The Project Gutenberg eBook of Grimm's Fairy Stories, by Jacob Grimm and Wilhelm Grimm (2024)

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Colored Illustrations by JOHN B. GRUELLE

Pen and Ink Sketches by R. EMMETT OWEN

1922

Contents

THE GOOSE-GIRL

THE LITTLE BROTHER ANDSISTER

HANSEL AND GRETHEL

OH, IF I COULD BUT SHIVER!

DUMMLING AND THE THREEFEATHERS

LITTLE SNOW WHITE

CATHERINE AND FREDERICK

THE VALIANT LITTLETAILOR

LITTLE RED CAP

THE GOLDEN GOOSE

BEARSKIN

CINDERELLA

FAITHFUL JOHN

THE WATER OF LIFE

THUMBLING

BRIAR ROSE

THE SIX SWANS

RAPUNZEL

MOTHER HOLLE

THE FROG PRINCE

THE TRAVELS OF TOM THUMB

SNOW-WHITE ANDROSE-RED

THE THREE LITTLE MEN INTHE WOOD

RUMPELSTILTSKIN

LITTLE ONE-EYE, TWO-EYESAND THREE-EYES

THE GOOSE-GIRL

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

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

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

But the princess was very humble and meek, so she said nothingto her maid's ill behavior, but got upon her horse again.

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

And as she leaned down to drink, the lock of hair fell from herbosom and floated away with the water, without her seeing it, shewas so much frightened. But her maid saw it, and was very glad, forshe knew the charm, and saw that the poor bride would be in herpower now that she had lost the hair. So when the bride hadfinished drinking, and would have got upon Falada again, the maidsaid, "I shall ride upon Falada, and you may have my horseinstead;" so she was forced to give up her horse, and soonafterwards to take off her royal clothes, and put on her maid'sshabby ones.

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

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

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

Early the next morning, as the princess and Curdken went outthrough the gate, she said sorrowfully—

and the head answered—

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

Then there came a wind, so strong that it blew off Curdken'shat, and away it flew over the hills, and he after it; till, by thetime he came back, she had done combing and curling her hair, andput it up again safely. Then he was very angry and sulky, and wouldnot speak to her at all; but they watched the geese until it grewdark in the evening, and then drove them homewards.

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

and it answered—

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

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

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

"Why?" inquired the king.

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

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

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

and the head answers—

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Then the young king was married to his true wife, and theyreigned over the kingdom in peace and happiness all theirlives.

THE LITTLE BROTHER AND SISTER

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

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

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

At first the Sister wept over her little, changed Brother, andhe wept too, and knelt by her, very sorrowful; but at last themaiden said, "Be still, dear little fawn, and I will never forsakeyou!" and, taking off her golden garter, she placed it around hisneck, and, weaving rushes, made a girdle to lead him with. This shetied to him, and taking the other end in her hand, she led himaway, and they travelled deeper and deeper into the forest. Afterthey had gone a long distance they came to a little hut, and themaiden, peeping in, found it empty, and thought, "Here we can stayand dwell." Then she looked for leaves and moss to make a softcouch for the Fawn, and every morning she went out and collectedroots and berries and nuts for herself, and tender grass for theFawn. In the evening when the Sister was tired, and had said herprayers, she laid her head upon the back of the Fawn, which servedfor a pillow, on which she slept soundly. Had but the Brotherregained his own proper form, their lives would have been happyindeed.

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

As soon as she had said this, the little Fawn sprang off quiteglad and merry in the fresh breeze. The King and his huntsmenperceived the beautiful animal, and pursued him; but they could notcatch him, and when they thought they certainly had him, he sprangaway over the bushes, and got out of sight. Just as it was gettingdark, he ran up to the hut, and, knocking, said, "Sister mine, letme in." Then she unfastened the little door, and he went in, andrested all night long upon his soft couch. The next morning thehunt was commenced again, and as soon as the little Fawn heard thehorns and the tally-ho of the sportsmen he could not rest, andsaid, "Sister, dear, open the door; I must be off." The Sisteropened it, saying, "Return at evening, mind, and say the words asbefore." When the King and his huntsmen saw him again, the Fawnwith the golden necklace, they followed him, close, but he was toonimble and quick for them. The whole day long they kept up withhim, but towards evening the huntsmen made a circle around him, andone wounded him slightly in the hinder foot, so that he could runbut slowly. Then one of them slipped after him to the little hut,and heard him say, "Sister, dear, open the door," and saw that thedoor was opened and immediately shut behind him. The huntsman,having observed all this, went and told the King what he had seenand heard, and he said, "On the morrow I will pursue him onceagain."

The Sister, however, was terribly afraid when she saw that herFawn was wounded, and, washing off the blood, she put herbs uponthe foot, and said, "Go and rest upon your bed, dear Fawn, thatyour wound may heal." It was so slight, that the next morning hefelt nothing of it, and when he heard the hunting cries outside, heexclaimed, "I cannot stop away—I must be there, and noneshall catch me so easily again!" The Sister wept very much and toldhim, "Soon will they kill you, and I shall be here alone in thisforest, forsaken by all the world: I cannot let you go."

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

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

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

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

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

When midnight came, and every one was asleep, the nurse, who satby herself, wide awake, near the cradle, in the nursery, saw thedoor open and the true Queen come in. She took the child in herarms, and rocked it a while, and then, shaking up its pillow, laidit down in its cradle, and covered it over again. She did notforget the Fawn, either, but going to the corner where he was,stroked his head, and then went silently out of the door. The nurseasked in the morning of the guards if any one had passed into thecastle during the night; but they answered, "No, we have not seenanybody." For many nights afterwards she came constantly, but neverspoke a word; and the nurse saw her always, but she would not trustherself to speak about it to any one.

When some time had passed away, the Queen one night began tospeak, and said—

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

And she nursed the child, as she usually did, and thendisappeared. The King dared not speak; but he watched the followingnight, and this time she said—

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

HANSEL AND GRETHEL

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

"Know, then, my husband," answered she, "we will lead them away,quite early in the morning, into the thickest part of the wood, andthere make them a fire, and give them each a little piece of bread;then we will go to our work, and leave them alone, so they will notfind the way home again, and we shall be freed from them." "No,wife," replied he, "that I can never do. How can you bring yourheart to leave my children all alone in the wood, for the wildbeasts will soon come and tear them to pieces?"

"Oh, you simpleton!" said she, "then we must all four die ofhunger; you had better plane the coffins for us." But she left himno peace till he consented, saying, "Ah, but I shall regret thepoor children."

The two children, however, had not gone to sleep for veryhunger, and so they overheard what the stepmother said to theirfather. Grethel wept bitterly, and said to Hansel, "What willbecome of us?" "Be quiet, Grethel," said he; "do not cry— Iwill soon help you." And as soon as their parents had fallenasleep, he got up, put on his coat, and, unbarring the back door,slipped out. The moon shone brilliantly, and the white pebbleswhich lay before the door seemed like silver pieces, they glitteredso brightly. Hansel stooped down, and put as many into his pocketas it would hold; and then going back, he said to Grethel, "Becomforted, dear sister, and sleep in peace; God will not forsakeus." And so saying, he went to bed again.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Early in the morning the stepmother came and pulled them out ofbed, and gave them each a slice of bread, which was still smallerthan the former piece. On the way, Hansel broke his in his pocket,and, stooping every now and then, dropped a crumb upon the path."Hansel, why do you stop and look about?" said the father; "keep inthe path." "I am looking at my little dove," answered Hansel,"nodding a good-bye to me." "Simpleton!" said the wife, "that is nodove, but only the sun shining on the chimney." But Hansel stillkept dropping crumbs as he went along.

The mother led the children deep into the wood, where they hadnever been before, and there making an immense fire, she said tothem, "Sit down here and rest, and when you feel tired you cansleep for a little while. We are going into the forest to hew wood,and in the evening, when we are ready, we will come and fetchyou."

When noon came Grethel shared her bread with Hansel, who hadstrewn his on the path. Then they went to sleep; but the eveningarrived and no one came to visit the poor children, and in the darknight they awoke, and Hansel comforted his sister by saying, "Onlywait, Grethel, till the moon comes out, then we shall see thecrumbs of bread which I have dropped, and they will show us the wayhome." The moon shone and they got up, but they could not see anycrumbs, for the thousands of birds which had been flying about inthe woods and fields had picked them all up. Hansel kept saying toGrethel, "We will soon find the way"; but they did not, and theywalked the whole night long and the next day, but still they didnot come out of the wood; and they got so hungry, for they hadnothing to eat but the berries which they found upon the bushes.Soon they got so tired that they could not drag themselves along,so they lay down under a tree and went to sleep.

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

"We will go in there," said Hansel, "and have a glorious feast.I will eat a piece of the roof, and you can eat the window. Willthey not be sweet?" So Hansel reached up and broke a piece off theroof, in order to see how it tasted, while Grethel stepped up tothe window and began to bite it. Then a sweet voice called out inthe room, "Tip-tap, tip-tap, who raps at my door?" and the childrenanswered, "the wind, the wind, the child of heaven"; and they wenton eating without interruption. Hansel thought the roof tasted verynice, so he tore off a great piece; while Grethel broke a largeround pane out of the window, and sat down quite contentedly. Justthen the door opened, and a very old woman, walking upon crutches,came out. Hansel and Grethel were so frightened that they let fallwhat they had in their hands; but the old woman, nodding her head,said, "Ah, you dear children, what has brought you here? Come inand stop with me, and no harm shall befall you"; and so saying shetook them both by the hand, and led them into her cottage. A goodmeal of milk and pancakes, with sugar, apples, and nuts, was spreadon the table, and in the back room were two nice little beds,covered with white, where Hansel and Grethel laid themselves down,and thought themselves in heaven. The old woman behaved very kindlyto them, but in reality she was a wicked witch who waylaidchildren, and built the bread-house in order to entice them in, butas soon as they were in her power she killed them, cooked and atethem, and made a great festival of the day. Witches have red eyes,and cannot see very far; but they have a fine sense of smelling,like wild beasts, so that they know when children approach them.When Hansel and Grethel came near the witch's house she laughedwickedly, saying, "Here come two who shall not escape me." Andearly in the morning, before they awoke, she went up to them, andsaw how lovingly they lay sleeping, with their chubby red cheeks,and she mumbled to herself, "That will be a good bite." Then shetook up Hansel with her rough hands, and shut him up in a littlecage with a lattice-door; and although he screamed loudly it was ofno use. Grethel came next, and, shaking her till she awoke, thewitch said, "Get up, you lazy thing, and fetch some water to cooksomething good for your brother, who must remain in that stall andget fat; when he is fat enough I shall eat him." Grethel began tocry, but it was all useless, for the old witch made her do as shewished. So a nice meal was cooked for Hansel, but Grethel gotnothing but a crab's claw.

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

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

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

So the duck came to them, and Hansel sat himself on, and badehis sister sit behind him. "No," answered Grethel, "that will betoo much for the duck; she shall take us over one at a time." Thisthe good little bird did, and when both were happily arrived on theother side, and had gone a little way, they came to a well-knownwood, which they knew the better every step they went, and at lastthey perceived their father's house. Then they began to run, and,bursting into the house, they fell into their father's arms. He hadnot had one happy hour since he had left the children in theforest; and his wife was dead. Grethel shook her apron, and thepearls and precious stones rolled out upon the floor, and Hanselthrew down one handful after the other out of his pocket. Then alltheir sorrows were ended, and they lived together in greathappiness.

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

OH, IF I COULD BUT SHIVER!

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

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

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

Soon after the parish sexton came in for a gossip, so the fathertold him his troubles, and how that his younger son was such asimpleton that he knew nothing and could learn nothing. "Justfancy, when I asked him how he intended to earn his bread, hedesired to learn what shivering meant!" "Oh, if that be all,"answered the sexton, "he can learn that soon enough with me; justsend him to my place, and I will soon teach him." The father wasvery glad, because he thought that it would do the boy good; so thesexton took him home to ring the bells. About two days afterward hecalled him up at midnight to go into the church-tower to toll thebell. "You shall soon learn what shivering means," thought thesexton, and getting up he went out too. As soon as the boy reachedthe belfry, and turned himself round to seize the rope, he saw uponthe stairs, near the sounding-hole, a white figure. "Who's there?"he called out; but the figure gave no answer, and neither stirrednor spoke. "Answer," said the boy, "or make haste off; you have nobusiness here to-night." But the sexton did not stir, so that theboy might think it was a ghost.

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

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

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

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

The terrified father came in haste and scolded the boy. "What dothese wicked tricks mean? They will only bring misfortune uponyou."

"Father," answered the lad, "hear me! I am quite innocent. Hestood there at midnight like one who had done some evil; I did notknow who it was, and cried three times, 'Speak, or be off!'"

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

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

"Learn what you will," replied the father, "all is the same tome. Here are fifty dollars; go forth with them into the world, andtell no man whence you came, or who your father is, for I amashamed of you."

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

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

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

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

Then the boy went to the gallows, sat down, and waited forevening, and as he felt cold he made a fire. But about midnight thewind blew so sharp, that in spite of the fire he could not keephimself warm. The wind blew the bodies against one another, so thatthey swung backward and forward, and he thought, "If I am cold herebelow by the fire, how must they freeze above!" So his compassionwas excited, and, contriving a ladder, he mounted, and, unlooseningthem one after another, he brought down all seven. Then he pokedand blew the fire, and set them round that they might warmthemselves; but as they sat still without moving their clothingcaught fire. So he said, "Take care of yourselves, or I will hangall of you up again." The dead heard not, and silently allowedtheir rags to burn. This made him so angry that he said, "If youwill not hear I cannot help you; but I will not burn with you." Sohe hung them up again in a row, and sitting down by the fire hesoon went to sleep. The next morning the man came, expecting toreceive his fifty dollars, and asked, "Now do you know whatshivering means?" "No," he answered; "how should I know? Thosefellows up there have not opened their mouths, and were so stupidthat they let the old rags on their bodies be burnt." Then the mansaw that he should not carry away the fifty dollars that day, so hewent away saying, "I never met with such a one before."

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

"I do not know," answered the boy.

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

"I know not."

"Who is your father?"

"I dare not say."

"What is it you are continually grumbling about?"

"Oh," replied the youth, "I wish to learn what shivering is, butnobody can teach me."

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The next morning the King came and inquired, "Now have youlearnt to shiver?" "No," replied the youth; "what is it? My deadcousin came here, and a bearded man, who showed me a lot of golddown below; but what shivering means, no one has showed me!" Thenthe King said, "You have won the castle, and shall marry mydaughter."

"That is all very fine," replied the youth, "but still I don'tknow what shivering means."

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

DUMMLING AND THE THREE FEATHERS

Once upon a time there lived a King who had three sons; the twoelder were learned and bright, but the youngest said very littleand appeared somewhat foolish, so he was always known asDummling.

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

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

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

Therefore one son travelled towards the east, and the secondwent to the west, both making fun of poor Dummling, who was obligedto stay where his feather had fallen. Then Dummling, sitting downand feeling rather miserable after his brothers had gone, lookedabout him, and noticed that near to where his feather lay was atrap-door. On lifting this up he perceived a flight of steps, downwhich he went. At the bottom was another door, so he knocked uponit, and then heard a voice calling—

And then the door was flung open, and the young man foundhimself facing a big toad sitting in the centre of a number ofyoung toads. The big toad addressed him, asking him what hewanted.

Dummling, though rather surprised when he saw the toads, andheard them question him, being good-hearted repliedpolitely—

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

But when the two brothers heard this, they gave the old King norest, saying—

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

"Well," agreed the father, "the one who brings me the mostmagnificent ring shall succeed to my throne," and once more he tookhis sons outside the Palace. Then, again, he blew three feathersinto the air to show the direction each one should go; whereuponthe two elder sons went east and west, but Dummling's flew straightup, and fell close by the trap-door. Then the youngest sondescended the steps as before, and upon seeing the large toad hetalked with her, and told her what he desired. So the big box wasbrought, and out of it the toad handed him a ring which was of soexquisite a workmanship that no goldsmith's could equal it.

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

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

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

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

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

Then she gave to him a scooped-out turnip to which half a dozenlittle mice were attached. The young man regarded this a trifledespondently, for it had no great resemblance to what he wasseeking.

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

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

From the young toads around the old toad, the young man seizedone at hazard, and placed it in the scooped-out turnip, but hardlywas it there when the most astounding change occurred, for the toadwas transformed into a wondrously lovely maiden, the turnip becamean elegant carriage, and the six mice were turned into handsomehorses. The young man kissed the maiden and drove off to bring herto the King.

Not long afterwards the two brothers arrived.

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

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

Once more the brothers loudly expressed their discontent, andgave the King no peace, declaring—

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

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

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

Upon which the lovely lady whom Dummling had brought home, leaptthrough as lightly as a fawn, and this put an end to allcontention.

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

LITTLE SNOW WHITE

It was in the middle of winter, when the broad flakes of snowwere falling around, that a certain queen sat working at herwindow, the frame of which was made of fine black ebony; and, asshe was looking out upon the snow, she pricked her finger, andthree drops of blood fell upon it. Then she gazed thoughtfully downon the red drops which sprinkled the white snow and said, "Wouldthat my little daughter may be as white as that snow, as red as theblood, and as black as the ebony window-frame!" And so the littlegirl grew up; her skin was a white as snow, her cheeks as rosy asblood, and her hair as black as ebony; and she was calledSnow-White.

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

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

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

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

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

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

And the glass answered—

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

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

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

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

Meantime the queen went home to her glass, and trembled withrage when she received exactly the same answer as before; and shesaid, "Snow-White shall die, if it costs me my life." So she wentsecretly into a chamber, and prepared a poisoned apple: the outsidelooked very rosy and tempting, but whosoever tasted it was sure todie. Then she dressed herself up as a peasant's wife, and travelledover the hills to the dwarfs' cottage, and knocked at the door; butSnow-White put her head out of the window, and said, "I dare notlet any one in, for the dwarfs have told me not to." "Do as youplease," said the old woman, "but at any rate take this prettyapple; I will make you a present of it." "No," said Snow-White, "Idare not take it." "You silly girl!" answered the other, "what areyou afraid of? do you think it is poisoned? Come! do you eat onepart, and I will eat the other." Now the apple was so prepared thatone side was good, though the other side was poisoned. ThenSnow-White was very much tempted to taste, for the apple lookedexceedingly nice; and when she saw the old woman eat, she couldrefrain no longer. But she had scarcely put the piece into hermouth when she fell down dead upon the ground. "This time nothingwill save thee," said the queen; and she went home to her glass,and at last it said—"Thou, Queen, art the fairest of all thefair." And then her envious heart was glad, and as happy as such aheart could be.

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

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

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

When she heard this, the queen started with rage; but her envyand curiosity were so great, that she could not help setting out tosee the bride. And when she arrived, and saw that it was no otherthan Snow-White, whom she thought had been dead a long while, shechoked with passion, and fell ill and died; but Snow-White and theprince lived and reigned happily over that land, many, manyyears.

CATHERINE AND FREDERICK

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"Go into the stable," she replied, "and dig under the cowsstall, and there you will find the yellow counters. I dare not gomyself."

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

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

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

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

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

"Yes, Fred," said she, and soon made herself ready; but, herhusband being a good walker, she lagged behind. "Ah!" said she,"this is my luck, for when we turn back I shall be a good bitforward." Presently she came to a hill, on both sides of whichthere were very deep ruts. "Oh, see!" said she, "how the poor earthis torn, flayed, and wounded; it will never be well again all itslife!" And out of compassion she took out her butter, and greasedthe ruts over right and left, so that the wheels might run moreeasily through them, and, while she stooped in doing this, a cheeserolled out of her pocket down the mountain. Catherine said when shesaw it, "I have already once made the journey up, and I am notcoming down after you: another shall run and fetch you." So saying,she took another cheese out of her pocket and rolled it down; butas it did not return, she thought, "Perhaps they are waiting for acompanion and don't like to come alone"; and down she bowled athird cheese. Still all three stayed, and she said, "I cannot thinkwhat this means; perhaps it is that the third cheese has missed hisway: I will send a fourth, that he may call him as he goes by." Butthis one acted no better than the others, and Catherine became soanxious that she threw down a fifth and a sixth cheese also, andthey were the last. For a long time after this she waited,expecting they would come, but when she found they did not shecried out, "You are nice fellows to send after a dead man! you stopa fine time! but do you think I shall wait for you? Oh, no! I shallgo on; you can follow me; you have younger legs than I."

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"Oh! my goodness," exclaimed the husband, "what a clever wife Ihave! She has bolted the top door, but brought away the bottompart, where any one can creep through! Now it is too late to goback to the house, but since you brought the door here you maycarry it onward."

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"No, Catherine," said he, "that would certainly discoverus."

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

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

"There—it is gone!" said she.

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

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

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

"What is the matter?" cried he.

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

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

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

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

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

Catherine went as she was bid, and began to grub for them, andsoon made herself very dirty with the earth. Presently a man cameby and saw her, and stood still, for he thought it was the Evil Onewho was grovelling so among the roots. Away he ran into the villageto the parson, and told him the Evil One was in his field, rootingup the turnips. "Ah! heavens!" said the parson, "I have a lamefoot, and I cannot go out to exorcize him."

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

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

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

THE VALIANT LITTLE TAILOR

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

"Now!" exclaimed the Tailor, "Heaven will send me a blessing onthis jam, and give me fresh strength and vigor;" and, taking thebread from the cupboard, he cut himself a slice the size of thewhole loaf, and spread the jam upon it. "That will taste verynice," said he; "but, before I take a bite, I will just finish thiswaistcoat." So he put the bread on the table and stitched away,making larger and larger stitches every time for joy. Meanwhile thesmell of the jam rose to the ceiling, where many flies weresitting, and enticed them down, so that soon a great swarm of themhad pitched on the bread. "Holloa! who asked you?" exclaimed theTailor, driving away the uninvited visitors; but the flies, notunderstanding his words, would not be driven off, and came back ingreater numbers than before. This put the little man in a greatpassion, and, snatching up in his anger a bag of cloth, he broughtit down with a merciless swoop upon them. When he raised it againhe counted as many as seven lying dead before him with outstretchedlegs. "What a fellow you are!" said he to himself, astonished athis own bravery. "The whole town must hear of this." In great hastehe cut himself out a band, hemmed it, and then put on it in largeletters, "SEVEN AT ONE BLOW!" "Ah," said he, "not one city alone,the whole world shall hear it!" and his heart danced with joy, likea puppy-dog's tail.

The little Tailor bound the belt around his body, and made readyto travel forth into the wide world, feeling the workshop too smallfor his great deeds. Before he set out, however, he looked abouthis house to see if there were anything he could carry with him,but he found only an old cheese, which he pocketed, and observing abird which was caught in the bushes before the door, he capturedit, and put that in his pocket also. Soon after he set out boldlyon his travels; and, as he was light and active, he felt nofatigue. His road led him up a hill, and when he arrived at thehighest point of it he found a great Giant sitting there, who wasgazing about him very composedly.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"With pleasure," replied the Tailor; "you may hold the trunkupon your shoulder, and I will lift the boughs and branches, theyare the heaviest, and carry them."

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

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

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

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

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

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

Speaking thus, the little Tailor set out, followed by thehundred knights, to whom he said, immediately they came to the edgeof the forest, "You must stay here; I prefer to meet these Giantsalone."

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

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

"I did not touch you; you are dreaming," said the first. So theyargued for a few minutes; but, both being very weary with the day'swork, they soon went to sleep again. Then the Tailor began his funagain, and, picking out the largest stone, threw it with all hisstrength upon the chest of the first Giant. "This is too bad!" heexclaimed; and, jumping up like a madman, he fell upon hiscompanion, who considered himself equally injured, and they set toin such good earnest, that they rooted up trees and beat oneanother about until they both fell dead upon the ground. Then theTailor jumped down, saying, "What a piece of luck they did not pullup the tree on which I sat, or else I must have jumped on anotherlike a squirrel, for I am not used to flying." Then he drew hissword, and, cutting a deep wound in the breast of both, he went tothe horsemen and said, "The deed is done; I have given each hisdeath-stroke; but it was a tough job, for in their defence theyuprooted trees to protect themselves with; still, all that is of nouse when such an one as I come, who slew seven at one stroke."

"And are you not wounded?" they asked.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Tailor, however, only pretended to be asleep, and began tocall out in a loud voice, "Boy, make me a coat, and then stitch upthese trowsers, or I will lay the yard-measure about yourshoulders. Seven have I slain with one blow, two Giants have Ikilled, a unicorn have I led captive, and a wild boar have Icaught, and shall I be afraid of those who stand outside myroom?"

When the men heard these words spoken by the Tailor, a greatfear came over them, and they ran away as if wild huntsmen werefollowing them; neither afterwards dared any man venture to opposehim. Thus the Tailor became a King, and so he lived for the rest ofhis life.

LITTLE RED CAP

Many years ago there lived a dear little girl who was beloved byevery one who knew her; but her grand-mother was so very fond ofher that she never felt she could think and do enough to pleasethis dear grand-daughter, and she presented the little girl with ared silk cap, which suited her so well, that she would never wearanything else, and so was called Little Red-Cap.

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

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

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

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

"To my grandmother's," she answered.

"And what are you carrying in that basket?"

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

So the Wolf lifted the latch, and the door flew open; andwithout a word, he jumped on to the bed, and gobbled up the poorold lady. Then he put on her clothes, and tied her night-cap overhis head; got into the bed, and drew the blankets over him. Allthis time Red-Cap was gathering flowers; and when she had picked asmany as she could carry, she thought of her grandmother, andhurried to the cottage. She wondered greatly to find the door open;and when she got into the room, she began to feel very ill, andexclaimed, "How sad I feel! I wish I had not come to-day." Then shesaid, "Good morning," but received no reply; so she went up to thebed, and drew back the curtains, and there lay her grandmother, asshe imagined, with the cap drawn half over her eyes, and lookingvery fierce.

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

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

"And what great eyes you have!"

"All the better to see you with."

"And what great hands you have!"

"All the better to touch you with."

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

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

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

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

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

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

THE GOLDEN GOOSE

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

At last they came to a city, where reigned a King who had anonly daughter. The princess was of so thoughtful and serious a turnof mind that no one could make her laugh; and the King hadannounced to all the world that whoever could make her laugh shouldhave her for his wife. When the young man heard this, he went toher with the goose and all its followers; and as soon as she sawthe seven all hanging together, and running about, treading on eachother's heels, she could not help bursting into a long and loudlaugh.

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

BEARSKIN

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

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

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

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

"That you must see about yourself!" said the stranger. "For thenext seven years you must not wash yourself, nor comb your hair orbeard, neither must you cut your nails nor say one paternoster.Then I will give you this coat and mantle, which you must wearduring these seven years; and if you die within that time you aremine, but if you live you are rich, and free all your lifelong."

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

The Soldier now put on the coat, and dipped his hands into thepockets, to assure himself of the reality of the transaction. Thenhe hung the bearskin around himself, and went about the worldchuckling at his good luck, and buying whatever suited his fancywhich money could purchase. For the first year his appearance wasnot very remarkable, but in the second he began to look quite amonster. His hair covered almost all his face, his beard appearedlike a piece of dirty cloth, his nails were claws, and hiscountenance was so covered with dirt that one might have growncresses upon it if one had sown seed! Whoever looked at him ranaway; but because he gave the poor in every place gold coin theyprayed that he might not die during the seven years; and because hepaid liberally everywhere, he found a night's lodging withoutdifficulty. In the fourth year he came to an inn where the landlordwould not take him in, and refused even to give him a place in hisstables, lest the horses should be frightened and become restive.However, when Bearskin put his hand into his pocket and drew it outfull of gold ducats the landlord yielded the point, and gave him aplace in the outbuildings, but not till he had promised that hewould not show himself, for fear the inn should gain a badname.

While Bearskin sat by himself in the evening, wishing from hisheart that the seven years were over, he heard in the corner a loudgroan. Now the old Soldier had a compassionate heart, so he openedthe door and saw an old man weeping violently and wringing hishands. Bearskin stepped nearer, but the old man jumped up and triedto escape; but when he recognized a human voice he let himself bepersuaded, and by kind words and soothings on the part of the oldSoldier he at length disclosed the cause of his distress. Hisproperty had dwindled away by degrees, and he and his daughterswould have to starve, for he was so poor that he had not the moneyto pay the host, and would therefore be put into prison.

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

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

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

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

When he was gone the poor bride clothed herself in black, andwhenever she thought of her bridegroom burst into tears. From hersisters she received nothing but scorn and mocking. "Pay greatattention when he shakes your hand," said the eldest, "and you willsee his beautiful claws!" "Take care!" said the second, "bears arefond of sweets, and if you please him he will eat you up, perhaps!""You must mind and do his will," continued the eldest, "or he willbegin growling!" And the second daughter said further, "But thewedding will certainly be merry, for bears dance well!" The bridekept silence, and would not be drawn from her purpose by all thesetaunts; and meanwhile Bearskin wandered about in the world, doinggood where he could, and giving liberally to the poor, for whichthey prayed heartily for him. At length the last day of the sevenyears approached, and Bearskin went and sat down again on the heathbeneath the circle of trees. In a very short time the windwhistled, and the Evil One presently stood before him and looked athim with a vexed face. He threw the Soldier his old coat anddemanded his gray one back. "We have not got so far as that yet,"replied Bearskin; "you must clean me first." Then the Evil One had,whether he liked it or no, to fetch water, wash the old Soldier,comb his hair out, and cut his nails. This done, he appeared againlike a brave warrior, and indeed was much handsomer thanbefore.

As soon as the Evil One had disappeared, Bearskin became quitelight-hearted; and going into the nearest town he bought a finevelvet coat, and hired a carriage drawn by four white horses, inwhich he was driven to the house of his bride. Nobody knew him; thefather took him for some celebrated general, and led him into theroom where his daughters were. He was compelled to sit down betweenthe two eldest, and they offered him wine, and heaped his platewith the choicest morsels; for they thought they had never seen anyone so handsome before. But the bride sat opposite to him dressedin black, neither opening her eyes nor speaking a word. At lengththe Soldier asked the father if he would give him one of hisdaughters to wife, and immediately the two elder sisters arose, andran to their chambers to dress themselves out in their mostbecoming clothes, for each thought she should be chosen. Meanwhilethe stranger, as soon as he found himself alone with his bride,pulled out the half of the ring and threw it into a cup of wine,which he handed across the table. She took it, and as soon as shehad drunk it and seen the half ring lying at the bottom her heartbeat rapidly, and she produced the other half, which she wore roundher neck on a riband. She held them together, and they joined eachother exactly, and the stranger said, "I am your bridegroom, whomyou first saw as Bearskin; but through God's mercy I have regainedmy human form, and am myself once more." With these words heembraced and kissed her; and at the same time the two eldestsisters entered in full costume. As soon as they saw that the veryhandsome man had fallen to the share of their youngest sister, andheard that he was the same as "Bearskin," they ran out of the housefull of rage and jealousy.

Footnote 1: (return)

Small shot.

CINDERELLA

The wife of a rich man fell sick: and when she felt that her enddrew nigh, she called her only daughter to her bedside, and said,"Always be a good girl, and I will look down from heaven and watchover you." Soon afterwards she shut her eyes and died, and wasburied in the garden; and the little girl went every day to hergrave and wept, and was always good and kind to all about her. Andthe snow spread a beautiful white covering over the grave; but bythe time the sun had melted it away again, her father had marriedanother wife. This new wife had two daughters of her own: they werefair in face but foul at heart, and it was now a sorry time for thepoor little girl. "What does the good-for-nothing thing want in theparlor?" said they; and they took away her fine clothes, and gaveher an old frock to put on, and laughed at her and turned her intothe kitchen.

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

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

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

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

Now when all were gone, and nobody left at home, Cinderella wentsorrowfully and sat down under the hazel-tree, and criedout—

Then her friend the bird flew out of the tree and brought a goldand silver dress for her, and slippers of spangled silk; and sheput them on, and followed her sisters to the feast. But they didnot know her, she looked so fine and beautiful in her richclothes.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

FAITHFUL JOHN

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

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

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

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

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

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

The trusty servant deliberated for a long while how to set aboutthis business, for it was very difficult to get into the presenceof the King's daughter. At last he bethought himself of a way, andsaid to the King, "Everything which she has around her is ofgold—chairs, tables, dishes, bowls, and all the householdutensils. Among your treasures are five tons of gold; let one ofthe goldsmiths of your kingdom manufacture vessels and utensils ofall kinds therefrom—all kinds of birds, and wild andwonderful beasts, such as will please her, then we will travel withthese, and try our luck." Then the King summoned all hisgoldsmiths, who worked day and night until many very beautifulthings were ready. When all had been placed on board a ship, thefaithful John put on merchant's clothes, and the King likewise, sothat they might travel quite unknown. Then they sailed over thewide sea, and sailed away until they came to the city where dweltthe daughter of the King of the Golden Palace.

The faithful John told the King to remain in the ship, and waitfor him. "Perhaps," said he, "I shall bring the King's daughterwith me; therefore take care that all is in order, and set out thegolden vessels and adorn the whole ship." Thereupon John placed ina napkin some of the golden cups, stepped upon land, and wentstraight to the King's palace. When he came into the castle yard, abeautiful maid stood by the brook, who had two golden pails in herhand, drawing water; and when she had filled them and had turnedround, she saw a strange man, and asked who he was. Then Johnanswered, "I am a merchant"; and opening his napkin he showed herits contents. Then she exclaimed, "Oh, what beautiful goldenthings!" and, setting the pails down, she looked at the cups oneafter another, and said, "The King's daughter must see these; sheis so pleased with anything made of gold that she will buy allthese." And taking him by the hand, she led him in; for she was thelady's maid. When the King's daughter saw the golden cups, she wasmuch pleased, and said, "They are so finely worked that I willpurchase them all." But the faithful John replied, "I am only theservant of a rich merchant; what I have here is nothing incomparison to those which my master has in his ship, than whichnothing more delicate or costly has ever been worked in gold." Thenthe King's daughter wished to have them all brought; but he said,"It would take many days, and so great is the quantity that yourpalace has not halls enough in it to place them around." Then hercuriosity and desire were still more excited, and at last she said,"Take me to the ship; I will go myself and look at your master'streasure."

The faithful John conducted her to the ship with great joy, andthe King, when he beheld her, saw that her beauty was still greaterthan the picture had represented, and thought nothing else but thathis heart would jump out of his mouth. Presently she stepped onboard, and the King conducted her below; but the faithful Johnremained on deck by the steersman, and told him to unmoor the shipand put on all the sail he could, that it might fly as a birdthrough the air. Meanwhile the King showed the Princess all thegolden treasures—the dishes, cups, bowls, the birds, the wildand wonderful beasts. Many hours passed away while she looked ateverything, and in her joy she did not remark that the ship sailedon and on. As soon as she had looked at the last, and thanked themerchant, she wished to depart. But when she came on deck, sheperceived that they were upon the high sea, far from the shore, andwere hastening on with all sail. "Ah," she exclaimed in affright,"I am betrayed; I am carried off and taken away in the power of astrange merchant. I would rather die!"

But the King, taking her by the hand, said, "I am not amerchant, but a king, thine equal in birth. It is true that I havecarried thee off; but that is because of my overwhelming love forthee. Dost thou know that when I first saw the portrait of thybeauteous face I fell down in a swoon before it?" When the King'sdaughter heard these words, she was reassured, and her heart wasinclined toward him, so that she willingly became his bride. Whilethey thus went on their voyage on the high sea, it happened thatthe faithful John, as he sat on the deck of the ship, playingmusic, saw three crows in the air, who came flying toward them. Hestopped playing, and listened to what they were saying to eachother, for he understood them perfectly. The first one exclaimed,"There he is, carrying home the daughter of the King of the GoldenPalace." "But he is not home yet," replied the second. "But he hasher," said the third; "she is sitting by him in the ship." Then thefirst began again, and exclaimed, "What matters that? When they goon shore a fox-colored horse will spring toward them, on which hewill mount; and as soon as he is on it, it will jump up with himinto the air, so that he will never again see his bride." Thesecond one asked, "Is there no escape?" "Oh, yes, if another mountsbehind quickly, and takes out the firearms which are in theholster, and with them shoots the horse dead, then the young Kingwill be saved. But who knows that? And if any one does know it, andtells him, such a one will be turned to stone from the toe to theknee." Then the second spoke again, "I know still more: if thehorse should be killed, the young King will not then retain hisbride; for when they come into the castle a beautiful bridal shirtwill lie there upon a dish, and seem to be woven of gold andsilver, but it is nothing but sulphur and pitch, and if he puts iton it will burn him to his marrow and bones." Then the third Crowasked, "Is there no escape?" "Oh, yes," answered the second, "ifsome one takes up the shirt with his glove on, and throws it intothe fire, so that it is burnt, the young King will be saved. Butwhat does that signify? Whoever knows it, and tells him, will beturned to stone from his knee to his heart." Then the third Crowspoke: "I know still more: even if the bridal shirt be consumed,still the young King will not retain his bride. For if, after thewedding, a dance is held, while the young Queen dances she willsuddenly turn pale, and fall down as if dead; and if some one doesnot raise her up, and take three drops of blood from her rightbreast and throw them away, she will die. But whoever knows that,and tells it, will have his whole body turned to stone, from thecrown of his head to the toes of his feet."

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

As soon as they came on shore, it happened just as the Crow hadforetold, and an immense fox-red horse sprang up. "Capital!" saidthe King, "this shall carry me to my castle," and he tried tomount; but the faithful John came straight up, and swinging himselfquickly on, drew the firearms out of the holster and shot the horsedead. Then the other servants of the King, who were not on goodterms with the faithful John, exclaimed, "How shameful to kill thebeautiful creature, which might have borne the King to the castle!"But the King replied, "Be silent, and let him go; he is my veryfaithful John—who knows the good he may have done?" Now theywent into the castle, and there stood a dish in the hall, and thesplendid bridal shirt lay in it, and seemed nothing else than goldand silver. The young King went up to it and wished to take it up,but the faithful John pushed him away, and taking it up with hisgloves on, bore it quickly to the fire and let it burn. The otherservants thereupon began to murmur, saying, "See, now he is burningthe King's bridal shirt!" But the young King replied, "Who knowswhat good he has done? Let him alone—he is my faithfulJohn."

Soon after, the wedding was celebrated, and a grand ball wasgiven, and the bride began to dance. So the faithful John paidgreat attention, and watched her countenance; all at once she grewpale, and fell as if dead to the ground. Then he sprang up hastily,raised her up and bore her to a chamber, where he laid her down,kneeled beside her, and drawing the three drops of blood out of herright breast, threw them away. As soon as she breathed again, sheraised herself up; but the young King had witnessed everything, andnot knowing why the faithful John had done this was very angry, andcalled out, "Throw him into prison!" The next morning the trustyJohn was brought up for trial, and led to the gallows; and as hestood upon them, and was about to be executed, he said, "Every onecondemned to die may once before his death speak. Shall I also havethat privilege?" "Yes," answered the King, "it shall be grantedyou." Then the faithful John replied, "I have been unrighteouslyjudged, and have always been true to you"; and he narrated theconversation of the crows which he heard at sea; and how, in orderto save his master, he was obliged to do all he had done. Then theKing cried out, "Oh, my most trusty John, pardon, pardon; lead himaway!" But the trusty John had fallen down at the last word and wasturned into stone.

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

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

Now the King was full of happiness, and as soon as he saw theQueen coming, he hid the faithful John and both the children in agreat closet. As soon as she came in he said to her, "Have youprayed in the church?" "Yes," she answered; "but I thoughtcontinually of the faithful John, who has come to such misfortunethrough us." Then he replied, "My dear wife, we can restore hislife again to him, but it will cost us both our little sons, whomwe must sacrifice." The Queen became pale and was terrified atheart, but she said, "We are guilty of his life on account of hisgreat fidelity." Then he was very glad that she thought as he did,and going up to the closet, he unlocked it, brought out thechildren and the faithful John, saying, "God be praised! he issaved, and we have still our little sons"; and then he told her allthat happened. Afterward they lived happily together to the end oftheir days.

THE WATER OF LIFE

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

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

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

"You stupid dandyprat," replied the Prince proudly, "why shouldI tell you that?" and he rode off. But the little Man was angry andhe wished an evil thing, so that, soon after, the Prince came intoa narrow mountain-pass, and the farther he rode the narrower itgrew, till at last it was so close that he could get no farther;but neither could he turn his horse round, nor dismount, and he satthere like one amazed. Meanwhile the sick King waited a long whilefor him, but he did not come; and the second Son asked leave to gotoo and seek the water, for he thought to himself, "If my Brotheris dead the kingdom comes to me." At first the King refused tospare him, but he gave way, and the Prince set out on the same roadas the elder one had taken, and met also the same Dwarf, whostopped him and asked him, "Whither ride you so hastily?" "Littledandyprat," replied the Prince, "what do you want to know for?" andhe rode off without looking round. The Dwarf, however, enchantedhim, and it happened to him as it had to his Brother: he came to adefile where he could move neither forward nor backward. Such isthe fate of all haughty people.

Now, when the second Son did not return, the youngest beggedleave to go and fetch the water, and the King was obliged at lastto give his consent. When he met the Dwarf, and was asked whitherhe was going so hurriedly, he stopped and replied, "I seek thewater of life, for my Father is sick unto death." "Do you knowwhere to find it?" asked the Dwarf. "No," replied the Prince."Since you have behaved yourself as you ought," said the Dwarf,"and not haughtily like your false Brothers, I will give youinformation and show you where you may obtain the water of life. Itflows from a fountain in the court of an enchanted castle, intowhich you can never penetrate if I do not give you an iron rod andtwo loaves of bread. With the rod knock thrice at the iron door ofthe castle, and it will spring open. Within lie two lions with openjaws, but if you throw down to each a loaf of bread they will bequiet. Then hasten and fetch some of the water of life before itstrikes twelve, for then the door will shut again, and you will beimprisoned."

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

But he was very glad, in spite of this, that he had procured thewater, and he journeyed homeward, and passed again where the Dwarfstood. When the Dwarf saw the sword and bread which he had broughtaway he declared he had done well, for with the sword he coulddestroy whole armies—but the bread was worth nothing. Now,the Prince was not willing to return home to his Father without hisBrothers, and so he said to the Dwarf, "Dear Dwarf, can you tell mewhere my Brothers are? They went out before me in search of thewater of life, and did not return." "They are stuck fast betweentwo mountains," replied the Dwarf; "because they were so haughty, Ienchanted them there."

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

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

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

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

Meanwhile the Princess had caused a road to be made up to hercastle of pure shining gold, and she told her attendants thatwhoever should ride straight up this road would be the rightperson, and one whom they might admit into the castle; but, on thecontrary, whoever should ride up not on the road, but by the side,they were ordered on no account to admit, for he was not the rightperson. When, therefore, the time came round which the Princess hadmentioned to the youngest Prince, the eldest Brother thought hewould hasten to her castle and announce himself as her deliverer,that he might gain her as a bride and the kingdom besides. So herode away, and when he came in front of the castle and saw the finegolden road he thought it would be a shame to ride thereon, and sohe turned to the left hand and rode up out of the road. But as hecame up to the door the guards told him he was not the rightperson, and he must ride back again. Soon afterward the secondPrince also set out, and he, likewise, when he came to the goldenroad and his horse set its forefeet upon it, thought it would be apity to travel upon it, so he turned aside to the right hand andwent up. When he came to the gate the guards refused himadmittance, and told him he was not the person expected, and so hehad to return homeward. The youngest Prince, who had all this timebeen wandering about in the forest, had also remembered that theyear was up, and soon after his Brothers' departure he appearedbefore the castle and rode up straight on the golden road, for hewas so deeply engaged in thinking of his beloved Princess that hedid not observe it. As soon as he arrived at the door it wasopened, and the Princess received him with joy, saving he was herdeliverer and the lord of her dominions. Soon after their weddingwas celebrated, and when it was over the Princess told her husbandthat his Father had forgiven him and desired to see him. Thereuponhe rode to the old King's palace, and told him how his Brothers hadbetrayed him while he slept, and had sworn him to silence. When theKing heard this he would have punished the false Brothers, but theyhad prudently taken themselves off in a ship, and they neverreturned home afterward.

THUMBLING

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

"Yes," replied the wife, and sighed, "even if we had only one,and it were quite small, and only as big as a thumb, I should bequite satisfied, and we would still love it with all our hearts."Now it so happened that their wish was granted and a child wasgiven them, but although it was perfect in all its limbs, it was nolonger than a thumb. Then said they, "It is as we wished it to be,and it shall be our dear child;" and because of its size, theycalled it Thumbling. They did not let it want for food, but thechild did not grow taller, but remained as it had been at thefirst, nevertheless it looked sensibly out of its eyes, and soonshowed itself to be a wise and nimble creature, for everything itdid turned out well.

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

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

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

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

"But where are you?" "Just look on the ground, and observe fromwhere my voice comes," he replied. There the thieves at lengthfound him, and lifted him up. "You little imp, how will you helpus?" they said. "A great deal," said he; "I will creep into thepastor's room through the iron bars, and will reach out to youwhatever you want to have." "Come, then," they said, "and we willsee what you can do." When they got to the pastor's house,Thumbling crept into the room, but instantly cried out with all hismight, "Do you want to have everything that is here?" The thieveswere alarmed, and said, "But do speak softly, so as not to wakenany one!" Thumbling, however, behaved as if he had not understoodthis, and cried again, "What do you want? Do you want to haveeverything that is here?" The cook, who slept in the next room,heard this and sat up in bed, and listened. The thieves, however,had in their fright run some distance away, but at last they tookcourage, and thought, "The little rascal wants to mock us." Theycame back and whispered to him, "Come, be serious, and reachsomething out to us." Then Thumbling again cried as loudly as hecould, "I really will give you everything, only put your hands in."The maid who was listening, heard this quite distinctly, and jumpedout of bed and rushed to the door. The thieves took flight, and ranas if the Wild Huntsman were behind them, but as the maid could notsee anything, she went to strike a light. When she came to theplace with it, Thumbling, unperceived, hid himself in the granary,and the maid, after she had examined every corner and foundnothing, lay down in her bed again, and believed that, after all,she had only been dreaming with open eyes and ears.

Thumbling had climbed up among the hay and found a beautifulplace to sleep in: there he intended to rest until day, and then gohome again to his parents. But he had other things to go through.Truly there is much affliction and misery in this world! When daydawned, the maid arose from her bed to feed the cows. Her firstwalk was into the barn, where she laid hold of an armful of hay,and precisely that very one in which poor Thumbling was lyingasleep. He, however, was sleeping so soundly that he was aware ofnothing, and did not awake until he was in the mouth of the cow,who had picked him up with the hay. "Ah, heavens!" cried he, "howhave I got into the fulling mill?" but he soon discovered where hewas. Then it was necessary to be careful not to let himself gobetween the teeth and be dismembered, but he was neverthelessforced to slip down into the stomach with the hay. "In this littleroom the windows are forgotten," said he, "and no sun shines in,neither will a candle be brought." His quarters were especiallyunpleasing to him, and the worst was, more and more hay was alwayscoming in by the door, and the space grew less and less. Then, atlength in his anguish, he cried as loud as he could, "Bring me nomore fodder, bring me no more fodder." The maid was just milkingthe cow, and when she heard some one speaking, and saw no one, andperceived that it was the same voice that she had heard in thenight, she was so terrified that she slipped off her stool, andspilt the milk. She ran in the greatest haste to her master, andsaid, "Oh, heavens, pastor, the cow has been speaking!" "You aremad," replied the pastor; but he went himself to the byre to seewhat was there. Hardly, however, had he set his foot inside thanThumbling again cried, "Bring me no more fodder, bring me no morefodder." Then the pastor himself was alarmed, and thought that anevil spirit had gone into the cow, and ordered her to be killed.She was killed, but the stomach, in which Thumbling was, was thrownon the midden. Thumbling had great difficulty in working his wayout; however, he succeeded so far as to get some room, but, just ashe was going to thrust his head out, a new misfortune occurred. Ahungry wolf ran thither, and swallowed the whole stomach at onegulp. Thumbling did not lose courage. "Perhaps," thought he, "thewolf will listen to what I have got to say," and he called to himfrom out of his stomach, "Dear wolf, I know of a magnificent feastfor you."

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

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

BRIAR ROSE

Once upon a time there lived a king and queen who had nochildren; and this they lamented very much. But one day, as thequeen was walking by the side of the river, a little fish liftedits head out of the water, and said, "Your wish shall be fulfilled,and you shall soon have a daughter."

What the little fish had foretold soon came to pass; and thequeen had a little girl who was so very beautiful that the kingcould not cease looking on her for joy, and determined to hold agreat feast. So he invited not only his relations, friends, andneighbors, but also all the fairies, that they might be kind andgood to his little daughter. Now there were thirteen fairies in hiskingdom, and he had only twelve golden dishes for them to eat outof, so that he was obliged to leave one of the fairies without aninvitation. The rest came, and after the feast was over they gaveall their best gifts to the little princess; one gave her virtue,another beauty, another riches, and so on till she had all that wasexcellent in the world. When eleven had done blessing her, thethirteenth, who had not been invited, and was very angry on thataccount, came in, and determined to take her revenge. So she criedout, "The king's daughter shall in her fifteenth year be wounded bya spindle, and fall down dead." Then the twelfth, who had not yetgiven her gift, came forward and said that the bad wish must befulfilled, but that she could soften it, and that the king'sdaughter should not die, but fall asleep for a hundred years.

But the king hoped to save his dear child from the threatenedevil, and ordered that all the spindles in the kingdom should bebought up and destroyed. All the fairies' gifts were in themeantime fulfilled; for the princess was so beautiful, andwell-behaved and amiable, and wise, that every one who knew herloved her.

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

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

"Spinning," said the old lady, and nodded her head. "Howprettily that little thing turns round!" said the princess, andtook the spindle and began to spin. But scarcely had she touched itbefore the prophecy was fulfilled, and she fell down lifeless onthe ground.

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

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

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

This they could never do; for the thorns and bushes laid hold ofthem as it were with hands, and there they stuck fast and diedmiserably.

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

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

Now that very day the hundred years were completed; and as theprince came to the thicket he saw nothing but beautiful floweringshrubs, through which he passed with ease, and they closed afterhim as firm as ever.

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

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

Then they went out together, and presently the king and queenalso awoke, and all the court, and they gazed on each other withgreat wonder.

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

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

THE SIX SWANS

A King was once hunting in a large wood, and pursued his game sohotly that none of his courtiers could follow him. But when eveningapproached he stopped, and looking around him perceived that he hadlost himself. He sought a path out of the forest but could not findone, and presently he saw an old woman, with a nodding head, whocame up to him. "My good woman," said he to her, "can you not showme the way out of the forest?" "Oh, yes, my lord King," shereplied; "I can do that very well, but upon one condition, which ifyou do not fulfil, you will never again get out of the wood, butwill die of hunger."

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

"I have a daughter," said the old woman, "who is as beautiful asany one you can find in die whole world, and well deserves to beyour bride. Now, if you will make her your Queen, I will show youyour way out of the wood." In the anxiety of his heart, the Kingconsented, and the old woman led him to her cottage, where thedaughter was sitting by the fire. She received the King as if shehad expected him, and he saw at once that she was very beautiful,but yet she did not quite please him, for he could not look at herwithout a secret shuddering. However, he took the maiden upon hishorse, and the old woman showed him the way, and the King arrivedsafely at his palace, where the wedding was to be celebrated.

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

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

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

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

"No," they replied; "for we can only lay aside our swan'sfeathers for a quarter of an hour each evening, and for that timewe regain our human form, but afterwards we resume our changedappearance."

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

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

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

The King asked her, "Who art thou? What dost thou upon thattree?" But she did not answer; and then he questioned her in allthe languages that he knew, but she remained dumb to all, as afish. Since, however, she was so beautiful, the King's heart wastouched, and he conceived for her a strong affection. Then he putaround her his cloak, and, placing her before him on his horse,took her to his castle. There he ordered rich clothing to be madefor her, and, although her beauty shone as the sunbeams, not a wordescaped her. The King placed her by his side at table, and thereher dignified mien and manners so won upon him, that he said, "ThisMaiden will I marry, and no other in the world;" and after somedays he wedded her.

Now, the King had a wicked step-mother, who was discontentedwith his marriage, and spoke evil of the young Queen. "Who knowswhence the wench comes?" said she. "She who cannot speak is notworthy of a King." A year after, when the Queen brought herfirst-born into the world, the old woman took him away. Then shewent to the King and complained that the Queen was a murderess. TheKing, however, would not believe it, and suffered no one to do anyinjury to his wife, who sat composedly sewing at her shirts andpaying attention to nothing else. When a second child was born, thefalse stepmother used the same deceit, but the King again would notlisten to her words, saying, "She is too pious and good to act so;could she but speak and defend herself, her innocence would come tolight." But when again, the old woman stole away the third child,and then accused the Queen, who answered not a word to theaccusation, the King was obliged to give her up to be tried, andshe was condemned to suffer death by fire.

When the time had elapsed, and the sentence was to be carriedout, it happened that the very day had come round when her dearbrothers should be set free; the six shirts were also ready, allbut the last, which yet wanted the left sleeve. As she was led tothe scaffold, she placed the shirts upon her arm, and just as shehad mounted it, and the fire was about to be kindled, she lookedaround, and saw six Swans come flying through the air. Her heartleapt for joy as she perceived her deliverers approaching, and soonthe Swans, flying towards her, alighted so near that she wasenabled to throw over them the shirts, and as soon as she had doneso, their feathers fell off and the brothers stood up alive andwell; but the youngest was without his left arm, instead of whichhe had a swan's wing. They embraced and kissed each other, and theQueen, going to the King, who was thunderstruck, began to say, "Nowmay I speak, my dear husband, and prove to you that I am innocentand falsely accused;" and then she told him how the wicked womanhad stolen away and hidden her three children. When she hadconcluded, the King was overcome with joy, and the wickedstepmother was led to the scaffold and bound to the stake and burntto ashes. The King and Queen for ever after lived in peace andprosperity with their six brothers.

RAPUNZEL

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

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

Rapunzel had magnificent long hair, fine as spun gold, and whenshe heard the voice of the enchantress she unfastened her braidedtresses, wound them round one of the hooks of the window above, andthen the hair fell twenty yards down, and the enchantress climbedup by it.

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

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

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

At first Rapunzel was terribly frightened when a man such as hereyes had never yet beheld came to her; but the King's son began totalk to her quite like a friend, and told her that his heart hadbeen so stirred that it had let him have no rest, and he had beenforced to see her. Then Rapunzel lost her fear, and when he askedher if she would take him for a husband, and she saw that he wasyoung and handsome, she thought, "He will love me more than oldDame Gothel does;" and she said yes, and laid her hand in his. Shesaid, "I will willingly go away with you, but I do not know how toget down. Bring with you a skein of silk every time that you come,and I will weave a ladder with it, and when that is ready I willdescend, and you will take me on your horse." They agreed thatuntil that time he should come to her every evening, for the oldwoman came by day. The enchantress remarked nothing of this, untilonce Rapunzel said to her, "Tell me, Dame Gothel, how it happensthat you are so much heavier for me to draw up than the youngKing's son—he is with me in a moment." "Ah! you wickedchild," cried the enchantress, "what do I hear you say! I thought Ihad separated you from all the world, and yet you have deceivedme!" In her anger she clutched Rapunzel's beautiful tresses,wrapped them twice round her left hand, seized a pair of scissorswith the right, and snip, snip, they were cut off, and the lovelybraids lay on the ground. And she was so pitiless that she tookpoor Rapunzel into a desert, where she had to live in great griefand misery.

On the same day, however, that she cast out Rapunzel, theenchantress in the evening fastened the braids of hair which shehad cut off to the hook of the window, and when the King's son cameand cried,

she let the hair down. The King's son ascended, but he did notfind his dearest Rapunzel above, but the enchantress, who gazed athim with wicked and venomous looks. "Aha!" she cried mockingly."You would fetch your dearest, but the beautiful bird sits nolonger singing in the nest; the cat has got it, and will scratchout your eyes as well. Rapunzel is lost to you; you will never seeher more." The King's son was beside himself with pain, and in hisdespair he leapt down from the tower. He escaped with his life, butthe thorns into which he fell pierced his eyes. Then he wanderedquite blind about the forest, ate nothing but roots and berries,and did nothing but lament and weep over the loss of his dearestwife. Thus he roamed about I in misery for some years, and atlength came to the desert where Rapunzel lived in wretchedness. Heheard a voice, and it seemed so familiar to him that he wenttowards it, and when he approached, Rapunzel knew him and fell onhis neck and wept. Two of her tears wetted his eyes, and they grewclear again, and he could see with them as before. He led her tohis kingdom, where he was joyfully received, and they lived for along time afterwards, happy and contented.

MOTHER HOLLE

There was once a widow who had two daughters—one of whomwas pretty and industrious, while the other was ugly and idle. Butshe was much fonder of the ugly and idle one, because she was herown daughter; and the other, who was a step-daughter, was obligedto do all the work, and be the Cinderella of the house. Every daythe poor girl had to sit by a well, in the highway, and spin andspin till her fingers bled.

Now it happened that one day the shuttle was marked with herblood, so she dipped it in the well, to wash the mark off; but itdropped out of her hand and fell to the bottom. She began to weep,and ran to her step-mother and told of the mishap. But she scoldedher sharply, and was so merciless as to say, "Since you have letthe shuttle fall in, you must fetch it out again."

So the girl went back to the well, and did not know what to do;and in the sorrow of her heart she jumped into the well to get theshuttle. She lost her senses; and when she awoke and came toherself again, she was in a lovely meadow where the sun was shiningand many thousands of flowers were growing. Along this meadow shewent, and at last came to a baker's oven full of bread, and thebread cried out, "Oh, take me out! take me out! or I shall burn; Ihave been baked a long time!" So she went up to it, and took outall the loaves one after another with the bread-shovel. After thatshe went on till she came to a tree covered with apples, whichcalled out to her, "Oh, shake me! shake me! we apples are allripe!" So she shook the tree till the apples fell like rain, andwent on shaking till they were all down, and when she had gatheredthem into a heap, she went on her way.

At last she came to a little house, out of which an old womanpeeped; but she had such large teeth that the girl was frightened,and was about to run away.

But the old woman called out to her, "What are you afraid of,dear child? Stay with me; if you will do all the work in the houseproperly, you shall be the better for it. Only you must take careto make my bed well, and to shake it thoroughly till the feathersfly—for then there is snow on the earth. I am MotherHolle."

As the old woman spoke so kindly to her, the girl took courageand agreed to enter her service. She attended to everything to thesatisfaction of her mistress, and always shook her bed sovigorously that the feathers flew about like snow-flakes. So shehad a pleasant life with her; never an angry word; and boiled orroast meat every day.

She stayed some time with Mother Holle, and then she became sad.At first she did not know what was the matter with her, but foundat length that it was homesickness; although she was many timesbetter off here than at home, still she had a longing to be there.At last she said to the old woman, "I have a longing for home; andhowever well off I am down here, I cannot stay any longer; I mustgo up again to my own people." Mother Holle said, "I am pleasedthat you long for your home again, and as you have served me sotruly, I myself will take you up again." Thereupon she took her bythe hand, and led her to a large door. The door was opened, andjust as the maiden was standing beneath the doorway, a heavy showerof golden rain fell, and all the gold remained sticking to her, sothat she was completely covered with it.

"You shall have that because you are so industrious," saidMother Holle; and at the same time she gave her back the shuttlewhich she had let fall into the well. Thereupon the door closed,and the maiden found herself up above upon the earth, not far fromher mother's house.

And as she went into the yard the cock cried:"Cock-a-doodle-doo! Your golden girl's come back to you!"

So she went in to her mother, and as she arrived thus coveredwith gold, she was well received, both by her and her sister.

The girl told all that had happened to her; and as soon as themother heard how she had come by so much wealth, she was veryanxious to obtain the same good luck for the ugly and lazydaughter. She had to seat herself by the well and spin; and inorder that her shuttle might be stained with blood, she stuck herhand into a thorn-bush and pricked her finger. Then she threw hershuttle into the well, and jumped in after it.

She came, like the other, to the beautiful meadow and walkedalong the very same path. When she got to the oven the bread againcried, "Oh, take me out! take me out! or I shall burn; I have beenbaked a long time!" But the lazy thing answered, "As if I had anywish to make myself dirty!" and on she went. Soon she came to theapple-tree, which cried, "Oh, shake me! shake me! we apples are allripe!" But she answered, "I like that! one of you might fall on myhead," and so went on.

When she came to Mother Holle's house she was not afraid, forshe had already heard of her big teeth, and she hired herself toher immediately.

The first day she forced herself to work diligently, and obeyedMother Holle when she told her to do anything, for she was thinkingof all the gold that she would give her. But on the second day shebegan to be lazy, and on the third day still more so, and then shewould not get up in the morning at all. Neither did she make MotherHolle's bed as she ought, and did not shake it so as to make thefeathers fly up. Mother Holle was soon tired of this, and gave hernotice to leave. The lazy girl was willing enough to go, andthought that now the golden rain would come. Mother Holle led her,too, to the great door; but while she was standing beneath it,instead of the gold a big kettleful of pitch was emptied over her."That is the reward of your service," said Mother Holle, and shutthe door.

So the lazy girl went home; but she was quite covered withpitch, and the cock by the well-side, as soon as he saw her, cried:"Cock-a-doodle-doo! Your pitchy girl's come back to you." But thepitch stuck fast to her, and could not be got off as long as shelived.

THE FROG PRINCE

In the olden time, when wishing was having, there lived a King,whose daughters were all beautiful; but the youngest was soexceedingly beautiful that the Sun himself, although he saw hervery, very often, was delighted every time she came out into thesunshine.

Near the castle of this King was a large and gloomy forest,where in the midst stood an old lime-tree, beneath whose branchessplashed a little fountain; so, whenever it was very hot, theKing's youngest daughter ran off into this wood, and sat down bythe side of the fountain; and, when she felt dull, would oftendivert herself by throwing a golden ball up into the air andcatching it again. And this was her favorite amusement.

Now, one day it happened that this golden ball, when the King'sdaughter threw it into the air, did not fall down into her hand,but on to the grass; and then it rolled right into the fountain.The King's daughter followed the ball with her eyes, but itdisappeared beneath the water, which was so deep that she could notsee to the bottom. Then she began to lament, and to cry more loudlyand more loudly; and, as she cried, a voice called out, "Whyweepest thou, O King's daughter? thy tears would melt even a stoneto pity." She looked around to the spot whence the voice came, andsaw a frog stretching his thick, ugly head out of the water. "Ah!you old water-paddler," said she, "was it you that spoke? I amweeping for my golden ball which bounced away from me into thewater."

"Be quiet, and do not cry," replied the Frog; "I can give theegood assistance. But what wilt thou give me if I succeed infetching thy plaything up again?"

"What would you like, dear Frog?" said she. "My dresses, mypearls and jewels, or the golden crown which I wear?"

The Frog replied, "Dresses, or jewels, or golden crowns, are notfor me; but if thou wilt love me, and let me be thy companion andplaymate, and sit at thy table, and eat from thy little goldenplate, and drink out of thy cup, and sleep in thy littlebed,—if thou wilt promise me all these things, then I willdive down and fetch up thy golden ball."

"Oh, I will promise you all," said she, "if you will only get memy golden ball." But she thought to herself, "What is the sillyFrog chattering about? Let him stay in the water with his equals;he cannot enter into society." Then the Frog, as soon as he hadreceived her promise, drew his head under the water and dived down.Presently he swam up again with the golden ball in his mouth, andthrew it on to the grass. The King's daughter was full of joy whenshe again saw her beautiful plaything; and, taking it up, she ranoff immediately. "Stop! stop!" cried the Frog; "take me with thee.I cannot run as thou canst."

But this croaking was of no avail; although it was loud enough,the King's daughter did not hear it, but, hastening home, soonforgot the poor Frog, who was obliged to leap back into thefountain.

The next day, when the King's daughter was sitting at table withher father and all his courtiers, and was eating from her ownlittle golden plate, something was heard coming up the marblestairs, splish-splash, splish-splash; and when it arrived at thetop, it knocked at the door, and a voice said—

"Open the door, thou youngest daughter of the King!"

So she arose and went to see who it was that called to her; butwhen she opened the door and caught sight of the Frog, she shut itagain very quickly and with great passion, and sat down at thetable, looking exceedingly pale.

But the King perceived that her heart was beating violently, andasked her whether it were a giant who had come to fetch her awaywho stood at the door. "Oh, no!" answered she; "it is no giant, butan ugly Frog."

"What does the Frog want with you?" said the King.

"Oh, dear father, yesterday when I was playing by the fountain,my golden ball fell into the water, and this Frog fetched it upagain because I cried so much: but first, I must tell you, hepressed me so much, that I promised him he should be my companion.I never thought that he could come out of the water, but somehow hehas managed to jump out, and now he wants to come in here."

At that moment there was another knock, and a voicesaid—

Then the King said, "What you have promised, that you mustperform; go and let him in." So the King's daughter went and openedthe door, and the Frog hopped in after her right up to her chair:and as soon as she was seated, he said, "Lift me up;" but shehesitated so long that the King had to order her to obey. And assoon as the Frog sat on the chair he jumped on to the table andsaid, "Now push thy plate near me, that we may eat together." Andshe did so, but as every one noticed, very unwillingly. The Frogseemed to relish his dinner very much, but every bit that theKing's daughter ate nearly choked her, till at last the Frog said,"I have satisfied my hunger, and feel very tired; wilt thou carryme upstairs now into thy chamber, and make thy bed ready that wemay sleep together?" At this speech the King's daughter began tocry, for she was afraid of the cold Frog, and dared not touch him;and besides, he actually wanted to sleep in her own beautiful,clean bed!

But her tears only made the King very angry, and he said, "Hewho helped you in the time of your trouble must not now bedespised!" So she took the Frog up with two fingers, and put himinto a corner of her chamber. But as she lay in her bed, he creptup to it, and said, "I am so very tired that I shall sleep well; dotake me up, or I will tell thy father." This speech put the King'sdaughter into a terrible passion, and catching the Frog up, shethrew him with all her strength against the wall, saying "Now willyou be quiet, you ugly Frog!"

But as he fell he was changed from a Frog into a handsome Princewith beautiful eyes, who after a little while became her dearcompanion and betrothed. One morning, Henry, trusted servant of thePrince, came for them with a carriage. When his master was changedinto a frog, trusty Henry had grieved so much that he had boundthree iron bands around his heart, for fear it should break withgrief and sorrow. The faithful Henry (who was also the trustyHenry) helped in the bride and bridegroom, and placed himself inthe seat behind, full of joy at his master's release. They had notproceeded far when the Prince heard a crack as if something hadbroken behind the carriage; so he put his head out of the windowand asked trusty Henry what was broken, and faithful Henryanswered, "It was not the carriage, my master, but an iron bandwhich I bound around my heart when it was in such grief because youwere changed into a frog."

Twice afterwards on the journey there was the same noise, andeach time the Prince thought that it was some part of the carriagethat had given way; but it was only the breaking of the bands whichbound the heart of the trusty Henry (who was also the faithfulHenry), and who was thenceforward free and happy.

THE TRAVELS OF TOM THUMB

There lived a tailor who had only one son, and he was extremelysmall, not any larger than your thumb, and so was called TomThumb.

However, he was a courageous little fellow, and he told hisfather, "Father, I am determined to go into the world to seek myfortune."

"Very well, my son," answered the old man, and taking a bigdarning needle, he made a top to it of sealing wax, and gave it toTom Thumb, saying:

"There is a sword for you to use to defend yourself on yourjourneyings."

Then the little fellow, desiring to dine once more with hisparents, popped into the kitchen to find out what his mother waspreparing for his last dinner at home. All the dishes were ready tobe taken in, and they were standing upon the hearth.

"What is it you have for dinner, dear mother?" he inquired.

"You can look for yourself," she replied.

Then Tom sprang up on to the hob, and peeped into all thedishes, but over one he leant so far, that he was carried up by thesteam through the chimney, and then for some distance he floated onthe smoke, but after a while he fell upon the ground once more.

Now, at last, Tom Thumb was really out in the wide world, and hewent on cheerily, and after a time was engaged by a master tailor;but here the food was not so good as his mother's, and it was notto his taste.

So he said, "Mistress, if you will not give me better things toeat, I shall chalk upon your door, 'Too many potatoes, and notenough meat. Good-bye, potato-mill.'"

"I should like to know what you want, you little grasshopper!"cried the woman very angrily, and she seized a shred of cloth tostrike him; however, the tiny tailor popped under a thimble, andfrom it he peeped, putting out his tongue at the mistress.

So she took up the thimble, meaning to catch him, but Tom Thumbhid himself amongst the shreds of cloth, and when she began tosearch through those, he slipped into a crack in the table, but putout his head to laugh at her; so she tried again to hit him withthe shred, but did not succeed in doing so, for he slipped throughthe crack into the table drawer.

At last, though, he was caught, and driven out of the house.

So the little fellow continued his travels, and presentlyentering a thick forest, he encountered a company of robbers whowere plotting to steal the king's treasure.

As soon as they saw the little tailor, they said to themselves,"A little fellow like this could creep through a keyhole, and aidus greatly." So one called out—

"Hullo, little man, will you come with us to the king'streasury? Certainly a Goliath like you could creep in with ease,and throw out the coins to us."

After considering awhile, Tom Thumb consented, and accompaniedthem to the king's treasury.

From top to bottom they inspected the door to discover a cracklarge enough for him to get through, and soon found one. He was forgoing in directly, but one of the sentinels happening to catchsight of him, exclaimed: "Here is indeed an ugly spider; I willcrush it with my foot."

"Leave the poor creature alone," the other said; "it has notdone you any harm."

So Tom Thumb slipped through the crack, and made his way to thetreasury. Then he opened the window, and cast out the coins to therobbers who were waiting below. While the little tailor was engagedin this exciting employment, he heard the king coming to inspecthis treasure, so as quickly as possible he crept out of sight. Theking noticed that his treasure had been disarranged, and soonobserved that coins were missing: but he was utterly unable tothink how they could have been stolen, for the locks and bolts hadnot been tampered with, and everything was well fastened.

On going from the treasury, he warned the two sentinels,saying—

"Be on the watch, some one is after the money," and quite soon,on Tom Thumb setting to work again, they heard very clearly thecoins ringing, chink, chank, as they struck one against theother.

As quickly as possible they unfastened the building and went in,hoping to take the thief.

But Tom Thumb was too quick for them, he sprang into a corner,and hiding himself behind a coin, so that nothing of him wasvisible, he made fun of the sentinels; crying "I am here!" Thenwhen the men hurried to the spot where the voice came from, he wasno longer there, but from a different place cried out: "Ha, Ha!here I am!"

So the sentinels kept jumping about, but so cleverly did Tommove from one spot to another, that they were obliged to run aroundthe whole time, hoping to find somebody, until at length, quitetired out, they went off.

Then Tomb Thumb went on with his work, and one after another hethrew all the coins out of the window, but the very last he soundedand rang with all his might and springing nimbly upon it, so flewthrough the window.

The robbers were loud in their praises.

"Indeed you are a brave fellow," they said, "will you be ourcaptain?"

Tom Thumb, thanking them, declined this honor, for he wasanxious to see more of the world. Then the booty was apportionedout, but only a ducat was given to the little tailor, for that wasas much as he could carry.

So Tom girded on his sword again, and bidding farewell to therobbers, continued his travels.

He tried to get work under various masters, but they would havenothing to do with him, so after a while he took service at an inn.But the maids there disliked him, for he was about everywhere, andsaw all that went on, without being seen himself; and he told theirmistress of their dishonest ways, of what was taken off the plates,and from out the cellars.

So they threatened they would drown him, if they caught him, anddetermined to do him some harm. Then, one day, a maid mowing in thegarden saw Tom Thumb running in and out between the blades ofgrass, so she cut the grass, in great haste, just where he chancedto be, tied it all in a bundle, and, without anyone knowing, threwit to the cows.

Then one big black cow took up a mouthful of grass directly,with Tom in it, and swallowed it down; without doing him anydamage, however.

But Tom did not approve of his position, for it was pitch darkdown there, with no light burning.

When milking time came, he shouted—

but the sound of the milk trickling into the pail prevented hisvoice being heard.

Not long afterwards the master came into the shed, and said:

"I will have that cow killed to-morrow."

This put Tom Thumb into a great fright, and he called outloudly:

"Please let me out, here I am inside."

This the master heard plainly enough, but could not make outwhere the voice came from.

"Where are you?" he inquired.

"In the black cow," was the reply.

However, the master could not understand what was meant, and sowent away.

The following morning the cow was killed, but fortunately in thecutting up the knife did not touch Tom Thumb, who was put asidewith the meat that was to be made into sausages.

When the butcher began chopping, he cried as loudly as hecould—

"Don't chop far, I am down beneath," but the chopper made somuch noise, that he attracted no attention.

It was indeed a terrible situation for poor Tom. But being indanger brightens one's wits, and he sprang so nimbly, this way andthat, keeping clear of the chopper, that not a blow struck him, andhe did not get even a scratch.

However, he could not escape, there was no help for it, he wasforced into a skin with the sausage meat, so was compelled to makehimself as comfortable as might be. It was very close quarters, andbesides that, the sausages were suspended to smoke in the chimney,which was by no means entertaining, and the time passed slowly.

When winter came, he was taken down for a guest's meal, andwhile the hostess was slicing the sausage he had to be on hisguard, lest if he stretched out his head it might be cut off.

Watching his opportunity, at last he was able to jump out of thesausage, and right glad was he to be once again in the company ofhis fellow-men.

It was not very long, however, that he stayed in this house,where he had been met by so many misfortunes, and again he setforth on his travels, rejoicing in his freedom, but this did notlong continue.

Swiftly running across the field came a fox, who, in an instant,had snapped up poor little Tom.

"Oh, Mr. Fox," called out the little tailor, "it is I who am inyour throat; please let me out."

"Certainly," answered Reynard, "you are not a bit better thannothing at all, you don't in the least satisfy me; make me apromise, that I shall have the hens in your father's yard, and youshall regain your liberty."

"Willingly, you shall have all the hens; I make you a faithfulpromise," responded Tom Thumb.

So the fox coughed and set him free, and himself carried Tomhome.

Then when the father had his dear little son once more he gavethe fox all his hens, with the greatest of pleasure.

"Here, father, I am bringing you a golden coin from my travels,"said the little fellow, and he brought out the ducat the thieveshad apportioned to him.

"But how was it that the fox was given all the poor littlehens?"

"Foolish little one, don't you think your father would ratherhave you, than all the hens he ever had in his yard?"

SNOW-WHITE AND ROSE-RED

A poor widow once lived in a little cottage. In front of thecottage was a garden, in which were growing two rose trees; one ofthese bore white roses, and the other red.

She had two children, who resembled the rose trees. One wascalled Snow-White, and the other Rose-Red; and they were asreligious and loving, busy and untiring, as any two children everwere.

Snow-White was more gentle, and quieter than her sister, wholiked better skipping about the fields, seeking flowers, andcatching summer birds; while Snow-White stayed at home with hermother, either helping her in her work, or, when that was done,reading aloud.

The two children had the greatest affection the one for theother. They were always seen hand in hand; and should Snow-Whitesay to her sister, "We will never separate," the other would reply,"Not while we live," the mother adding, "That which one has, lether always share with the other."

They constantly ran together in the woods, collecting ripeberries; but not a single animal would have injured them; quite thereverse, they all felt the greatest esteem for the young creatures.The hare came to eat parsley from their hands, the deer grazed bytheir side, the stag bounded past them unheeding; the birds,likewise, did not stir from the bough, but sang in entire security.No mischance befell them; if benighted in the wood, they lay downon the moss to repose and sleep till the morning; and their motherwas satisfied as to their safety, and felt no fear about them.

Once, when they had spent the night in the wood, and the brightsunrise awoke them, they saw a beautiful child, in a snow-whiterobe, shining like diamonds, sitting close to the spot where theyhad reposed. She arose when they opened their eyes, and lookedkindly at them; but said no word, and passed from their sight intothe wood. When the children looked around they saw they had beensleeping on the edge of a precipice, and would surely have fallenover if they had gone forward two steps further in the darkness.Their mother said the beautiful child must have been the angel whokeeps watch over good children.

Snow-White and Rose-Red kept their mother's cottage so cleanthat it gave pleasure only to look in. In summer-time Rose-Redattended to the house, and every morning, before her mother awoke,placed by her bed a bouquet which had in it a rose from each of therose-trees. In winter-time Snow-White set light to the fire, andput on the kettle, after polishing it until it was like gold forbrightness. In the evening, when snow was falling, her mother wouldbid her bolt the door, and then, sitting by the hearth, the goodwidow would read aloud to them from a big book while the littlegirls were spinning. Close by them lay a lamb, and a white pigeon,with its head tucked under its wing, was on a perch behind.

One evening, as they were all sitting cosily together like this,there was a knock at the door, as if someone wished to come in.

"Make haste, Rose-Red!" said her mother; "open the door; it issurely some traveller seeking shelter." Rose-Red accordingly pulledback the bolt, expecting to see some poor man. But it was nothingof the kind; it was a bear, that thrust his big, black head in atthe open door. Rose-Red cried out and sprang back, the lambbleated, the dove fluttered her wings, and Snow-White hid herselfbehind her mother's bed. The bear began speaking, and said, "Do notbe afraid; I will not do you any harm; I am half-frozen and wouldlike to warm myself a little at your fire."

"Poor bear!" the mother replied; "come in and lie by the fire;only be careful that your hair is not burnt." Then she calledSnow-White and Rose-Red, telling them that the bear was kind, andwould not harm them. They came, as she bade them, and presently thelamb and the dove drew near also without fear.

"Children," begged the bear; "knock some of the snow off mycoat." So they brought the broom and brushed the bear's coat quiteclean.

When it was night, and all were making ready to go to bed, thewidow told the bear, "You may stay here and lie by the hearth, ifyou like, so that you will be sheltered from the cold and from thebad weather."

The offer was accepted, but when morning came, as the day brokein the east, the two children let him out, and over the snow hewent back into the wood.

After this, every evening at the same time the bear came, lay bythe fire, and allowed the children to play with him; so they becamequite fond of their curious playmate, and the door was not everbolted in the evening until he had appeared.

When spring-time came, and all around began to look green andbright, one morning the bear said to Snow-White, "Now I must leaveyou, and all the summer long I shall not be able to come back."

"Where, then, are you going, dear Bear?" asked Snow-White.

"I have to go to the woods to protect my treasure from the baddwarfs. In winter-time, when the earth is frozen hard, they mustremain underground, and cannot make their way through: but now thatthe sunshine has thawed the earth they can come to the surface, andwhatever gets into their hands, or is brought to their caves,seldom, if ever, again sees daylight."

Snow-White was very sad when she said good-bye to thegood-natured beast, and unfastened the door, that he might go; butin going out he was caught by a hook in the lintel, and a scrap ofhis fur being torn, Snow-White thought there was something shininglike gold through the rent: but he went out so quickly that shecould not feel certain what it was, and soon he was hidden amongthe trees.

One day the mother sent her children into the wood to pick upsticks. They found a big tree lying on the ground. It had beenfelled, and towards the roots they noticed something skipping andspringing, which they could not make out, as it was sometimeshidden in the grasses. As they came nearer they could see it was adwarf, with a shrivelled-up face and a snow-white beard an elllong. The beard was fixed in a gash in the tree trunk, and the tinyfellow was hopping to and fro, like a dog at the end of a string,but he could not manage to free himself. He stared at the childrenwith his red, fiery eyes, and called out, "Why are you standingthere? Can't you come and try to help me?"

"What were you doing, little fellow?" inquired Rose-Red.

"Stupid, inquisitive goose!" replied the dwarf; "I meant tosplit the trunk, so that I could chop it up for kitchen sticks; biglogs would burn up the small quantity of food we cook, for peoplelike us do not consume great heaps of food, as you heavy, greedyfolk do. The bill-hook I had driven in, and soon I should have donewhat I required; but the tool suddenly sprang from the cleft, whichso quickly shut up again that it caught my handsome white beard;and here I must stop, for I cannot set myself free. You stupidpale-faced creatures! You laugh, do you?"

In spite of the dwarf's bad temper, the girls took all possiblepains to release the little man, but without avail, the beard couldnot be moved, it was wedged too tightly.

"I will run and get someone else," said Rose-Red.

"Idiot!" cried the dwarf. "Who would go and get more people?Already there are two too many. Can't you think of somethingbetter?"

"Don't be so impatient," said Snow-White. "I will try to think."She clapped her hands as if she had discovered a remedy, took outher scissors, and in a moment set the dwarf free by cutting off theend of his beard.

Immediately the dwarf felt that he was free he seized a sackfull of gold that was hidden amongst the tree's roots, and, liftingit up, grumbled out, "Clumsy creatures, to cut off a bit of mybeautiful beard, of which I am so proud! I leave the cuckoos to payyou for what you did." Saying this, he swung the sack across hisshoulder, and went off, without even casting a glance at thechildren.

Not long afterwards the two sisters went to angle in the brook,meaning to catch fish for dinner. As they were drawing near thewater they perceived something, looking like a large grasshopper,springing towards the stream, as if it were going in. They hurriedup to see what it might be, and found that it was the dwarf. "Whereare you going?" said Rose-Red. "Surely you will not jump into thewater?"

"I'm not such a simpleton as that!" yelled the little man."Don't you see that a wretch of a fish is pulling me in?"

The dwarf had been sitting angling from the side of the streamwhen, by ill-luck, the wind had entangled his beard in his line,and just afterwards a big fish taking the bait, the unamiablelittle fellow had not sufficient strength to pull it out; so thefish had the advantage, and was dragging the dwarf after it.Certainly, he caught at every stalk and spray near him, but thatdid not assist him greatly; he was forced to follow all thetwistings of the fish, and was perpetually in danger of being drawninto the brook.

The girls arrived just in time. They caught hold of him firmlyand endeavored to untwist his beard from the line, but in vain;they were too tightly entangled. There was nothing left but againto make use of the scissors; so they were taken out, and thetangled portion was cut off.

When the dwarf noticed what they were about, he exclaimed in agreat rage, "Is this how you damage my beard? Not content withmaking it shorter before, you are now making it still smaller, andcompletely spoiling it. I shall not ever dare show my face to myfriends. I wish you had missed your way before you took this road."Then he fetched a sack of pearls that lay among the rushes, and,not saying another word, hobbled off and disappeared behind a largestone.

Soon after this it chanced that the poor widow sent her childrento the town to purchase cotton, needles, ribbon, and tape. The wayto the town ran over a common, on which in every direction largemasses of rocks were scattered about. The children's attention wassoon attracted to a big bird that hovered in the air. They remarkedthat, after circling slowly for a time, and gradually gettingnearer to the ground, it all of a sudden pounced down amongst amass of rock. Instantly a heartrending cry reached their ears, and,running quickly to the place, they saw, with horror, that the eaglehad seized their former acquaintance, the dwarf, and was just aboutto carry him off. The kind children did not hesitate for aninstant. They took a firm hold of the little man, and strove sostoutly with the eagle for possession of his contemplated prey,that, after much rough treatment on both sides, the dwarf was leftin the hands of his brave little friends, and the eagle took toflight.

As soon as the little man had in some measure recovered from hisalarm, his small squeaky, cracked voice was heard saying, "Couldn'tyou have held me more gently? See my little coat; you have rent anddamaged it in a fine manner, you clumsy, officious things!" Then hepicked up a sack of jewels, and slipped out of sight behind a pieceof rock.

The maidens by this time were quite used to his ungrateful,ungracious ways; so they took no notice of it, but went on theirway, made their purchases, and then were ready to return to theirhappy home.

On their way back, suddenly, once more they ran across theirdwarf friend. Upon a clear space he had turned out his sack ofjewels, so that he could count and admire them, for he had notimagined that anybody would at so late an hour be coming across thecommon.

The setting sun was shining upon the brilliant stones, and theirchanging hues and sparkling rays caused the children to pause toadmire them also.

"What are you gazing at?" cried the dwarf, at the same timebecoming red with rage; "and what are you standing there for,making ugly faces?" It is probable that he might have proceeded inthe same complimentary manner, but suddenly a great growl was heardnear by them, and a big black bear joined the party. Up jumped thedwarf in extremest terror, but could not get to his hiding-place,the bear was too close to him; so he cried out in very evidentanguish—

"Dear Mr. Bear, forgive me, I pray! I will render to you all mytreasure. Just see those precious stones lying there! Grant me mylife! What would you do with such an insignificant little fellow?You would not notice me between your teeth. See, though, those twochildren, they would be delicate morsels, and are as plump aspartridges; I beg of you to take them, good Mr. Bear, and let mego!"

But the bear would not be moved by his speeches. He gave theill-disposed creature a blow with his paw, and he lay lifeless onthe ground.

Meanwhile the maidens were running away, making off for home aswell as they could; but all of a sudden they were stopped by awell-known voice that called out, "Snow-White, Rose-Red, stay! Donot fear. I will accompany you."

The bear quickly came towards them, but, as he reached theirside, suddenly the bear-skin slipped to the ground, and therebefore them was standing a handsome man, completely garmented ingold, who said—

"I am a king's son, who was enchanted by the wicked dwarf lyingover there. He stole my treasure, and compelled me to roam thewoods transformed into a big bear until his death should set mefree. Therefore he has only received a well-deservedpunishment."

Some time afterwards Snow-White married the Prince, and Rose-Redhis brother.

They shared between them the enormous treasure which the dwarfhad collected in his cave.

The old mother spent many happy years with her children.

THE THREE LITTLE MEN IN THE WOOD

Once upon a time there lived a man, whose wife had died; and awoman, also, who had lost her husband: and this man and this womanhad each a daughter. These two maidens were friendly with eachother, and used to walk together, and one day they came by thewidow's house. Then the widow said to the man's daughter, "Do youhear, tell your father I wish to marry him, and you shall everymorning wash in milk and drink wine, but my daughter shall wash inwater and drink water." So the girl went home and told her fatherwhat the woman had said, and he replied, "What shall I do? Marriageis a comfort, but it is also a torment." At last, as he could cometo no conclusion, he drew off his boot and said: "Take this boot,which has a hole in the sole, and go with it out of doors and hangit on the great nail and then pour water into it. If it holds thewater, I will again take a wife; but if it runs through, I will nothave her." The girl did as he bid her, but the water drew the holetogether and the boot became full to overflowing. So she told herfather how it had happened, and he, getting up, saw it was quitetrue; and going to the widow he settled the matter, and the weddingwas celebrated.

The next morning, when the two girls arose, milk to wash in andwine to drink were set for the man's daughter, but only water, bothfor washing and drinking, for the woman's daughter. The secondmorning, water for washing and drinking stood before both the man'sdaughter and the woman's; and on the third morning, water to washin and water to drink were set before the man's daughter, and milkto wash in and wine to drink before the woman's daughter, and so itcontinued.

Soon the woman conceived a deadly hatred for her step-daughter,and knew not how to behave badly enough to her from day to day. Shewas envious, too, because her step-daughter was beautiful andlovely, and her own daughter was ugly and hateful.

Once, in the winter-time, when the river was frozen as hard as astone, and hill and valley were covered with snow, the woman made acloak of paper, and called the maiden to her and said, "Put on thiscloak, and go away into the wood to fetch me a little basketful ofstrawberries, for I have a wish for some."

"Mercy on us!" said the maiden, "in winter there are nostrawberries growing; the ground is frozen, and the snow, too, hascovered everything. And why must I go in that paper cloak? It is socold out of doors that it freezes one's breath even, and if thewind does not blow off this cloak, the thorns will tear it from mybody."

"Will you dare to contradict me?" said the step-mother. "Makehaste off, and let me not see you again until you have found me abasket of strawberries." Then she gave her a small piece of drybread, saying, "On that you must subsist the whole day." But shethought—out of doors she will be frozen and starved, so thatmy eyes will never see her again!

So the girl did as she was told, and put on the paper cloak, andwent away with the basket. Far and near there was nothing but snow,and not a green blade was to be seen. When she came to the forestshe discovered a little cottage, out of which three little Dwarfswere peeping. The girl wished them good morning, and knocked gentlyat the door. They called her in, and entering the room, she satdown on a bench by the fire to warm herself, and eat her breakfast.The Dwarfs called out, "Give us some of it!" "Willingly," shereplied, and, dividing her bread in two, she gave them half. Theyasked, "What do you here in the forest, in the winter-time, in thisthin cloak?"

"Ah!" she answered, "I must, seek a basketful of strawberries,and I dare not return home until I can take them with me." When shehad eaten her bread, they gave her a broom, saying, "Sweep away thesnow with this from the back door." But when she was gone out ofdoors the three Dwarfs said one to another, "What shall we giveher, because she is so gentle and good, and has shared her breadwith us?" Then said the first, "I grant to her that she shallbecome more beautiful every day." The second said, "I grant that apiece of gold shall fall out of her mouth for every word shespeaks." The third said, "I grant that a King shall come and makeher his bride."

Meanwhile, the girl had done as the Dwarf had bidden her, andhad swept away the snow from behind the house. And what do youthink she found there? Actually, ripe strawberries! which camequite red and sweet up under the snow. So filling her basket ingreat glee, she thanked the little men and gave them each her hand,and then ran home to take her step-mother what she wished for. Asshe went in and said "Good evening," a piece of gold fell from hermouth. Thereupon she related what had happened to her in theforest; but at every word she spoke a piece of gold fell, so thatthe whole floor was covered.

"Just see her arrogance," said the step-sister, "to throw awaymoney in that way!" but in her heart she was jealous, and wished togo into the forest, too, to seek strawberries. Her mother said,"No, my dear daughter; it is too cold, you will be frozen!" but asher girl let her have no peace, she at last consented, and made hera beautiful fur cloak to put on; she also gave her buttered breadand cooked meat to eat on her way.

The girl went into the forest and came straight to the littlecottage. The three Dwarfs were peeping out again, but she did notgreet them; and, stumbling on without looking at them, or speaking,she entered the room, and, seating herself by the fire, began toeat the bread and butter and meat. "Give us some of that,"exclaimed the Dwarfs; but she answered, "I have not got enough formyself, so how can I give any away?" When she had finished theysaid, "You have a broom there, go and sweep the back door clean.""Oh, sweep it yourself," she replied; "I am not your servant." Whenshe saw that they would not give her anything she went out at thedoor, and the three Dwarfs said to each other, "What shall we giveher? She is so ill-behaved, and has such a bad and enviousdisposition, that nobody can wish well to her." The first said, "Igrant that she becomes more ugly every day." The second said, "Igrant that at every word she speaks a toad shall spring out of hermouth." The third said, "I grant that she shall die a miserabledeath." Meanwhile the girl had been looking for strawberries out ofdoors, but as she could find none she went home very peevish. Whenshe opened her mouth to tell her mother what had happened to her inthe forest, a toad jumped out of her mouth at each word, so thatevery one fled away from her in horror.

The step-mother was now still more vexed, and was alwaysthinking how she could do the most harm to her husband's daughter,who every day became more beautiful. At last she took a kettle, setit on the fire, and boiled a net therein. When it was sodden shehung it on the shoulder of the poor girl, and gave her an axe, thatshe might go upon the frozen pond and cut a hole in the ice to dragthe net. She obeyed, and went away and cut an ice-hole; and whileshe was cutting, an elegant carriage came by, in which the Kingsat. The carriage stopped, and the King asked, "My child, who areyou? and what do you here?" "I am a poor girl, and am dragging anet," said she. Then the King pitied her, and saw how beautiful shewas, and said, "Will you go with me?" "Yes, indeed, with all myheart," she replied, for she was glad to get out of the sight ofher mother and sister.

So she was handed into the carriage, and driven away with theKing; and as soon as they arrived at his castle the wedding wascelebrated with great splendor, as the Dwarfs had granted to themaiden. After a year the young Queen bore a son; and when thestep-mother heard of her great good fortune, she came to the castlewith her daughter, and behaved as if she had come on a visit. Butone day when the King had gone out, and no one was present, thisbad woman seized the Queen by the head, and her daughter caughthold of her feet, and raising her out of bed, they threw her out ofthe window into the river which ran past. Then, laying her uglydaughter in the bed, the old woman covered her up, even over herhead; and when the King came back he wished to speak to his wife,but the old woman exclaimed, "Softly! softly! do not go near her;she is lying in a beautiful sleep, and must be kept quiet to-day."The King, not thinking of an evil design, came again the nextmorning the first thing; and when he spoke to his wife, and sheanswered, a toad sprang out of her mouth at every word, as a pieceof gold had done before. So he asked what had happened, and the oldwoman said, "That is produced by her weakness, she will soon loseit again."

But in the night the kitchen-boy saw a Duck swimming through thebrook, and the Duck asked:

And as he gave no answer, the Duck said:

Then the boy answered:

And she asked him:

And he replied:

Then she came up in the form of the Queen to the cradle, andgave the child drink, shook up his bed, and covered him up, andthen swam away again as a duck through the brook. The second nightshe came again; and on the third she said to the kitchen-boy, "Goand tell the King to take his sword, and swing it thrice over me,on the threshold." Then the boy ran and told the King, who camewith his sword, and swung it thrice over the Duck; and at the thirdtime his bride stood before him, bright, living, and healthful, asshe had been before.

Now the King was in great happiness, but he hid the Queen in achamber until the Sunday when the child was to be christened; andwhen all was finished he asked, "What ought to be done to one whotakes another out of a bed and throws her into the river?" "Nothingcould be more proper," said the old woman, "than to put such a oneinto a cask, stuck round with nails, and to roll it down the hillinto the water." Then the King said, "You have spoken your ownsentence"; and ordering a cask to be fetched, he caused the oldwoman and her daughter to be put into it, and the bottom nailed up.Then the cask was rolled down the hill until it fell into thewater.

RUMPELSTILTSKIN

There was once a poor Miller who had a beautiful daughter, andone day, having to go to speak with the King, he said, in order tomake himself appear of consequence, that he had a daughter whocould spin straw into gold. The King was very fond of gold, andthought to himself, "That is an art which would please me verywell"; and so he said to the Miller, "If your daughter is so veryclever, bring her to the castle in the morning, and I will put herto the proof."

As soon as she arrived the King led her into a chamber which wasfull of straw; and, giving her a wheel and a reel, he said, "Nowset yourself to work, and if you have not spun this straw into goldby an early hour to-morrow, you must die." With these words he shutthe room door, and left the maiden alone.

There she sat for a long time, thinking how to save her life;for she understood nothing of the art whereby straw might be spuninto gold; and her perplexity increased more and more, till at lastshe began to weep. All at once the door opened, and in stepped alittle Man, who said, "Good evening, fair maiden; why do you weepso sore?" "Ah," she replied, "I must spin this straw into gold, andI am sure I do not know how."

The little Man asked, "What will you give me if I spin it foryou?"

"My necklace," said the maiden.

The Dwarf took it, placed himself in front of the wheel, andwhirr, whirr, whirr, three times round, and the bobbin was full.Then he set up another, and whir, whir, whir, thrice round again,and a second bobbin was full; and so he went all night long, untilall the straw was spun, and the bobbins were full of gold. Atsunrise the King came, very much astonished to see the gold; thesight of which gladdened him, but did not make his heart lesscovetous. He caused the maiden to be led into another room, stilllarger, full of straw; and then he bade her spin it into goldduring the night if she valued her life. The maiden was again quiteat a loss what to do; but while she cried the door opened suddenly,as before, and the Dwarf appeared and asked her what she would givehim in return for his assistance. "The ring off my finger," shereplied. The little Man took the ring and began to spin at once,and by morning all the straw was changed to glistening gold. TheKing was rejoiced above measure at the sight of this, but still hewas not satisfied, but, leading the maiden into another stilllarger room, full of straw as the others, he said, "This you mustspin during the night; but if you accomplish it you shall be mybride." "For," thought he to himself, "a richer wife thou canst nothave in all the world."

When the maiden was left alone, the Dwarf again appeared andasked, for the third time, "What will you give me to do this foryou?"

"I have nothing left that I can give you," replied themaiden.

"Then promise me your first-born child if you become Queen,"said he.

The Miller's daughter thought, "Who can tell if that will everhappen?" and, ignorant how else to help herself out of her trouble,she promised the Dwarf what he desired; and he immediately setabout and finished the spinning. When morning came, and the Kingfound all he had wished for done, he celebrated his wedding, andthe Miller's fair daughter became Queen.

The gay times she had at the King's Court caused her to forgetthat she had made a very foolish promise.

About a year after the marriage, when she had ceased to thinkabout the little Dwarf, she brought a fine child into the world;and, suddenly, soon after its birth, the very man appeared anddemanded what she had promised. The frightened Queen offered himall the riches of the kingdom if he would leave her her child; butthe Dwarf answered, "No; something human is dearer to me than allthe wealth of the world."

The Queen began to weep and groan so much that the Dwarf pitiedher, and said, "I will leave you three days to consider; if you inthat time discover my name you shall keep your child."

All night long the Queen racked her brains for all the names shecould think of, and sent a messenger through the country to collectfar and wide any new names. The following morning came the Dwarf,and she began with "Caspar," "Melchior," "Balthassar," and all theodd names she knew; but at each the little Man exclaimed, "That isnot my name." The second day the Queen inquired of all her peoplefor uncommon and curious names, and called the Dwarf"Ribs-of-Beef," "Sheep-shank," "Whalebone," but at each he said,"This is not my name." The third day the messenger came back andsaid, "I have not found a single name; but as I came to a highmountain near the edge of a forest, where foxes and hares say goodnight to each other, I saw there a little house, and before thedoor a fire was burning, and round this fire a very curious littleMan was dancing on one leg, and shouting:

When the Queen heard this she was very glad, for now she knewthe name; and soon after came the Dwarf, and asked, "Now, my ladyQueen, what is my name?"

First she said, "Are you called Conrade?" "No."

"Are you called Hal?" "No."

"Are you called Rumpelstiltskin?"

"A witch has told you! a witch has told you!" shrieked thelittle Man, and stamped his right foot so hard in the ground withrage that he could not draw it out again. Then he took hold of hisleft leg with both his hands, and pulled away so hard that hisright came off in the struggle, and he hopped away howlingterribly. And from that day to this the Queen has heard no more ofher troublesome visitor.

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

Once upon a time there was a Woman, who had three daughters, theeldest of whom was named One-Eye, because she had but a single eye,and that placed in the middle of her forehead; the second wascalled Two-Eyes, because she was like other mortals; and the third,Three-Eyes, because she had three eyes, and one of them in thecentre of her forehead, like her eldest sister. But, because hersecond sister had nothing out of the common in her appearance, shewas looked down upon by her sisters, and despised by her mother."You are no better than common folk," they would say to her; "youdo not belong to us"; and then they would push her about, give hercoarse clothing, and nothing to eat but their leavings, besidesnumerous other insults as occasion offered.

Once it happened that Two-Eyes had to go into the forest to tendthe goat; and she went very hungry, because her sisters had givenher very little to eat that morning. She sat down upon a hillock,and cried so much that her tears flowed almost like rivers out ofher eyes! By and by she looked up and saw a Woman standing by, whoasked, "Why are you weeping, Two-Eyes?" "Because I have two eyeslike ordinary people," replied the maiden, "and therefore my motherand sisters dislike me, push me into corners, throw me their oldclothes, and give me nothing to eat but what they leave. To-daythey have given me so little that I am still hungry." "Dry youreyes, then, now," said the wise Woman; "I will tell you somethingwhich shall prevent you from being hungry again. You must say toyour goat:

"and immediately a nicely filled table will stand before you,with delicate food upon it, of which you can eat as much as youplease. And when you are satisfied, and have done with the table,you must say:

"and it will disappear directly."

With these words the wise Womanwent away, and little Two-Eyes thought to herself she would try atonce if what the Woman said were true, for she felt very hungryindeed.

said the maiden, and immediately a table covered with a whitecloth stood before her, with a knife and fork, and silver spoon;and the most delicate dishes were ranged in order upon it, andeverything as warm as if they had been just taken away from thefire. Two-Eyes said a short grace, and then began to eat; and whenshe had finished she pronounced the words which the wise Woman hadtold her:

and directly the table and all that was on it quicklydisappeared. "This is capital housekeeping," said the maiden, inhigh glee; and at evening she went home with her goat, and found anearthen dish which her sisters had left her filled with theirleavings. She did not touch it; and the next morning she went offagain without taking the meagre breakfast which was left out forher. The first and second time she did this the sisters thoughtnothing of it; but when she did the same the third morning theirattention was roused, and they said, "All is not right withTwo-Eyes, for she has left her meals twice, and has touched nothingof what was left for her; she must have found some other way ofliving." So they determined that One-Eye should go with the maidenwhen she drove the goat to the meadow and pay attention to whatpassed, and observe whether any one brought her to eat or todrink.

When Two-Eyes, therefore, was about to set off, One-Eye told hershe was going with her to see whether she took proper care of thegoat and fed her sufficiently. Two-Eyes, however, divined hersister's object, and drove the goat where the grass was finest, andthen said, "Come, One-Eye, let us sit down, and I will sing toyou." So One-Eye sat down, for she was quite tired with her unusualwalk and the heat of the sun.

sang Two-Eyes, until her sister really went to sleep. As soon asshe was quite sound, the maiden had her table out, and ate anddrank all she needed; and by the time One-Eye woke again the tablehad disappeared, and the maiden said to her sister, "Come, we willgo home now; while you have been sleeping the goat might have runabout all over the world." So they went home, and after Two-Eyeshad left her meal untouched, the mother inquired of One-Eye whatshe had seen, and she was obliged to confess that she had beenasleep.

The following morning the mother told Three-Eyes that she mustgo out and watch Two-Eyes, and see who brought her food, for it wascertain that some one must. So Three-Eyes told her sister that shewas going to accompany her that morning to see if she took care ofthe goat and fed her well; but Two-Eyes saw through her design, anddrove the goat again to the best feeding-place. Then she asked hersister to sit down and she would sing to her, and Three-Eyes didso, for she was very tired with her long walk in the heat of thesun. Then Two-Eyes began to sing as before:

but, instead of continuing as she should have done,

she said by mistake,

and so went on singing:

By and by Three-Eyes closed two of her eyes, and went to sleepwith them; but the third eye, which was not spoken to, kept open.Three-Eyes, however, cunningly shut it too, and feigned to beasleep, while she was really watching; and soon Two-Eyes, thinkingall safe, repeated the words:

and as soon as she was satisfied she said the old words:

Three-Eyes watched all these proceedings; and presently Two-Eyescame and awoke her, saying, "Ah, sister! you are a good watcher,but come, let us go home now." When they reached home Two-Eyesagain ate nothing; and her sister told her mother she knew now whythe haughty hussy would not eat their victuals. "When she is out inthe meadow," said her sister, "she says:

"and, directly, a table comes up laid out with meat and wine, andeverything of the best, much better than we have; and as soon asshe has had enough she says:

"and all goes away directly, as I clearly saw. Certainly she didput to sleep two of my eyes, but the one in the middle of myforehead luckily kept awake!"

"Will you have better things than we?" cried the envious mother;"then you shall lose the chance"; and so saying, she took acarving-knife and killed the goat dead.

As soon as Two-Eyes saw this she went out, very sorrowful, tothe old spot and sat down where she had sat before to weepbitterly. All at once the wise Woman stood in front of her again,and asked why she was crying. "Must I not cry," replied she, "whenthe goat which used to furnish me every day with a dinner,according to your promise, has been killed by my mother, and I amagain suffering hunger and thirst?" "Two-Eyes," said the wiseWoman, "I will give you a piece of advice. Beg your sisters to giveyou the entrails of the goat, and bury them in the earth before thehouse door, and your fortune will be made." So saying, shedisappeared, and Two-Eyes went home, and said to her sisters, "Dearsisters, do give me some part of the slain kid; I desire nothingelse—let me have the entrails." The sisters laughed andreadily gave them to her; and she buried them secretly before thethreshold of the door, as the wise Woman had bidden her.

The following morning they found in front of the house awonderfully beautiful tree, with leaves of silver and fruits ofgold hanging from the boughs, than which nothing more splendidcould be seen in the world. The two elder sisters were quiteignorant how the tree came where it stood; but Two-Eyes perceivedthat it was produced by the goat's entrails, for it stood on theexact spot where she had buried them. As soon as the mother saw itshe told One-Eye to break off some of the fruit. One-Eye went up tothe tree, and pulled a bough toward her, to pluck off the fruit;but the bough flew back again directly out of her hands; and so itdid every time she took hold of it, till she was forced to give up,for she could not obtain a single golden apple in spite of all herendeavors. Then the mother said to Three-Eyes, "Do you climb up,for you can see better with your three eyes than your sister withher one." Three-Eyes, however, was not more fortunate than hersister, for the golden apples flew back as soon as she touchedthem. At last the mother got so impatient that she climbed the treeherself; but she met with no more success than either of herdaughters, and grasped the air only when she thought she had thefruit. Two-Eyes now thought she would try, and said to her sisters,"Let me get up, perhaps I may be successful." "Oh, you are verylikely indeed," said they, "with your two eyes: you will see well,no doubt!" So Two-Eyes climbed the tree, and directly she touchedthe boughs the golden apples fell into her hands, so that sheplucked them as fast as she could, and filled her apron before shewent down. Her mother took them of her, but returned her no thanks;and the two sisters, instead of treating Two-Eyes better than theyhad done, were only the more envious of her, because she alonecould gather the fruit—in fact, they treated her worse.

One morning, not long after the springing up of the apple-tree,the three sisters were all standing together beneath it, when inthe distance a young Knight was seen riding toward them. "Makehaste, Two-Eyes!" exclaimed the two elder sisters; "make haste, andcreep out of our way, that we may not be ashamed of you"; and sosaying, they put over her in great haste an empty cask which stoodnear, and which covered the golden apples as well, which she hadjust been plucking. Soon the Knight came up to the tree, and thesisters saw he was a very handsome man, for he stopped to admirethe fine silver leaves and golden fruit, and presently asked towhom the tree belonged, for he should like to have a branch off it.One-Eye and Three-Eyes replied that the tree belonged to them; andthey tried to pluck a branch off for the Knight. They had theirtrouble for nothing, however, for the boughs and fruit flew back assoon as they touched them. "This is very wonderful." cried theKnight, "that this tree should belong to you, and yet you cannotpluck the fruit!" The sisters, however, maintained that it wastheirs; but while they spoke Two-Eyes rolled a golden apple fromunderneath the cask, so that it travelled to the feet of theKnight, for she was angry, because her sisters had not spoken thetruth. When he saw the apple he was astonished, and asked where itcame from; and One-Eye and Three-Eyes said they had another sister,but they dared not let her be seen, because she had only two eyes,like common folk! The Knight, however, would see her, and called,"Two-Eyes, come here!" and soon she made her appearance from underthe cask. The Knight was bewildered at her great beauty, and said,"You, Two-Eyes, can surely break off a bough of this tree for me?""Yes," she replied, "that I will, for it is my property"; andclimbing up, she easily broke off a branch with silver leaves andgolden fruit, which she handed to the Knight. "What can I give youin return, Two-Eyes?" asked the Knight. "Alas! if you will take mewith you I shall be happy, for now I suffer hunger and thirst, andam in trouble and grief from early morning to late evening; takeme, and save me!" Thereupon the Knight raised Two-Eyes upon hissaddle, and took her home to his father's castle. There he gave herbeautiful clothes, and all she wished for to eat or to drink; andafterward, because his love for her had become so great, he marriedher, and a very happy wedding they had.

Her two sisters, meanwhile, were very jealous when Two-Eyes wascarried off by the Knight; but they consoled themselves by saying,"The wonderful tree remains still for us; and even if we cannot getat the fruit, everybody that passes will stop to look at it, andthen come and praise it to us. Who knows where our wheat maybloom?" The morning after this speech, however, the treedisappeared, and with it all their hopes; but when Two-Eyes thatsame day looked out of her chamber window, behold, the tree stoodbefore it, and there remained!

For a long time after this occurrence Two-Eyes lived in theenjoyment of the greatest happiness; and one morning two poor womencame to the palace and begged an alms. Two-Eyes, after lookingnarrowly at their faces, recognized her two sisters, One-Eye andThree-Eyes, who had come to such great poverty that they wereforced to wander about, begging their bread from day to day.Two-Eyes, however, bade them welcome, invited them in, and tookcare of them, till they both repented of their evil which they haddone to their sister in the days of their childhood.

THE END

*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 11027 ***