n\"Hark ye, Hans,\" said the butcher, \"out of love for you I will exchange,\nand will let you have the pig for the cow.\" \"Heaven repay you for your\nkindness!\" said Hans as he gave up the cow, whilst the pig was unbound from\nthe barrow, and the cord by which it was tied was put in his hand.\nHans went on, and thought to himself how everything was going just as he\nwished; if he did meet with any vexation it was immediately set right.\nPresently there joined him a lad who was carrying a fine white goose under his\narm. They said good morning to each other, and Hans began to tell of his good\nluck, and how he had always made such good bargains. The boy told him that he\nwas taking the goose to a christening-feast. \"Just lift her,\" added he, and\nlaid hold of her by the wings; \"how heavy she is - she has been fattened up\nfor the last eight weeks. Whoever has a bit of her when she is roasted will\nhave to wipe the fat from both sides of his mouth.\" \"Yes,\" said Hans, as he\nweighed her in one hand, \"she is a good weight, but my pig is no bad one.\"\nMeanwhile the lad looked suspiciously from one side to the other, and\nshook his head. \"Look here,\" he said at length, \"it may not be all right with\nyour pig. In the village through which I passed, the Mayor himself had just\nhad one stolen out of its sty. I fear - I fear that you have got hold of it\nthere. They have sent out some people and it would be a bad business if they\ncaught you with the pig; at the very least, you would be shut up in the dark\nhole.\"\nThe good Hans was terrified. \"Goodness!\" he said, \"help me out of this\nfix; you know more about this place than I do, take my pig and leave me your\ngoose.\" \"I shall risk something at that game,\" answered the lad, \"but I will\nnot be the cause of your getting into trouble.\" So he took the cord in his\nhand, and drove away the pig quickly along a by-path.\nThe good Hans, free from care, went homewards with the goose under his\narm. \"When I think over it properly,\" said he to himself, \"I have even gained\nby the exchange: first there is the good roastmeat, then the quantity of fat\nwhich will drip from it, and which will give me dripping for my bread for a\nquarter of a year, and lastly the beautiful white feathers; I will have my\npillow stuffed with them, and then indeed I shall go to sleep without rocking.\nHow glad my mother will be!\"\nAs he was going through the last village, there stood a scissors -\ngrinder with his barrow; as his wheel whirred he sang -\n\"I sharpen scissors and quickly grind,\nMy coat blows out in the wind behind.\"\nHans stood still and looked at him; at last he spoke to him and said,\n\"All's well with you, as you are so merry with your grinding.\" \"Yes,\" answered\nthe scissors-grinder, \"the trade has a golden foundation. A real grinder is\na man who as often as he puts his hand into his pocket finds gold in it. But\nwhere did you buy that fine goose?\"\n\"I did not buy it, but exchanged my pig for it.\"\n\"And the pig?\"\n\"That I got for a cow.\"\n\"And the cow?\"\n\"I took that instead of a horse.\"\n\"And the horse?\"\n\"For that I gave a lump of gold as big as my head.\"\n\"And the gold?\"\n\"Well, that was my wages for seven years' service.\"\n\"You have known how to look after yourself each time,\" said the grinder.\n\"If you can only get on so far as to hear the money jingle in your pocket\nwhenever you stand up, you will have made your fortune.\"\n\"How shall I manage that?\" said Hans. \"You must be a grinder, as I am;\nnothing particular is wanted for it but a grindstone, the rest finds itself. I\nhave one here; it is certainly a little worn, but you need not give me\nanything for it but your goose; will you do it?\"\n\"How can you ask?\" answered Hans. \"I shall be the luckiest fellow on\nearth; if I have money whenever I put my hand in my pocket, what need I\ntrouble about any longer?\" and he handed him the goose and received the\ngrindstone in exchange. \"Now,\" said the grinder, as he took up an ordinary\nheavy stone that lay by him, \"here is a strong stone for you into the bargain;\nyou can hammer well upon it, and straighten your old nails. Take it with you\nand keep it carefully.\"\nHans loaded himself with the stones and went on with a contented heart;\nhis eyes shone with joy. \"I must have been born with a caul,\" he cried;\n\"everything I want happens to me just as if I were a Sunday-child.\"\nMeanwhile, as he had been on his legs since daybreak, he began to feel\ntired. Hunger also tormented him, for in his joy at the bargain by which he\ngot the cow he had eaten up all his store of food at once. At last he could\nonly go on with great trouble, and was forced to stop every minute; the\nstones, too, weighed him down dreadfully. Then he could not help thinking how\nnice it would be if he had not to carry them just then.\nHe crept like a snail to a well in a field, and there he thought that he\nwould rest and refresh himself with a cool draught of water, but in order that\nhe might not injure the stones in sitting down, he laid them carefully by his\nside on the edge of the well. Then he sat down on it, and was about to stoop\nand drink, when he made a slip, pushed against the stones, and both of them\nfell into the water. When Hans saw them with his own eyes sinking to the\nbottom, he jumped for joy, and then knelt down, and with tears in his eyes\nthanked God for having shown him this favour also, and delivered him in so\ngood a way, and without his having any need to reproach himself, from those\nheavy stones which had been the only things that troubled him.\n\"There is no man under the sun so fortunate as I,\" he cried out. With a\nlight heart and free from every burden he now ran on until he was with his\nmother at home.","title":"Hans In Luck","type":"page"}