{"collection":"myth-cosmogony","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_37381/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_37381","id":"gutenberg_37381","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/37381","summary":null,"tags":["Category: German Literature","Category: Mythology, Legends & Folklore","Category: Short Stories","Children -- Conduct of life -- Juvenile fiction","Children's stories","Conduct of life -- Juvenile fiction","Fairy tales"],"text":"</pre>\n\n\n\nProduced by David Edwards, Sam W. and the Online Distributed\nProofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was\nproduced from images generously made available by The\nInternet Archive)\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nTranscriber's Note\n\nIllustration captions in {brackets} have been added by the transcriber\nfor the convenience of the reader, with reference to the Lists of\nillustrations wherever possible.\n\n\n\n\n          [Illustration: {Seven dwarfs.}]\n\n                     SNOWDROP\n                  & OTHER TALES\n\n                      BY THE\n                  BROTHERS GRIMM\n\n\n                  ILLUSTRATED BY\n                  ARTHUR RACKHAM\n\n\n                     NEW YORK\n               E P DUTTON & COMPANY\n                    PUBLISHERS\n\n\n\n\n  _Originally published in 'Grimm's Fairy\n    Tales. Illustrated by Arthur Rackham'_  1909\n\n  _Re-issued separately_                    1920\n\n\n\n\n  GRIMM'S FAIRY TALES\n  ILLUSTRATED BY ARTHUR RACKHAM\n\n    HANSEL AND GRETHEL\n    SNOWDROP\n    LITTLE BROTHER AND LITTLE SISTER\n\n\n\n\n  [Illustration: {The Dwarfs, when they came in the evening, found\n    Snowdrop lying on the ground.}]\n\n\n\n\nContents\n\n\n                                                            PAGE\n    SNOWDROP                                                   1\n\n    THE PINK                                                  11\n\n    BRIAR ROSE                                                17\n\n    THE JEW AMONG THE THORNS                                  22\n\n    ASHENPUTTEL                                               28\n\n    THE WHITE SNAKE                                           37\n\n    THE WOLF AND THE SEVEN KIDS                               42\n\n    THE QUEEN BEE                                             46\n\n    THE ELVES AND THE SHOEMAKER                               49\n\n    THE WOLF AND THE MAN                                      51\n\n    THE TURNIP                                                53\n\n    CLEVER HANS                                               57\n\n    THE THREE LANGUAGES                                       63\n\n    THE FOX AND THE CAT                                       67\n\n    THE FOUR CLEVER BROTHERS                                  69\n\n    THE LADY AND THE LION                                     75\n\n    THE FOX AND THE HORSE                                     81\n\n    THE BLUE LIGHT                                            84\n\n    THE GOOSEGIRL                                             90\n\n    THE GOLDEN GOOSE                                          97\n\n    THE WATER OF LIFE                                        104\n\n    CLEVER GRETHEL                                           111\n\n    THE KING OF THE GOLDEN MOUNTAIN                          114\n\n    DOCTOR KNOW-ALL                                          121\n\n    THE SEVEN RAVENS                                         124\n\n    THE MARRIAGE OF MRS. REYNARD                             128\n\n    THE SALAD                                                132\n\n    THE YOUTH WHO COULD NOT SHUDDER                          140\n\n    KING THRUSHBEARD                                         152\n\n    IRON HANS                                                157\n\n\n\n\nList of Illustrations in Colour\n\n\n    The Dwarfs, when they came in the evening, found\n      Snowdrop lying on the ground                      _Frontispiece_\n\n                                                           FACING PAGE\n    The King could not contain himself for joy                      18\n\n    The young Prince said, 'I am not afraid; I am\n      determined to go and look upon the lovely Briar\n      Rose'                                                         20\n\n    Ashenputtel goes to the ball                                    30\n\n    The Fishes, in their joy, stretched up their heads\n      above the water, and promised to reward him                   38\n\n    The Seven Kids and their mother capered and danced\n      round the spring in their joy                                 44\n\n    The Ducks, which he had once saved, dived and brought\n      up the key from the depths                                    48\n\n    So the four Brothers took their sticks in their hands,\n      bade their Father good-bye, and passed out of the\n      town gate                                                     68\n\n    The King's only daughter had been carried off by a Dragon       72\n\n    She went away accompanied by the Lions                          76\n\n    Alas! dear Falada, there thou hangest                           92\n\n    Blow, blow, little breeze, And Conrad's hat seize               96\n\n    Good Dwarf, can you not tell me where my brothers are?         106\n\n    Then he ran after him, still holding the carving-knife,\n      and cried, 'Only one, only one!'                             112\n\n    The Son made a circle, and his Father and he took their\n      places within it, and the little black Mannikin\n      appeared                                                     116\n\n    Once upon a time a poor Peasant, named Crabb, was taking\n      a load of wood drawn by two oxen to the town for sale        120\n\n    The good little Sister cut off her own tiny finger, fitted\n      it into the lock, and succeeded in opening it                124\n\n    But they said one after another: 'Halloa! who has been\n      eating off my plate? Who has been drinking out of my\n      cup?'                                                        126\n\n    Then the Youth took the axe and split the anvil with one\n      blow, catching in the Old Man's beard at the same time       150\n\n    The Beggar took her by the hand and led her away               154\n\n\n\n\nList of Black and White Illustrations\n\n\n                                                                  PAGE\n    Headpiece                                                        1\n\n    'Mirror, Mirror on the wall, Who is fairest of us all?'          2\n\n    In the evening the seven Dwarfs came back                        4\n\n    The scullions brought live coals, which he had to eat\n      until the flames poured out of his mouth                      13\n\n    'The Thirteenth Fairy'                                          18\n\n    But round the castle a hedge of briar roses began to\n      grow up                                                       20\n\n    The Jew was forced to spring up and begin to dance              24\n\n    Dancing as hard as he could                                     26\n\n    The Three Sleeping Princesses                                   48\n\n    So the rich Brother had to put his Brother's Turnip into\n      a cart, and have it taken home                                54\n\n    When he got home he had the rope in his hand, but there\n      was nothing at the end of it                                  61\n\n    On the way he passed a swamp, in which a number of Frogs\n      were croaking                                                 64\n\n    The Cat crept stealthily up to the topmost branch               67\n\n    They found the Princess still on the rock, but the Dragon\n      was asleep with his head on her lap                           73\n\n    The poor Horse was very sad, and went into the forest to\n      get a little shelter from the wind and weather                82\n\n    Then the Horse sprang up, and dragged the Lion away\n      behind him                                                    83\n\n    Before long the Witch came by riding at a furious pace\n      on a tom cat                                                  86\n\n    There stands an old tree; cut it down, and you will find\n      something at the roots                                        98\n\n    So now there were seven people running behind Simpleton\n      and his Goose                                                 99\n\n    And so they followed up hill and down dale after Simpleton\n      and his Goose                                                100\n\n    The King could no longer withhold his daughter                 105\n\n    When she entered she met a Dwarf                               126\n\n    The Ravens coming home                                         127\n\n    Does the gentleman wear red breeches, and has he a\n      pointed muzzle?                                              131\n\n    But the Old Woman was a witch                                  133\n\n    He tied them all together and drove them along till\n      he came to a mill                                            138\n\n    Crowds of black cats and dogs swarmed out of every corner      146\n\n    She immediately clutched at his cap to pull it off; but\n      he held it on with both hands                                161\n\n    He called three times, 'Iron Hans,' as loud as he could        162\n\n\n\n\n  [Illustration: {Seven dwarfs.}]\n\nSnowdrop\n\n\nIt was the middle of winter, and the snowflakes were falling from the\nsky like feathers. Now, a Queen sat sewing at a window framed in black\nebony, and as she sewed she looked out upon the snow. Suddenly she\npricked her finger and three drops of blood fell on to the snow. And\nthe red looked so lovely on the white that she thought to herself: 'If\nonly I had a child as white as snow and as red as blood, and as black\nas the wood of the window frame!' Soon after, she had a daughter,\nwhose hair was black as ebony, while her cheeks were red as blood, and\nher skin as white as snow; so she was called Snowdrop. But when the\nchild was born the Queen died. A year after the King took another\nwife. She was a handsome woman, but proud and overbearing, and could\nnot endure that any one should surpass her in beauty. She had a magic\nlooking-glass, and when she stood before it and looked at herself she\nused to say:\n\n    'Mirror, Mirror on the wall,\n    Who is fairest of us all?'\n\nthen the Glass answered,\n\n    'Queen, thou'rt fairest of them all.'\n\nThen she was content, for she knew that the Looking-glass spoke the\ntruth.\n\nBut Snowdrop grew up and became more and more beautiful, so that when\nshe was seven years old she was as beautiful as the day, and far\nsurpassed the Queen. Once, when she asked her Glass,\n\n    'Mirror, Mirror on the wall,\n    Who is fairest of us all?'\n\nit answered--\n\n    'Queen, thou art fairest here, I hold,\n    But Snowdrop is fairer a thousandfold.'\n\nThen the Queen was horror-struck, and turned green and yellow with\njealousy. From the hour that she saw Snowdrop her heart sank, and she\nhated the little girl.\n\n  [Illustration: 'Mirror, Mirror on the wall,\n                 Who is fairest of us all?']\n\nThe pride and envy of her heart grew like a weed, so that she had no\nrest day nor night. At last she called a Huntsman, and said: 'Take the\nchild out into the wood; I will not set eyes on her again; you must\nkill her and bring me her lungs and liver as tokens.'\n\nThe Huntsman obeyed, and took Snowdrop out into the forest, but when\nhe drew his hunting-knife and was preparing to plunge it into her\ninnocent heart, she began to cry:\n\n'Alas! dear Huntsman, spare my life, and I will run away into the wild\nforest and never come back again.'\n\nAnd because of her beauty the Huntsman had pity on her and said,\n'Well, run away, poor child.' Wild beasts will soon devour you, he\nthought, but still he felt as though a weight were lifted from his\nheart because he had not been obliged to kill her. And as just at\nthat moment a young fawn came leaping by, he pierced it and took the\nlungs and liver as tokens to the Queen. The Cook was ordered to serve\nthem up in pickle, and the wicked Queen ate them thinking that they\nwere Snowdrop's.\n\nNow the poor child was alone in the great wood, with no living soul\nnear, and she was so frightened that she knew not what to do. Then she\nbegan to run, and ran over the sharp stones and through the brambles,\nwhile the animals passed her by without harming her. She ran as far as\nher feet could carry her till it was nearly evening, when she saw a\nlittle house and went in to rest. Inside, everything was small, but as\nneat and clean as could be. A small table covered with a white cloth\nstood ready with seven small plates, and by every plate was a spoon,\nknife, fork, and cup. Seven little beds were ranged against the walls,\ncovered with snow-white coverlets. As Snowdrop was very hungry and\nthirsty she ate a little bread and vegetable from each plate, and\ndrank a little wine from each cup, for she did not want to eat up the\nwhole of one portion. Then, being very tired, she lay down in one of\nthe beds. She tried them all but none suited her; one was too short,\nanother too long, all except the seventh, which was just right. She\nremained in it, said her prayers, and fell asleep.\n\nWhen it was quite dark the masters of the house came in. They were\nseven Dwarfs, who used to dig in the mountains for ore. They kindled\ntheir lights, and as soon as they could see they noticed that some one\nhad been there, for everything was not in the order in which they had\nleft it.\n\nThe first said, 'Who has been sitting in my chair?'\n\nThe second said, 'Who has been eating off my plate?'\n\nThe third said, 'Who has been nibbling my bread?'\n\nThe fourth said, 'Who has been eating my vegetables?'\n\nThe fifth said, 'Who has been using my fork?'\n\nThe sixth said, 'Who has been cutting with my knife?'\n\nThe seventh said, 'Who has been drinking out of my cup?'\n\n  [Illustration: In the evening the seven Dwarfs came back.]\n\nThen the first looked and saw a slight impression on his bed, and\nsaid, 'Who has been treading on my bed?' The others came running up\nand said, 'And mine, and mine.' But the seventh, when he looked into\nhis bed, saw Snowdrop, who lay there asleep. He called the others, who\ncame up and cried out with astonishment, as they held their lights\nand gazed at Snowdrop. 'Heavens! what a beautiful child,' they said,\nand they were so delighted that they did not wake her up but left her\nasleep in bed. And the seventh Dwarf slept with his comrades, an hour\nwith each all through the night.\n\nWhen morning came Snowdrop woke up, and when she saw the seven Dwarfs\nshe was frightened.\n\nBut they were very kind and asked her name.\n\n'I am called Snowdrop,' she answered.\n\n'How did you get into our house?' they asked.\n\nThen she told them how her stepmother had wished to get rid of her,\nhow the Huntsman had spared her life, and how she had run all day till\nshe had found the house.\n\nThen the Dwarfs said, 'Will you look after our household, cook, make\nthe beds, wash, sew and knit, and keep everything neat and clean? If\nso you shall stay with us and want for nothing.'\n\n'Yes,' said Snowdrop, 'with all my heart'; and she stayed with them\nand kept the house in order.\n\nIn the morning they went to the mountain and searched for copper and\ngold, and in the evening they came back and then their meal had to be\nready. All day the maiden was alone, and the good Dwarfs warned her\nand said, 'Beware of your stepmother, who will soon learn that you are\nhere. Don't let any one in.'\n\nBut the Queen, having, as she imagined, eaten Snowdrop's liver and\nlungs, and feeling certain that she was the fairest of all, stepped in\nfront of her Glass, and asked--\n\n    'Mirror, Mirror on the wall,\n    Who is fairest of us all?'\n\nthe Glass answered as usual--\n\n    'Queen, thou art fairest here, I hold,\n    But Snowdrop over the fells,\n    Who with the seven Dwarfs dwells,\n    Is fairer still a thousandfold.'\n\nShe was dismayed, for she knew that the Glass told no lies, and she\nsaw that the Hunter had deceived her and that Snowdrop still lived.\nAccordingly she began to wonder afresh how she might compass her\ndeath; for as long as she was not the fairest in the land her jealous\nheart left her no rest. At last she thought of a plan. She dyed her\nface and dressed up like an old Pedlar, so that she was quite\nunrecognisable. In this guise she crossed over the seven mountains to\nthe home of the seven Dwarfs and called out, 'Wares for sale.'\n\nSnowdrop peeped out of the window and said, 'Good-day, mother, what\nhave you got to sell?'\n\n'Good wares, fine wares,' she answered, 'laces of every colour'; and\nshe held out one which was made of gay plaited silk.\n\n'I may let the honest woman in,' thought Snowdrop, and she unbolted\nthe door and bought the pretty lace.\n\n'Child,' said the Old Woman, 'what a sight you are, I will lace you\nproperly for once.'\n\nSnowdrop made no objection, and placed herself before the Old Woman to\nlet her lace her with the new lace. But the Old Woman laced so quickly\nand tightly that she took away Snowdrop's breath and she fell down as\nthough dead.\n\n'Now I am the fairest,' she said to herself, and hurried away.\n\nNot long after the seven Dwarfs came home, and were horror-struck when\nthey saw their dear little Snowdrop lying on the floor without\nstirring, like one dead. When they saw she was laced too tight they\ncut the lace, whereupon she began to breathe and soon came back to\nlife again. When the Dwarfs heard what had happened, they said that\nthe old Pedlar was no other than the wicked Queen. 'Take care not to\nlet any one in when we are not here,' they said.\n\nNow the wicked Queen, as soon as she got home, went to the Glass and\nasked--\n\n    'Mirror, Mirror on the wall,\n    Who is fairest of us all?'\n\nand it answered as usual--\n\n    'Queen, thou art fairest here, I hold,\n    But Snowdrop over the fells,\n    Who with the seven Dwarfs dwells,\n    Is fairer still a thousandfold.'\n\nWhen she heard it all her blood flew to her heart, so enraged was she,\nfor she knew that Snowdrop had come back to life again. Then she\nthought to herself, 'I must plan something which will put an end to\nher.' By means of witchcraft, in which she was skilled, she made a\npoisoned comb. Next she disguised herself and took the form of a\ndifferent Old Woman. She crossed the mountains and came to the home of\nthe seven Dwarfs, and knocked at the door calling out, 'Good wares to\nsell.'\n\nSnowdrop looked out of the window and said, 'Go away, I must not let\nany one in.'\n\n'At least you may look,' answered the Old Woman, and she took the\npoisoned comb and held it up.\n\nThe child was so pleased with it that she let herself be beguiled, and\nopened the door.\n\nWhen she had made a bargain the Old Woman said, 'Now I will comb your\nhair properly for once.'\n\nPoor Snowdrop, suspecting no evil, let the Old Woman have her way, but\nscarcely was the poisoned comb fixed in her hair than the poison took\neffect, and the maiden fell down unconscious.\n\n'You paragon of beauty,' said the wicked woman, 'now it is all over\nwith you,' and she went away.\n\nHappily it was near the time when the seven Dwarfs came home. When\nthey saw Snowdrop lying on the ground as though dead, they immediately\nsuspected her stepmother, and searched till they found the poisoned\ncomb. No sooner had they removed it than Snowdrop came to herself\nagain and related what had happened. They warned her again to be on\nher guard, and to open the door to no one.\n\nWhen she got home the Queen stood before her Glass and said--\n\n    'Mirror, Mirror on the wall,\n    Who is fairest of us all?'\n\nand it answered as usual--\n\n    'Queen, thou art fairest here, I hold,\n    But Snowdrop over the fells,\n    Who with the seven Dwarfs dwells,\n    Is fairer still a thousandfold.'\n\nWhen she heard the Glass speak these words she trembled and quivered\nwith rage. 'Snowdrop shall die,' she said, 'even if it cost me my own\nlife.' Thereupon she went into a secret room, which no one ever\nentered but herself, and made a poisonous apple. Outwardly it was\nbeautiful to look upon, with rosy cheeks, and every one who saw it\nlonged for it, but whoever ate of it was certain to die. When the\napple was ready she dyed her face and dressed herself like an old\nPeasant Woman and so crossed the seven hills to the Dwarfs' home.\nThere she knocked.\n\nSnowdrop put her head out of the window and said, 'I must not let any\none in, the seven Dwarfs have forbidden me.'\n\n'It is all the same to me,' said the Peasant Woman. 'I shall soon get\nrid of my apples. There, I will give you one.'\n\n'No; I must not take anything.'\n\n'Are you afraid of poison?' said the woman. 'See, I will cut the apple\nin half: you eat the red side and I will keep the other.'\n\nNow the apple was so cunningly painted that the red half alone was\npoisoned. Snowdrop longed for the apple, and when she saw the Peasant\nWoman eating she could hold out no longer, stretched out her hand and\ntook the poisoned half. Scarcely had she put a bit into her mouth than\nshe fell dead to the ground.\n\nThe Queen looked with a fiendish glance, and laughed aloud and said,\n'White as snow, red as blood, and black as ebony, this time the\nDwarfs cannot wake you up again.' And when she got home and asked the\nLooking-glass--\n\n    'Mirror, Mirror on the wall,\n    Who is fairest of us all?'\n\nit answered at last--\n\n    'Queen, thou'rt fairest of them all.'\n\nThen her jealous heart was at rest, as much at rest as a jealous heart\ncan be. The Dwarfs, when they came at evening, found Snowdrop lying on\nthe ground and not a breath escaped her lips, and she was quite dead.\nThey lifted her up and looked to see whether any poison was to be\nfound, unlaced her dress, combed her hair, washed her with wine and\nwater, but it was no use; their dear child was dead. They laid her on\na bier, and all seven sat down and bewailed her and lamented over her\nfor three whole days. Then they prepared to bury her, but she looked\nso fresh and living, and still had such beautiful rosy cheeks, that\nthey said, 'We cannot bury her in the dark earth.' And so they had a\ntransparent glass coffin made, so that she could be seen from every\nside, laid her inside and wrote on it in letters of gold her name and\nhow she was a King's daughter. Then they set the coffin out on the\nmountain, and one of them always stayed by and watched it. And the\nbirds came too and mourned for Snowdrop, first an owl, then a raven,\nand lastly a dove.\n\nNow Snowdrop lay a long, long time in her coffin, looking as though\nshe were asleep. It happened that a Prince was wandering in the wood,\nand came to the home of the seven Dwarfs to pass the night. He saw the\ncoffin on the mountain and lovely Snowdrop inside, and read what was\nwritten in golden letters. Then he said to the Dwarfs, 'Let me have\nthe coffin; I will give you whatever you like for it.'\n\nBut they said, 'We will not give it up for all the gold of the world.'\n\nThen he said, 'Then give it to me as a gift, for I cannot live\nwithout Snowdrop to gaze upon; and I will honour and reverence it as\nmy dearest treasure.'\n\nWhen he had said these words the good Dwarfs pitied him and gave him\nthe coffin.\n\nThe Prince bade his servants carry it on their shoulders. Now it\nhappened that they stumbled over some brushwood, and the shock\ndislodged the piece of apple from Snowdrop's throat. In a short time\nshe opened her eyes, lifted the lid of the coffin, sat up and came\nback to life again completely.\n\n'O Heaven! where am I?' she asked.\n\nThe Prince, full of joy, said, 'You are with me,' and he related what\nhad happened, and then said, 'I love you better than all the world;\ncome with me to my father's castle and be my wife.'\n\nSnowdrop agreed and went with him, and their wedding was celebrated\nwith great magnificence. Snowdrop's wicked stepmother was invited to\nthe feast; and when she had put on her fine clothes she stepped to her\nGlass and asked--\n\n    'Mirror, Mirror on the wall,\n    Who is fairest of us all?'\n\nThe Glass answered--\n\n    'Queen, thou art fairest here, I hold,\n    The young Queen fairer a thousandfold.'\n\nThen the wicked woman uttered a curse, and was so terribly frightened\nthat she didn't know what to do. Yet she had no rest: she felt obliged\nto go and see the young Queen. And when she came in she recognised\nSnowdrop, and stood stock still with fear and terror. But iron\nslippers were heated over the fire, and were soon brought in with\ntongs and put before her. And she had to step into the red-hot shoes\nand dance till she fell down dead.\n\n\n\n\nThe Pink\n\n\nThere was once a Queen, who had not been blessed with children. As she\nwalked in her garden, she prayed every morning that a son or daughter\nmight be given to her. Then one day an Angel came, and said to her:\n'Be content: you shall have a son, and he shall be endowed with the\npower of wishing, so that whatsoever he wishes for shall be granted to\nhim.' She hurried to the King, and told him the joyful news; and when\nthe time came a son was born to them, and they were filled with\ndelight.\n\nEvery morning the Queen used to take her little son into the gardens,\nwhere the wild animals were kept, to bathe him in a clear, sparkling\nfountain. It happened one day, when the child was a little older, that\nas she sat with him on her lap she fell asleep.\n\nThe old Cook, who knew that the child had the power of wishing, came\nby and stole it; he also killed a Chicken, and dropped some of its\nblood on the Queen's garments. Then he took the child away to a secret\nplace, where he placed it out to be nursed. Then he ran back to the\nKing, and accused the Queen of having allowed her child to be carried\noff by a wild animal.\n\nWhen the King saw the blood on the Queen's garments he believed the\nstory, and was overwhelmed with anger. He caused a high tower to be\nbuilt, into which neither the sun nor the moon could penetrate. Then\nhe ordered his wife to be shut up in it, and the door walled up. She\nwas to stay there for seven years, without eating or drinking, so as\ngradually to pine away. But two Angels from heaven, in the shape of\nwhite doves, came to her, bringing food twice a day till the seven\nyears were ended.\n\nMeanwhile the Cook thought, 'If the child really has the power of\nwishing, and I stay here, I might easily fall into disgrace.' So he\nleft the palace, and went to the boy, who was then old enough to talk,\nand said to him, 'Wish for a beautiful castle, with a garden, and\neverything belonging to it.' Hardly had the words passed the boy's\nlips than all that he had asked for was there.\n\nAfter a time the Cook said, 'It is not good for you to be so much\nalone; wish for a beautiful Maiden to be your companion.'\n\nThe Prince uttered the wish, and immediately a Maiden stood before\nthem, more beautiful than any painter could paint. So they grew very\nfond of each other, and played together, while the old Cook went out\nhunting like any grand gentleman. But the idea came to him one day\nthat the Prince might wish to go to his father some time, and he would\nthereby be placed in a very awkward position. So he took the Maiden\naside, and said to her, 'To-night, when the boy is asleep, go and\ndrive this knife into his heart. Then bring me his heart and his\ntongue. If you fail to do it, you will lose your own life.'\n\nThen he went away; but when the next day came the Maiden had not yet\nobeyed his command, and she said, 'Why should I shed his innocent\nblood, when he has never done harm to any creature in his life?'\n\nThe Cook again said, 'If you do not obey me, you will lose your own\nlife.'\n\nWhen he had gone away, she ordered a young hind to be brought and\nkilled; then she cut out its heart and its tongue, and put them on a\ndish. When she saw the old man coming she said to the boy, 'Get into\nbed, and cover yourself right over.'\n\nThe old scoundrel came in and said, 'Where are the tongue and the\nheart of the boy?'\n\n  [Illustration: The scullions brought live coals, which he had to eat\n    till the flames poured out of his mouth.]\n\nThe Maiden gave him the dish; but the Prince threw off the coverings,\nand said, 'You old sinner, why did you want to kill me? Now hear your\nsentence. You shall be turned into a black Poodle, with a gold chain\nround your neck, and you shall be made to eat live coals, so that\nflames of fire may come out of your mouth.'\n\nAs he said the words, the old man was changed into a black Poodle,\nwith a gold chain round his neck; and the scullions brought live\ncoals, which he had to eat till the flames poured out of his mouth.\n\nThe Prince stayed on at the castle for a time, thinking of his mother,\nand wondering if she were still alive. At last he said to the Maiden,\n'I am going into my own country. If you like you can go with me; I\nwill take you.'\n\nShe answered: 'Alas! it is so far off, and what should I do in a\nstrange country where I know no one?'\n\nAs she did not wish to go, and yet they could not bear to be parted,\nhe changed her into a beautiful Pink, which he took with him.\n\nThen he set out on his journey, and the Poodle was made to run\nalongside till the Prince reached his own country.\n\nArrived there, he went straight to the tower where his mother was\nimprisoned, and as the tower was so high he wished for a ladder to\nreach the top. Then he climbed up, looked in, and cried, 'Dearest\nmother, lady Queen, are you still alive?'\n\nShe, thinking it was the Angels who brought her food come back, said,\n'I have just eaten; I do not want anything more.'\n\nThen he said, 'I am your own dear son whom the wild animals were\nsupposed to have devoured; but I am still alive, and I shall soon come\nand rescue you.'\n\nThen he got down and went to his father. He had himself announced as a\nstrange Huntsman, anxious to take service with the King, who said,\n'Yes; if he was skilled in game preserving, and could procure plenty\nof venison, he would engage him. But there had never before been any\ngame in the whole district.'\n\nThe Huntsman promised to procure as much game as the King could\npossibly require for the royal table.\n\nThen he called the whole Hunt together, and ordered them all to come\ninto the forest with him. He caused a great circle to be enclosed,\nwith only one outlet; then he took his place in the middle, and began\nto wish as hard as he could. Immediately over two hundred head of game\ncame running into the enclosure; these the Huntsmen had to shoot, and\nthen they were piled on to sixty country wagons, and driven home to\nthe King. So for once he was able to load his board with game, after\nhaving had none for many years.\n\nThe King was much pleased, and commanded his whole court to a banquet\non the following day. When they were all assembled, he said to the\nHuntsman, 'You shall sit by me as you are so clever.'\n\nHe answered, 'My lord and King, may it please your Majesty, I am only\na poor Huntsman!'\n\nThe King, however, insisted, and said, 'I command you to sit by me.'\n\nAs he sat there, his thoughts wandered to his dear mother, and he\nwished one of the courtiers would speak of her. Hardly had he wished\nit than the Lord High Marshal said--\n\n'Your Majesty, we are all rejoicing here, how fares it with Her\nMajesty the Queen? Is she still alive in the tower, or has she\nperished?'\n\nBut the King answered, 'She allowed my beloved son to be devoured by\nwild animals, and I do not wish to hear anything about her.'\n\nThen the Huntsman stood up and said--\n\n'Gracious father, she is still alive, and I am her son. He was not\ndevoured by wild animals; he was taken away by the scoundrel of a\nCook. He stole me while my mother was asleep, and sprinkled her\ngarments with the blood of a chicken.' Then he brought up the black\nPoodle with the golden chain, and said, 'This is the villain.'\n\nHe ordered some live coals to be brought, which he made the dog eat in\nthe sight of all the people till the flames poured out of his mouth.\nThen he asked the King if he would like to see the Cook in his true\nshape, and wished him back, and there he stood in his white apron,\nwith his knife at his side.\n\nThe King was furious when he saw him, and ordered him to be thrown\ninto the deepest dungeon. Then the Huntsman said further--\n\n'My father would you like to see the Maiden who so tenderly saved my\nlife when she was ordered to kill me, although by so doing she might\nhave lost her own life?'\n\nThe King answered, 'Yes, I will gladly see her.'\n\nThen his son said, 'Gracious father, I will show her to you first in\nthe guise of a beautiful flower.'\n\nHe put his hand into his pocket, and brought out the Pink. It was a\nfiner one than the King had ever seen before. Then his son said, 'Now,\nI will show her to you in her true form.'\n\nThe moment his wish was uttered, she stood before them in all her\nbeauty, which was greater than any artist could paint.\n\nThe King sent ladies and gentlemen-in-waiting to the tower to bring\nthe Queen back to his royal table. But when they reached the tower\nthey found that she would no longer eat or drink, and she said, 'The\nmerciful God, who has preserved my life so long, will soon release me\nnow.'\n\nThree days after she died. At her burial the two white Doves which had\nbrought her food during her captivity, followed and hovered over her\ngrave.\n\nThe old King caused the wicked Cook to be torn into four quarters; but\nhis own heart was filled with grief and remorse, and he died soon\nafter.\n\nHis son married the beautiful Maiden he had brought home with him as a\nFlower, and, for all I know, they may be living still.\n\n\n\n\nBriar Rose\n\n\nA long time ago there lived a King and Queen, who said every day, 'If\nonly we had a child'; but for a long time they had none.\n\nIt fell out once, as the Queen was bathing, that a frog crept out of\nthe water on to the land, and said to her: 'Your wish shall be\nfulfilled; before a year has passed you shall bring a daughter into\nthe world.'\n\nThe frog's words came true. The Queen had a little girl who was so\nbeautiful that the King could not contain himself for joy, and\nprepared a great feast. He invited not only his relations, friends,\nand acquaintances, but the fairies, in order that they might be\nfavourably and kindly disposed towards the child. There were thirteen\nof them in the kingdom, but as the King had only twelve golden plates\nfor them to eat from, one of the fairies had to stay at home.\n\nThe feast was held with all splendour, and when it came to an end the\nfairies all presented the child with a magic gift. One gave her\nvirtue, another beauty, a third riches, and so on, with everything in\nthe world that she could wish for.\n\nWhen eleven of the fairies had said their say, the thirteenth suddenly\nappeared. She wanted to revenge herself for not having been invited.\nWithout greeting any one, or even glancing at the company, she called\nout in a loud voice: 'The Princess shall prick herself with a distaff\nin her fifteenth year and shall fall down dead'; and without another\nword she turned and left the hall.\n\nEvery one was terror-struck, but the twelfth fairy, whose wish was\nstill unspoken, stepped forward. She could not cancel the curse, but\ncould only soften it, so she said: 'It shall not be death, but a deep\nsleep lasting a hundred years, into which your daughter shall fall.'\n\n  [Illustration: 'The Thirteenth Fairy.']\n\nThe King was so anxious to guard his dear child from the misfortune,\nthat he sent out a command that all the distaffs in the whole kingdom\nshould be burned.\n\n  [Illustration: {The King could not contain himself for joy.}]\n\nAs time went on all the promises of the fairies came true. The\nPrincess grew up so beautiful, modest, kind, and clever that every\none who saw her could not but love her. Now it happened that on the\nvery day when she was fifteen years old the King and Queen were away\nfrom home, and the Princess was left quite alone in the castle. She\nwandered about over the whole place, looking at rooms and halls as she\npleased, and at last she came to an old tower. She ascended a narrow,\nwinding staircase and reached a little door. A rusty key was sticking\nin the lock, and when she turned it the door flew open. In a little\nroom sat an old woman with a spindle, spinning her flax busily.\n\n'Good day, Granny,' said the Princess; 'what are you doing?'\n\n'I am spinning,' said the old woman, and nodded her head.\n\n'What is the thing that whirls round so merrily?' asked the Princess;\nand she took the spindle and tried to spin too.\n\nBut she had scarcely touched it before the curse was fulfilled, and\nshe pricked her finger with the spindle. The instant she felt the\nprick she fell upon the bed which was standing near, and lay still in\na deep sleep which spread over the whole castle.\n\nThe King and Queen, who had just come home and had stepped into the\nhall, went to sleep, and all their courtiers with them. The horses\nwent to sleep in the stable, the dogs in the yard, the doves on the\nroof, the flies on the wall; yes, even the fire flickering on the\nhearth grew still and went to sleep, and the roast meat stopped\ncrackling; the cook, who was pulling the scullion's hair because he\nhad made some mistake, let him go and went to sleep. The wind dropped,\nand on the trees in front of the castle not a leaf stirred.\n\nBut round the castle a hedge of briar roses began to grow up; every\nyear it grew higher, till at last it surrounded the whole castle so\nthat nothing could be seen of it, not even the flags on the roof.\n\nBut there was a legend in the land about the lovely sleeping Briar\nRose, as the King's daughter was called, and from time to time princes\ncame and tried to force a way through the hedge into the castle. They\nfound it impossible, for the thorns, as though they had hands, held\nthem fast, and the princes remained caught in them without being able\nto free themselves, and so died a miserable death.\n\n  [Illustration: But round the castle a hedge of briar roses began to\n    grow up.]\n\nAfter many, many years a Prince came again to the country and heard an\nold man tell of the castle which stood behind the briar hedge, in\nwhich a most beautiful maiden called Briar Rose had been asleep for\nthe last hundred years, and with her slept the King, Queen, and all\nher courtiers. He knew also, from his grandfather, that many princes\nhad already come and sought to pierce through the briar hedge, and had\nremained caught in it and died a sad death.\n\nThen the young Prince said, 'I am not afraid; I am determined to go\nand look upon the lovely Briar Rose.'\n\n  [Illustration: {The young Prince said, 'I am not afraid; I am\n    determined to go and look upon the lovely Briar Rose.'}]\n\nThe good old man did all in his power to dissuade him, but the Prince\nwould not listen to his words.\n\nNow, however, the hundred years were just ended, and the day had come\nwhen Briar Rose was to wake up again. When the Prince approached the\nbriar hedge it was in blossom, and was covered with beautiful large\nflowers which made way for him of their own accord and let him pass\nunharmed, and then closed up again into a hedge behind him.\n\nIn the courtyard he saw the horses and brindled hounds lying asleep,\non the roof sat the doves with their heads under their wings: and when\nhe went into the house the flies were asleep on the walls, and near\nthe throne lay the King and Queen; in the kitchen was the cook, with\nhis hand raised as though about to strike the scullion, and the maid\nsat with the black fowl in her lap which she was about to pluck.\n\nHe went on further, and all was so still that he could hear his own\nbreathing. At last he reached the tower, and opened the door into the\nlittle room where Briar Rose was asleep. There she lay, looking so\nbeautiful that he could not take his eyes off her; he bent down and\ngave her a kiss. As he touched her, Briar Rose opened her eyes and\nlooked lovingly at him. Then they went down together; and the King\nwoke up, and the Queen, and all the courtiers, and looked at each\nother with astonished eyes. The horses in the stable stood up and\nshook themselves, the hounds leaped about and wagged their tails, the\ndoves on the roof lifted their heads from under their wings, looked\nround, and flew into the fields; the flies on the walls began to crawl\nagain, the fire in the kitchen roused itself and blazed up and cooked\nthe food, the meat began to crackle, and the cook boxed the scullion's\nears so soundly that he screamed aloud, while the maid finished\nplucking the fowl. Then the wedding of the Prince and Briar Rose was\ncelebrated with all splendour, and they lived happily till they died.\n\n\n\n\nThe Jew among the Thorns\n\n\nThere was once a rich Man, and he had a Servant who served him well\nand faithfully. He was first up in the morning, and last to go to bed\nat night. If there was any hard work to be done which no one else\nwould do, he was always ready to undertake it. He never made any\ncomplaint, but was always merry and content.\n\nWhen his year of service was over, his Master did not give him any\nwages, thinking: 'This is my wisest plan. I save by it, and he is not\nlikely to run away.'\n\nThe Servant said nothing, and served the second year like the first.\nAnd when at the end of the second he again received no wages, he still\nappeared contented, and stayed on. When the third year had passed, the\nMaster bethought himself, and put his hand into his pocket, but he\nbrought it out empty.\n\nAt last the Servant said: 'Master, I have served you well and truly\nfor three years; please pay me my wages. I want to go away and look\nabout the world a bit.'\n\nThe Miser answered: 'Yes, my good fellow, you have served me honestly,\nand you shall be liberally rewarded.'\n\nAgain he put his hand into his pocket, and counted three farthings,\none by one, into the Servant's hand, and said: 'There, you have a\nfarthing for every year; that is better wages than you would get from\nmost masters.'\n\nThe good Servant, who knew little about money, put away his fortune,\nand thought: 'Now my pocket is well filled, I need no longer trouble\nmyself about work.' Then he left and went singing down the hill, and\ndancing, in the lightness of his heart.\n\nNow it so happened that as he was passing a thicket, that a little\nMannikin came out and cried: 'Whither away, my merry fellow? I see\nyour troubles are not too heavy to be borne.'\n\n'Why should I be sad?' answered the Servant. 'I have three years'\nwages in my pocket.'\n\n'And how much is your treasure?' asked the Mannikin.\n\n'How much? Why, three good farthings.'\n\n'Listen!' said the Mannikin. 'I am a poor needy fellow; give me your\nthree farthings. I can't work any more; but you are young, and can\neasily earn your bread.'\n\nNow the Servant had a good heart, and he was sorry for the poor little\nman, so he gave him his three farthings, and said:\n\n'Take them, in the name of heaven! I shall not miss them.'\n\n'Then,' said the Mannikin, 'I see what a good heart you have. I will\ngive you three wishes, one for each farthing; and every wish shall be\nfulfilled.'\n\n'Aha!' said the Servant, 'you are a wonder-worker I see. Very well,\nthen. First, I wish for a gun which will hit everything I aim at;\nsecondly, for a fiddle which will make every one dance when I play;\nand, thirdly, if I ask anything of any one, that he shall not be able\nto refuse my request.'\n\n'You shall have them all,' said the Mannikin, diving into the bushes,\nwhere, wonderful to relate, lay the gun and the fiddle ready, just as\nif they had been ordered beforehand. He gave them to the Servant, and\nsaid: 'No one will be able to refuse anything you ask.'\n\n'Heart alive! what more can one desire,' said the Servant to himself,\nas he went merrily on.\n\nSoon after, he met a Jew with a long goat's beard, who was standing\nstill listening to the song of a bird sitting on the top of a tree.\n'Good heavens!' he was saying, 'what a tremendous noise such a tiny\ncreature makes. If only it were mine! If one could but put some salt\nupon its tail!'\n\n'If that is all,' said the Servant, 'the bird shall soon come down.'\n\nHe took aim, and down fell the bird into a quickset hedge.\n\n'Go, you rogue,' he said to the Jew, 'and pick up the bird.'\n\n'Leave out the \"rogue,\" young man. I will get the bird sure enough, as\nyou have killed it for me,' said the Jew.\n\nHe lay down on the ground and began to creep into the hedge.\n\n  [Illustration: The Jew was forced to spring up and begin to dance.]\n\nWhen he had got well among the thorns, a spirit of mischief seized the\nServant, and he began to play his fiddle with all his might. The Jew\nwas forced to spring up and begin to dance, and the more the Servant\nplayed, the faster he had to dance. The thorns tore his shabby coat,\ncombed his goat's beard, and scratched him all over.\n\n'Merciful Heavens!' cried the Jew. 'Leave off that fiddling! I don't\nwant to dance, my good fellow.'\n\nBut the Servant paid no attention to him, but thought: 'You have\nfleeced plenty of people in your time, my man, and the thorns shan't\nspare you now!' And he played on and on, so that the Jew had to jump\nhigher and higher, till his coat hung in ribbons about him.\n\n'I cry \"enough!\"' screamed the Jew. 'I will give you anything you like\nif you will only stop. Take the purse, it is full of gold.'\n\n'Oh, well, if you are so open-handed,' said the Servant, 'I am quite\nready to stop my music, but I must say in praise of your dancing, that\nit has quite a style of its own.' Then he took the purse and went on\nhis way.\n\nThe Jew stood still looking after him till he was a good way off, then\nhe screamed with all his might: 'You miserable fiddler! Just you wait\ntill I find you alone! I will chase you till the soles of your shoes\ndrop off--you rascal!' And he went on pouring out a stream of abuse.\nHaving relieved himself by so doing, he hurried off to the Judge in\nthe nearest town.\n\n'Just look here, your worship,' he said, 'look how I have been\nattacked, and ill-treated, and robbed on the high road by a wretch. My\ncondition might melt the heart of a stone; my clothes and my body torn\nand scratched, and my purse with all my poor little savings taken away\nfrom me. All my beautiful ducats, each one prettier than the other. Oh\ndear! Oh dear! For heaven's sake, put the wretch in prison.'\n\nThe Judge said: 'Was it a soldier who punished you so with his sword?'\n\n'Heaven preserve us!' cried the Jew, 'he had no sword, but he had a\ngun on his shoulder and a fiddle round his neck. The villain is easily\nto be recognised.'\n\nSo the Judge sent out men in pursuit of the honest Servant, who had\nwalked on slowly. They soon overtook him, and the purse of gold was\nfound on him. When he was brought before the Judge, he said--\n\n'I never touched the Jew, nor did I take his money away; he offered it\nto me of his own free will if I would only stop playing, because he\ncould not bear my music.'\n\n'Heaven defend us!' screamed the Jew, 'his lies are as thick as flies\non the wall.'\n\nAnd the Judge did not believe him either, and said:\n\n'That is a very lame excuse; no Jew ever did such a thing.' So he\nsentenced the honest Servant to the gallows for having committed a\nrobbery upon the king's highway.\n\nWhen he was being led away, the Jew screamed after him; 'You vagabond,\nyou dog of a fiddler, now you will get your deserts!'\n\nThe Servant mounted the ladder to the gallows quite quietly, with the\nhalter round his neck; but at the last rung he turned round and said\nto the Judge: 'Grant me one favour before I die.'\n\n'Certainly,' said the Judge, 'as long as you don't ask for your life.'\n\n'Not my life,' answered the Servant. 'I only ask to play my fiddle\nonce more.'\n\n  [Illustration: Dancing as hard as he could.]\n\nThe Jew raised a tremendous cry. 'Don't allow it, your worship, for\nheaven's sake, don't allow it!'\n\nBut the Judge said: 'Why should I deny him that short pleasure? His\nwish is granted, and there's an end of the matter!'\n\nHe could not have refused even if he had wished, because of the\nMannikin's gift to the Servant.\n\nThe Jew screamed, 'Oh dear! Oh dear! Tie me tight, tie me tight!'\n\nThe good Servant took his fiddle from his neck, and put it into\nposition, and at the first chord everybody began to wag their heads,\nthe Judge, his Clerk, and all the Officers of Justice, and the rope\nfell out of the hand of the man about to bind the Jew.\n\nAt the second scrape, they all lifted their legs, and the Hangman let\ngo his hold of the honest Servant, to make ready to dance.\n\nAt the third scrape they one and all leapt into the air, and began to\ncaper about, the Judge and the Jew at the head, and they all leapt\ntheir best.\n\nSoon, every one who had come to the market-place out of curiosity, old\nand young, fat and lean, were dancing as hard as they could; even the\ndogs got upon their hind legs, and pranced about with the rest. The\nlonger he played, the higher they jumped, till they knocked their\nheads together, and made each other cry out.\n\nAt last the Judge, quite out of breath, cried: 'I will give you your\nlife, if only you will stop playing.'\n\nThe honest Servant allowed himself to be prevailed upon, laid his\nfiddle aside, and came down the ladder. Then he went up to the Jew,\nwho lay upon the ground gasping, and said to him:\n\n'You rascal, confess where you got the money, or I will begin to play\nagain.'\n\n'I stole it! I stole it!' he screamed; 'but you have honestly earned\nit.'\n\nThe Judge then ordered the Jew to the gallows to be hanged as a thief.\n\n\n\n\nAshenputtel\n\n\nThe wife of a rich man fell ill, and when she felt that she was\nnearing her end, she called her only daughter to her bedside, and\nsaid:\n\n'Dear child, continue devout and good, then God will always help you,\nand I will look down upon you from heaven, and watch over you.'\n\nThereupon she closed her eyes, and breathed her last.\n\nThe maiden went to her mother's grave every day and wept, and she\ncontinued to be devout and good. When the winter came, the snow spread\na white covering on the grave, and when the sun of spring had unveiled\nit again, the husband took another wife. The new wife brought home\nwith her two daughters, who were fair and beautiful to look upon, but\nbase and black at heart.\n\nThen began a sad time for the unfortunate step-child.\n\n'Is this stupid goose to sit with us in the parlour?' they said.\n\n'Whoever wants to eat bread must earn it; go and sit with the\nkitchenmaid.'\n\nThey took away her pretty clothes, and made her put on an old grey\nfrock, and gave her wooden clogs.\n\n'Just look at the proud Princess, how well she's dressed,' they\nlaughed, as they led her to the kitchen. There, the girl was obliged\nto do hard work from morning till night, to get up at daybreak, carry\nwater, light the fire, cook, and wash. Not content with that, the\nsisters inflicted on her every vexation they could think of; they made\nfun of her, and tossed the peas and lentils among the ashes, so that\nshe had to sit down and pick them out again. In the evening, when she\nwas worn out with work, she had no bed to go to, but had to lie on the\nhearth among the cinders. And because, on account of that, she always\nlooked dusty and dirty, they called her Ashenputtel.\n\nIt happened one day that the Father had a mind to go to the Fair. So\nhe asked both his step-daughters what he should bring home for them.\n\n'Fine clothes,' said one.\n\n'Pearls and jewels,' said the other.\n\n'But you, Ashenputtel?' said he, 'what will you have?'\n\n'Father, break off for me the first twig which brushes against your\nhat on your way home.'\n\nWell, for his two step-daughters he brought beautiful clothes, pearls\nand jewels, and on his way home, as he was riding through a green\ncopse, a hazel twig grazed against him and knocked his hat off. Then\nhe broke off the branch and took it with him.\n\nWhen he got home he gave his step-daughters what they had asked for,\nand to Ashenputtel he gave the twig from the hazel bush.\n\nAshenputtel thanked him, and went to her mother's grave and planted\nthe twig upon it; she wept so much that her tears fell and watered it.\nAnd it took root and became a fine tree.\n\nAshenputtel went to the grave three times every day, wept and prayed,\nand every time a little white bird came and perched upon the tree, and\nwhen she uttered a wish, the little bird threw down to her what she\nhad wished for.\n\nNow it happened that the King proclaimed a festival, which was to last\nthree days, and to which all the beautiful maidens in the country were\ninvited, in order that his son might choose a bride.\n\nWhen the two step-daughters heard that they were also to be present,\nthey were in high spirits, called Ashenputtel, and said:\n\n'Brush our hair and clean our shoes, and fasten our buckles, for we\nare going to the feast at the King's palace.'\n\nAshenputtel obeyed, but wept, for she also would gladly have gone to\nthe ball with them, and begged her Step-mother to give her leave to\ngo.\n\n'You, Ashenputtel!' she said. 'Why, you are covered with dust and\ndirt. You go to the festival! Besides you have no clothes or shoes,\nand yet you want to go to the ball.'\n\nAs she, however, went on asking, her Step-mother said:\n\n'Well, I have thrown a dishful of lentils into the cinders, if you\nhave picked them all out in two hours you shall go with us.'\n\nThe girl went through the back door into the garden, and cried, 'Ye\ngentle doves, ye turtle doves, and all ye little birds under heaven,\ncome and help me,\n\n    'The good into a dish to throw,\n    The bad into your crops can go.'\n\nThen two white doves came in by the kitchen window, and were followed\nby the turtle doves, and finally all the little birds under heaven\nflocked in, chirping, and settled down among the ashes. And the doves\ngave a nod with their little heads, peck, peck, peck; and then the\nrest began also, peck, peck, peck, and collected all the good beans\ninto the dish. Scarcely had an hour passed before they had finished,\nand all flown out again.\n\nThen the girl brought the dish to her Step-mother, and was delighted\nto think that now she would be able to go to the feast with them.\n\nBut she said, 'No, Ashenputtel, you have no clothes, and cannot dance;\nyou will only be laughed at.'\n\nBut when she began to cry, the Step-mother said:\n\n'If you can pick out two whole dishes of lentils from the ashes in an\nhour, you shall go with us.'\n\nAnd she thought, 'She will never be able to do that.'\n\n  [Illustration: {Ashenputtel goes to the ball.}]\n\nWhen her Step-mother had thrown the dishes of lentils among the\nashes, the girl went out through the back door, and cried, 'Ye gentle\ndoves, ye turtle doves, and all ye little birds under heaven, come and\nhelp me,\n\n    'The good into a dish to throw,\n    The bad into your crops can go.'\n\nThen two white doves came in by the kitchen window, and were followed\nby the turtle doves, and all the other little birds under heaven, and\nin less than an hour the whole had been picked up, and they had all\nflown away.\n\nThen the girl carried the dish to her Step-mother, and was delighted\nto think that she would now be able to go to the ball.\n\nBut she said, 'It's not a bit of good. You can't go with us, for\nyou've got no clothes, and you can't dance. We should be quite ashamed\nof you.'\n\nThereupon she turned her back upon her, and hurried off with her two\nproud daughters.\n\nAs soon as every one had left the house, Ashenputtel went out to her\nmother's grave under the hazel-tree, and cried:\n\n    'Shiver and shake, dear little tree,\n    Gold and silver shower on me.'\n\nThen the bird threw down to her a gold and silver robe, and a pair of\nslippers embroidered with silk and silver. With all speed she put on\nthe robe and went to the feast. But her step-sisters and their mother\ndid not recognise her, and supposed that she was some foreign\nPrincess, so beautiful did she appear in her golden dress. They never\ngave a thought to Ashenputtel, but imagined that she was sitting at\nhome in the dirt picking the lentils out of the cinders.\n\nThe Prince came up to the stranger, took her by the hand, and danced\nwith her. In fact, he would not dance with any one else, and never\nleft go of her hand. If any one came up to ask her to dance, he said,\n'This is my partner.'\n\nShe danced until nightfall, and then wanted to go home; but the Prince\nsaid, 'I will go with you and escort you.'\n\nFor he wanted to see to whom the beautiful maiden belonged. But she\nslipped out of his way and sprang into the pigeon-house.\n\nThen the Prince waited till her Father came, and told him that the\nunknown maiden had vanished into the pigeon-house.\n\nThe old man thought, 'Could it be Ashenputtel?' And he had an axe\nbrought to him, so that he might break down the pigeon-house, but\nthere was no one inside.\n\nWhen they went home, there lay Ashenputtel in her dirty clothes among\nthe cinders, and a dismal oil lamp was burning in the chimney corner.\nFor Ashenputtel had quietly jumped down out of the pigeon-house and\nran back to the hazel-tree. There she had taken off her beautiful\nclothes and laid them on the grave, and the bird had taken them away\nagain. Then she had settled herself among the ashes on the hearth in\nher old grey frock.\n\nOn the second day, when the festival was renewed, and her parents and\nstep-sisters had started forth again, Ashenputtel went to the\nhazel-tree, and said:\n\n    'Shiver and shake, dear little tree,\n    Gold and silver shower on me.'\n\nThen the bird threw down a still more gorgeous robe than on the\nprevious day. And when she appeared at the festival in this robe,\nevery one was astounded by her beauty.\n\nThe King's son had waited till she came, and at once took her hand,\nand she danced with no one but him. When others came forward and\ninvited her to dance, he said, 'This is my partner.'\n\nAt nightfall she wished to leave; but the Prince went after her,\nhoping to see into what house she went, but she sprang out into the\ngarden behind the house. There stood a fine big tree on which the most\ndelicious pears hung. She climbed up among the branches as nimbly as a\nsquirrel, and the Prince could not make out what had become of her.\n\nBut he waited till her Father came, and then said to him, 'The\nunknown maiden has slipped away from me, and I think that she has\njumped into the pear-tree.'\n\nThe Father thought, 'Can it be Ashenputtel?' And he had the axe\nbrought to cut down the tree, but there was no one on it. When they\nwent home and looked into the kitchen, there lay Ashenputtel among the\ncinders as usual; for she had jumped down on the other side of the\ntree, taken back the beautiful clothes to the bird on the hazel-tree,\nand put on her old grey frock.\n\nOn the third day, when her parents and sisters had started,\nAshenputtel went again to her mother's grave, and said:\n\n    'Shiver and shake, dear little tree,\n    Gold and silver shower on me.'\n\nThen the bird threw down a dress which was so magnificent that no one\nhad ever seen the like before, and the slippers were entirely of gold.\nWhen she appeared at the festival in this attire, they were all\nspeechless with astonishment. The Prince danced only with her, and if\nany one else asked her to dance, he said, 'This is my partner.'\n\nWhen night fell and she wanted to leave, the Prince was more desirous\nthan ever to accompany her, but she darted away from him so quickly\nthat he could not keep up with her. But the Prince had used a\nstratagem, and had caused the steps to be covered with cobbler's wax.\nThe consequence was, that as the maiden sprang down them, her left\nslipper remained sticking there. The Prince took it up. It was small\nand dainty, and entirely made of gold.\n\nThe next morning he went with it to Ashenputtel's Father, and said to\nhim, 'No other shall become my wife but she whose foot this golden\nslipper fits.'\n\nThe two sisters were delighted at that, for they both had beautiful\nfeet. The eldest went into the room intending to try on the slipper,\nand her Mother stood beside her. But her great toe prevented her\ngetting it on, her foot was too long.\n\nThen her Mother handed her a knife, and said, 'Cut off the toe; when\nyou are Queen you won't have to walk any more.'\n\nThe girl cut off her toe, forced her foot into the slipper, stifled\nher pain, and went out to the Prince. Then he took her up on his horse\nas his Bride, and rode away with her.\n\nHowever, they had to pass the grave on the way, and there sat the two\nDoves on the hazel-tree, and cried:\n\n    'Prithee, look back, prithee, look back,\n    There's blood on the track,\n    The shoe is too small,\n    At home the true Bride is waiting thy call.'\n\nThen he looked at her foot and saw how the blood was streaming from\nit. So he turned his horse round and carried the false Bride back to\nher home, and said that she was not the right one; the second sister\nmust try the shoe.\n\nThen she went into the room, and succeeded in getting her toes into\nthe shoe, but her heel was too big.\n\nThen her Mother handed her a knife, and said, 'Cut a bit off your\nheel; when you are Queen you won't have to walk any more.'\n\nThe maiden cut a bit off her heel, forced her foot into the shoe,\nstifled her pain, and went out to the Prince.\n\nThen he took her up on his horse as his Bride, and rode off with her.\n\nAs they passed the grave, the two Doves were sitting on the\nhazel-tree, and crying:\n\n    'Prithee, look back, prithee, look back,\n    There's blood on the track,\n    The shoe is too small,\n    At home the true Bride is waiting thy call.'\n\nHe looked down at her foot and saw that it was streaming with blood,\nand there were deep red spots on her stockings. Then he turned his\nhorse and brought the false Bride back to her home.\n\n'This is not the right one either,' he said. 'Have you no other\ndaughter?'\n\n'No,' said the man. 'There is only a daughter of my late wife's, a\npuny, stunted drudge, but she cannot possibly be the Bride.'\n\nThe Prince said that she must be sent for.\n\nBut the Mother answered, 'Oh no, she is much too dirty; she mustn't be\nseen on any account.'\n\nHe was, however, absolutely determined to have his way, and they were\nobliged to summon Ashenputtel.\n\nWhen she had washed her hands and face, she went up and curtsied to\nthe Prince, who handed her the golden slipper.\n\nThen she sat down on a bench, pulled off her wooden clog and put on\nthe slipper, which fitted to a nicety.\n\nAnd when she stood up and the Prince looked into her face, he\nrecognised the beautiful maiden that he had danced with, and cried:\n'This is the true Bride!'\n\nThe Step-mother and the two sisters were dismayed and turned white\nwith rage; but he took Ashenputtel on his horse and rode off with her.\n\nAs they rode past the hazel-tree the two White Doves cried:\n\n    'Prithee, look back, prithee, look back,\n    No blood's on the track,\n    The shoe's _not_ too small,\n    You carry the true Bride home to your hall.'\n\nAnd when they had said this they both came flying down, and settled on\nAshenputtel's shoulders, one on the right, and one on the left, and\nremained perched there.\n\nWhen the wedding was going to take place, the two false sisters came\nand wanted to curry favour with her, and take part in her good\nfortune. As the bridal party was going to the church, the eldest was\non the right side, the youngest on the left, and the Doves picked out\none of the eyes of each of them.\n\nAfterwards, when they were coming out of the church, the elder was on\nthe left, the younger on the right, and the Doves picked out the other\neye of each of them. And so for their wickedness and falseness they\nwere punished with blindness for the rest of their days.\n\n\n\n\nThe White Snake\n\n\nA long time ago there lived a King whose wisdom was celebrated far and\nwide. Nothing was unknown to him, and news of the most secret\ntransactions seemed to reach him through the air.\n\nNow he had one very odd habit. Every day at dinner, when the courtiers\nhad withdrawn, and he was quite alone, a trusted Servant had to bring\nin another dish. It was always covered, and even the Servant did not\nknow what it contained, nor any one else, for the King never uncovered\nit till he was alone. This had gone on for a long time, when one day\nthe Servant who carried the dish was overcome by his curiosity, and\ntook the dish to his own room.\n\nWhen he had carefully locked the door, he took the dish-cover off, and\nsaw a White Snake lying on the dish.\n\nAt the sight of it, he could not resist tasting it; so he cut a piece\noff, and put it into his mouth.\n\nHardly had he tasted it, however, when he heard a wonderful whispering\nof delicate voices.\n\nHe went to the window and listened, and he noticed that the whispers\ncame from the sparrows outside. They were chattering away, and telling\neach other all kinds of things that they had heard in the woods and\nfields. Eating the Snake had given him the power of understanding the\nlanguage of birds and animals.\n\nNow it happened on this day that the Queen lost her most precious\nring, and suspicion fell upon this trusted Servant who went about\neverywhere.\n\nThe King sent for him, and threatened that if it was not found by the\nnext day, he would be sent to prison.\n\nIn vain he protested his innocence; he was not believed.\n\nIn his grief and anxiety he went down into the courtyard and wondered\nhow he should get out of his difficulty.\n\nA number of Ducks were lying peaceably together by a stream, stroking\ndown their feathers with their bills, while they chattered gaily.\n\nThe Servant stood still to listen to them. They were telling each\nother of their morning's walks and experiences.\n\nThen one of them said somewhat fretfully: 'I have something lying\nheavy on my stomach. In my haste I swallowed the Queen's ring this\nmorning.'\n\nThe Servant quickly seized it by the neck, carried it off into the\nkitchen, and said to the Cook: 'Here's a fine fat Duck. You had better\nkill it at once.'\n\n'Yes, indeed,' said the Cook, weighing it in her hand. 'It has spared\nno pains in stuffing itself; it should have been roasted long ago.'\n\nSo she killed it, and cut it open, and there, sure enough, was the\nQueen's ring.\n\nThe Servant had now no difficulty in proving his innocence, and the\nKing, to make up for his injustice, gave the Servant leave to ask any\nfavour he liked, and promised him the highest post about the Court\nwhich he might desire.\n\nThe Servant, however, declined everything but a horse, and some money\nto travel with, as he wanted to wander about for a while, to see the\nworld.\n\nHis request being granted, he set off on his travels, and one day came\nto a pond, where he saw three Fishes caught among the reeds, and\ngasping for breath. Although it is said that fishes are dumb, he\nunderstood their complaint at perishing thus miserably. As he had a\ncompassionate heart, he got off his horse and put the three captives\nback into the water. They wriggled in their joy, stretched up their\nheads above the water, and cried--\n\n'We will remember that you saved us, and reward you for it.'\n\n  [Illustration: {The Fishes, in their joy, stretched up their heads\n    above the water, and promised to reward him.}]\n\nHe rode on again, and after a time he seemed to hear a voice in the\nsand at his feet. He listened, and heard an Ant-King complain: 'I wish\nthese human beings and their animals would keep out of our way. A\nclumsy horse has just put his hoof down upon a number of my people in\nthe most heartless way.'\n\nHe turned his horse into a side path, and the Ant-King cried: 'We will\nremember and reward you.'\n\nThe road now ran through a forest, and he saw a pair of Ravens\nstanding by their nest throwing out their young.\n\n'Away with you, you gallows birds,' they were saying. 'We can't feed\nyou any longer. You are old enough to look after yourselves.'\n\nThe poor little nestlings lay on the ground, fluttering and flapping\ntheir wings, and crying: 'We, poor helpless children, to feed\nourselves, and we can't even fly! We shall die of hunger, there is\nnothing else for it.'\n\nThe good Youth dismounted, killed his horse with his sword, and left\nthe carcase as food for the young Ravens. They hopped along to it, and\ncried: 'We will remember and reward you.'\n\nNow he had to depend upon his own legs, and after going a long way he\ncame to a large town.\n\nThere was much noise and bustle in the streets, where a man on\nhorseback was making a proclamation.\n\n'The King's daughter seeks a husband, but any one who wishes to sue\nfor her hand must accomplish a hard task; and if he does not bring it\nto a successful issue, he will forfeit his life.'\n\nMany had already attempted the task, but they had risked their lives\nin vain.\n\nWhen the Youth saw the Princess, he was so dazzled by her beauty that\nhe forgot all danger, at once sought an audience of the King, and\nannounced himself as a suitor.\n\nHe was immediately led out to the seashore, and a golden ring was\nthrown into the water before his eyes. Then the King ordered him to\nfetch it out from the depths of the sea, and added--\n\n'If you come to land without it, you will be thrown back every time\ntill you perish in the waves.'\n\nEvery one pitied the handsome Youth, but they had to go and leave him\nstanding solitary on the seashore.\n\nHe was pondering over what he should do, when, all at once, he saw\nthree Fishes swimming towards him. They were no others than the very\nones whose lives he had saved.\n\nThe middle one carried a mussel-shell in its mouth, which it laid on\nthe sand at the feet of the Youth. When he picked it up, and opened\nit, there lay the ring.\n\nFull of joy, he took it to the King, expecting that he would give him\nthe promised reward.\n\nThe proud Princess, however, when she heard that he was not her equal,\ndespised him, and demanded that he should perform yet another task.\n\nSo she went into the garden herself, and strewed ten sacks of millet\nseeds among the grass.\n\n'He must pick up every one of those before the sun rises to-morrow\nmorning,' said she. 'Not a grain must be missing.'\n\nThe Youth sat miserably in the garden, wondering how it could possibly\nbe done. But as he could not think of a plan, he remained sadly\nwaiting for the dawn which would bring death to him.\n\nBut when the first sunbeams fell on the garden, he saw the ten sacks\nfull to the top, and not a grain was missing. The Ant-King had come in\nthe night with thousands and thousands of his Ants, and the grateful\ncreatures had picked up the millet and filled the sacks.\n\nThe Princess came into the garden herself, and saw with amazement that\nthe Youth had completed the task.\n\nBut still she could not control her proud heart, and she said: 'Even\nif he has accomplished these two tasks, he shall not become my husband\ntill he brings me an apple from the tree of life.'\n\nThe Youth had no idea where to find the tree of life. However, he\nstarted off, meaning to walk as far as his legs would carry him; but\nhe had no hope of finding it.\n\nWhen he had travelled through three kingdoms, he was one night passing\nthrough a great forest, and he lay down under a tree to sleep.\n\nHe heard a rustling among the branches, and a golden apple fell into\nhis hand. At the same time three Ravens flew down and perched on his\nknee, and said:\n\n'We are the young Ravens you saved from death. When we grew big, and\nheard that you were looking for the golden apple, we flew across the\nsea to the end of the world, where the tree of life stands, and\nbrought you the apple.'\n\nThe Youth, delighted, started on his homeward journey, and took the\ngolden apple to the beautiful Princess, who had now no further excuse\nto offer.\n\nThey divided the apple of life, and ate it together, and then her\nheart was filled with love for him, and they lived happily to a great\nage.\n\n\n\n\nThe Wolf and the Seven Kids\n\n\nThere was once an old Nanny-goat who had seven Kids, and she was just\nas fond of them as a mother of her children. One day she was going\ninto the woods to fetch some food for them, so she called them all up\nto her, and said--\n\n'My dear children, I am going out into the woods. Beware of the Wolf!\nIf once he gets into the house, he will eat you up, skin, and hair,\nand all. The rascal often disguises himself, but you will know him by\nhis rough voice and his black feet.'\n\nThe Kids said, 'Oh, we will be very careful, dear mother. You may be\nquite happy about us.'\n\nBleating tenderly, the old Goat went off to her work. Before long,\nsome one knocked at the door, and cried--\n\n'Open the door, dear children! Your mother has come back and brought\nsomething for each of you.'\n\nBut the Kids knew quite well by the voice that it was the Wolf.\n\n'We won't open the door,' they cried. 'You are not our mother. She has\na soft gentle voice; but yours is rough, and we are quite sure that\nyou are the Wolf.'\n\nSo he went away to a shop and bought a lump of chalk, which he ate,\nand it made his voice quite soft. He went back, knocked at the door\nagain, and cried--\n\n'Open the door, dear children. Your mother has come back and brought\nsomething for each of you.'\n\nBut the Wolf had put one of his paws on the window sill, where the\nKids saw it, and cried--\n\n'We won't open the door. Our mother has not got a black foot as you\nhave; you are the Wolf.'\n\nThen the Wolf ran to a Baker, and said, 'I have bruised my foot;\nplease put some dough on it.' And when the Baker had put some dough on\nhis foot, he ran to the Miller and said, 'Strew some flour on my\nfoot.'\n\nThe Miller thought, 'The old Wolf is going to take somebody in,' and\nrefused.\n\nBut the Wolf said, 'If you don't do it, I will eat you up.'\n\nSo the Miller was frightened, and whitened his paws. People are like\nthat, you know.\n\nNow the wretch went for the third time to the door, and knocked, and\nsaid--\n\n'Open the door, children. Your dear mother has come home, and has\nbrought something for each of you out of the wood.'\n\nThe Kids cried, 'Show us your feet first, that we may be sure you are\nour mother.'\n\nHe put his paws on the window sill, and when they saw that they were\nwhite, they believed all he said, and opened the door.\n\nAlas! It was the Wolf who walked in. They were terrified, and tried to\nhide themselves. One ran under the table, the second jumped into bed,\nthe third into the oven, the fourth ran into the kitchen, the fifth\ngot into the cupboard, the sixth into the wash-tub, and the seventh\nhid in the tall clock-case. But the Wolf found them all but one, and\nmade short work of them. He swallowed one after the other, except the\nyoungest one in the clock-case, whom he did not find. When he had\nsatisfied his appetite, he took himself off, and lay down in a meadow\noutside, where he soon fell asleep.\n\nNot long after the old Nanny-goat came back from the woods. Oh! what a\nterrible sight met her eyes! The house door was wide open, table,\nchairs, and benches were overturned, the washing bowl was smashed to\natoms, the covers and pillows torn from the bed. She searched all over\nthe house for her children, but nowhere were they to be found. She\ncalled them by name, one by one, but no one answered. At last, when\nshe came to the youngest, a tiny voice cried:\n\n'I am here, dear mother, hidden in the clock-case.'\n\nShe brought him out, and he told her that the Wolf had come and\ndevoured all the others.\n\nYou may imagine how she wept over her children.\n\nAt last, in her grief, she went out, and the youngest Kid ran by her\nside. When they went into the meadow, there lay the Wolf under a tree,\nmaking the branches shake with his snores. They examined him from\nevery side, and they could plainly see movements within his distended\nbody.\n\n'Ah, heavens!' thought the Goat, 'is it possible that my poor children\nwhom he ate for his supper, should be still alive?'\n\nShe sent the Kid running to the house to fetch scissors, needles, and\nthread. Then she cut a hole in the monster's side, and, hardly had she\nbegun, when a Kid popped out its head, and as soon as the hole was big\nenough, all six jumped out, one after the other, all alive, and\nwithout having suffered the least injury, for, in his greed, the\nmonster had swallowed them whole. You may imagine the mother's joy.\nShe hugged them, and skipped about like a tailor on his wedding day.\nAt last she said:\n\n'Go and fetch some big stones, children, and we will fill up the\nbrute's body while he is asleep.'\n\nThen the seven Kids brought a lot of stones, as fast as they could\ncarry them, and stuffed the Wolf with them till he could hold no more.\nThe old mother quickly sewed him up, without his having noticed\nanything, or even moved.\n\nAt last, when the Wolf had had his sleep out, he got up, and, as the\nstones made him feel very thirsty, he wanted to go to a spring to\ndrink. But as soon as he moved the stones began to roll about and\nrattle inside him. Then he cried--\n\n    'What's the rumbling and tumbling\n    That sets my stomach grumbling?\n    I thought 'twas six Kids, flesh and bones,\n    Now find it's nought but rolling stones.'\n\n  [Illustration: {The Seven Kids and their mother capered and danced\n    round the spring in their joy.}]\n\nWhen he reached the spring, and stooped over the water to drink, the\nheavy stones dragged him down, and he was drowned miserably.\n\nWhen the seven Kids saw what had happened, they came running up, and\ncried aloud--'The Wolf is dead, the Wolf is dead!' and they and their\nmother capered and danced round the spring in their joy.\n\n\n\n\nThe Queen Bee\n\n\nOnce upon a time two Princes started off in search of adventure, and,\nfalling into a wild, free mode of life, did not come home again.\n\nThe third Brother, who was called the Blockhead, set out to look for\nthe other two. But when at last he found them, they mocked him for\nthinking of making his way in the world with his simplicity, while\nthey, who were so much cleverer, could not get on.\n\nThey all three went on together till they came to an ant-heap. The two\nelder Princes wanted to disturb it, to see how the little ants crept\naway, carrying their eggs.\n\nBut the Blockhead said: 'Leave the little creatures alone; I will not\nallow you to disturb them.'\n\nThen they went on further till they came to a lake, in which a great\nmany ducks were swimming about. The two wanted to catch and roast a\npair.\n\nBut the Blockhead would not allow it, and said: 'Leave the creatures\nalone. You shall not kill them.'\n\nAt last they came to a bee's nest, containing such a quantity of honey\nthat it flowed round the trunk of the tree.\n\nThe two Princes wanted to set fire to the tree, and suffocate the\nbees, so as to remove the honey.\n\nBut the Blockhead stopped them again, and said: 'Leave the creatures\nalone. I will not let you burn them.'\n\nAt last the three Brothers came to a castle, where the stables were\nfull of stone horses, but not a soul was to be seen. They went through\nall the rooms till they came to a door quite at the end, fastened with\nthree bolts. In the middle of the door was a lattice, through which\none could see into the room.\n\nThere they saw a little grey Man sitting at a table. They called to\nhim once--twice--but he did not hear them. Finally, when they had\ncalled him the third time, he stood up and opened the door, and came\nout. He said not a word, but led them to a richly-spread table, and\nwhen they had eaten and drunk, he took them each to a bedroom.\n\nThe next morning the little grey Man came to the eldest Prince,\nbeckoned, and led him to a stone tablet whereon were inscribed three\ntasks by means of which the castle should be freed from enchantment.\n\nThis was the first task: In the wood, under the moss, lay the\nPrincesses' pearls, a thousand in number. These had all to be found,\nand if at sunset a single one were missing, the seeker was turned to\nstone.\n\nThe eldest went away, and searched all day, but when evening came, he\nhad only found the first hundred, and it happened as the inscription\nforetold. He was turned to stone.\n\nThe next day the second Brother undertook the quest; but he fared no\nbetter than the first, for he only found two hundred pearls, and he\ntoo was turned to stone.\n\nAt last came the Blockhead's turn; he searched in the moss, but the\npearls were hard to find, and he got on but slowly.\n\nThen he sat down on a rock and cried, and as he was sitting there, the\nAnt-King, whose life he had saved, came up with five thousand ants,\nand it was not long before the little creatures had found all the\npearls and laid them in a heap.\n\nNow the second task was to get the key of the Princesses' room out of\nthe lake.\n\nWhen the Blockhead came to the lake, the ducks he had once saved, swam\nup, dived, and brought up the key from the depths.\n\nBut the third task was the hardest. The Prince had to find out which\nwas the youngest and most charming of the Princesses while they were\nasleep.\n\nThey were exactly alike, and could not be distinguished in any way,\nexcept that before going to sleep each had eaten a different kind of\nsweet. The eldest a piece of sugar, the second a little syrup, and the\nthird a spoonful of honey.\n\nThen the Queen of the Bees, whom the Blockhead had saved from burning,\ncame and tried the lips of all three. Finally, she settled on the\nmouth of the one who had eaten the honey, and so the Prince recognised\nthe right one.\n\nThen the charm was broken and everything in the castle was set free,\nand those who had been turned to stone took human form again.\n\nAnd the Blockhead married the youngest and sweetest Princess, and\nbecame King after her father's death, while his two Brothers married\nthe other sisters.\n\n  [Illustration: The Three Sleeping Princesses.]\n\n  [Illustration: {The Ducks, which he had once saved, dived and\n    brought up the key from the depths.}]\n\n\n\n\nThe Elves and the Shoemaker\n\n\nThere was once a Shoemaker who, through no fault of his own, had\nbecome so poor that at last he had only leather enough left for one\npair of shoes. At evening he cut out the shoes which he intended to\nbegin upon the next morning, and since he had a good conscience, he\nlay down quietly, said his prayers, and fell asleep.\n\nIn the morning when he had said his prayers, and was preparing to sit\ndown to work, he found the pair of shoes standing finished on his\ntable. He was amazed, and could not understand it in the least.\n\nHe took the shoes in his hand to examine them more closely. They were\nso neatly sewn that not a stitch was out of place, and were as good as\nthe work of a master-hand.\n\nSoon after a purchaser came in, and as he was much pleased with the\nshoes, he paid more than the ordinary price for them, so that the\nShoemaker was able to buy leather for two pairs of shoes with the\nmoney.\n\nHe cut them out in the evening, and next day, with fresh courage, was\nabout to go to work; but he had no need to, for when he got up, the\nshoes were finished, and buyers were not lacking. These gave him so\nmuch money that he was able to buy leather for four pairs of shoes.\n\nEarly next morning he found the four pairs finished, and so it went\non; what he cut out at evening was finished in the morning, so that he\nwas soon again in comfortable circumstances, and became a well-to-do\nman.\n\nNow it happened one evening, not long before Christmas, when he had\ncut out some shoes as usual, that he said to his Wife: 'How would it\nbe if we were to sit up to-night to see who it is that lends us such a\nhelping hand?'\n\nThe Wife agreed, lighted a candle, and they hid themselves in the\ncorner of the room behind the clothes which were hanging there.\n\nAt midnight came two little naked men who sat down at the Shoemaker's\ntable, took up the cut-out work, and began with their tiny fingers to\nstitch, sew, and hammer so neatly and quickly, that the Shoemaker\ncould not believe his eyes. They did not stop till everything was\nquite finished, and stood complete on the table; then they ran swiftly\naway.\n\nThe next day the Wife said: 'The little men have made us rich, and we\nought to show our gratitude. They were running about with nothing on,\nand must freeze with cold. Now I will make them little shirts, coats,\nwaistcoats, and hose, and will even knit them a pair of stockings, and\nyou shall make them each a pair of shoes.'\n\nThe Husband agreed, and at evening, when they had everything ready,\nthey laid out the presents on the table, and hid themselves to see how\nthe little men would behave.\n\nAt midnight they came skipping in, and were about to set to work; but,\ninstead of the leather ready cut out, they found the charming little\nclothes.\n\nAt first they were surprised, then excessively delighted. With the\ngreatest speed they put on and smoothed down the pretty clothes,\nsinging:\n\n    'Now we're boys so fine and neat,\n    Why cobble more for other's feet?'\n\nThen they hopped and danced about, and leapt over chairs and tables\nand out at the door. Henceforward, they came back no more, but the\nShoemaker fared well as long as he lived, and had good luck in all his\nundertakings.\n\n\n\n\nThe Wolf and the Man\n\n\nA Fox was one day talking to a Wolf about the strength of man.\n\n'No animals,' he said, 'could withstand man, and they were obliged to\nuse cunning to hold their own against him.'\n\nThe Wolf answered, 'If ever I happened to see a man, I should attack\nhim all the same.'\n\n'Well, I can help you to that,' said the Fox. 'Come to me early\nto-morrow, and I will show you one!'\n\nThe Wolf was early astir, and the Fox took him out to a road in the\nforest, traversed daily by a Huntsman.\n\nFirst came an old discharged soldier.\n\n'Is that a Man?' asked the Wolf.\n\n'No,' answered the Fox. 'He has been a Man.'\n\nAfter that, a little boy appeared on his way to school.\n\n'Is that a Man?'\n\n'No; he is going to be a Man.'\n\nAt last the Huntsman made his appearance, his gun on his back, and his\nhunting-knife at his side. The Fox said to the Wolf,--\n\n'Look! There comes a Man. You may attack him, but I will make off to\nmy hole!'\n\nThe Wolf set on the Man, who said to himself when he saw him, 'What a\npity my gun isn't loaded with ball,' and fired a charge of shot in the\nWolf's face. The Wolf made a wry face, but he was not to be so easily\nfrightened, and attacked him again. Then the Huntsman gave him the\nsecond charge. The Wolf swallowed the pain, and rushed at the\nHuntsman; but he drew his bright hunting-knife, and hit out right and\nleft with it, so that, streaming with blood, the Wolf ran back to the\nFox.\n\n'Well, brother Wolf,' said the Fox, 'and how did you get on with the\nMan?'\n\n'Alas!' said the Wolf. 'I never thought the strength of man would be\nwhat it is. First, he took a stick from his shoulder, and blew into\nit, and something flew into my face, which tickled frightfully. Then\nhe blew into it again, and it flew into my eyes and nose like\nlightning and hail. Then he drew a shining rib out of his body, and\nstruck at me with it till I was more dead than alive.'\n\n'Now, you see,' said the Fox, 'what a braggart you are. You throw your\nhatchet so far that you can't get it back again.'\n\n\n\n\nThe Turnip\n\n\nThere were once two Brothers who both served as soldiers, and one was\nrich and the other was poor.\n\nThe poor one, wishing to better himself, discarded his uniform and\nworked like a Peasant. Then he dug and hoed his little field and sowed\nTurnips.\n\nThe seed came up, and one of the Turnips grew to such an enormous\nsize, that it seemed as though it would never have finished; and it\nmight have been called the Queen of Turnips, for its like had never\nbeen seen before, nor ever will be again.\n\nAt last it was so big that it filled a cart, and needed two oxen to\ndraw it; and the Peasant could not imagine what would come of it,\nwhether it would bring good luck or bad.\n\nAt last he said to himself: 'If I sell it what shall I gain? I might\neat it, but the little Turnips would do as well for that. The best\nthing will be to take it to the King and offer it to him.'\n\nSo he loaded a cart, harnessed two oxen, and took it to the Court to\npresent it to the King.\n\n'What is that extraordinary object?' said the King. 'I have seen many\nmarvels in my time, but never anything so remarkable as this. What\nseed did it spring from? Perhaps it belongs to you, especially if you\nare a child of good luck?'\n\n'Oh no,' said the Peasant, 'lucky I certainly am not, for I am a poor\nSoldier, who, since he could keep himself no longer, has hung up his\nuniform on a nail, and tills the earth. Further, I have a Brother who\nis rich, and well known to you, my Lord King; but I, because I have\nnothing, am forgotten by all the world.'\n\nThen the King pitied him and said: 'Your poverty shall be at an end,\nand you shall receive such rich presents from me that your wealth will\nequal that of your Brother.'\n\nThereupon he gave him plenty of gold, lands, fields, and flocks, and\nenriched him with precious stones, so that the other Brother's wealth\ncould not be compared with his.\n\nNow, when the rich Brother heard what his Brother with the single\nTurnip had acquired, he envied him, and pondered how he might gain a\nlike treasure for himself.\n\n  [Illustration: So the rich Brother had to put his Brother's Turnip\n    into a cart, and have it taken home.]\n\nBut he wanted to show himself much cleverer, so he took gold and\nhorses and presented them to the King, feeling certain that he would\ngive him a far handsomer gift; for if his Brother got so much for a\nTurnip, what would not he get for his beautiful things.\n\nThe King took the present, saying that he could give him in return\nnothing rarer or better than the huge Turnip.\n\nSo the rich Brother had to put his Brother's Turnip into a cart, and\nhave it taken home.\n\nThen he did not know on whom to expend his wrath and bitterness, till\nevil thoughts came to him, and he determined to kill his Brother.\n\nHe hired Murderers, who were to place themselves in ambush, and then\nhe went to his Brother, and said: 'Dear Brother, I know of a secret\ntreasure which we will carry off and divide.'\n\nThe other agreed, and went without suspicion. But when they got out,\nthe Murderers sprang upon him, bound him, and prepared to hang him on\na tree.\n\nWhile they were about it, they heard in the distance the clatter of\nhoofs and the sound of singing, which frightened them so much that\nthey stuck their Prisoner into a sack, head foremost, slung it up on a\nbranch, and took to flight.\n\nBut the Man up in the sack worked a hole in it, and stuck his head\nthrough.\n\nNow the traveller turned out to be nothing more than a Student, a\nyoung fellow who was riding through the wood, singing cheerily.\n\nWhen the Man up in the sack saw some one down below, he called out:\n'Good-day. You come in the nick of time.'\n\nThe Student looked all round, but could not make out where the voice\ncame from.\n\nAt last he said: 'Who calls?'\n\nA voice from above answered: 'Raise your eyes, I am sitting up here in\nthe Sack of Wisdom, and in a short time I have learnt so much that the\nwisdom of the schools is as air compared to mine. Soon I shall be\nquite perfect, and shall come down and be the wisest of all mankind. I\nunderstand the stars and signs of the heavens, the blowing of the\nwinds, the sand of the sea, the healing of sickness, the power of\nherbs, birds, and stones. If you were once inside, you would feel what\nwonders flow from the Sack of Knowledge.'\n\nWhen the Student heard this he was astonished, and said: 'Blessed be\nthe hour when I met you, if only I too might get into the sack for a\nlittle.'\n\nThe other answered, as though unwillingly: 'I will let you in for a\nlittle while for payment and kind words, but you must wait an hour, as\nthere is something rather difficult which I must learn first.'\n\nBut when the Student had waited a little, he grew impatient and\nentreated permission to get in, so great was his thirst for knowledge.\nThen the Man in the sack pretended to give in, and said: 'In order\nthat I may get out of the sack you must let it down, then you can get\nin.'\n\nSo the Student let it down, undid the sack and released the Prisoner,\nand said: 'Now pull me up as fast as possible'; and he tried to get\ninto the sack and stand upright in it.\n\n'Stop,' said the other. 'That won't do.' And he packed him in head\nfirst, tied it up, and slung up the Disciple of Wisdom, dangling him\nin the air, and said: 'How are you, my dear fellow? You will soon feel\nwisdom coming upon you, and will have a most interesting experience.\nSit still till you are wiser.'\n\nThereupon he mounted the Student's horse, and rode off, but sent some\none in an hour to let him down again.\n\n\n\n\nClever Hans\n\n\n'Where are you going, Hans?' asked his Mother.\n\n'To see Grettel,' answered Hans.\n\n'Behave well, Hans!'\n\n'All right, Mother. Good-bye.'\n\n'Good-bye, Hans.'\n\nHans comes to Grettel.\n\n'Good morning, Grettel.'\n\n'Good morning, Hans. What have you brought me?'\n\n'I've not brought you anything. I want a present.'\n\nGrettel gives him a needle. Hans takes the needle, and sticks it in a\nload of hay, and walks home behind the cart.\n\n'Good evening, Mother.'\n\n'Good evening, Hans. Where have you been?'\n\n'I've been to Grettel's.'\n\n'What did you give her?'\n\n'I gave her nothing. But she made me a present.'\n\n'What did she give you?'\n\n'She gave me a needle.'\n\n'What did you do with it?'\n\n'Stuck it in the hay-cart.'\n\n'That was stupid, Hans. You should have stuck it in your sleeve.'\n\n'Never mind, Mother; I'll do better next time.'\n\n'Where are you going, Hans?'\n\n'To see Grettel, Mother.'\n\n'Behave well.'\n\n'All right, Mother. Good-bye.'\n\n'Good-bye, Hans.'\n\nHans comes to Grettel.\n\n'Good morning, Grettel.'\n\n'Good morning, Hans. What have you brought me?'\n\n'I've brought nothing. But I want something.'\n\nGrettel gives him a knife.\n\n'Good-bye, Grettel.'\n\n'Good-bye, Hans.'\n\nHans takes the knife, and sticks it in his sleeve, and goes home.\n\n'Good evening, Mother.'\n\n'Good evening, Hans. Where have you been?'\n\n'Been to see Grettel.'\n\n'What did you give her?'\n\n'I gave her nothing. But she gave me something.'\n\n'What did she give you?'\n\n'She gave me a knife.'\n\n'Where is the knife, Hans?'\n\n'I stuck it in my sleeve.'\n\n'That's a stupid place, Hans. You should have put it in your pocket.'\n\n'Never mind, Mother; I'll do better next time.'\n\n'Where are you going, Hans?'\n\n'To see Grettel, Mother.'\n\n'Behave well, then.'\n\n'All right, Mother. Good-bye.'\n\n'Good-bye, Hans.'\n\nHans comes to Grettel.\n\n'Good morning, Grettel.'\n\n'Good morning, Hans. Have you brought me anything nice?'\n\n'I've brought nothing. What have you got for me?'\n\nGrettel gives him a young kid.\n\n'Good-bye, Grettel.'\n\n'Good-bye, Hans.'\n\nHans takes the kid, ties its legs together, and puts it in his pocket.\n\nWhen he got home, it was suffocated.\n\n'Good evening, Mother.'\n\n'Good evening, Hans. Where have you been?'\n\n'Been to see Grettel, Mother.'\n\n'What did you give her?'\n\n'I gave her nothing. But I brought away something.'\n\n'What did Grettel give you?'\n\n'She gave me a young kid.'\n\n'What did you do with the kid?'\n\n'Put it in my pocket, Mother.'\n\n'That was very stupid. You should have led it by a rope.'\n\n'Never mind, Mother; I'll manage better next time.'\n\n'Where are you going, Hans?'\n\n'To see Grettel, Mother.'\n\n'Manage well, then.'\n\n'All right, Mother. Good-bye.'\n\n'Good-bye, Hans.'\n\nHans comes to Grettel.\n\n'Good morning, Grettel.'\n\n'Good morning, Hans. What have you brought me?'\n\n'I've brought you nothing. What have you got for me?'\n\nGrettel gives him a piece of bacon.\n\n'Good-bye, Grettel.'\n\n'Good-bye, Hans.'\n\nHans takes the bacon, ties a rope round it, and drags it along behind\nhim. The dogs come after him, and eat it up. When he got home he had\nthe rope in his hand, but there was nothing at the end of it.\n\n'Good evening, Mother.'\n\n'Good evening, Hans. Where have you been?'\n\n'To see Grettel, Mother.'\n\n'What did you take her?'\n\n'I took nothing. But I brought something away.'\n\n'What did she give you?'\n\n'She gave me a piece of bacon.'\n\n'What did you do with the bacon, Hans?'\n\n'I tied it to a rope, and dragged it home. But the dogs ate it.'\n\n'That was a stupid business, Hans. You should have carried it on your\nhead.'\n\n'Never mind, Mother; I'll do better next time.'\n\n'Where are you going, Hans?'\n\n'To see Grettel, Mother.'\n\n'Behave properly, then.'\n\n'All right, Mother. Good-bye.'\n\n'Good-bye, Hans.'\n\nHans comes to Grettel.\n\n'Good morning, Grettel.'\n\n'Good morning, Hans. What have you brought me?'\n\n'I've brought nothing. What have you got for me?'\n\nGrettel gives Hans a calf.\n\n'Good-bye, Grettel.'\n\n'Good-bye, Hans.'\n\nHans takes the calf, and puts it on his head. It kicks his face.\n\n'Good evening, Mother.'\n\n'Good evening, Hans. Where have you been?'\n\n'Been to see Grettel, Mother.'\n\n'What did you take her?'\n\n'I took her nothing, Mother. She gave me something.'\n\n'What did she give you, Hans?'\n\n'She gave me a calf, Mother.'\n\n'What did you do with the calf?'\n\n'Put it on my head, Mother, and it kicked my face.'\n\n'That was very stupid, Hans. You should have led it by a rope, and put\nit in the cow-stall.'\n\n'Never mind, Mother; I'll do better next time.'\n\n'Where are you going, Hans?'\n\n'To see Grettel, Mother.'\n\n'Mind how you behave, Hans.'\n\n'All right, Mother. Good-bye.'\n\nHans goes to Grettel.\n\n  [Illustration: When he got home he had the rope in his hand, but\n    there was nothing at the end of it.]\n\n'Good morning, Grettel.'\n\n'Good morning, Hans. What have you brought me?'\n\n'I've brought you nothing. I want to take away something.'\n\n'I'll go with you myself, Hans.'\n\nHans ties Grettel to a rope, and leads her home, where he puts her in\na stall, and ties her up. Then he goes into the house to his Mother.\n\n'Good evening, Mother.'\n\n'Good evening, Hans. Where have you been?'\n\n'To see Grettel, Mother.'\n\n'What did you take her?'\n\n'I took nothing.'\n\n'What did Grettel give you?'\n\n'She gave me nothing. She came with me.'\n\n'Where did you leave Grettel?'\n\n'Tied up in the stable with a rope.'\n\n'That was stupid. You should have cast sheep's eyes at her.'\n\n'Never mind; I'll do better next time.'\n\nHans went into the stable, plucked the eyes out of the cows and\ncalves, and threw them in Grettel's face.\n\nGrettel got angry, broke the rope, and ran away.\n\nYet she became Hans' wife.\n\n\n\n\nThe Three Languages\n\n\nThere once lived in Switzerland an old Count, who had an only son; but\nhe was very stupid, and could learn nothing. So his father said to\nhim: 'Listen to me, my son. I can get nothing into your head, try as\nhard as I may. You must go away from here, and I will hand you over to\na renowned Professor for a whole year.' At the end of the year he came\nhome again, and his father asked: 'Now, my son, what have you learnt?'\n\n'Father, I have learnt the language of dogs.'\n\n'Mercy on us!' cried his father, 'is that all you have learnt? I will\nsend you away again to another Professor in a different town.' The\nyouth was taken there, and remained with this Professor also for\nanother year. When he came back his father asked him again: 'My son,\nwhat have you learnt?'\n\nHe answered: 'I have learnt bird language.'\n\nThen the father flew into a rage, and said: 'Oh, you hopeless\ncreature, have you been spending all this precious time and learnt\nnothing? Aren't you ashamed to come into my presence? I will send you\nto a third Professor, but if you learn nothing this time, I won't be\nyour father any longer.'\n\nThe son stopped with the third Professor in the same way for a whole\nyear, and when he came home again and his father asked, 'My son, what\nhave you learnt?' he answered--\n\n'My dear father, this year I have learnt frog language.'\n\nThereupon his father flew into a fearful passion, and said: 'This\ncreature is my son no longer. I turn him out of the house and command\nyou to lead him into the forest and take his life.'\n\n  [Illustration: On the way he passed a swamp, in which a number of\n    Frogs were croaking.]\n\nThey led him forth, but when they were about to kill him, for pity's\nsake they could not do it, and let him go. Then they cut out the\neyes and tongue of a Fawn, in order that they might take back proofs\nto the old Count.\n\nThe youth wandered about, and at length came to a castle, where he\nbegged a night's lodging.\n\n'Very well,' said the Lord of the castle. 'If you like to pass the\nnight down there in the old tower, you may; but I warn you that it\nwill be at the risk of your life, for it is full of savage dogs. They\nbark and howl without ceasing, and at certain hours they must have a\nman thrown to them, and they devour him at once.'\n\nThe whole neighbourhood was distressed by the scourge, but no one\ncould do anything to remedy it. But the youth was not a bit afraid,\nand said: 'Just let me go down to these barking dogs, and give me\nsomething that I can throw to them; they won't do me any harm.'\n\nAs he would not have anything else, they gave him some food for the\nsavage dogs, and took him down to the tower.\n\nThe dogs did not bark at him when he entered, but ran round him\nwagging their tails in a most friendly manner, ate the food he gave\nthem, and did not so much as touch a hair of his head.\n\nThe next morning, to the surprise of every one, he made his appearance\nagain, and said to the Lord of the castle, 'The Dogs have revealed to\nme in their own language why they live there and bring mischief to the\ncountry. They are enchanted, and obliged to guard a great treasure\nwhich is hidden under the tower, and will get no rest till it has been\ndug up; and how that has to be done I have also learnt from them.'\n\nEvery one who heard this was delighted, and the Lord of the castle\nsaid he would adopt him as a son if he accomplished the task\nsuccessfully. He went down to the tower again, and as he knew how to\nset to work he accomplished his task, and brought out a chest full of\ngold. The howling of the savage Dogs was from that time forward heard\nno more. They entirely disappeared, and the country was delivered from\nthe scourge.\n\nAfter a time, he took it into his head to go to Rome. On the way he\npassed a swamp, in which a number of Frogs were croaking. He listened,\nand when he heard what they were saying he became quite pensive and\nsad.\n\nAt last he reached Rome, at a moment when the Pope had just died, and\nthere was great doubt among the Cardinals whom they ought to name as\nhis successor. They agreed at last that the man to whom some divine\nmiracle should be manifested ought to be chosen as Pope. Just as they\nhad come to this decision, the young Count entered the church, and\nsuddenly two snow-white doves flew down and alighted on his shoulders.\n\nThe clergy recognised in this the sign from Heaven, and asked him on\nthe spot whether he would be Pope.\n\nHe was undecided, and knew not whether he was worthy of the post; but\nthe Doves told him that he might accept, and at last he said 'Yes.'\n\nThereupon he was anointed and consecrated, and so was fulfilled what\nhe had heard from the Frogs on the way, which had disturbed him so\nmuch--namely, that he should become Pope.\n\nThen he had to chant mass, and did not know one word of it. But the\ntwo Doves sat upon his shoulders and whispered it to him.\n\n\n\n\nThe Fox and the Cat\n\n\nIt happened once that the Cat met Mr. Fox in the wood, and because she\nthought: 'He is clever and experienced in all the ways of the world,'\nshe addressed him in a friendly manner.\n\n'Good morning, dear Mr. Fox! how are you and how do you get along in\nthese hard times?'\n\nThe Fox, full of pride, looked at the Cat from head to foot for some\ntime hardly knowing whether he would deign to answer or not. At last\nhe said--\n\n'Oh, you poor whisker-wiper, you piebald fool, you starveling\nmouse-hunter! what has come into your head? How dare you ask me how I\nam getting on? What sort of education have you had? How many arts are\nyou master of?'\n\n  [Illustration: The Cat crept stealthily up to the topmost branch.]\n\n'Only one,' said the Cat, meekly.\n\n'And what might that one be?' asked the Fox.\n\n'When the hounds run after me, I can jump into a tree and save\nmyself.'\n\n'Is that all?' said the Fox. 'I am master of a hundred arts, and I\nhave a sack full of cunning tricks in addition. But I pity you. Come\nwith me, and I will teach you how to escape the hounds.'\n\nJust then, a huntsman came along with four hounds. The Cat sprang\ntrembling into a tree, and crept stealthily up to the topmost branch,\nwhere she was entirely hidden by twigs and leaves.\n\n'Open your sack, Mr. Fox! open your sack!' cried the Cat; but the\nhounds had gripped him, and held him fast.\n\n'O Mr. Fox!' cried the Cat, 'you with your hundred arts, and your sack\nfull of tricks, are caught, while I, with my one, am safe. Had you\nbeen able to climb up here, you would not have lost your life.'\n\n\n\n\n  [Illustration: {So the four Brothers took their sticks in their\n    hands, bade their Father good-bye, and passed out of the town\n    gate.}]\n\nThe Four Clever Brothers\n\n\nThere was once a poor man who had four sons, and when they were grown\nup, he said to them: 'Dear children, you must go out into the world\nnow, for I have nothing to give you. You must each learn a trade and\nmake your own way in the world.'\n\nSo the four Brothers took their sticks in their hands, bid their\nfather good-bye, and passed out of the town gate.\n\nWhen they had walked some distance, they came to four cross roads,\nwhich led into four different districts. Then the eldest one said: 'We\nmust part here, but this day four years, we will meet here again,\nhaving in the meantime done our best to make our fortunes.'\n\nThen each one went his own way. The eldest met an old man, who asked\nhim where he came from, and what he was going to do.\n\n'I want to learn a trade,' he answered.\n\nThen the Man said: 'Come with me and learn to be a Thief.'\n\n'No,' answered he, 'that is no longer considered an honest trade; and\nthe end of that song would be that I should swing as the clapper in a\nbell.'\n\n'Oh,' said the Man, 'you need not be afraid of the gallows. I will\nonly teach you how to take things no one else wants, or knows how to\nget hold of, and where no one can find you out.'\n\nSo he allowed himself to be persuaded, and under the Man's\ninstructions he became such an expert thief that nothing was safe from\nhim which he had once made up his mind to have.\n\nThe second Brother met a Man who put the same question to him, as to\nwhat he was going to do in the world.\n\n'I don't know yet,' he answered.\n\n'Then come with me and be a Star-gazer. It is the grandest thing in\nthe world, nothing is hidden from you.'\n\nHe was pleased with the idea, and became such a clever Star-gazer,\nthat when he had learnt everything and wanted to go away, his master\ngave him a telescope, and said--\n\n'With this you can see everything that happens in the sky and on\nearth, and nothing can remain hidden from you.'\n\nThe third Brother was taken in hand by a Huntsman, who taught him\neverything connected with sport so well, that he became a first-rate\nHuntsman.\n\nOn his departure his master presented him with a gun, and said: 'This\ngun will never miss: whatever you aim at you will hit without fail.'\n\nThe youngest Brother also met a Man who asked him what he was going to\ndo.\n\n'Wouldn't you like to be a Tailor?' he asked.\n\n'I don't know about that,' said the young man. 'I don't much fancy\nsitting cross-legged from morning till night, and everlastingly\npulling a needle in and out, and pushing a flat iron.'\n\n'Dear, dear!' said the Man, 'what are you talking about? If you come\nto me you will learn quite a different sort of tailoring. It is a most\npleasant and agreeable trade, not to say most honourable.'\n\nSo he allowed himself to be talked over, and went with the Man, who\ntaught him his trade thoroughly.\n\nOn his departure, he gave him a needle, and said: 'With this needle\nyou will be able to stitch anything together, be it as soft as an egg,\nor as hard as steel; and it will become like a whole piece of stuff\nwith no seam visible.'\n\nWhen the four years, which the Brothers had agreed upon, had passed,\nthey met at the cross-roads. They embraced one another and hurried\nhome to their Father.\n\n'Well!' said he, quite pleased to see them, 'has the wind wafted you\nback to me again?'\n\nThey told him all that had happened to them, and that each had\nmastered a trade. They were sitting in front of the house under a big\ntree, and their Father said--\n\n'Now, I will put you to the test, and see what you can do.'\n\nThen he looked up and said to his second son--\n\n'There is a chaffinch's nest in the topmost branch of this tree; tell\nme how many eggs there are in it?'\n\nThe Star-gazer took his glass and said: 'There are five.'\n\nHis Father said to the eldest: 'Bring the eggs down without disturbing\nthe bird sitting on them.'\n\nThe cunning Thief climbed up and took the five eggs from under the\nbird so cleverly that it never noticed they were gone, and he gave\nthem to his Father. His Father took them, and put them one on each\ncorner of the table, and one in the middle, and said to the\nSportsman--\n\n'You must shoot the five eggs through the middle at one shot.'\n\nThe Sportsman levelled his gun, and divided each egg in half at one\nshot, as his Father desired. He certainly must have had some of the\npowder which shoots round the corner.\n\n'Now it is your turn,' said his Father to the fourth son. 'You will\nsew the eggs together again, the shells and the young birds inside\nthem; and you will do it in such a manner that they will be none the\nworse for the shot.'\n\nThe Tailor produced his needle, and stitched away as his Father\nordered. When he had finished, the Thief had to climb up the tree\nagain, and put the eggs back under the bird without her noticing it.\nThe bird spread herself over the eggs, and a few days later the\nfledglings crept out of the shell, and they all had a red line round\ntheir throats where the Tailor had sewn them together.\n\n'Yes,' said the old man to his sons; 'I can certainly praise your\nskill. You have learnt something worth knowing, and made the most of\nyour time. I don't know which of you to give the palm to. I only hope\nyou may soon have a chance of showing your skill so that it may be\nsettled.'\n\nNot long after this there was a great alarm raised in the country:\nthe King's only daughter had been carried off by a Dragon. The King\nsorrowed for her day and night, and proclaimed that whoever brought\nher back should marry her.\n\nThe four Brothers said to one another: 'This would be an opportunity\nfor us to prove what we can do.' And they decided to go out together\nto deliver the Princess.\n\n'I shall soon know where she is,' said the Star-gazer, as he looked\nthrough his telescope; and then he said--\n\n'I see her already. She is a long way from here, she is sitting on a\nrock in the middle of the sea, and the Dragon is near, watching her.'\n\nThen he went to the King and asked for a ship for himself and his\nBrothers to cross the sea in search of the rock.\n\nThey found the Princess still on the rock, but the Dragon was asleep\nwith his head on her lap.\n\nThe Sportsman said: 'I dare not shoot. I should kill the beautiful\nmaiden.'\n\n'Then I will try my luck,' said the Thief, and he stole her away from\nbeneath the Dragon. He did it so gently and skilfully, that the\nmonster never discovered it, but went snoring on.\n\nFull of joy, they hurried away with her to the ship, and steered for\nthe open sea. But the Dragon on waking had missed the Princess, and\nnow came after them through the air, foaming with rage.\n\nJust as he was hovering over the ship and about to drop on them, the\nSportsman took aim with his gun and shot him through the heart. The\nmonster fell down dead, but he was so huge, that in falling, he\ndragged the whole ship down with him. They managed to seize a few\nboards, on which they kept themselves afloat.\n\n  [Illustration: {The King's only daughter had been carried off\n    by a Dragon.}]\n\nThey were now in great straits, but the Tailor, not to be outdone,\nproduced his wonderful needle, and put some great stitches into the\nboards, seated himself on them, and collected all the floating bits of\nthe ship. Then he stitched them all together so cleverly, that in\na very short time the ship was seaworthy again, and they sailed\nhappily home.\n\n  [Illustration: They found the Princess still on the rock, but the\n    Dragon was asleep with his head on her lap.]\n\nThe King was overjoyed when he saw his daughter again, and he said to\nthe four Brothers: 'One of you shall marry her, but which one, you\nmust decide among yourselves.'\n\nAn excited discussion then took place among them, for each one made a\nclaim.\n\nThe Star-gazer said: 'Had I not discovered the Princess, all your arts\nwould have been in vain, therefore she is mine!'\n\nThe Thief said: 'What would have been the good of discovering her if I\nhad not taken her from under the Dragon? So she is mine.'\n\nThe Sportsman said: 'You, as well as the Princess, would have been\ndestroyed by the monster if my shot had not hit him. So she is mine.'\n\nThe Tailor said: 'And if I had not sewn the ship together with my\nskill, you would all have been drowned miserably. Therefore she is\nmine.'\n\nThe King said: 'Each of you has an equal right; but, as you can't all\nhave her, none of you shall have her. I will give every one of you\nhalf a kingdom as a reward.'\n\nThe Brothers were quite satisfied with this decision, and they said:\n'It is better so than that we should quarrel over it.'\n\nSo each of them received half a kingdom, and they lived happily with\ntheir Father for the rest of their days.\n\n\n\n\nThe Lady and the Lion\n\n\nThere was once a Man who had to take a long journey, and when he was\nsaying good-bye to his daughters he asked what he should bring back to\nthem.\n\nThe eldest wanted pearls, the second diamonds, but the third said,\n'Dear father, I should like a singing, soaring lark.'\n\nThe father said, 'Very well, if I can manage it, you shall have it';\nand he kissed all three and set off. He bought pearls and diamonds for\nthe two eldest, but he had searched everywhere in vain for the\nsinging, soaring lark, and this worried him, for his youngest daughter\nwas his favourite child.\n\nOnce his way led through a wood, in the midst of which was a splendid\ncastle; near it stood a tree, and right up at the top he saw a lark\nsinging and soaring. 'Ah,' he said, 'I have come across you in the\nnick of time'; and he called to his Servant to dismount and catch the\nlittle creature. But as he approached the tree a Lion sprang out from\nunderneath, and shook himself, and roared so that the leaves on the\ntree trembled.\n\n'Who dares to steal my lark?' said he. 'I will eat up the thief!'\n\nThen the Man said, 'I didn't know that the bird was yours. I will make\nup for my fault by paying a heavy ransom. Only spare my life.'\n\nBut the Lion said, 'Nothing can save you, unless you promise to give\nme whatever first meets you when you get home. If you consent, I will\ngive you your life and the bird into the bargain.'\n\nBut the Man hesitated, and said, 'Suppose my youngest and favourite\ndaughter were to come running to meet me when I go home!'\n\nBut the Servant was afraid, and said, 'Your daughter will not\nnecessarily be the first to come to meet you; it might just as well be\na cat or a dog.'\n\nSo the Man let himself be persuaded, took the lark, and promised to\nthe Lion for his own whatever first met him on his return home. When\nhe reached home, and entered his house, the first person who met him\nwas none other than his youngest daughter; she came running up and\nkissed and caressed him, and when she saw that he had brought the\nsinging, soaring lark, she was beside herself with joy. But her father\ncould not rejoice; he began to cry, and said, 'My dear child, it has\ncost me dear, for I have had to promise you to a Lion who will tear\nyou in pieces when he has you in his power.' And he told her all that\nhad happened, and begged her not to go, come what might.\n\nBut she consoled him, saying, 'Dear father, what you have promised\nmust be performed. I will go and will soon soften the Lion's heart, so\nthat I shall come back safe and sound.' The next morning the way was\nshown to her, and she said good-bye and went confidently into the\nforest.\n\nNow the Lion was an enchanted Prince, who was a Lion by day, and all\nhis followers were Lions too; but by night they reassumed their human\nform. On her arrival she was kindly received, and conducted to the\ncastle. When night fell, the Lion turned into a handsome man, and\ntheir wedding was celebrated with due magnificence. And they lived\nhappily together, sitting up at night and sleeping by day. One day he\ncame to her and said, 'To-morrow there is a festival at your father's\nhouse to celebrate your eldest sister's wedding; if you would like to\ngo my Lions shall escort you.'\n\nShe answered that she was very eager to see her father again, so she\nwent away accompanied by the Lions.\n\nThere was great rejoicing on her coming, for they all thought that she\nhad been torn to pieces and had long been dead.\n\n  [Illustration: {She went away accompanied by the Lions.}]\n\nBut she told them what a handsome husband she had and how well she\nfared; and she stayed with them as long as the wedding festivities\nlasted. Then she went back again into the wood.\n\nWhen the second daughter married, and the youngest was again invited\nto the wedding, she said to the Lion, 'This time I will not go alone,\nyou must come too.'\n\nBut the Lion said it would be too dangerous, for if a gleam of light\ntouched him he would be changed into a Dove and would have to fly\nabout for seven years.\n\n'Ah,' said she, 'only go with me, and I will protect you and keep off\nevery ray of light.'\n\nSo they went away together, and took their little child with them too.\nThey had a hall built with such thick walls that no ray could\npenetrate, and thither the Lion was to retire when the wedding torches\nwere kindled. But the door was made of fresh wood which split and\ncaused a little crack which no one noticed.\n\nNow the wedding was celebrated with great splendour. But when the\nprocession came back from church with a large number of torches and\nlights, a ray of light no broader than a hair fell upon the Prince,\nand the minute this ray touched him he was changed; and when his wife\ncame in and looked for him, she saw nothing but a White Dove sitting\nthere. The Dove said to her, 'For seven years I must fly about the\nworld; every seventh step I will let fall a drop of blood and a white\nfeather which will show you the way, and if you will follow the track\nyou can free me.'\n\nThereupon the Dove flew out of the door, and she followed it, and\nevery seventh step it let fall a drop of blood and a little white\nfeather to show her the way. So she wandered about the world, and\nnever rested till the seven years were nearly passed. Then she\nrejoiced, thinking that she would soon be free of her troubles; but\nshe was still far from release. One day as they were journeying on in\nthe accustomed way, the feather and the drop of blood ceased falling,\nand when she looked up the Dove had vanished.\n\n'Man cannot help me,' she thought. So she climbed up to the Sun and\nsaid to it, 'You shine upon all the valleys and mountain peaks, have\nyou not seen a White Dove flying by?'\n\n'No,' said the Sun, 'I have not seen one; but I will give you a little\ncasket. Open it when you are in dire need.'\n\nShe thanked the Sun, and went on till night, when the Moon shone out.\n'You shine all night,' she said, 'over field and forest, have you seen\na White Dove flying by?'\n\n'No,' answered the Moon, 'I have seen none; but here is an egg. Break\nit when you are in great need.'\n\nShe thanked the Moon, and went on till the Night Wind blew upon her.\n'You blow among all the trees and leaves, have not you seen a White\nDove?' she asked.\n\n'No,' said the Night Wind, 'I have not seen one; but I will ask the\nother three Winds, who may, perhaps, have seen it.'\n\nThe East Wind and the West Wind came, but they had seen no Dove. Only\nthe South Wind said, 'I have seen the White Dove. It has flown away to\nthe Red Sea, where it has again become a Lion, since the seven years\nare over; and the Lion is ever fighting with a Dragon who is an\nenchanted Princess.'\n\nThen the Night Wind said, 'I will advise you. Go to the Red Sea, you\nwill find tall reeds growing on the right bank; count them, and cut\ndown the eleventh, strike the Dragon with it and then the Lion will be\nable to master it, and both will regain human shape. Next, look round,\nand you will see the winged Griffin, who dwells by the Red Sea, leap\nupon its back with your beloved, and it will carry you across the sea.\nHere is a nut. Drop it when you come to mid-ocean; it will open\nimmediately and a tall nut-tree will grow up out of the water, on\nwhich the Griffin will settle. Could it not rest, it would not be\nstrong enough to carry you across, and if you forget to drop the nut,\nit will let you fall into the sea.'\n\nThen she journeyed on, and found everything as the Night Wind had\nsaid. She counted the reeds by the sea and cut off the eleventh,\nstruck the Dragon with it, and the Lion mastered it; immediately both\nregained human form. But when the Princess who had been a Dragon was\nfree from enchantment, she took the Prince in her arms, seated herself\non the Griffin's back, and carried him off. And the poor wanderer,\nagain forsaken, sat down and cried. At last she took courage and said\nto herself: 'Wherever the winds blow, I will go, and as long as cocks\ncrow, I will search till I find him.'\n\nSo she went on a long, long way, till she came to the castle where the\nPrince and Princess were living. There she heard that there was to be\na festival to celebrate their wedding. Then she said to herself,\n'Heaven help me,' and she opened the casket which the Sun had given\nher; inside it was a dress, as brilliant as the Sun itself. She took\nit out, put it on, and went into the castle, where every one,\nincluding the Bride, looked at her with amazement. The dress pleased\nthe Bride so much that she asked if it was to be bought.\n\n'Not with gold or goods,' she answered; 'but with flesh and blood.'\n\nThe Bride asked what she meant, and she answered, 'Let me speak with\nthe Bridegroom in his chamber to-night.'\n\nThe Bride refused. However, she wanted the dress so much that at last\nshe consented; but the Chamberlain was ordered to give the Prince a\nsleeping draught.\n\nAt night, when the Prince was asleep, she was taken to his room. She\nsat down and said: 'For seven years I have followed you. I have been\nto the Sun, and the Moon, and the Four Winds to look for you. I have\nhelped you against the Dragon, and will you now quite forget me?'\n\nBut the Prince slept so soundly that he thought it was only the\nrustling of the wind among the pine-trees. When morning came she was\ntaken away, and had to give up the dress; and as it had not helped her\nshe was very sad, and went out into a meadow and cried. As she was\nsitting there, she remembered the egg which the Moon had given her;\nshe broke it open, and out came a hen and twelve chickens, all of\ngold, who ran about chirping, and then crept back under their mother's\nwings. A prettier sight could not be seen. She got up and drove them\nabout the meadow, till the Bride saw them from the window. The\nchickens pleased her so much that she asked if they were for sale.\n'Not for gold and goods, but for flesh and blood. Let me speak with\nthe Bridegroom in his chamber once more.'\n\nThe Bride said 'Yes,' intending to deceive her as before; but when the\nPrince went to his room he asked the Chamberlain what all the\nmurmuring and rustling in the night meant. Then the Chamberlain told\nhim how he had been ordered to give him a sleeping draught because a\npoor girl had been concealed in his room, and that night he was to do\nthe same again. 'Pour out the drink, and put it near my bed,' said the\nPrince. At night she was brought in again, and when she began to\nrelate her sad fortunes he recognised the voice of his dear wife,\nsprang up, and said, 'Now I am really free for the first time. All has\nbeen as a dream, for the foreign Princess cast a spell over me so that\nI was forced to forget you; but heaven in a happy hour has taken away\nmy blindness.'\n\nThen they both stole out of the castle, for they feared the Princess's\nfather, because he was a sorcerer. They mounted the Griffin, who bore\nthem over the Red Sea, and when they got to mid-ocean, she dropped the\nnut. On the spot a fine nut-tree sprang up, on which the bird rested;\nthen it took them home, where they found their child grown tall and\nbeautiful, and they lived happily till the end.\n\n\n\n\n  [Illustration: {The poor Horse was very sad, and went into the\n    forest to get a little shelter from the wind and weather.}]\n\nThe Fox and the Horse\n\n\nA peasant once had a faithful Horse, but it had grown old and could no\nlonger do its work. Its master grudged it food, and said: 'I can't use\nyou any more, but I still feel kindly towards you, and if you show\nyourself strong enough to bring me a Lion I will keep you to the end\nof your days. But away with you now, out of my stable'; and he drove\nit out into the open country.\n\nThe poor Horse was very sad, and went into the forest to get a little\nshelter from the wind and weather. There he met a Fox, who said: 'Why\ndo you hang your head, and wander about in this solitary fashion?'\n\n'Alas!' answered the Horse, 'avarice and honesty cannot live together.\nMy master has forgotten all the service I have done him for these many\nyears, and because I can no longer plough he will no longer feed me,\nand he has driven me away.'\n\n'Without any consideration?' asked the Fox.\n\n'Only the poor consolation of telling me that if I was strong enough\nto bring him a Lion he would keep me, but he knows well enough that\nthe task is beyond me.'\n\nThe Fox said: 'But I will help you. Just you lie down here, and\nstretch your legs out as if you were dead.' The Horse did as he was\ntold, and the Fox went to the Lion's den, not far off, and said:\n'There is a dead Horse out there. Come along with me, and you will\nhave a rare meal.' The Lion went with him, and when they got up to the\nHorse, the Fox said: 'You can't eat it in comfort here. I'll tell you\nwhat. I will tie it to you, and you can drag it away to your den, and\nenjoy it at your leisure.'\n\nThe plan pleased the Lion, and he stood quite still, close to the\nHorse, so that the Fox should fasten them together. But the Fox tied\nthe Lion's legs together with the Horse's tail, and twisted and\nknotted it so that it would be quite impossible for it to come undone.\n\nWhen he had finished his work he patted the Horse on the shoulder, and\nsaid: 'Pull, old Grey! Pull!'\n\nThen the Horse sprang up, and dragged the Lion away behind him. The\nLion in his rage roared, so that all the birds in the forest were\nterrified, and flew away. But the Horse let him roar, and never\nstopped till he stood before his master's door.\n\nWhen the master saw him he was delighted, and said to him: 'You shall\nstay with me, and have a good time as long as you live.'\n\nAnd he fed him well till he died.\n\n  [Illustration: Then the Horse sprang up, and dragged the Lion away\n    behind him.]\n\n\n\n\nThe Blue Light\n\n\nThere was once a Soldier who had served his King well and faithfully\nfor many years. But, on account of his many wounds, he could serve no\nlonger.\n\nThe King said: 'You can go home now. I have no further need for you. I\ncan only pay those who serve me.'\n\nThe Soldier did not know what to do for a living, and he went sadly\naway.\n\nHe walked all day, till he reached a wood, where, in the distance, he\nsaw a light. On approaching it, he found a house inhabited by a Witch.\n\n'Pray give me shelter for the night, and something to eat and drink,'\nhe said, 'or I shall perish.'\n\n'Oh ho!' she said. 'Who gives anything to a runaway Soldier, I should\nlike to know. But I will be merciful and take you in, if you will do\nsomething for me.'\n\n'What is it?' asked the Soldier.\n\n'I want you to dig up my garden to-morrow.'\n\nThe Soldier agreed to this, and next day he worked as hard as he\ncould, but he could not finish before evening.\n\n'I see,' said the Witch, 'that you can do no more this evening. I will\nkeep you one night more, and to-morrow you shall split up some logs\nfor firewood.'\n\nThe Soldier took the whole day over this task, and in the evening the\nWitch proposed that he should again stay another night.\n\n'You shall only have a very light task to-morrow,' she said. 'There is\nan old, dry well behind my house. My light, which burns blue, and\nnever goes out, has fallen into it, and I want you to bring it back.'\n\nNext day the Witch led him to the well, and let him down in a basket.\n\nHe found the light, and made a sign to be pulled up; but when he was\nnear the top, the Witch put out her hand, and wanted to take it from\nhim.\n\nBut he, seeing her evil designs, said: 'No; I will not give you the\nlight till I have both feet safe on dry land again.'\n\nThe Witch flew into a passion, let him fall back into the well again,\nand went away.\n\nThe poor Soldier fell on to the damp ground without taking any harm,\nand the Blue Light burnt as brightly as ever. But what was the good of\nthat? He saw that he could not escape death.\n\nHe sat for some time feeling very sad, then happening to put his hand\ninto his pocket, he found his pipe still half full.\n\n'This will be my last pleasure,' he thought, as he lighted it at the\nBlue Light, and began to smoke.\n\nWhen the cloud of smoke he made cleared off a little, a tiny black Man\nappeared before him, and asked: 'What orders, Master?'\n\n'What do you mean?' the Soldier asked in amazement.\n\n'I must do anything that you command,' said the Little Man.\n\n'Oh, if that is so,' said the Soldier, 'get me out of this well\nfirst.'\n\nThe Little Man took him by the hand, and led him through an\nunderground passage; but the Soldier did not forget to take the Blue\nLight with him.\n\nOn the way he showed the Soldier all the treasures the Witch had\namassed there, and he took as much gold as he could carry.\n\nWhen they reached the top he said to the Little Man: 'Now go, bind the\nWitch and take her before the Judge.'\n\nBefore long she came by riding at a furious pace on a tom cat, and\nscreaming at the top of her voice.\n\nThe Little Man soon after appeared, and said: 'Everything is done as\nyou commanded, and the Witch hangs on the gallows. What further orders\nhave you, Master?'\n\n'Nothing at this moment,' answered the Soldier. 'You can go home; only\nbe at hand when I call.'\n\n'You only have to light your pipe at the Blue Light, and I will be\nthere,' said the Little Man, and then he vanished.\n\nThe Soldier went back to the town that he had left, and ordered some\nnew clothes, then he went to the best inn and told the landlord to\ngive him the best rooms.\n\n  [Illustration: Before long the Witch came by riding at a furious\n    pace on a tom cat.]\n\nWhen he had taken possession, he summoned the little black Man, and\nsaid: 'I served my King faithfully, but he sent me away to die of\nhunger. Now I will have my revenge.'\n\n'What do you wish me to do?' asked the Little Man.\n\n'Late at night, when the Princess is asleep in her bed, bring her,\nsleeping, to me, and I will make her do menial service for me.'\n\n'It is an easy enough thing for me to do,' said the Little Man. 'But\nit will be a bad business for you if it comes out.'\n\nAs the clock struck twelve, the door sprang open, and the Little Man\nbore the Maiden in.\n\n'Ah ha! There you are!' cried the Soldier. 'Set about your work at\nonce. Fetch the broom and sweep the floor.'\n\nWhen she had finished, he sat down and ordered her to take his boots\noff. Then he threw them at her, and made her pick them up and clean\nthem. She did everything he ordered without resistance, silently, and\nwith half-shut eyes.\n\nAt the first cock-crow, the Little Man carried her away to the royal\npalace, and put her back in bed.\n\nIn the morning when the Princess got up, she went to her Father, and\ntold him that she had had an extraordinary dream.\n\n'I was carried through the streets at lightning speed, and taken to\nthe room of a Soldier, whom I had to serve as a maid, and do all kinds\nof menial work. I had to sweep the room, and clean his boots. Of\ncourse, it was only a dream, and yet I am as tired this morning as if\nI had done it all.'\n\n'The dream could not have been true,' said the King. 'But I will give\nyou a piece of advice. Fill your pocket with peas, and cut a little\nhole in it, then if you are carried away again, they will drop out and\nleave a track on the road.'\n\nWhen the King said this, the Little Man was standing by, invisible,\nand heard it all.\n\nAt night, when he again carried off the Princess, the peas certainly\nfell out of her pocket, but they were useless to trace her by, for the\ncunning Little Man had scattered peas all over the streets. Again the\nPrincess had to perform her menial duties till cock-crow.\n\nThe next morning the King sent out people who were to find the track;\nbut they were unable to do so, because in every street the poor\nchildren were picking up peas, and saying: 'It must have rained peas\nin the night.'\n\n'We must devise a better plan,' said the King. 'Keep your shoes on\nwhen you go to bed, and before you come away from the place where you\nare taken, hide one of them. I shall be sure to find it.'\n\nThe Little Man heard this plan also; and when the Soldier told him to\nbring the Princess again, he advised him to put it off. He said he\nknew no further means against their craftiness; and if the shoe were\nfound, it would be very dangerous for his master.\n\n'Do what I tell you,' answered the Soldier; and for the third time the\nPrincess was brought and made to work like a servant. But before\nleaving she hid one of her shoes under the bed.\n\nNext morning the King ordered the whole town to be searched for his\nDaughter's shoe, and it was soon found in the Soldier's room. He\nhimself, at the request of the Little Man, had gone outside the gates;\nbut before long he was seized and thrown into prison.\n\nIn his flight he had forgotten his greatest treasures, the Blue Light\nand his gold. He had but one ducat in his pocket.\n\nAs he stood at his window in the prison, loaded with chains, he saw\none of his comrades going by. He tapped on the pane, and said:\n\n'Be so good as to fetch me the little bundle I left behind at the inn,\nand I will give you a ducat.'\n\nHis comrade hurried off and brought him the bundle. As soon as the\nSoldier was alone, he lighted his pipe and summoned the Little Man.\n\n'Don't be afraid,' he said to his Master. 'Go where they take you, and\nlet what will happen, only take the Blue Light with you.'\n\nNext day a trial was held, and although the Soldier had done no harm,\nthe Judge sentenced him to death.\n\nWhen he was led out to execution he asked a last favour of the King.\n\n'What is your wish?' asked the King.\n\n'That I may smoke a last pipe.'\n\n'You may smoke three,' answered the King. 'But don't imagine that I\nwill therefore grant you your life.'\n\nThen the Soldier drew out his pipe, and lighted it at the Blue Light.\n\nAs soon as a few rings of smoke arose, the Little Man appeared with a\nlittle cudgel in his hand, and said: 'What is my Master's command?'\n\n'Strike the false Judge and his minions to the ground, and do not\nspare the King either for all his cruelty to me.'\n\nThen the Little Man flew about like lightning, zig-zag, hither and\nthither, and whomever he touched with his cudgel fell to the ground,\nand dared not move.\n\nThe King was now seized with alarm, and, begging on his knees that his\nlife might be spared, he rendered up his kingdom and gave his Daughter\nto the Soldier to be his wife.\n\n\n\n\nThe Goosegirl\n\n\nThere was once an old Queen whose husband had been dead for many\nyears, and she had a very beautiful daughter. When she grew up she was\nbetrothed to a Prince in a distant country. When the time came for the\nmaiden to be sent into this distant country to be married, the old\nQueen packed up quantities of clothes and jewels, gold and silver,\ncups and ornaments, and, in fact, everything suitable to a royal\noutfit, for she loved her daughter very dearly.\n\nShe also sent a Waiting-woman to travel with her, and to put her hand\ninto that of the bridegroom. They each had a horse. The Princess's\nhorse was called Falada, and it could speak.\n\nWhen the hour of departure came, the old Queen went to her bedroom,\nand with a sharp little knife cut her finger and made it bleed. Then\nshe held a piece of white cambric under it, and let three drops of\nblood fall on to it. This cambric she gave to her daughter, and said,\n'Dear child, take good care of this; it will stand you in good stead\non the journey.' They then bade each other a sorrowful farewell. The\nPrincess hid the piece of cambric in her bosom, mounted her horse, and\nset out to her bridegroom's country.\n\nWhen they had ridden for a time the Princess became very thirsty, and\nsaid to the Waiting-woman, 'Get down and fetch me some water in my cup\nfrom the stream. I must have something to drink.'\n\n'If you are thirsty,' said the Waiting-woman, 'dismount yourself, lie\ndown by the water and drink. I don't choose to be your servant.'\n\nSo, in her great thirst, the Princess dismounted and stooped down to\nthe stream and drank, as she might not have her golden cup. The poor\nPrincess said, 'Alas!' and the drops of blood answered, 'If your\nmother knew this, it would break her heart.'\n\nThe royal bride was humble, so she said nothing, but mounted her horse\nagain. Then they rode several miles further; but the day was warm, the\nsun was scorching, and the Princess was soon thirsty again.\n\nWhen they reached a river she called out again to her Waiting-woman,\n'Get down, and give me some water in my golden cup!'\n\nShe had forgotten all about the rude words which had been said to her.\nBut the Waiting-woman answered more haughtily than ever, 'If you want\nto drink, get the water for yourself. I won't be your servant.'\n\nBeing very thirsty, the Princess dismounted, and knelt by the flowing\nwater. She cried, and said, 'Ah me!' and the drops of blood answered,\n'If your mother knew this it would break her heart.'\n\nWhile she stooped over the water to drink, the piece of cambric with\nthe drops of blood on it fell out of her bosom, and floated away on\nthe stream; but she never noticed this in her great fear. The\nWaiting-woman, however, had seen it, and rejoiced at getting more\npower over the bride, who, by losing the drops of blood, had become\nweak and powerless.\n\nNow, when she was about to mount her horse Falada again, the\nWaiting-woman said, 'By rights, Falada belongs to me; this jade will\ndo for you!'\n\nThe poor little Princess was obliged to give way. Then the\nWaiting-woman, in a harsh voice, ordered her to take off her royal\nrobes, and to put on her own mean garments. Finally, she forced her to\nswear before heaven that she would not tell a creature at the Court\nwhat had taken place. Had she not taken the oath she would have been\nkilled on the spot. But Falada saw all this and marked it.\n\nThe Waiting-woman then mounted Falada and put the real bride on her\npoor jade, and they continued their journey.\n\nThere was great rejoicing when they arrived at the castle. The Prince\nhurried towards them, and lifted the Waiting-woman from her horse,\nthinking she was his bride. She was led upstairs, but the real\nPrincess had to stay below.\n\nThe old King looked out of the window and saw the delicate, pretty\nlittle creature standing in the courtyard; so he went to the bridal\napartments and asked the bride about her companion, who was left\nstanding in the courtyard, and wished to know who she was.\n\n'I picked her up on the way, and brought her with me for company. Give\nthe girl something to do to keep her from idling.'\n\nBut the old King had no work for her, and could not think of anything.\nAt last he said, 'I have a little lad who looks after the geese; she\nmay help him.'\n\nThe boy was called little Conrad, and the real bride was sent with him\nto look after the geese.\n\nSoon after, the false bride said to the Prince, 'Dear husband, I pray\nyou do me a favour.'\n\nHe answered, 'That will I gladly.'\n\n'Well, then, let the knacker be called to cut off the head of the\nhorse I rode; it angered me on the way.'\n\nReally, she was afraid that the horse would speak, and tell of her\ntreatment of the Princess. So it was settled, and the faithful Falada\nhad to die.\n\nWhen this came to the ear of the real Princess, she promised the\nknacker a piece of gold if he would do her a slight service. There was\na great dark gateway to the town, through which she had to pass every\nmorning and evening. 'Would he nail up Falada's head in this gateway,\nso that she might see him as she passed?'\n\n  [Illustration: {Alas! dear Falada, there thou hangest.}]\n\nThe knacker promised to do as she wished, and when the horse's head\nwas cut off, he hung it up in the dark gateway. In the early\nmorning, when she and Conrad went through the gateway, she said in\npassing--\n\n    'Alas! dear Falada, there thou hangest.'\n\nAnd the Head answered--\n\n    'Alas! Queen's daughter, there thou gangest.\n    If thy mother knew thy fate,\n    Her heart would break with grief so great.'\n\nThen they passed on out of the town, right into the fields, with the\ngeese. When they reached the meadow, the Princess sat down on the\ngrass and let down her hair. It shone like pure gold, and when little\nConrad saw it, he was so delighted that he wanted to pluck some out;\nbut she said--\n\n    'Blow, blow, little breeze,\n    And Conrad's hat seize.\n    Let him join in the chase\n    While away it is whirled,\n    Till my tresses are curled\n    And I rest in my place.'\n\nThen a strong wind sprang up, which blew away Conrad's hat right over\nthe fields, and he had to run after it. When he came back, she had\nfinished combing her hair, and it was all put up again; so he could\nnot get a single hair. This made him very sulky, and he would not say\nanother word to her. And they tended the geese till evening, when they\nwent home.\n\nNext morning, when they passed under the gateway, the Princess said--\n\n    'Alas! dear Falada, there thou hangest.'\n\nFalada answered:--\n\n    'Alas! Queen's daughter, there thou gangest.\n    If thy mother knew thy fate,\n    Her heart would break with grief so great.'\n\nAgain, when they reached the meadows, the Princess undid her hair and\nbegan combing it. Conrad ran to pluck some out; but she said quickly--\n\n    'Blow, blow, little breeze,\n    And Conrad's hat seize.\n    Let him join in the chase\n    While away it is whirled,\n    Till my tresses are curled\n    And I rest in my place.'\n\nThe wind sprang up and blew Conrad's hat far away over the fields, and\nhe had to run after it. When he came back the hair was all put up\nagain, and he could not pull a single hair out. And they tended the\ngeese till the evening. When they got home Conrad went to the old\nKing, and said, 'I won't tend the geese with that maiden again.'\n\n'Why not?' asked the King.\n\n'Oh, she vexes me every day.'\n\nThe old King then ordered him to say what she did to vex him.\n\nConrad said, 'In the morning, when we pass under the dark gateway with\nthe geese, she talks to a horse's head which is hung up on the wall.\nShe says--\n\n    'Alas! Falada, there thou hangest,'\n\nand the Head answers--\n\n    'Alas! Queen's daughter, there thou gangest.\n    If thy mother knew thy fate,\n    Her heart would break with grief so great.'\n\nThen Conrad went on to tell the King all that happened in the meadow,\nand how he had to run after his hat in the wind.\n\nThe old King ordered Conrad to go out next day as usual. Then he\nplaced himself behind the dark gateway, and heard the Princess\nspeaking to Falada's head. He also followed her into the field, and\nhid himself behind a bush, and with his own eyes he saw the Goosegirl\nand the lad come driving the geese into the field. Then, after a\ntime, he saw the girl let down her hair, which glittered in the sun.\nDirectly after this, she said--\n\n    'Blow, blow, little breeze,\n    And Conrad's hat seize.\n    Let him join in the chase\n    While away it is whirled,\n    Till my tresses are curled\n    And I rest in my place.'\n\nThen came a puff of wind, which carried off Conrad's hat and he had to\nrun after it. While he was away, the maiden combed and did up her\nhair; and all this the old King observed. Thereupon he went away\nunnoticed; and in the evening, when the Goosegirl came home, he called\nher aside and asked why she did all these things.\n\n'That I may not tell you, nor may I tell any human creature; for I\nhave sworn it under the open sky, because if I had not done so I\nshould have lost my life.'\n\nHe pressed her sorely, and gave her no peace, but he could get nothing\nout of her. Then he said, 'If you won't tell me, then tell your\nsorrows to the iron stove there'; and he went away.\n\nShe crept up to the stove, and, beginning to weep and lament,\nunburdened her heart to it, and said: 'Here I am, forsaken by all the\nworld, and yet I am a Princess. A false Waiting-woman brought me to\nsuch a pass that I had to take off my royal robes. Then she took my\nplace with my bridegroom, while I have to do mean service as a\nGoosegirl. If my mother knew it she would break her heart.'\n\nThe old King stood outside by the pipes of the stove, and heard all\nthat she said. Then he came back, and told her to go away from the\nstove. He caused royal robes to be put upon her, and her beauty was a\nmarvel. The old King called his son, and told him that he had a false\nbride--she was only a Waiting-woman; but the true bride was here, the\nso-called Goosegirl.\n\nThe young Prince was charmed with her youth and beauty. A great\nbanquet was prepared, to which all the courtiers and good friends were\nbidden. The bridegroom sat at the head of the table, with the Princess\non one side and the Waiting-woman at the other; but she was dazzled,\nand did not recognise the Princess in her brilliant apparel.\n\nWhen they had eaten and drunk and were all very merry, the old King\nput a riddle to the Waiting-woman. 'What does a person deserve who\ndeceives his master?' telling the whole story, and ending by asking,\n'What doom does he deserve?'\n\nThe false bride answered, 'No better than this. He must be put stark\nnaked into a barrel stuck with nails, and be dragged along by two\nwhite horses from street to street till he is dead.'\n\n'That is your own doom,' said the King, 'and the judgment shall be\ncarried out.'\n\nWhen the sentence was fulfilled, the young Prince married his true\nbride, and they ruled their kingdom together in peace and happiness.\n\n  [Illustration: {Blow, blow, little breeze,\n                  And Conrad's hat seize.}]\n\n\n\n\n  [Illustration: {A goose.}]\n\nThe Golden Goose\n\n\nThere was once a man who had three sons. The youngest of them was\ncalled Simpleton; he was scorned and despised by the others, and kept\nin the background.\n\nThe eldest son was going into the forest to cut wood, and before he\nstarted, his mother gave him a nice sweet cake and a bottle of wine to\ntake with him, so that he might not suffer from hunger or thirst. In\nthe wood he met a little, old, grey Man, who bade him good-day, and\nsaid, 'Give me a bit of the cake in your pocket, and let me have a\ndrop of your wine. I am so hungry and thirsty.'\n\nBut the clever son said: 'If I give you my cake and wine, I shan't\nhave enough for myself. Be off with you.'\n\nHe left the little Man standing there, and went on his way. But he had\nnot been long at work, cutting down a tree, before he made a false\nstroke, and dug the axe into his own arm, and he was obliged to go\nhome to have it bound up.\n\nNow, this was no accident; it was brought about by the little grey\nMan.\n\nThe second son now had to go into the forest to cut wood, and, like\nthe eldest, his mother gave him a sweet cake and a bottle of wine. In\nthe same way the little grey Man met him, and asked for a piece of his\ncake and a drop of his wine. But the second son made the same sensible\nanswer, 'If I give you any, I shall have the less for myself. Be off\nout of my way,' and he went on.\n\nHis punishment, however, was not long delayed. After a few blows at\nthe tree, he hit his own leg, and had to be carried home.\n\nThen Simpleton said, 'Let me go to cut the wood, father.'\n\nBut his father said, 'Your brothers have only come to harm by it; you\nhad better leave it alone. You know nothing about it.' But Simpleton\nbegged so hard to be allowed to go that at last his father said,\n'Well, off you go then. You will be wiser when you have hurt\nyourself.'\n\n  [Illustration: There stands an old tree; cut it down, and you will\n    find something at the roots.]\n\nHis mother gave him a cake which was only mixed with water and baked\nin the ashes, and a bottle of sour beer. When he reached the forest,\nlike the others, he met the little grey Man, who greeted him, and\nsaid, 'Give me a bit of your cake and a drop of your wine. I am so\nhungry and thirsty.'\n\nSimpleton answered, 'I only have a cake baked in the ashes, and some\nsour beer; but, if you like such fare, we will sit down and eat it\ntogether.'\n\nSo they sat down; but when Simpleton pulled out his cake it was a\nsweet, nice cake, and his sour beer was turned into good wine. So they\nate and drank, and the little Man said, 'As you have such a good\nheart, and are willing to share your goods, I will give you good luck.\nThere stands an old tree; cut it down, and you will find something at\nthe roots.'\n\n  [Illustration: So now there were seven people running behind\n    Simpleton and his Goose.]\n\nSo saying he disappeared.\n\nSimpleton cut down the tree, and when it fell, lo, and behold! a Goose\nwas sitting among the roots, and its feathers were of pure gold. He\npicked it up, and taking it with him, went to an inn, where he meant\nto stay the night. The landlord had three daughters, who saw the\nGoose, and were very curious as to what kind of bird it could be, and\nwanted to get one of its golden feathers.\n\nThe eldest thought, 'There will soon be some opportunity for me to\npull out one of the feathers,' and when Simpleton went outside, she\ntook hold of its wing to pluck out a feather; but her hand stuck fast,\nand she could not get away.\n\nSoon after, the second sister came up, meaning also to pluck out one\nof the golden feathers; but she had hardly touched her sister when she\nfound herself held fast.\n\nLastly, the third one came, with the same intention, but the others\nscreamed out, 'Keep away! For goodness sake, keep away!'\n\nBut she, not knowing why she was to keep away, thought, 'Why should I\nnot be there, if they are there?'\n\nSo she ran up, but as soon as she touched her sisters she had to stay\nhanging on to them, and they all had to pass the night like this.\n\n  [Illustration: And so they followed up hill and down dale after\n    Simpleton and his Goose.]\n\nIn the morning, Simpleton took up the Goose under his arm, without\nnoticing the three girls hanging on behind. They had to keep running\nbehind, dodging his legs right and left.\n\nIn the middle of the fields they met the Parson, who, when he saw the\nprocession, cried out: 'For shame, you bold girls! Why do you run\nafter the lad like that? Do you call that proper behaviour?'\n\nThen he took hold of the hand of the youngest girl to pull her away;\nbut no sooner had he touched her than he felt himself held fast, and\nhe, too, had to run behind.\n\nSoon after the Sexton came up, and, seeing his master the Parson\ntreading on the heels of the three girls, cried out in amazement,\n'Hullo, your Reverence! Whither away so fast? Don't forget that we\nhave a christening!'\n\nSo saying, he plucked the Parson by the sleeve, and soon found that he\ncould not get away.\n\nAs this party of five, one behind the other, tramped on, two Peasants\ncame along the road, carrying their hoes. The Parson called them, and\nasked them to set the Sexton and himself free. But as soon as ever\nthey touched the Sexton they were held fast, so now there were seven\npeople running behind Simpleton and his Goose.\n\nBy-and-by they reached a town, where a King ruled whose only daughter\nwas so solemn that nothing and nobody could make her laugh. So the\nKing had proclaimed that whoever could make her laugh should marry\nher.\n\nWhen Simpleton heard this he took his Goose, with all his following,\nbefore her, and when she saw these seven people running, one behind\nanother, she burst into fits of laughter, and seemed as if she could\nnever stop.\n\nThereupon Simpleton asked her in marriage. But the King did not like\nhim for a son-in-law, and he made all sorts of conditions. First, he\nsaid Simpleton must bring him a man who could drink up a cellar full\nof wine.\n\nThen Simpleton at once thought of the little grey Man who might be\nable to help him, and he went out to the forest to look for him. On\nthe very spot where the tree that he had cut down had stood, he saw a\nman sitting with a very sad face. Simpleton asked him what was the\nmatter, and he answered--\n\n'I am so thirsty, and I can't quench my thirst. I hate cold water, and\nI have already emptied a cask of wine; but what is a drop like that on\na burning stone?'\n\n'Well, there I can help you,' said Simpleton. 'Come with me, and you\nshall soon have enough to drink and to spare.'\n\nHe led him to the King's cellar, and the Man set to upon the great\ncasks, and he drank and drank till his sides ached, and by the end of\nthe day the cellar was empty.\n\nThen again Simpleton demanded his bride. But the King was annoyed that\na wretched fellow called 'Simpleton' should have his daughter, and he\nmade new conditions. He was now to find a man who could eat up a\nmountain of bread.\n\nSimpleton did not reflect long, but went straight to the forest, and\nthere in the self-same place sat a man tightening a strap round his\nbody, and making a very miserable face. He said: 'I have eaten up a\nwhole ovenful of rolls, but what is the good of that when any one is\nas hungry as I am. I am never satisfied. I have to tighten my belt\nevery day if I am not to die of hunger.'\n\nSimpleton was delighted, and said: 'Get up and come with me. You\nshall have enough to eat.'\n\nAnd he took him to the Court, where the King had caused all the flour\nin the kingdom to be brought together, and a huge mountain of bread to\nbe baked. The Man from the forest sat down before it and began to eat,\nand at the end of the day the whole mountain had disappeared.\n\nNow, for the third time, Simpleton asked for his bride. But again the\nKing tried to find an excuse, and demanded a ship which could sail on\nland as well as at sea.\n\n'As soon as you sail up in it, you shall have my daughter,' he said.\n\nSimpleton went straight to the forest, and there sat the little grey\nMan to whom he had given his cake. The little Man said: 'I have eaten\nand drunk for you, and now I will give you the ship, too. I do it all\nbecause you were merciful to me.'\n\nThen he gave him the ship which could sail on land as well as at sea,\nand when the King saw it he could no longer withhold his daughter. The\nmarriage was celebrated, and, at the King's death, the Simpleton\ninherited the kingdom, and lived long and happily with his wife.\n\n  [Illustration: The King could no longer withhold his daughter.]\n\n\n\n\nThe Water of Life\n\n\nThere was once a King who was so ill that it was thought impossible\nhis life could be saved. He had three sons, and they were all in great\ndistress on his account, and they went into the castle gardens and\nwept at the thought that he must die. An old man came up to them and\nasked the cause of their grief. They told him that their father was\ndying, and nothing could save him. The old man said, 'There is only\none remedy which I know; it is the Water of Life. If he drinks of it,\nhe will recover, but it is very difficult to find.'\n\nThe eldest son said, 'I will soon find it'; and he went to the sick\nman to ask permission to go in search of the Water of Life, as that\nwas the only thing to cure him.\n\n'No,' said the King. 'The danger is too great. I would rather die.'\n\nBut he persisted so long that at last the King gave his permission.\n\nThe Prince thought, 'If I bring this water I shall be the favourite,\nand I shall inherit the kingdom.'\n\nSo he set off, and when he had ridden some distance he came upon a\nDwarf standing in the road, who cried, 'Whither away so fast?'\n\n'Stupid little fellow,' said the Prince, proudly; 'what business is it\nof yours?' and rode on.\n\nThe little man was very angry, and made an evil vow.\n\nSoon after, the Prince came to a gorge in the mountains, and the\nfurther he rode the narrower it became, till he could go no further.\nHis horse could neither go forward nor turn round for him to dismount;\nso there he sat, jammed in.\n\nThe sick King waited a long time for him, but he never came back.\nThen the second son said, 'Father, let me go and find the Water of\nLife,' thinking, 'if my brother is dead I shall have the kingdom.'\n\nThe King at first refused to let him go, but at last he gave his\nconsent. So the Prince started on the same road as his brother, and\nmet the same Dwarf, who stopped him and asked where he was going in\nsuch a hurry.\n\n'Little Snippet, what does it matter to you?' he said, and rode away\nwithout looking back.\n\nBut the Dwarf cast a spell over him, and he, too, got into a narrow\ngorge like his brother, where he could neither go backwards nor\nforwards.\n\nThis is what happens to the haughty.\n\nAs the second son also stayed away, the youngest one offered to go and\nfetch the Water of Life, and at last the King was obliged to let him\ngo.\n\nWhen he met the Dwarf, and he asked him where he was hurrying to, he\nstopped and said, 'I am searching for the Water of Life, because my\nfather is dying.'\n\n'Do you know where it is to be found?'\n\n'No,' said the Prince.\n\n'As you have spoken pleasantly to me, and not been haughty like your\nfalse brothers, I will help you and tell you how to find the Water of\nLife. It flows from a fountain in the courtyard of an enchanted\ncastle; but you will never get in unless I give you an iron rod and\ntwo loaves of bread. With the rod strike three times on the iron gate\nof the castle, and it will spring open. Inside you will find two Lions\nwith wide-open jaws, but if you throw a loaf to each they will be\nquiet. Then you must make haste to fetch the Water of Life before it\nstrikes twelve, or the gates of the castle will close and you will be\nshut in.'\n\nThe Prince thanked him, took the rod and the loaves, and set off. When\nhe reached the castle all was just as the Dwarf had said. At the third\nknock the gate flew open, and when he had pacified the Lions with the\nloaves, he walked into the castle. In the great hall he found several\nenchanted Princes, and he took the rings from their fingers. He also\ntook a sword and a loaf, which were lying by them. On passing into the\nnext room he found a beautiful Maiden, who rejoiced at his coming. She\nembraced him, and said that he had saved her, and should have the\nwhole of her kingdom; and if he would come back in a year she would\nmarry him. She also told him where to find the fountain with the\nenchanted water; but, she said, he must make haste to get out of the\ncastle before the clock struck twelve.\n\nThen he went on, and came to a room where there was a beautiful bed\nfreshly made, and as he was very tired he thought he would take a\nlittle rest; so he lay down and fell asleep. When he woke it was\nstriking a quarter to twelve. He sprang up in a fright, and ran to the\nfountain, and took some of the water in a cup which was lying near,\nand then hurried away. The clock struck just as he reached the iron\ngate, and it banged so quickly that it took off a bit of his heel.\n\nHe was rejoiced at having got some of the Water of Life, and hastened\non his homeward journey. He again passed the Dwarf, who said, when he\nsaw the sword and the loaf, 'Those things will be of much service to\nyou. You will be able to strike down whole armies with the sword, and\nthe loaf will never come to an end.'\n\nThe Prince did not want to go home without his brothers, and he said,\n'Good Dwarf, can you not tell me where my brothers are? They went in\nsearch of the Water of Life before I did, but they never came back.'\n\n'They are both stuck fast in a narrow mountain gorge. I cast a spell\nover them because of their pride.'\n\nThen the Prince begged so hard that they might be released that at\nlast the Dwarf yielded; but he warned him against them, and said,\n'Beware of them; they have bad hearts.'\n\n  [Illustration: {Good Dwarf, can you not tell me where my brothers\n    are?}]\n\nHe was delighted to see his brothers when they came back, and told\nthem all that had happened to him; how he had found the Water of\nLife, and brought a goblet full with him. How he had released a\nbeautiful Princess, who would wait a year for him and then marry him,\nand he would become a great Prince.\n\nThen they rode away together, and came to a land where famine and war\nwere raging. The King thought he would be utterly ruined, so great was\nthe destitution.\n\nThe Prince went to him and gave him the loaf, and with it he fed and\nsatisfied his whole kingdom. The Prince also gave him his sword, and\nhe smote the whole army of his enemies with it, and then he was able\nto live in peace and quiet. Then the Prince took back his sword and\nhis loaf, and the three brothers rode on. But they had to pass through\ntwo more countries where war and famine were raging, and each time the\nPrince gave his sword and his loaf to the King, and in this way he\nsaved three kingdoms.\n\nAfter that they took a ship and crossed the sea. During the passage\nthe two elder brothers said to each other, 'Our youngest brother found\nthe Water of Life, and we did not, so our father will give him the\nkingdom which we ought to have, and he will take away our fortune from\nus.'\n\nThis thought made them very vindictive, and they made up their minds\nto get rid of him. They waited till he was asleep, and then they\nemptied the Water of Life from his goblet and took it themselves, and\nfilled up his cup with salt sea water.\n\nAs soon as they got home the youngest Prince took his goblet to the\nKing, so that he might drink of the water which was to make him well;\nbut after drinking only a few drops of the sea water he became more\nill than ever. As he was bewailing himself, his two elder sons came to\nhim and accused the youngest of trying to poison him, and said that\nthey had the real Water of Life, and gave him some. No sooner had he\ndrunk it than he felt better, and he soon became as strong and well as\nhe had been in his youth.\n\nThen the two went to their youngest brother, and mocked him, saying,\n'It was you who found the Water of Life; you had all the trouble,\nwhile we have the reward. You should have been wiser, and kept your\neyes open; we stole it from you while you were asleep on the ship.\nWhen the end of the year comes, one of us will go and bring away the\nbeautiful Princess. But don't dare to betray us. Our father will\ncertainly not believe you, and if you say a single word you will lose\nyour life; your only chance is to keep silence.'\n\nThe old King was very angry with his youngest son, thinking that he\nhad tried to take his life. So he had the Court assembled to give\njudgment upon him, and it was decided that he must be secretly got out\nof the way.\n\nOne day when the Prince was going out hunting, thinking no evil, the\nKing's Huntsman was ordered to go with him. Seeing the Huntsman look\nsad, the Prince said to him, 'My good Huntsman, what is the matter\nwith you?'\n\nThe Huntsman answered, 'I can't bear to tell you, and yet I must.'\n\nThe Prince said, 'Say it out; whatever it is I will forgive you.'\n\n'Alas!' said the Huntsman, 'I am to shoot you dead; it is the King's\ncommand.'\n\nThe Prince was horror-stricken, and said, 'Dear Huntsman, do not kill\nme, give me my life. Let me have your dress, and you shall have my\nroyal robes.'\n\nThe Huntsman said, 'I will gladly do so; I could never have shot you.'\nSo they changed clothes, and the Huntsman went home, but the Prince\nwandered away into the forest.\n\nAfter a time three wagon loads of gold and precious stones came to the\nKing for his youngest son. They were sent by the Kings who had been\nsaved by the Prince's sword and his miraculous loaf, and who now\nwished to show their gratitude.\n\nThen the old King thought, 'What if my son really was innocent?' and\nsaid to his people, 'If only he were still alive! How sorry I am that\nI ordered him to be killed.'\n\n'He is still alive,' said the Huntsman. 'I could not find it in my\nheart to carry out your commands,' and he told the King what had taken\nplace.\n\nA load fell from the King's heart on hearing the good news, and he\nsent out a proclamation to all parts of his kingdom that his son was\nto come home, where he would be received with great favour.\n\nIn the meantime, the Princess had caused a road to be made of pure\nshining gold leading to her castle, and told her people that whoever\ncame riding straight along it would be the true bridegroom, and they\nwere to admit him. But any one who came either on one side of the road\nor the other would not be the right one, and he was not to be let in.\n\nWhen the year had almost passed, the eldest Prince thought that he\nwould hurry to the Princess, and by giving himself out as her\ndeliverer would gain a wife and a kingdom as well. So he rode away,\nand when he saw the beautiful golden road he thought it would be a\nthousand pities to ride upon it; so he turned aside, and rode to the\nright of it. But when he reached the gate the people told him that he\nwas not the true bridegroom, and he had to go away.\n\nSoon after the second Prince came, and when he saw the golden road he\nthought it would be a thousand pities for his horse to tread upon it;\nso he turned aside, and rode up on the left of it. But when he reached\nthe gate he was also told that he was not the true bridegroom, and,\nlike his brother, was turned away.\n\nWhen the year had quite come to an end, the third Prince came out of\nthe wood to ride to his beloved, and through her to forget all his\npast sorrows. So on he went, thinking only of her, and wishing to be\nwith her; and he never even saw the golden road. His horse cantered\nright along the middle of it, and when he reached the gate it was\nflung open and the Princess received him joyfully, and called him her\nDeliverer, and the Lord of her Kingdom. Their marriage was celebrated\nwithout delay, and with much rejoicing. When it was over, she told him\nthat his father had called him back and forgiven him. So he went to\nhim and told him everything; how his brothers had deceived him, and\nhow they had forced him to keep silence. The old King wanted to punish\nthem, but they had taken a ship and sailed away over the sea, and they\nnever came back as long as they lived.\n\n  [Illustration: {A dwarf.}]\n\n\n\n\nClever Grethel\n\n\nThere was once a cook called Grethel, who wore shoes with red\nrosettes; and when she went out in them, she turned and twisted about\ngaily, and thought, 'How fine I am!'\n\nAfter her walk she would take a draught of wine, in her\nlight-heartedness; and as wine gives an appetite, she would then taste\nsome of the dishes that she was cooking, saying to herself, 'The cook\nis bound to know how the food tastes.'\n\nIt so happened that one day her master said to her, 'Grethel, I have a\nguest coming to-night; roast me two fowls in your best style.'\n\n'It shall be done, sir!' answered Grethel. So she killed the chickens,\nscalded and plucked them, and then put them on the spit; towards\nevening she put them down to the fire to roast. They got brown and\ncrisp, but still the guest did not come. Then Grethel called to her\nMaster, 'If the guest does not come I must take the fowls from the\nfire; but it will be a thousand pities if they are not eaten soon\nwhile they are juicy.'\n\nHer Master said, 'I will go and hasten the guest myself.'\n\nHardly had her Master turned his back before Grethel laid the spit\nwith the fowls on it on one side, and said to herself, 'It's thirsty\nwork standing over the fire so long. Who knows when he will come. I'll\ngo down into the cellar in the meantime and take a drop of wine.'\n\nShe ran down and held a jug to the tap, then said, 'Here's to your\nhealth, Grethel,' and took a good pull. 'Drinking leads to drinking,'\nshe said, 'and it's not easy to give it up,' and again she took a good\npull. Then she went upstairs and put the fowls to the fire again,\npoured some butter over them, and turned the spit round with a will.\nIt smelt so good that she thought, 'There may be something wanting, I\nmust have a taste.' And she passed her finger over the fowls and put\nit in her mouth. 'Ah, how good they are; it's a sin and a shame that\nthere's nobody to eat them.' She ran to the window to see if her\nMaster was coming with the guest, but she saw nobody. Then she went\nback to the fowls again, and thought, 'One wing is catching a little,\nbetter to eat it--and eat it I will.' So she cut it off and ate it\nwith much enjoyment. When it was finished, she thought, 'The other\nmust follow, or the Master will notice that something is wanting.'\nWhen the wings were consumed she went back to the window again to look\nfor her Master, but no one was in sight.\n\n'Who knows,' she thought. 'I dare say they won't come at all; they\nmust have dropped in somewhere else.' Then she said to herself, 'Now,\nGrethel, don't be afraid, eat it all up: why should the good food be\nwasted? When it's all gone you can rest; run and have another drink\nand then finish it up.' So she went down to the cellar, took a good\ndrink, and contentedly ate up the rest of the fowl. When it had all\ndisappeared and still no Master came, Grethel looked at the other fowl\nand said, 'Where one is gone the other must follow. What is good for\none is right for the other. If I have a drink first I shall be none\nthe worse.' So she took another hearty pull at the jug, and then she\nsent the other fowl after the first one.\n\nIn the height of her enjoyment, her Master came back, and cried,\n'Hurry, Grethel, the guest is just coming.'\n\n'Very well, sir, I'll soon have it ready,' answered Grethel.\n\nHer Master went to see if the table was properly laid, and took the\nbig carving-knife with which he meant to cut up the fowls, to sharpen\nit. In the meantime the guest came and knocked politely at the door.\nGrethel ran to see who was there, and, seeing the guest, she put her\nfinger to her lips and said, 'Be quiet, and get away quickly; if my\nMaster catches you it will be the worse for you. He certainly\ninvited you to supper, but only with the intention of cutting off both\nyour ears. You can hear him sharpening his knife now.'\n\n  [Illustration: {Then he ran after him, still holding the\n    carving-knife, and cried, 'Only one, only one!'}]\n\nThe guest heard the knife being sharpened, and hurried off down the\nsteps as fast as he could.\n\nGrethel ran with great agility to her Master, shrieking, 'A fine guest\nyou have invited, indeed!'\n\n'Why, what's the matter, Grethel? What do you mean?'\n\n'Well,' she said, 'he has taken the two fowls that I had just put upon\nthe dish, and run off with them.'\n\n'That's a clever trick!' said her Master, regretting his fine fowls.\n'If he had only left me one so that I had something to eat.'\n\nHe called out to him to stop, but the guest pretended not to hear.\nThen he ran after him, still holding the carving-knife, and cried,\n'Only one, only one!'--meaning that the guest should leave him one\nfowl; but the guest only thought that he meant he was to give him one\near, and he ran as if he was pursued by fire, and so took both his\nears safely home.\n\n\n\n\nThe King of the Golden Mountain\n\n\nThere was once a Merchant who had two children, a boy and a girl. They\nwere both small, and not old enough to run about. He had also two\nrichly-laden ships at sea, and just as he was expecting to make a\ngreat deal of money by the merchandise, news came that they had both\nbeen lost. So now instead of being a rich man he was quite poor, and\nhad nothing left but one field near the town.\n\nTo turn his thoughts from his misfortune, he went out into this field,\nand as he was walking up and down a little black Mannikin suddenly\nappeared before him, and asked why he was so sad. The Merchant said,\n'I would tell you at once, if you could help me.'\n\n'Who knows,' answered the little Mannikin. 'Perhaps I could help you.'\n\nThen the Merchant told him that all his wealth had been lost in a\nwreck, and that now he had nothing left but this field.\n\n'Don't worry yourself,' said the Mannikin. 'If you will promise to\nbring me in twelve years' time the first thing which rubs against your\nlegs when you go home, you shall have as much gold as you want.'\n\nThe Merchant thought, 'What could it be but my dog?' He never thought\nof his boy, but said Yes, and gave the Mannikin his bond signed and\nsealed, and went home.\n\nWhen he reached the house his little son, delighted to hold on to the\nbenches and totter towards his father, seized him by the leg to steady\nhimself.\n\nThe Merchant was horror-stricken, for his vow came into his head, and\nnow he knew what he had promised to give away. But as he still found\nno gold in his chests, he thought it must only have been a joke of\nthe Mannikin's. A month later he went up into the loft to gather\ntogether some old tin to sell it, and there he found a great heap of\ngold on the floor. So he was soon up in the world again, bought and\nsold, became a richer merchant than ever, and was altogether\ncontented.\n\nIn the meantime the boy had grown up, and he was both clever and wise.\nBut the nearer the end of the twelve years came, the more sorrowful\nthe Merchant grew; you could even see his misery in his face. One day\nhis son asked him what was the matter, but his father would not tell\nhim. The boy, however, persisted so long that at last he told him\nthat, without knowing what he was doing, he had promised to give him\nup at the end of twelve years to a little black Mannikin, in return\nfor a quantity of gold. He had given his hand and seal on it, and the\ntime was now near for him to go.\n\nThen his son said, 'O father, don't be frightened, it will be all\nright. The little black Mannikin has no power over me.'\n\nWhen the time came, the son asked a blessing of the Priest, and he and\nhis father went to the field together; and the son made a circle\nwithin which they took their places.\n\nWhen the little black Mannikin appeared, he said to the father, 'Have\nyou brought what you promised me?'\n\nThe man was silent, but his son said, 'What do you want?'\n\nThe Mannikin said, 'My business is with your father, and not with\nyou.'\n\nThe son answered, 'You deceived and cheated my father. Give me back\nhis bond.'\n\n'Oh no!' said the little man; 'I won't give up my rights.'\n\nThey talked to each other for a long time, and at last they decided\nthat, as the son no longer belonged to his father, and declined to\nbelong to his foe, he should get into a boat on a flowing stream, and\nhis father should push it off himself, thus giving him up to the\nstream.\n\nSo the youth took leave of his father, got into the boat, and his\nfather pushed it off. Then, thinking that his son was lost to him for\never, he went home and sorrowed for him. The little boat, however, did\nnot sink, it drifted quietly down the stream, and the youth sat in it\nin perfect safety. It drifted for a long time, till at last it stuck\nfast on an unknown shore. The youth landed, and seeing a beautiful\ncastle near, walked towards it. As he passed under the doorway,\nhowever, a spell fell upon him. He went through all the rooms, but\nfound them empty, till he came to the very last one, where a Serpent\nlay coiling and uncoiling itself. The Serpent was really an enchanted\nmaiden, who was delighted when she saw the youth, and said, 'Have you\ncome at last, my preserver? I have been waiting twelve years for you.\nThis whole kingdom is bewitched, and you must break the spell.'\n\n'How am I to do that?' he asked.\n\nShe said, 'To-night, twelve black men hung with chains will appear,\nand they will ask what you are doing here. But do not speak a word,\nwhatever they do or say to you. They will torment you, strike, and\npinch you, but don't say a word. At twelve o'clock they will have to\ngo away. On the second night twelve more will come, and on the third\ntwenty-four. These will cut off your head. But at twelve o'clock their\npower goes, and if you have borne it, and not spoken a word, I shall\nbe saved. Then I will come to you, and bring a little flask containing\nthe Water of Life, with which I will sprinkle you, and you will be\nbrought to life again, as sound and well as ever you were.'\n\nThen he said, 'I will gladly save you!'\n\nEverything happened just as she had said. The black men could not\nforce a word out of him; and on the third night the Serpent became a\nbeautiful Princess, who brought the Water of Life as she had promised,\nand restored the youth to life. Then she fell on his neck and kissed\nhim, and there were great rejoicings all over the castle.\n\nTheir marriage was celebrated, and he became King of the Golden\nMountain.\n\n  [Illustration: {The Son made a circle, and his Father and he\n    took their places within it, and the little black Mannikin\n    appeared.}]\n\nThey lived happily together, and in course of time a beautiful boy\nwas born to them.\n\nWhen eight years had passed, the King's heart grew tender within him\nas he thought of his father, and he wanted to go home to see him. But\nthe Queen did not want him to go. She said, 'I know it will be to my\nmisfortune.' However, he gave her no peace till she agreed to let him\ngo. On his departure she gave him a wishing-ring, and said, 'Take this\nring, and put it on your finger, and you will at once be at the place\nwhere you wish to be. Only, you must promise never to use it to wish\nme away from here to be with you at your father's.'\n\nHe made the promise, and put the ring on his finger; he then wished\nhimself before the town where his father lived, and at the same moment\nfound himself at the gate. But the sentry would not let him in because\nhis clothes, though of rich material, were of such strange cut. So he\nwent up a mountain, where a Shepherd lived, and, exchanging clothing\nwith him, put on his old smock, and passed into the town unnoticed.\n\nWhen he reached his father he began making himself known; but his\nfather, never thinking that it was his son, said that it was true he\nhad once had a son, but he had long been dead. But, he added, seeing\nthat he was a poor Shepherd, he would give him a plate of food.\n\nThe supposed Shepherd said to his parents, 'I am indeed your son. Is\nthere no mark on my body by which you may know me?'\n\nHis mother said, 'Yes, our son has a strawberry mark under his right\narm.'\n\nHe pushed up his shirt sleeve, and there was the strawberry mark; so\nthey no longer doubted that he was their son. He told them that he was\nthe King of the Golden Mountain, his wife was a Princess, and they had\na little son seven years old.\n\n'That can't be true,' said his father. 'You are a fine sort of King to\ncome home in a tattered Shepherd's smock.'\n\nHis son grew angry, and, without stopping to reflect, turned his ring\nround and wished his wife and son to appear. In a moment they both\nstood before him; but his wife did nothing but weep and lament, and\nsaid that he had broken his promise, and by so doing had made her very\nunhappy. He said, 'I have acted incautiously, but from no bad motive,'\nand he tried to soothe her.\n\nShe appeared to be calmed, but really she nourished evil intentions\ntowards him in her heart.\n\nShortly after he took her outside the town to the field, and showed\nher the stream down which he had drifted in the little boat. Then he\nsaid, 'I am tired; I want to rest a little.'\n\nSo she sat down, and he rested his head upon her lap, and soon fell\nfast asleep. As soon as he was asleep, she drew the ring from his\nfinger, and drew herself gently away from him, leaving only her\nslipper behind. Last of all, taking her child in her arms, she wished\nherself back in her own kingdom. When he woke up, he found himself\nquite deserted; wife and child were gone, the ring had disappeared\nfrom his finger, and only her slipper remained as a token.\n\n'I can certainly never go home to my parents,' he said. 'They would\nsay I was a sorcerer. I must go away and walk till I reach my own\nkingdom again.'\n\nSo he went away, and at last he came to a mountain, where three Giants\nwere quarrelling about the division of their father's property. When\nthey saw him passing, they called him up, and said, 'Little people\nhave sharp wits,' and asked him to divide their inheritance for them.\n\nIt consisted, first, of a sword, with which in one's hand, if one\nsaid, 'All heads off, mine alone remain,' every head fell to the\nground. Secondly, of a mantle which rendered any one putting it on\ninvisible. Thirdly, of a pair of boots which transported the wearer to\nwhatever place he wished.\n\nHe said, 'Give me the three articles so that I may see if they are all\nin good condition.'\n\nSo they gave him the mantle, and he at once became invisible. He took\nhis own shape again, and said, 'The mantle is good; now give me the\nsword.'\n\nBut they said, 'No, we can't give you the sword. If you were to say,\n\"All heads off, mine alone remain,\" all our heads would fall, and\nyours would be the only one left.'\n\nAt last, however, they gave it to him, on condition that he was to try\nit on a tree. He did as they wished, and the sword went through the\ntree trunk as if it had been a straw. Then he wanted the boots, but\nthey said, 'No, we won't give them away. If you were to put them on\nand wish yourself on the top of the mountain, we should be left\nstanding here without anything.'\n\n'No,' said he; 'I won't do that.'\n\nSo they gave him the boots too; but when he had all three he could\nthink of nothing but his wife and child, and said to himself, 'Oh, if\nonly I were on the Golden Mountain again!' and immediately he\ndisappeared from the sight of the Giants, and there was an end of\ntheir inheritance.\n\nWhen he approached his castle he heard sounds of music, fiddles and\nflutes, and shouts of joy. People told him that his wife was\ncelebrating her marriage with another husband. He was filled with\nrage, and said, 'The false creature! She deceived me, and deserted me\nwhen I was asleep.'\n\nThen he put on his mantle, and went to the castle, invisible to all.\nWhen he went into the hall, where a great feast was spread with the\nrichest foods and the costliest wines, the guests were joking and\nlaughing while they ate and drank. The Queen sat on her throne in\ntheir midst in gorgeous clothing, with the crown on her head. He\nplaced himself behind her, and no one saw him. Whenever the Queen put\na piece of meat on her plate, he took it away and ate it, and when her\nglass was filled he took it away and drank it. Her plate and her glass\nwere constantly refilled, but she never had anything, for it\ndisappeared at once. At last she grew frightened, got up, and went to\nher room in tears, but he followed her there too. She said to herself,\n'Am I still in the power of the demon? Did my preserver never come?'\n\nHe struck her in the face, and said, 'Did your preserver never come?\nHe is with you now, deceiver that you are. Did I deserve such\ntreatment at your hands?' Then he made himself visible, and went into\nthe hall, and cried, 'The wedding is stopped, the real King has come.'\n\nThe Kings, Princes, and Nobles who were present laughed him to scorn.\nBut he only said, 'Will you go, or will you not?' They tried to seize\nhim, but he drew his sword and said,\n\n'All heads off, mine alone remain.'\n\nThen all their heads fell to the ground, and he remained sole King and\nLord of the Golden Mountain.\n\n  [Illustration: {A fairy.}]\n\n\n\n\n  [Illustration: {Once upon a time a poor peasant, named Crabb, was\n    taking a load of wood drawn by two oxen to the town for sale.}]\n\nDoctor Know-All\n\n\nOnce upon a time a poor Peasant, named Crabb, was taking a load of\nwood drawn by two oxen to the town for sale. He sold it to a Doctor\nfor four thalers. When the money was being paid to him, it so happened\nthat the Doctor was sitting at dinner. When the Peasant saw how\ndaintily the Doctor was eating and drinking, he felt a great desire to\nbecome a Doctor too. He remained standing and looking on for a time,\nand then asked if he could not be a Doctor.\n\n'Oh yes!' said the Doctor; 'that is easily managed.'\n\n'What must I do?' asked the Peasant.\n\n'First buy an ABC book; you can get one with a cock as a frontispiece.\nSecondly, turn your wagon and oxen into money, and buy with it clothes\nand other things suitable for a Doctor. Thirdly, have a sign painted\nwith the words, \"I am Doctor Know-all,\" and have it nailed over your\ndoor.'\n\nThe Peasant did everything that he was told to do.\n\nNow when he had been doctoring for a while, not very long though, a\nrich nobleman had some money stolen from him. He was told about Doctor\nKnow-all, who lived in such and such a village, who would be sure to\nknow what had become of it. So the gentleman ordered his carriage and\ndrove to the village.\n\nHe stopped at the Doctor's house, and asked Crabb if he were Doctor\nKnow-all.\n\n'Yes, I am.'\n\n'Then you must go with me to get my stolen money back.'\n\n'Yes, certainly; but Grethe, my wife, must come too.'\n\nThe nobleman agreed, and gave both of them seats in his carriage, and\nthey all drove off together.\n\nWhen they reached the nobleman's castle the dinner was ready, and\nCrabb was invited to sit down to table.\n\n'Yes; but Grethe, my wife, must dine too'; and he seated himself with\nher.\n\nWhen the first Servant brought in a dish of choice food, the Peasant\nnudged his wife, and said: 'Grethe, that was the first,'--meaning that\nthe servant was handing the first dish. But the servant thought he\nmeant, 'That was the first thief.' As he really was the thief, he\nbecame much alarmed, and said to his comrades outside--\n\n'That Doctor knows everything, we shan't get out of this hole; he said\nI was the first.'\n\nThe second Servant did not want to go in at all, but he had to go, and\nwhen he offered his dish to the Peasant he nudged his wife, and\nsaid--'Grethe, that is the second.'\n\nThis Servant also was frightened and hurried out.\n\nThe third one fared no better. The Peasant said again: 'Grethe, that\nis the third.'\n\nThe fourth one brought in a covered dish, and the master told the\nDoctor that he must show his powers and guess what was under the\ncover. Now it was a dish of crabs.\n\nThe Peasant looked at the dish and did not know what to do, so he\nsaid: 'Wretched Crabb that I am.'\n\nWhen the Master heard him he cried: 'There, he knows it! Then he knows\nwhere the money is too.'\n\nThen the Servant grew terribly frightened, and signed to the Doctor to\ncome outside.\n\nWhen he went out, they all four confessed to him that they had stolen\nthe money; they would gladly give it to him and a large sum in\naddition, if only he would not betray them to their Master, or their\nnecks would be in peril. They also showed him where the money was\nhidden. Then the Doctor was satisfied, went back to the table, and\nsaid--\n\n'Now, Sir, I will look in my book to see where the money is hidden.'\n\nThe fifth, in the meantime, had crept into the stove to hear if the\nDoctor knew still more. But he sat there turning over the pages of his\nABC book looking for the cock, and as he could not find it at once, he\nsaid: 'I know you are there, and out you must come.'\n\nThe man in the stove thought it was meant for him, and sprang out in a\nfright, crying: 'The man knows everything.'\n\nThen Doctor Know-all showed the nobleman where the money was hidden,\nbut he did not betray the servants; and he received much money from\nboth sides as a reward, and became a very celebrated man.\n\n\n\n\nThe Seven Ravens\n\n\nThere was once a Man who had seven sons, but never a daughter, however\nmuch he wished for one.\n\nAt last, however, he had a daughter.\n\nHis joy was great, but the child was small and delicate, and, on\naccount of its weakness, it was to be christened at home.\n\nThe Father sent one of his sons in haste to the spring to fetch some\nwater; the other six ran with him, and because each of them wanted to\nbe the first to draw the water, between them the pitcher fell into the\nbrook.\n\nThere they stood and didn't know what to do, and not one of them\nventured to go home.\n\nAs they did not come back, their Father became impatient, and said:\n'Perhaps the young rascals are playing about, and have forgotten it\naltogether.'\n\nHe became anxious lest his little girl should die unbaptized, and in\nhot vexation, he cried: 'I wish the youngsters would all turn into\nRavens!'\n\nScarcely were the words uttered, when he heard a whirring in the air\nabove his head, and, looking upwards, he saw seven coal-black Ravens\nflying away.\n\nThe parents could not undo the spell, and were very sad about the loss\nof their seven sons, but they consoled themselves in some measure with\ntheir dear little daughter, who soon became strong, and every day more\nbeautiful.\n\nFor a long time she was unaware that she had had any brothers, for her\nparents took care not to mention it.\n\nHowever, one day by chance she heard some people saying about her: 'Oh\nyes, the girl's pretty enough; but you know she is really to blame for\nthe misfortune to her seven brothers.'\n\n  [Illustration: {The good little Sister cut off her own tiny finger,\n    fitted it into the lock, and succeeded in opening it.}]\n\nThen she became very sad, and went to her father and mother and asked\nif she had ever had any brothers, and what had become of them.\n\nThe parents could no longer conceal the secret. They said, however,\nthat what had happened was by the decree of heaven, and that her birth\nwas merely the innocent occasion.\n\nBut the little girl could not get the matter off her conscience for a\nsingle day, and thought that she was bound to release her brothers\nagain. She had no peace or quiet until she had secretly set out, and\ngone forth into the wide world to trace her brothers, wherever they\nmight be, and to free them, let it cost what it might.\n\nShe took nothing with her but a little ring as a remembrance of her\nparents, a loaf of bread against hunger, a pitcher of water against\nthirst, and a little chair in case of fatigue. She kept ever going on\nand on until she came to the end of the world.\n\nThen she came to the Sun, but it was hot and terrible, it devoured\nlittle children. She ran hastily away to the Moon, but it was too\ncold, and, moreover, dismal and dreary. And when the child was looking\nat it, it said: 'I smell, I smell man's flesh!'\n\nThen she quickly made off, and came to the Stars, and they were kind\nand good, and every one sat on his own special seat.\n\nBut the Morning Star stood up, and gave her a little bone, and said:\n'Unless you have this bone, you cannot open the glass mountain, and in\nthe glass mountain are your brothers.'\n\nThe girl took the bone, and wrapped it up carefully in a little\nkerchief, and went on again until she came to the glass mountain.\n\nThe gate was closed, and she meant to get out the little bone. But\nwhen she undid the kerchief it was empty, and she had lost the good\nStar's present.\n\nHow, now, was she to set to work? She was determined to rescue her\nbrothers, but had no key to open the glass mountain.\n\nThe good little sister took a knife and cut off her own tiny finger,\nfitted it into the keyhole, and succeeded in opening the lock.\n\nWhen she had entered, she met a Dwarf, who said: 'My child, what are\nyou looking for?'\n\n'I am looking for my brothers, the Seven Ravens,' she answered.\n\nThe Dwarf said: 'My masters, the Ravens, are not at home; but if you\nlike to wait until they come, please to walk in.'\n\nThereupon the Dwarf brought in the Ravens' supper, on seven little\nplates, and in seven little cups, and the little sister ate a crumb or\ntwo from each of the little plates, and took a sip from each of the\nlittle cups, but she let the ring she had brought with her fall into\nthe last little cup.\n\nAll at once a whirring and crying were heard in the air; then the\nDwarf said: 'Now my masters the Ravens are coming home.'\n\nThen they came in, and wanted to eat and drink, and began to look\nabout for their little plates and cups.\n\nBut they said one after another: 'Halloa! who has been eating off my\nplate? Who has been drinking out of my cup? There has been some human\nmouth here.'\n\n  [Illustration: When she entered she met a Dwarf.]\n\nAnd when the seventh drank to the bottom of his cup, the ring rolled\nup against his lips.\n\nHe looked at it, and recognised it as a ring belonging to his father\nand mother, and said: 'God grant that our sister may be here, and that\nwe may be delivered.'\n\n  [Illustration: {But they said one after another: 'Halloa! who has\n    been eating off my plate? Who has been drinking out of my cup?'}]\n\nAs the maiden was standing behind the door listening, she heard the\nwish and came forward, and then all the Ravens got back their human\nform again.\n\nAnd they embraced and kissed one another, and went joyfully home.\n\n  [Illustration: The Ravens coming home.]\n\n\n\n\nThe Marriage of Mrs. Reynard\n\n\nThere was once an old Fox who thought that his wife was not true to\nhim, and determined to put her to the test. He stretched himself under\nthe bank, lay motionless, and pretended to be as dead as a door nail.\nMrs. Reynard went to her chamber, and shut herself in; and her\nservant, Mistress Cat, sat by the fire, and cooked the dinner.\n\nNow, when it became known that the old Fox was dead, suitors began to\nannounce themselves. Soon afterwards, the servant heard some one\nknocking at the front door. She went and opened the door, and there\nstood a young Fox, who said--\n\n    'What are ye doing, pray, Mistress Cat?\n    Sleeping or waking? or what are ye at?'\n\nShe answered--\n\n    'I'm not asleep; I'm wide awake.\n    D'ye want to know what now I make?\n    I'm warming beer, with butter in it;\n    I beg ye'll taste it in a minute.'\n\n'I'm much obliged, Mistress,' said the Fox. 'What is Mrs. Reynard\ndoing?'\n\nThe Maid answered--\n\n    'In chamber sad she sits alone,\n    And ceases not with grief to moan.\n    She weeps until her eyes are red,\n    Because the dear old Fox is dead.'\n\n'Well, just tell her, Mistress, that there's a young Fox here, who\nwould be glad to woo her.'\n\n'Very well, young gentleman.'\n\n    'Then went the Cat with pit-a-pat\n    And smote the door, rat-tata-tat!\n    \"Pray, Mrs. Reynard, are you in?\n    Outside a wooer waits below!\"'\n\n'Well, what's he like? I want to know. Has he got nine such beautiful\ntails as the late lamented Mr. Reynard?'\n\n'Oh dear no,' answered the Cat. 'He has only got one.'\n\n'Then I won't have him.'\n\nMistress Cat went down, and sent the wooer away.\n\nSoon after this there was knocking again, and another Fox appeared at\nthe door, who wished to pay his addresses to Mrs. Reynard. He had two\ntails, but he came off no better than the first. Afterwards others\ncame, each with one tail more; but they were all rejected, till at\nlast one came that had nine tails like old Mr. Reynard.\n\nWhen the widow heard this, full of joy, she said to the Cat--\n\n    'Open the gates and doors; be swift.\n    Old Mr. Reynard turn adrift.'\n\nBut when the wedding was about to be celebrated, then old Mr. Reynard\nunder the bank roused himself, and gave the whole crew a good\ndrubbing, and sent them, Mrs. Reynard and all, helter-skelter out of\nthe house.\n\n\nSecond Tale\n\nWhen old Mr. Reynard really died, the Wolf came as a suitor, and\nknocked at the door, and the Cat who acted as servant to Mrs. Reynard,\nopened it.\n\nThe Wolf greeted her, and said--\n\n    'Good-day, Miss Cat, of sprightly wit,\n    How comes it that alone you sit?\n    What are you making there, so good?'\n\nThe Cat answered--\n\n    'Tumbling milk and butter up.\n    Will your Lordship have a sup?'\n\n'Thank you kindly, Mistress Cat. Mistress Reynard is not at home, I\nsuppose.'\n\n    'Upstairs in her chamber she sits,\n    And weeps as her sorrow befits.\n    Her sad case she doth much deplore,\n    Because Mr. Reynard's no more.'\n\nThe Wolf answered--\n\n    '\"If now she wants to wed again,\n    She must come down the stairs, 'tis plain.\"\n    The Cat ran up without delay,\n    Nor did her claws their clatter stay\n    Until she reached the long saloon.\n    There, tapping with her five gold rings,\n    \"Is Mrs. Reynard in?\" she sings.\n    \"If now she wants to wed again,\n    She must come down the stairs, 'tis plain.\"'\n\nMrs. Reynard asked: 'Does the gentleman wear red breeches, and has he\na pointed muzzle?'\n\n'No,' answered the Cat.\n\n'Then he is no use to me.'\n\nWhen the Wolf was rejected, there came a Dog, a Stag, a Hare, a Bear,\nand one after another every sort of wild animal. But in every one\nthere was wanting some of the good qualities which old Mr. Reynard had\npossessed, and the Cat was obliged to dismiss the suitors every time.\nAt last there came a young Fox. Then Mrs. Reynard asked: 'Does the\ngentleman wear red breeches, and has he got a pointed muzzle?'\n\n'Yes,' said the Cat. 'He has both.'\n\n'Then let him come up,' said Mrs. Reynard, and ordered the maid to\nmake ready the wedding feast.\n\n    'Now, Cat, set to and sweep the room.\n    Then fling the old Fox from the house;\n    Bring in many a good fat mouse,\n    But eat them all yourself alone,\n    Nor give your mistress e'er a one.'\n\nThen the wedding with young Mr. Fox was held, and there was\nmerry-making and dancing, and if they haven't stopped, they are\ndancing still.\n\n  [Illustration: Does the gentleman wear red breeches, and has he a\n    pointed muzzle?]\n\n\n\n\nThe Salad\n\n\nThere was once a merry young Huntsman, who went into the forest to\nhunt. He was gay and light-hearted, and whistled a tune upon a leaf as\nhe went along.\n\nSuddenly an ugly old Crone spoke to him, and said: 'Good morning, dear\nHuntsman; you are merry and happy enough, while I am hungry and\nthirsty. Pray give me an alms.'\n\nThe Huntsman pitied the poor Old Woman, put his hand in his pocket,\nand made her a present according to his means.\n\nThen he wanted to go on. But the Old Woman held him back, and said:\n'Hark ye, dear Huntsman, I will make you a present because of your\ngood heart. Go on your way, and you will come to a tree, on which nine\nbirds are sitting. They will have a cloak in their claws, over which\nthey are fighting. Take aim with your gun, and shoot into the middle\nof them. They will drop the cloak, and one of the birds will fall down\ndead. Take the cloak with you, it is a wishing-cloak. When you throw\nit round your shoulders you only have to wish yourself at a place to\nbe there at once. Take the heart out of the dead bird and swallow it\nwhole, then you will find a gold coin under your pillow every single\nmorning when you wake.'\n\nThe Huntsman thanked the Wise Woman, and thought: 'She promises fine\nthings, if only they turn out as well.'\n\nWhen he had gone about a hundred paces, he heard above him, in the\nbranches of a tree, such a chattering and screaming that he looked up.\n\nThere he saw a flock of birds tearing a garment with their beaks and\nclaws; snatching and tearing at it as if each one wanted to have it\nfor himself.\n\n'Well,' said the Huntsman, 'this is extraordinary, it is exactly what\nthe Old Woman said.'\n\nHe put his gun to his shoulder, took aim and fired right into the\nmiddle of them, making the feathers fly about.\n\nThe birds took flight with a great noise, all except one, which fell\ndown dead, and the cloak dropped at his feet.\n\nHe did as the Old Woman had told him, cut the heart out of the bird\nand swallowed it whole. Then he took the cloak home with him.\n\nWhen he woke in the morning, he remembered the Old Woman's promise,\nand looked under his pillow to see if it was true.\n\nThere, sure enough, lay the golden coin shining before him, and the\nnext morning he found another, and the same every morning when he got\nup.\n\nHe collected quite a heap of gold, and at last he thought: 'What is\nthe good of all my gold if I stay at home here? I will go and look\nabout me in the world.'\n\nSo he took leave of his parents, shouldered his gun, and started off\ninto the world.\n\n  [Illustration: But the Old Woman was a witch.]\n\nIt so happened that one day he came to a thick forest, and when he got\nthrough it, he saw a fine castle lying in the plain beyond.\n\nHe saw an Old Woman standing in one of the windows looking out, with a\nbeautiful Maiden beside her.\n\nBut the Old Woman was a witch, and she said to the Maiden: 'Here comes\nsome one out of the forest. He has a wonderful treasure inside him; we\nmust try to get it from him, my darling, it will suit us better than\nhim. He has a bird's heart about him, and therefore he finds a gold\ncoin every morning under his pillow when he wakes.'\n\nShe told the girl how he had got it, and at last said: 'If you don't\nget it from him, it will be the worse for you.'\n\nWhen the Huntsman got nearer, he saw the Maiden, and said: 'I have\nbeen wandering about for a long time, I will go into this castle and\ntake a rest. I have plenty of money.'\n\nBut the real reason was that he had caught sight of the pretty picture\nat the window. He went in, and he was kindly received and hospitably\ntreated.\n\nBefore long, he was so enamoured of the Witch-Maiden that he thought\nof nothing else, and cared for nothing but pleasing her.\n\nThe Old Woman said to the Maiden: 'Now we must get the bird's heart,\nhe will never miss it.'\n\nThey concocted a potion, and when it was ready they put it into a\ngoblet.\n\nAnd the Maiden took it to him, and said: 'Now, my beloved, you must\ndrink to me.'\n\nHe took the cup and drank the potion, and when he was overpowered by\nit the bird's heart came out of his mouth.\n\nThe Maiden took it away secretly and swallowed it herself, for the Old\nWoman wanted to have it.\n\nFrom this time the Huntsman found no more gold under his pillow; but\nthe coin was always under the Maiden's instead, and the Old Woman used\nto fetch it away every morning.\n\nBut he was so much in love, that he thought of nothing but enjoying\nhimself in the Maiden's company.\n\nThen the Old Woman said: 'We have got the bird's heart, but we must\nhave his wishing-cloak too.'\n\nThe Maiden said: 'Let us leave him that; we have taken away his\nwealth.'\n\nThe Old Woman was very angry, and said: 'A cloak like that is a very\nwonderful thing, and not often to be got. Have it I must, and will!'\n\nSo she obeyed the Witch's orders, placed herself at the window, and\nlooked sadly out at the distant hills.\n\nThe Huntsman said: 'Why are you so sad?'\n\n'Alas! my love,' was her answer, 'over there are the garnet\nmountains, where the precious stones are found. I long for them so\nmuch that I grow sad whenever I think of them. But who could ever get\nthem? The birds which fly, perhaps; no mortal could ever reach them.'\n\n'If that is all your trouble,' said the Huntsman, 'I can soon lift\nthat load from your heart.'\n\nThen he drew her under his cloak, and in a moment they were both\nsitting on the mountain. The precious stones were glittering around\nthem; their hearts rejoiced at the sight of them, and they soon\ngathered together some of the finest and largest.\n\nNow the Witch had so managed that the Huntsman began to feel his eyes\ngrow very heavy.\n\nSo he said to the Maiden: 'We will sit down to rest a while, I am so\ntired I can hardly stand.'\n\nSo they sat down, and he laid his head on her lap and was soon fast\nasleep.\n\nAs soon as he was asleep, the Maiden slipped the cloak from his\nshoulders and put it on her own, loaded herself with the precious\ngarnets, and wished herself at home.\n\nWhen the Huntsman had had his sleep out, he woke up and saw that his\nbeloved had betrayed him, and left him alone on the wild mountain.\n\n'Oh, what treachery there is in the world!' he exclaimed, as he sat\ndown in grief, and did not know what to do.\n\nNow the mountain belonged to some wild and savage Giants who lived on\nit, and before long he saw three of them striding along.\n\nHe quickly lay down again and pretended to be fast asleep.\n\nThe first one, as he came along, stumbled against him, and said: 'What\nkind of earthworm is this?'\n\nThe second said: 'Tread on him and kill him.'\n\nBut the third said: 'It isn't worth the trouble. Let him alone,--he\ncan't live here; and when he climbs higher up the mountain, the clouds\nwill roll down and carry him off.'\n\nThen they passed on, and as soon as they were gone, the Huntsman, who\nhad heard all they said, got up and climbed up to the top of the\nmountain.\n\nAfter he had sat there for a time, a cloud floated over him, and\ncarried him away.\n\nAt first he was swept through the air, but then he was gently lowered\nand deposited within a large walled garden, upon a soft bed of\nlettuces and other herbs.\n\nHe looked around him and said: 'If only I had something to eat; I am\nso hungry. And it will be difficult to get away from here. I see\nneither apples nor pears, nor any other fruit, nothing but salad and\nherbs.'\n\nAt last, however, he thought: 'At the worst, I can eat some of this\nsalad; it does not taste very good, but it will, at least, be\nrefreshing.'\n\nHe picked out a fine head of lettuce, and began eating it. But he had\nhardly swallowed a little piece, when he began to feel very odd, and\nquite changed. He felt four legs growing, a big head, and two long\nears, and he saw to his horror that he was changed into an ass.\n\nAs he at the same time felt as hungry as ever, and the juicy salad was\nnow very much to his taste, he went on eating greedily.\n\nAt last he reached another kind of salad, which he had hardly tasted\nwhen he felt a new change taking place, and found himself back in his\nhuman shape.\n\nAfter this he lay down and slept off his fatigue.\n\nWhen he woke next morning he broke off a head of the bad salad, and a\nhead of the good, and thought: 'These will help me to regain my own,\nand also to punish the traitors.'\n\nHe put the salad into his wallet, climbed over the wall, and went off\nto find the castle of his beloved.\n\nAfter wandering about for a few days, he was fortunate enough to find\nit. Then he stained his face, and disguised himself so that his own\nmother would not have known him, and went to the castle to ask for\nshelter.\n\n'I am so tired,' he said; 'I cannot go any further.'\n\nThe Witch said: 'Who are you, countryman, and what do you want?'\n\nHe answered: 'I am a messenger from the King. He sent me to find the\nrarest salad which grows under the sun. I have been lucky enough to\nfind it, and I carry it with me. But the sun is so burning, that I am\nafraid the tender plant will be withered, and I don't know if I shall\nbe able to take it any further.'\n\nWhen the Old Witch heard about the rare salad, she felt a great desire\nto have some, and said: 'Good countryman, let me try the wonderful\nsalad!'\n\n'By all means,' he answered. 'I have two heads with me, and you shall\nhave one.' So saying, he opened his sack, and handed her the bad one.\n\nThe Witch had no suspicions, and her mouth so watered for the new\ndish, that she went to the kitchen herself to prepare it.\n\nWhen it was ready, she could not wait till it was put upon the table,\nbut put a few leaves into her mouth at once.\n\nHardly had she swallowed them, when she lost her human shape, and ran\nout into the courtyard, as an old she-ass.\n\nThen the Maid came into the kitchen, saw the salad standing ready, and\nwas about to put it on the table. But on the way the fancy seized her\nto taste it, according to her usual habit, and she ate a few leaves.\n\nThe power of the salad at once became apparent, because she also\nturned into an ass, and ran out into the yard to join the Old Witch,\nwhile the dish of salad fell to the ground.\n\nIn the meantime the messenger was sitting with the beautiful Maiden,\nand as no one appeared with the salad, she also was seized with a\ndesire to taste it, and said: 'I don't know what has become of the\nsalad.'\n\nBut the Huntsman thought: 'The plant must have done its work,' and\nsaid: 'I will go into the kitchen and see.'\n\nAs soon as he got downstairs he saw the two asses running about, and\nthe salad lying on the ground.\n\n'This is all right!' he said; 'two of them are done for.'\n\nThen he picked up the leaves, put them on a dish, and took them to the\nMaiden.\n\n'I am bringing the precious food to you myself,' said he, 'so that you\nmay not have to wait any longer.'\n\nShe ate some, and, like the others, was immediately changed into an\nass, and ran out to them in the yard.\n\n  [Illustration: He tied them all together and drove them along till\n    he came to a mill.]\n\nWhen the Huntsman had washed his face so that the transformed\ncreatures might know him, he went into the courtyard, and said: 'Now,\nyou shall be paid for your treachery.'\n\nHe tied them all together with a rope, and drove them along till he\ncame to a mill. He tapped at the window, and the Miller put his head\nout and asked what he wanted.\n\n'I have three bad animals here,' he said, 'that I want to get rid of.\nIf you will take them and feed them, and treat them as I wish, I will\npay you what you like to ask.'\n\n'Why not?' said the Miller. 'How do you want them treated?'\n\nThe Huntsman said he wanted the old she-ass (the Witch) to be well\nbeaten three times a day and fed once. The younger one, which was the\nMaid, beaten once and fed three times. The youngest of all, who was\nthe beautiful Maiden, was to be fed three times, and not beaten at\nall; he could not find it in his heart to have her beaten.\n\nThen he went back to the castle and found everything he wanted in it.\n\nA few days later the Miller came and told him that the old ass which\nwas to be beaten three times and fed once, was dead. 'The other two,'\nhe said, 'which are to be fed three times, are not dead, but they are\npining away, and won't last long.'\n\nThe Huntsman's heart was stirred with pity, and he told the Miller to\nbring them back to him.\n\nWhen they came he gave them some of the other salad to eat, so that\nthey took their human shapes again.\n\nThe beautiful Maiden fell on her knees before him, and said: 'O my\nbeloved, forgive me all the wrong I have done you. My mother forced me\nto do it. It was against my own will, for I love you dearly. Your\nwishing-cloak is hanging in the cupboard, and you shall have the\nbird's heart back too.'\n\nBut he said: 'Keep it; it will be all the same, as I will take you to\nbe my own true wife.'\n\nTheir marriage was soon after celebrated, and they lived happily\ntogether till they died.\n\n\n\n\nThe Youth who could not Shudder\n\n\nThere was once a Father who had two sons. One was clever and sensible,\nand always knew how to get on. But the younger one was stupid, and\ncould not learn anything, and he had no imagination.\n\nWhen people saw him, they said: 'His Father will have plenty of\ntrouble with him.'\n\nWhenever there was anything to be done, the eldest one always had to\ndo it. But if his Father sent him to fetch anything late in the\nevening, or at night, and the way lay through the churchyard, or any\nother dreary place, he would answer: 'Oh no, Father, not there; it\nmakes me shudder!' For he was afraid.\n\nIn the evening, when stories were being told round the fire which made\none's flesh creep, and the listeners said: 'Oh, you make me shudder!'\nthe youngest son, sitting in the corner listening, could not imagine\nwhat they meant. 'They always say \"It makes me shudder! It makes me\nshudder!\" And it doesn't make me shudder a bit. It must be some art\nwhich I can't understand.'\n\nNow it happened one day that his Father said to him: 'I say, you in\nthe corner there, you are growing big and strong. You must learn\nsomething by which you can make a living. See what pains your brother\ntakes, but you are not worth your salt.'\n\n'Well, Father,' he answered, 'I am quite ready to learn something;\nnay, I should very much like to learn how to shudder, for I know\nnothing about that.'\n\nThe elder son laughed when he heard him, and thought: 'Good heavens!\nwhat a fool my brother is; he will never do any good as long as he\nlives.'\n\nBut his Father sighed, and answered: 'You will easily enough learn how\nto shudder, but you won't make your bread by it.'\n\nSoon after, the Sexton came to the house on a visit, and the Father\nconfided his troubles about his son to him. He told him how stupid he\nwas, and how he never could learn anything. 'Would you believe that\nwhen I asked him how he was going to make his living, he said he would\nlike to learn how to shudder?'\n\n'If that's all,' said the Sexton, 'he may learn that from me. Just let\nme have him, and I'll soon put the polish on him.'\n\nThe Father was pleased, for he thought: 'Anyhow, the Lad will gain\nsomething by it.'\n\nSo the Sexton took him home with him, and he had to ring the church\nbells.\n\nA few days after, the Sexton woke him at midnight, and told him to get\nup and ring the bells. 'You shall soon be taught how to shudder!' he\nthought, as he crept stealthily up the stairs beforehand.\n\nWhen the Lad got up into the tower, and turned round to catch hold of\nthe bell rope, he saw a white figure standing on the steps opposite\nthe belfry window.\n\n'Who is there?' he cried; but the figure neither moved nor answered.\n\n'Answer,' cried the Lad, 'or get out of the way. You have no business\nhere in the night.'\n\nBut so that the Lad should think he was a ghost, the Sexton did not\nstir.\n\nThe Lad cried for the second time: 'What do you want here? Speak if\nyou are an honest fellow, or I'll throw you down the stairs.'\n\nThe Sexton did not think he would go to such lengths, so he made no\nsound, and stood as still as if he were made of stone.\n\nThen the Lad called to him the third time, and, as he had no answer,\nhe took a run and threw the ghost down the stairs. It fell down ten\nsteps, and remained lying in a corner.\n\nThen he rang the bells, went home, and, without saying a word to\nanybody, went to bed and was soon fast asleep.\n\nThe Sexton's wife waited a long time for her husband, but, as he never\ncame back, she got frightened, and woke up the Lad.\n\n'Don't you know what has become of my husband?' she asked. 'He went up\ninto the church tower before you.'\n\n'No,' answered the Lad. 'There was somebody standing on the stairs\nopposite the belfry window, and, as he would neither answer me nor go\naway, I took him to be a rogue and threw him downstairs. Go and see if\nit was your husband; I should be sorry if it were.'\n\nThe woman hurried away and found her husband lying in the corner,\nmoaning, with a broken leg. She carried him down, and then hastened\nwith loud cries to the Lad's father.\n\n'Your son has brought about a great misfortune; he has thrown my\nhusband downstairs and broken his leg. Take the good-for-nothing\nfellow away, out of our house.'\n\nThe Father was horrified, and, going back with her, gave the Lad a\ngood scolding.\n\n'What is the meaning of this inhuman prank? The evil one must have put\nit into your head.'\n\n'Father,' answered the Lad, 'just listen to me. I am quite innocent.\nHe stood there in the dark, like a man with some wicked design. I did\nnot know who it was, and I warned him three times to speak, or to go\naway!'\n\n'Alas!' said his Father, 'you bring me nothing but disaster. Go away\nout of my sight. I will have nothing more to do with you.'\n\n'Gladly, Father. Only wait till daylight; then I will go away, and\nlearn to shudder. Then, at least, I shall have one art to make my\nliving by.'\n\n'Learn what you like,' said his Father. 'It's all the same to me. Here\nare fifty thalers for you. Go out into the world, and don't tell a\ncreature where you come from, or who your Father is, for you will only\nbring me to shame.'\n\n'Just as you please, Father. If that is all you want, I can easily\nfulfil your desire.'\n\nAt daybreak, the Lad put his fifty thalers into his pocket, and went\nout along the high road, repeating over and over to himself as he\nwent: 'If only I could shudder, if only I could shudder.'\n\nA Man came by and overheard the words the Lad was saying to himself,\nand when they had gone a little further, and came within sight of the\ngallows, he said: 'See, there is the tree where those seven have been\nwedded to the ropemaker's daughter, and are now learning to fly. Sit\ndown below them, and when night comes you will soon learn to shudder.'\n\n'If nothing more than that is needed,' said the Lad, 'it is easily\ndone. And if I learn to shudder as easily as that, you shall have my\nfifty thalers. Come back to me early to-morrow morning.'\n\nThen the Lad went up to the gallows, and sat down under them to wait\ntill night came.\n\nAs he was cold he lighted a fire, but at midnight the wind grew so\ncold that he did not know how to keep himself warm.\n\nThe wind blew the men on the gallows backwards and forwards, and swung\nthem against each other, so he thought: 'Here am I freezing by the\nfire, how much colder they must be up there.'\n\nAnd as he was very compassionate, he mounted the ladder, undid them,\nand brought all seven down one by one.\n\nThen he blew up the fire, and placed them round it to warm themselves.\n\nThey sat there and never moved, even when the fire caught their\nclothing.\n\n'Take care, or I will hang you all up again.'\n\nThe dead men, of course, could not hear, and remained silent while\ntheir few rags were burnt up.\n\nThen he grew angry, and said: 'If you won't take care of yourselves,\nI can't help you, and I won't be burnt with you.'\n\nSo he hung them all up again in a row, and sat down by the fire and\nwent to sleep again.\n\nNext morning, the Man, wanting to get his fifty thalers, came to him\nand said: 'Now do you know what shuddering means?'\n\n'No,' he said; 'how should I have learnt it? Those fellows up there\nnever opened their mouths, and they were so stupid that they let the\nfew poor rags they had about them burn.'\n\nThen the Man saw that no thalers would be his that day, and he went\naway, saying: 'Never in my life have I seen such a fellow as this.'\n\nThe Lad also went on his way, and again began saying to himself: 'Oh,\nif only I could learn to shudder, if only I could learn to shudder.'\n\nA Carter, walking behind him, heard this, and asked: 'Who are you?'\n\n'I don't know,' answered the Youth.\n\n'Who is your Father?'\n\n'That I must not say.'\n\n'What are you always mumbling in your beard?'\n\n'Ah,' answered the Youth, 'I want to learn to shudder, but no one can\nteach me.'\n\n'Stop your silly chatter,' said the Carter. 'Just you come with me,\nand I'll see that you have what you want.'\n\nThe Youth went with the Carter, and in the evening they reached an\ninn, where they meant to pass the night. He said quite loud, as they\nentered: 'Oh, if only I could learn to shudder, if only I could learn\nto shudder.'\n\nThe Landlord, who heard him, laughed, and said: 'If that's what you\nwant, there should be plenty of opportunity for you here.'\n\n'I will have nothing to say to it,' said the Landlady. 'So many a\nprying fellow has already paid the penalty with his life. It would be\na sin and a shame if those bright eyes should not see the light of day\nagain.'\n\nBut the Youth said: 'I will learn it somehow, however hard it may be.\nI have been driven out for not knowing it.'\n\nHe gave the Landlord no peace till he told him that there was an\nenchanted castle a little way off, where any one could be made to\nshudder, if he would pass three nights in it.\n\nThe King had promised his daughter to wife to any one who dared do it,\nand she was the prettiest maiden the sun had ever shone on.\n\nThere were also great treasures hidden in the castle, watched over by\nevil spirits, enough to make any poor man rich who could break the\nspell.\n\nAlready many had gone in, but none had ever come out.\n\nNext morning the Youth went to the King, and said: 'By your leave, I\nshould like to pass three nights in the enchanted castle.'\n\nThe King looked at him, and, as he took a fancy to him, he said: 'You\nmay ask three things to take into the castle with you, but they must\nbe lifeless things.'\n\nHe answered: 'Then I ask for a fire, a turning-lathe, and a cooper's\nbench with the knife.'\n\nThe King had all three carried into the castle for him.\n\nWhen night fell, the Youth went up to the castle and made a bright\nfire in one of the rooms. He put the cooper's bench with the knife\nnear the fire, and seated himself on the turning-lathe.\n\n'Oh, if only I could shudder,' he said; 'but I shan't learn it here\neither.'\n\nTowards midnight he wanted to make up the fire, and, as he was blowing\nit up, something in one corner began to shriek: 'Miau, miau, how cold\nwe are!'\n\n'You fools!' he cried. 'What do you shriek for? If you are cold, come\nand warm yourselves by the fire.'\n\nAs he spoke, two big black cats bounded up and sat down, one on each\nside of him, and stared at him with wild, fiery eyes.\n\nAfter a time, when they had warmed themselves, they said: 'Comrade,\nshall we have a game of cards?'\n\n'Why not?' he answered; 'but show me your paws first.'\n\nThen they stretched out their claws.\n\n'Why,' he said, 'what long nails you've got. Wait a bit; I must cut\nthem for you.'\n\nHe seized them by the scruff of their necks, lifted them on to the\ncooper's bench, and screwed their paws firmly to it.\n\n  [Illustration: Crowds of black cats and dogs swarmed out of every\n    corner.]\n\n'I have looked at your fingers, and the desire to play cards with you\nhas passed.'\n\nThen he killed them and threw them out into the moat.\n\nBut no sooner had he got rid of these two cats, and was about to sit\ndown by his fire again, than crowds of black cats and dogs swarmed out\nof every corner, more and more of them.\n\nThey howled horribly, and trampled on his fire, and tried to put it\nout.\n\nFor a time he looked quietly on, but when it grew too bad he seized\nhis cooper's knife, and cried: 'Away with you, you rascally pack,' and\nlet fly among them right and left. Some of them sprang away, the\nothers he killed, and threw them out into the water.\n\nWhen he came back he scraped the embers of his fire together again,\nand warmed himself. He could hardly keep his eyes open, and felt the\ngreatest desire to go to sleep. He looked round, and in one corner he\nsaw a big bed.\n\n'That's the very thing,' he said, and lay down in it. As soon as he\nclosed his eyes, the bed began to move, and soon it was tearing round\nand round the castle. 'Very good!' he said. 'The faster the better!'\nThe bed rolled on as if it were dragged by six horses; over thresholds\nand stairs, up and down.\n\nSuddenly it went hop, hop, hop, and turned topsy-turvy, so that it lay\nupon him like a mountain. But he pitched the pillows and blankets into\nthe air, slipped out of it, and said: 'Now any one may ride who\nlikes.'\n\nThen he lay down by his fire and slept till daylight.\n\nIn the morning the King came, and when he saw him lying on the floor,\nhe thought the ghosts had killed him, and he was dead. So he said:\n'It's a sad pity, for such a handsome fellow.'\n\nBut the Youth heard him, and sat up, saying: 'It has not come to that\nyet.'\n\nThe King was surprised and delighted, and asked him how he had got on.\n\n'Pretty well!' he answered. 'One night is gone, I suppose I shall get\nthrough the others too.'\n\nWhen the Landlord saw him he opened his eyes, and said: 'I never\nthought I should see you alive again. Have you learnt how to shudder\nnow?'\n\n'No,' he answered; 'it's all in vain. If only some one would tell me\nhow.'\n\nThe second night came, and up he went again and sat down by the fire,\nand began his old song: 'Oh, if only I could learn to shudder.'\n\nIn the middle of the night a great noise and uproar began, first soft,\nand then growing louder; then for a short time there would be silence.\n\nAt last, with a loud scream, half the body of a man fell down the\nchimney in front of him.\n\n'Hullo!' he said, 'another half is wanting here; this is too little.'\n\nThe noise began again, and, amidst shrieks and howls, the other half\nfell down.\n\n'Wait a bit,' he said; 'I'll blow up the fire.'\n\nWhen this was done, and he looked round, the two halves had come\ntogether, and a hideous man sat in his place.\n\n'We didn't bargain for that,' said the Youth. 'The bench is mine.'\n\nThe man wanted to push him out of the way, but the Youth would not\nhave it, flung him aside, and took his own seat.\n\nThen more men fell down the chimney, one after the other, and they\nfetched nine human shin bones and two skulls, and began to play\nskittles.\n\nThe Youth felt inclined to join them, and cried: 'I say, can I play\ntoo?'\n\n'Yes, if you've got any money.'\n\n'Money enough,' he answered, 'but your balls aren't quite round.'\n\nThen he took the skulls and turned them on the lathe till they were\nquite round. 'Now they will roll better,' he said. 'Here goes! The\nmore, the merrier!'\n\nSo he played with them, and lost some money, but when it struck\ntwelve everything disappeared. He lay down, and was soon fast asleep.\n\nNext morning the King came again to look after him, and said: 'Well,\nhow did you get on this time?'\n\n'I played skittles,' he answered, 'and lost a few coins.'\n\n'Didn't you learn to shudder?'\n\n'Not I. I only made merry. Oh, if I could but find out how to\nshudder.'\n\nOn the third night he again sat down on his bench, and said quite\nsavagely: 'If only I could shudder!'\n\nWhen it grew late, six tall men came in, carrying a bier, and he said:\n'Hullo there! That must be my cousin who died a few days ago.' And he\nbeckoned and said: 'Come along, cousin, come along.'\n\nThe men put the coffin on the floor, and he went up and took the lid\noff, and there lay a dead man. He felt the face, and it was as cold\nas ice. 'Wait,' he said; 'I will warm him.'\n\nThen he went to the fire and warmed his hand, and laid it on his face,\nbut the dead man remained cold. He took him out of the coffin, sat\ndown by the fire, and took him on his knees, and rubbed his arms to\nmake the blood circulate.\n\nBut it was all no good. Next, it came into his head that if two people\nwere in bed together, they warmed each other. So he put the dead man\nin the bed, covered him up, and lay down beside him.\n\nAfter a time the dead man grew warm, and began to move.\n\nThen the Youth said: 'There, you see, cousin mine, have I not warmed\nyou?'\n\nBut the Man rose up, and cried: 'Now, I will strangle you!'\n\n'What!' said he, 'are those all the thanks I get? Back you go into\nyour coffin then.' So saying, he lifted him up, threw him in, and\nfastened down the lid. Then the six men came back and carried the\ncoffin away.\n\n'I cannot shudder,' he said; 'and I shall never learn it here.'\n\nJust then a huge Man appeared. He was frightful to look at, old, and\nwith a long white beard.\n\n'Oh, you miserable wight!' he cried. 'You shall soon learn what\nshuddering is, for you shall die.'\n\n'Not so fast,' said the Youth. 'If I am to die, I must be present.'\n\n'I will make short work of you,' said the old monster.\n\n'Softly! softly! don't you boast. I am as strong as you, and very\nlikely much stronger.'\n\n'We shall see about that,' said the Old Man. 'If you are the stronger,\nI will let you go. Come; we will try.'\n\nThen he led him through numberless dark passages to a smithy, took an\naxe, and with one blow struck one of the anvils into the earth.\n\n'I can better that,' said the Youth, and went to the other anvil. The\nOld Man placed himself near to see, and his white beard hung over.\n\nThen the Youth took the axe and split the anvil with one blow,\ncatching in the Old Man's beard at the same time.\n\n'Now, I have you fast,' said the Youth, 'and you will be the one to\ndie.'\n\nThen he seized an iron rod, and belaboured the Old Man with it, till\nhe shrieked for mercy, and promised him great riches if he would stop.\n\nThen the Youth pulled out the axe and released him, and the Old Man\nled him back into the castle, and showed him three chests of gold in a\ncellar.\n\n'One is for the poor,' he said, 'one for the King, and one for you.'\n\nThe clock struck twelve, and the ghost disappeared, leaving the Youth\nin the dark.\n\n'I must manage to get out somehow,' he said, and groped about till he\nfound his way back to his room, where he lay down by the fire and went\nto sleep.\n\nNext morning the King came and said: 'Now you must have learnt how to\nshudder.'\n\n  [Illustration: {Then the Youth took the axe and split the anvil with\n    one blow, catching in the Old Man's beard at the same time.}]\n\n'No,' said he. 'What can it be? My dead cousin was there, and an Old\nMan with a beard came and showed me a lot of gold. But what shuddering\nis, that no man can tell me.'\n\nThen said the King: 'You have broken the spell on the castle, and you\nshall marry my daughter.'\n\n'That is all very well,' he said; 'but still I don't know what\nshuddering is.'\n\nThe gold was got out of the castle, and the marriage was celebrated,\nbut, happy as the young King was, and much as he loved his wife, he\nwas always saying: 'Oh, if only I could learn to shudder, if only I\ncould learn to shudder.'\n\nAt last his wife was vexed by it, and her waiting-woman said: 'I can\nhelp you; he shall be taught the meaning of shuddering.'\n\nAnd she went out to the brook which ran through the garden and got a\npail full of cold water and little fishes.\n\nAt night, when the young King was asleep, his wife took the coverings\noff and poured the cold water over him, and all the little fishes\nflopped about him.\n\nThen he woke up, and cried: 'Oh, how I am shuddering, dear wife, how I\nam shuddering! Now I know what shuddering is!'\n\n\n\n\nKing Thrushbeard\n\n\nThere was once a King who had a Daughter. She was more beautiful than\nwords can tell, but at the same time so proud and haughty that no man\nwho came to woo her was good enough for her. She turned away one after\nanother, and even mocked them.\n\nOne day her father ordered a great feast to be given, and invited to\nit all the marriageable young men from far and near.\n\nThey were all placed in a row, according to their rank and position.\nFirst came Kings, then Princes, then Dukes, Earls, and Barons.\n\nThe Princess was led through the ranks, but she had some fault to find\nwith all of them.\n\nOne was too stout. 'That barrel!' she said. The next was too tall.\n'Long and lean is no good!' The third was too short. 'Short and stout,\ncan't turn about!' The fourth was too white. 'Pale as death!' The\nfifth was too red. 'Turkey-cock!' The sixth was not straight.\n'Oven-dried!'\n\nSo there was something against each of them. But she made specially\nmerry over one good King, who stood quite at the head of the row, and\nwhose chin was a little hooked.\n\n'Why!' she cried, 'he has a chin like the beak of a thrush.'\n\nAfter that, he was always called 'King Thrushbeard.'\n\nWhen the old King saw that his Daughter only made fun of them, and\ndespised all the suitors who were assembled, he was very angry, and\nswore that the first beggar who came to the door should be her\nhusband.\n\nA few days after, a wandering Musician began to sing at the window,\nhoping to receive charity.\n\nWhen the King heard him, he said: 'Let him be brought in.'\n\nThe Musician came in, dressed in dirty rags, and sang to the King and\nhis Daughter, and when he had finished, he begged alms of them.\n\nThe King said: 'Your song has pleased me so much, that I will give you\nmy Daughter to be your wife.'\n\nThe Princess was horror-stricken. But the King said: 'I have sworn an\noath to give you to the first beggar who came; and I will keep my\nword.'\n\nNo entreaties were of any avail. A Parson was brought, and she had to\nmarry the Musician there and then.\n\nWhen the marriage was completed, the King said: 'Now you are a\nbeggar-woman, you can't stay in my castle any longer. You must go away\nwith your Husband.'\n\nThe Beggar took her by the hand and led her away, and she was obliged\nto go with him on foot.\n\nWhen they came to a big wood, she asked:\n\n    'Ah! who is the Lord of this forest so fine?'\n    'It belongs to King Thrushbeard. It might have been thine,\n    If his Queen you had been.'\n    'Ah! sad must I sing!\n    I would I'd accepted the hand of the King.'\n\nAfter that they reached a great meadow, and she asked again:\n\n    'Ah! who is the Lord of these meadows so fine?'\n    'They belong to King Thrushbeard, and would have been thine,\n    If his Queen you had been.'\n    'Ah! sad must I sing!\n    I would I'd accepted the love of the King.'\n\nThen they passed through a large town, and again she asked:\n\n    'Ah! who is the Lord of this city so fine?'\n    'It belongs to King Thrushbeard, and it might have been thine,\n    If his Queen you had been.'\n    'Ah! sad must I sing!\n    I would I'd accepted the heart of the King.'\n\n'It doesn't please me at all,' said the Musician, 'that you are\nalways wishing for another husband. Am I not good enough for you?'\n\nAt last they came to a miserable little hovel, and she said:\n\n    'Ah, heavens! what's this house, so mean and small?\n    This wretched little hut's no house at all.'\n\nThe Musician answered: 'This is my house, and yours; where we are to\nlive together.'\n\nThe door was so low that she had to stoop to get in.\n\n'Where are the servants?' asked the Princess.\n\n'Servants indeed!' answered the Beggar. 'Whatever you want done, you\nmust do for yourself. Light the fire, and put the kettle on to make my\nsupper. I am very tired.'\n\nBut the Princess knew nothing about lighting fires or cooking, and to\nget it done at all, the Beggar had to do it himself.\n\nWhen they had finished their humble fare, they went to bed. But in the\nmorning the Man made her get up very early to do the housework.\n\nThey lived like this for a few days, till they had eaten up all their\nstore of food.\n\nThen the Man said: 'Wife, this won't do any longer; we can't live here\nwithout working. You shall make baskets.'\n\nSo he went out and cut some osiers, and brought them home. She began\nto weave them, but the hard osiers bruised her tender hands.\n\n'I see that won't do,' said the Beggar. 'You had better spin; perhaps\nyou can manage that.'\n\nSo she sat down and tried to spin, but the harsh yarn soon cut her\ndelicate fingers and made them bleed.\n\n'Now you see,' said the Man, 'what a good-for-nothing you are. I have\nmade a bad bargain in you. But I will try to start a trade in\nearthenware. You must sit in the market and offer your goods for\nsale.'\n\n  [Illustration: {The Beggar took her by the hand and led her away.}]\n\n'Alas!' she thought, 'if any of the people from my father's kingdom\ncome and see me sitting in the market-place, offering goods for\nsale, they will scoff at me.' But it was no good. She had to obey,\nunless she meant to die of hunger.\n\nAll went well the first time. The people willingly bought her wares\nbecause she was so handsome, and they paid what she asked them--nay,\nsome even gave her the money and left her the pots as well.\n\nThey lived on the gains as long as they lasted, and then the Man laid\nin a new stock of wares.\n\nShe took her seat in a corner of the market, set out her crockery\nabout her, and began to cry her wares.\n\nSuddenly, a drunken Hussar came galloping up, and rode right in among\nthe pots, breaking them into thousands of bits.\n\nShe began to cry, and was so frightened that she did not know what to\ndo. 'Oh! what will become of me?' she cried. 'What will my Husband say\nto me?' She ran home, and told him her misfortune.\n\n'Who would ever think of sitting at the corner of the market with\ncrockery?' he said. 'Stop that crying. I see you are no manner of use\nfor any decent kind of work. I have been to our King's palace, and\nasked if they do not want a kitchen wench, and they have promised to\ntry you. You will get your victuals free, at any rate.'\n\nSo the Princess became a kitchen wench, and had to wait upon the Cook\nand do all the dirty work. She fixed a pot into each of her pockets,\nand in them took home her share of the scraps and leavings, and upon\nthese they lived.\n\nIt so happened that the marriage of the eldest Princess just then took\nplace, and the poor Woman went upstairs and stood behind the door to\npeep at all the splendour.\n\nWhen the rooms were lighted up, and she saw the guests streaming in,\none more beautiful than the other, and the scene grew more and more\nbrilliant, she thought, with a heavy heart, of her sad fate. She\ncursed the pride and haughtiness which had been the cause of her\nhumiliation, and of her being brought to such depths.\n\nEvery now and then the Servants would throw her bits from the savoury\ndishes they were carrying away from the feast, and these she put into\nher pots to take home with her.\n\nAll at once the King's son came in. He was dressed in silk and velvet,\nand he had a golden chain round his neck.\n\nWhen he saw the beautiful Woman standing at the door, he seized her by\nthe hand, and wanted to dance with her.\n\nBut she shrank and refused, because she saw that it was King\nThrushbeard, who had been one of the suitors for her hand, and whom\nshe had most scornfully driven away.\n\nHer resistance was no use, and he dragged her into the hall. The\nstring by which her pockets were suspended broke. Down fell the pots,\nand the soup and savoury morsels were spilt all over the floor.\n\nWhen the guests saw it, they burst into shouts of mocking laughter.\n\nShe was so ashamed, that she would gladly have sunk into the earth.\nShe rushed to the door, and tried to escape, but on the stairs a Man\nstopped her and brought her back.\n\nWhen she looked at him, it was no other than King Thrushbeard again.\n\nHe spoke kindly to her, and said: 'Do not be afraid. I and the\nBeggar-Man, who lived in the poor little hovel with you, are one and\nthe same. For love of you I disguised myself; and I was also the\nHussar who rode among your pots. All this I did to bend your proud\nspirit, and to punish you for the haughtiness with which you mocked\nme.'\n\nShe wept bitterly, and said: 'I was very wicked, and I am not worthy\nto be your wife.'\n\nBut he said: 'Be happy! Those evil days are over. Now we will\ncelebrate our true wedding.'\n\nThe waiting-women came and put rich clothing upon her, and her Father,\nwith all his Court, came and wished her joy on her marriage with King\nThrushbeard.\n\nThen, in truth, her happiness began. I wish we had been there to see\nit, you and I.\n\n\n\n\nIron Hans\n\n\nThere was once a King whose castle was surrounded by a forest full of\ngame. One day he sent a Huntsman out to shoot a deer, but he never\ncame back.\n\n'Perhaps an accident has happened to him,' said the King.\n\nNext day he sent out two more Huntsmen to look for him, but they did\nnot return either. On the third day he sent for all his Huntsmen, and\nsaid to them, 'Search the whole forest without ceasing, until you have\nfound all three.'\n\nBut not a single man of all these, or one of the pack of hounds they\ntook with them, ever came back. From this time forth no one would\nventure into the forest; so there it lay, wrapped in silence and\nsolitude, with only an occasional eagle or hawk circling over it.\n\nThis continued for several years, and then one day a strange Huntsman\nsought an audience of the King, and offered to penetrate into the\ndangerous wood. The King, however, would not give him permission, and\nsaid, 'It's not safe, and I am afraid if you go in that you will never\ncome out again, any more than all the others.'\n\nThe Huntsman answered, 'Sire, I will take the risk upon myself. I do\nnot know fear.'\n\nSo the Huntsman went into the wood with his Dog. Before long the Dog\nput up some game, and wanted to chase it; but hardly had he taken a\nfew steps when he came to a deep pool, and could go no further. A\nnaked arm appeared out of the water, seized him, and drew him down.\n\nWhen the Huntsman saw this, he went back and fetched three men with\npails to empty the pool. When they got to the bottom they found a Wild\nMan, whose body was as brown as rusty iron, and his hair hanging down\nover his face to his knees. They bound him with cords, and carried\nhim away to the castle. There was great excitement over the Wild Man,\nand the King had an iron cage made for him in the courtyard. He\nforbade any one to open the door of the cage on pain of death, and the\nQueen had to keep the key in her own charge.\n\nAfter this, anybody could walk in the forest with safety.\n\nThe King had a little son eight years old, and one day he was playing\nin the courtyard. In his play his golden ball fell into the cage. The\nboy ran up, and said, 'Give me back my ball.'\n\n'Not until you have opened the door,' said the Wild Man.\n\n'No; I can't do that,' said the boy. 'My father has forbidden it,' and\nthen he ran away.\n\nNext day he came again, and asked for his ball. The Man said, 'Open my\ndoor'; but he would not.\n\nOn the third day the King went out hunting, and the boy came again,\nand said, 'Even if I would, I could not open the door. I have not got\nthe key.'\n\nThen the Wild Man said, 'It is lying under your mother's pillow. You\ncan easily get it.'\n\nThe boy, who was very anxious to have his ball back, threw his\nscruples to the winds, and fetched the key. The door was very stiff,\nand he pinched his fingers in opening it. As soon as it was open the\nWild Man came out, gave the boy his ball, and hurried away. The boy\nwas now very frightened, and cried out, 'O Wild Man, don't go away, or\nI shall be beaten!'\n\nThe Wild Man turned back, picked up the boy, put him on his shoulder,\nand walked hurriedly off into the wood.\n\nWhen the King came home he saw at once the cage was empty, and asked\nthe Queen how it had come about. She knew nothing about it, and went\nto look for the key, which was of course gone. They called the boy,\nbut there was no answer. The King sent people out into the fields to\nlook for him, but all in vain; he was gone. The King easily guessed\nwhat had happened, and great grief fell on the royal household.\n\nWhen the Wild Man got back into the depths of the dark forest he took\nthe boy down off his shoulder, and said, 'You will never see your\nfather and mother again; but I will keep you here with me, because you\nhad pity on me and set me free. If you do as you are told, you will be\nwell treated. I have treasures and gold enough and to spare, more than\nanybody in the world.'\n\nHe made a bed of moss for the boy, on which he went to sleep. Next\nmorning the Man led him to a spring, and said, 'You see this golden\nwell is bright and clear as crystal? You must sit by it, and take care\nthat nothing falls into it, or it will be contaminated. I shall come\nevery evening to see if you have obeyed my orders.'\n\nThe boy sat down on the edge of the spring to watch it; sometimes he\nwould see a gold fish or a golden snake darting through it, and he\nguarded it well, so that nothing should fall into it. One day as he\nwas sitting like this his finger pained him so much that involuntarily\nhe dipped it into the water. He drew it out very quickly, but saw that\nit was gilded, and although he tried hard to clean it, it remained\ngolden. In the evening Iron Hans came back, looked at the boy, and\nsaid, 'What has happened to the well to-day?'\n\n'Nothing, nothing!' he answered, keeping his finger behind his back,\nso that Iron Hans should not see it.\n\nBut he said, 'You have dipped your finger into the water. It does not\nmatter this time, but take care that nothing of the kind occurs\nagain.'\n\nEarly next morning the boy took his seat by the spring again to watch.\nHis finger still hurt very much, and he put his hand up above his\nhead; but, unfortunately, in so doing he brushed a hair into the well.\nHe quickly took it out, but it was already gilded. When Iron Hans came\nin the evening, he knew very well what had happened.\n\n'You have let a hair fall into the well,' he said. 'I will overlook it\nonce more, but if it happens for the third time, the well will be\npolluted, and you can no longer stay with me.'\n\nOn the third day the boy again sat by the well; but he took good care\nnot to move a finger, however much it might hurt. The time seemed very\nlong to him as he looked at his face reflected in the water. As he\nbent over further and further to look into his eyes, his long hair\nfell over his shoulder right into the water. He started up at once,\nbut not before his whole head of hair had become golden, and glittered\nlike the sun. You may imagine how frightened the poor boy was. He took\nhis pocket-handkerchief and tied it over his head, so that Iron Hans\nshould not see it. But he knew all about it before he came, and at\nonce said, 'Take that handkerchief off your head,' and then all the\ngolden hair tumbled out. All the poor boy's excuses were no good. 'You\nhave not stood the test, and you can no longer stay here. You must go\nout into the world, and there you will learn the meaning of poverty.\nBut as your heart is not bad, and as I wish you well, I will grant you\none thing. When you are in great need, go to the forest and cry \"Iron\nHans,\" and I will come and help you. My power is great, greater than\nyou think, and I have gold and silver in abundance.'\n\nSo the King's son left the forest, and wandered over trodden and\nuntrodden paths till he reached a great city. He tried to get work,\nbut he could not find any; besides, he knew no trade by which to make\na living. At last he went to the castle and asked if they would employ\nhim. The courtiers did not know what use they could make of him, but\nthey were taken with his appearance, and said he might stay. At last\nthe Cook took him into his service, and said he might carry wood and\nwater for him, and sweep up the ashes.\n\nOne day, as there was no one else at hand, the Cook ordered him to\ncarry the food up to the royal table. As he did not want his golden\nhair to be seen, he kept his cap on. Nothing of the sort had ever\nhappened in the presence of the King before, and he said, 'When you\ncome into the royal presence, you must take your cap off.'\n\n'Alas, Sire,' he said, 'I cannot take it off, I have a bad wound on my\nhead.'\n\nThen the King ordered the Cook to be called, and asked how he could\ntake such a boy into his service, and ordered him to be sent away at\nonce. But the Cook was sorry for him, and exchanged him with the\nGardener's boy.\n\nNow the boy had to dig and hoe, plant and water, in every kind of\nweather. One day in the summer, when he was working alone in the\ngarden, it was very hot, and he took off his cap for the fresh air to\ncool his head. When the sun shone on his hair it glittered so that the\nbeams penetrated right into the Princess's bedroom, and she sprang up\nto see what it was. She discovered the youth, and called to him,\n'Bring me a nosegay, young man.'\n\nHe hurriedly put on his cap, picked a lot of wild flowers, and tied\nthem up. On his way up to the Princess, the Gardener met him, and\nsaid, 'How can you take such poor flowers to the Princess? Quickly cut\nanother bouquet, and mind they are the choicest and rarest flowers.'\n\n'Oh no,' said the youth. 'The wild flowers have a sweeter scent, and\nwill please her better.'\n\n  [Illustration: She immediately clutched at his cap to pull it off;\n    but he held it on with both hands.]\n\nAs soon as he went into the room the Princess said, 'Take off your\ncap; it is not proper for you to wear it before me.'\n\nHe answered again, 'I may not take it off, because I have a wound on\nmy head.'\n\nBut she took hold of the cap, and pulled it off, and all his golden\nhair tumbled over his shoulders in a shower. It was quite a sight. He\ntried to get away, but she took hold of his arm, and gave him a\nhandful of ducats. He took them, but he cared nothing for the gold,\nand gave it to the Gardener for his children to play with.\n\nNext day the Princess again called him to bring her a bunch of wild\nflowers, and when he brought it she immediately clutched at his cap to\npull it off; but he held it on with both hands. Again she gave him a\nhandful of ducats, but he would not keep them, and gave them to the\nGardener's children. The third day the same thing happened, but she\ncould not take off his cap, and he would not keep the gold.\n\nNot long after this the kingdom was invaded. The King assembled his\nwarriors. He did not know whether they would be able to conquer his\nenemies or not, as they were very powerful, and had a mighty army.\nThen the Gardener's assistant said, 'I have been brought up to fight;\ngive me a horse, and I will go too.'\n\n  [Illustration: He called three times, 'Iron Hans,' as loud as he\n    could.]\n\nThe others laughed and said, 'When we are gone, find one for yourself.\nWe will leave one behind in the stable for you.'\n\nWhen they were gone, he went and got the horse out; it was lame in one\nleg, and hobbled along, humpety-hump, humpety-hump. Nevertheless, he\nmounted it and rode away to the dark forest. When he came to the edge\nof it, he called three times, 'Iron Hans,' as loud as he could, till\nthe trees resounded with it.\n\nThe Wild Man appeared immediately, and said, 'What do you want?'\n\n'I want a strong horse to go to the war.'\n\n'You shall have it, and more besides.'\n\nThe Wild Man went back into the wood, and before long a Groom came\nout, leading a fiery charger with snorting nostrils. Behind him\nfollowed a great body of warriors, all in armour, and their swords\ngleaming in the sun. The youth handed over his three-legged steed to\nthe Groom, mounted the other, and rode away at the head of the troop.\n\nWhen he approached the battle-field a great many of the King's men had\nalready fallen, and before long the rest must have given in. Then the\nyouth, at the head of his iron troop, charged, and bore down the enemy\nlike a mighty wind, smiting everything which came in their way. They\ntried to fly, but the youth fell upon them, and did not stop while one\nremained alive.\n\nInstead of joining the King, he led his troop straight back to the\nwood and called Iron Hans again.\n\n'What do you want?' asked the Wild Man.\n\n'Take back your charger and your troop, and give me back my\nthree-legged steed.'\n\nHis request was granted, and he rode his three-legged steed home.\n\nWhen the King returned to the castle his daughter met him and\ncongratulated him on his victory.\n\n'It was not I who won it,' he said; 'but a strange Knight, who came to\nmy assistance with his troop.' His daughter asked who the strange\nKnight was, but the King did not know, and said, 'He pursued the\nenemy, and I have not seen him since.'\n\nShe asked the Gardener about his assistant, but he laughed, and said,\n'He has just come home on his three-legged horse, and the others made\nfun of him, and said, \"Here comes our hobbler back again,\" and asked\nwhich hedge he had been sleeping under. He answered, \"I did my best,\nand without me things would have gone badly.\" Then they laughed at him\nmore than ever.'\n\nThe King said to his daughter, 'I will give a great feast lasting\nthree days, and you shall throw a golden apple. Perhaps the unknown\nKnight will come among the others to try and catch it.'\n\nWhen notice was given of the feast, the youth went to the wood and\ncalled Iron Hans.\n\n'What do you want?' he asked.\n\n'I want to secure the King's golden apple,' he said.\n\n'It is as good as yours already,' answered Iron Hans. 'You shall have\na tawny suit, and ride a proud chestnut.'\n\nWhen the day arrived the youth took his place among the other Knights,\nbut no one knew him. The Princess stepped forward and threw the apple\namong the Knights, and he was the only one who could catch it. As soon\nas he had it he rode away.\n\nOn the second day Iron Hans fitted him out as a White Knight, riding a\ngallant grey. Again he caught the apple; but he did not stay a minute,\nand, as before, hurried away.\n\nThe King now grew angry, and said, 'This must not be; he must come\nbefore me and give me his name.'\n\nHe gave an order that if the Knight made off again he was to be\npursued and brought back.\n\nOn the third day the youth received from Iron Hans a black outfit, and\na fiery black charger.\n\nAgain he caught the apple; but as he was riding off with it the King's\npeople chased him, and one came so near that he wounded him in the\nleg. Still he escaped, but his horse galloped so fast that his helmet\nfell off, and they all saw that he had golden hair. So they rode back,\nand told the King what they had seen.\n\nNext day the Princess asked the Gardener about his assistant.\n\n'He is working in the garden. The queer fellow went to the feast, and\nhe only came back last night. He has shown my children three golden\napples which he won.'\n\nThe King ordered him to be brought before him. When he appeared he\nstill wore his cap. But the Princess went up to him and took it off;\nthen all his golden hair fell over his shoulders, and it was so\nbeautiful that they were all amazed by it.\n\n'Are you the Knight who came to the feast every day in a different\ncolour, and who caught the three golden apples?' asked the King.\n\n'Yes,' he answered, 'and here are the apples,' bringing them out of\nhis pocket, and giving them to the King. 'If you want further proof,\nhere is the wound in my leg given me by your people when they pursued\nme. But I am also the Knight who helped you to conquer the enemy.'\n\n'If you can do such deeds you are no Gardener's boy. Tell me who is\nyour father?'\n\n'My father is a powerful King, and I have plenty of gold--as much as\never I want.'\n\n'I see very well,' said the King, 'that we owe you many thanks. Can I\ndo anything to please you?'\n\n'Yes,' he answered; 'indeed, you can. Give me your daughter to be my\nwife!'\n\nThe maiden laughed, and said, 'He does not beat about the bush; but I\nsaw long ago that he was no Gardener's boy.'\n\nThen she went up to him and kissed him.\n\nHis father and mother came to the wedding, and they were full of joy,\nfor they had long given up all hope of ever seeing their dear son\nagain. As they were all sitting at the wedding feast, the music\nsuddenly stopped, the doors flew open, and a proud King walked in at\nthe head of a great following. He went up to the Bridegroom, embraced\nhim, and said, 'I am Iron Hans, who was bewitched and changed into a\nWild Man; but you have broken the spell and set me free. All the\ntreasure that I have is now your own.'\n\n\n          Printed in Great Britain by\n  T. and A. Constable, Printers to His Majesty\n       at the University Press, Edinburgh\n\n\n\n\nTranscriber's Note\n\nMinor punctuation errors have been repaired. Capitalisation and hyphen\nusage has been made consistent within individual stories.\n\n\n\n\n\n<pre id=\"pg-footer\">","title":"Snowdrop & Other Tales","tradition":"myth-cosmogony","translated_text":null,"word_count":47458}