It happened that the eldest wanted to go into the forest to hew wood,
and before he went his mother gave him a beautiful sweet cake and a
bottle of wine in order that he might not suffer from hunger or
thirst.

When he entered the forest he met a little grey-haired old man who
bade him good day, and said: 'Do give me a piece of cake out of your
pocket, and let me have a draught of your wine; I am so hungry and
thirsty.' But the clever son answered: 'If I give you my cake and
wine, I shall have none for myself; be off with you,' and he left the
little man standing and went on.

But when he began to hew down a tree, it was not long before he made a
false stroke, and the axe cut him in the arm, so that he had to go
home and have it bound up. And this was the little grey man's doing.

After this the second son went into the forest, and his mother gave
him, like the eldest, a cake and a bottle of wine. The little old grey
man met him likewise, and asked him for a piece of cake and a drink of
wine. But the second son, too, said sensibly enough: 'What I give you
will be taken away from myself; be off!' and he left the little man
standing and went on. His punishment, however, was not delayed; when
he had made a few blows at the tree he struck himself in the leg, so
that he had to be carried home.

Then Dummling said: 'Father, do let me go and cut wood.' The father
answered: 'Your brothers have hurt themselves with it, leave it alone,
you do not understand anything about it.' But Dummling begged so long
that at last he said: 'Just go then, you will get wiser by hurting
yourself.' His mother gave him a cake made with water and baked in the
cinders, and with it a bottle of sour beer.

When he came to the forest the little old grey man met him likewise,
and greeting him, said: 'Give me a piece of your cake and a drink out
of your bottle; I am so hungry and thirsty.' Dummling answered: 'I
have only cinder-cake and sour beer; if that pleases you, we will sit
down and eat.' So they sat down, and when Dummling pulled out his
cinder-cake, it was a fine sweet cake, and the sour beer had become
good wine. So they ate and drank, and after that the little man said:
'Since you have a good heart, and are willing to divide what you have,
I will give you good luck. There stands an old tree, cut it down, and
you will find something at the roots.' Then the little man took leave
of him.

Dummling went and cut down the tree, and when it fell there was a
goose sitting in the roots with feathers of pure gold. He lifted her
up, and taking her with him, went to an inn where he thought he would
stay the night. Now the host had three daughters, who saw the goose
and were curious to know what such a wonderful bird might be, and
would have liked to have one of its golden feathers.

The eldest thought: 'I shall soon find an opportunity of pulling out a
feather,' and as soon as Dummling had gone out she seized the goose by
the wing, but her finger and hand remained sticking fast to it.

The second came soon afterwards, thinking only of how she might get a
feather for herself, but she had scarcely touched her sister than she
was held fast.

At last the third also came with the like intent, and the others
screamed out: 'Keep away; for goodness' sake keep away!' But she did
not understand why she was to keep away. 'The others are there,' she
thought, 'I may as well be there too,' and ran to them; but as soon as
she had touched her sister, she remained sticking fast to her. So they
had to spend the night with the goose.

The next morning Dummling took the goose under his arm and set out,
without troubling himself about the three girls who were hanging on to
it. They were obliged to run after him continually, now left, now
right, wherever his legs took him.

In the middle of the fields the parson met them, and when he saw the
procession he said: 'For shame, you good-for-nothing girls, why are
you running across the fields after this young man? Is that seemly?'
At the same time he seized the youngest by the hand in order to pull
her away, but as soon as he touched her he likewise stuck fast, and
was himself obliged to run behind.

Before long the sexton came by and saw his master, the parson, running
behind three girls. He was astonished at this and called out: 'Hi!
your reverence, whither away so quickly? Do not forget that we have a
christening today!' and running after him he took him by the sleeve,
but was also held fast to it.

Whilst the five were trotting thus one behind the other, two labourers
came with their hoes from the fields; the parson called out to them
and begged that they would set him and the sexton free. But they had
scarcely touched the sexton when they were held fast, and now there
were seven of them running behind Dummling and the goose.

Soon afterwards he came to a city, where a king ruled who had a
daughter who was so serious that no one could make her laugh. So he
had put forth a decree that whosoever should be able to make her laugh
should marry her. When Dummling heard this, he went with his goose and
all her train before the king's daughter, and as soon as she saw the
seven people running on and on, one behind the other, she began to
laugh quite loudly, and as if she would never stop. Thereupon Dummling
asked to have her for his wife; but the king did not like the son-in-
law, and made all manner of excuses and said he must first produce a
man who could drink a cellarful of wine. Dummling thought of the
little grey man, who could certainly help him; so he went into the
forest, and in the same place where he had felled the tree, he saw a
man sitting, who had a very sorrowful face. Dummling asked him what he
was taking to heart so sorely, and he answered: 'I have such a great
thirst and cannot quench it; cold water I cannot stand, a barrel of
wine I have just emptied, but that to me is like a drop on a hot
stone!'

'There, I can help you,' said Dummling, 'just come with me and you
shall be satisfied.'

He led him into the king's cellar, and the man bent over the huge
barrels, and drank and drank till his loins hurt, and before the day
was out he had emptied all the barrels. Then Dummling asked once more
for his bride, but the king was vexed that such an ugly fellow, whom
everyone called Dummling, should take away his daughter, and he made a
new condition; he must first find a man who could eat a whole mountain
of bread. Dummling did not think long, but went straight into the
forest, where in the same place there sat a man who was tying up his
body with a strap, and making an awful face, and saying: 'I have eaten
a whole ovenful of rolls, but what good is that when one has such a
hunger as I? My stomach remains empty, and I must tie myself up if I
am not to die of hunger.'

At this Dummling was glad, and said: 'Get up and come with me; you
shall eat yourself full.' He led him to the king's palace where all
the flour in the whole Kingdom was collected, and from it he caused a
huge mountain of bread to be baked. The man from the forest stood
before it, began to eat, and by the end of one day the whole mountain
had vanished. Then Dummling for the third time asked for his bride;
but the king again sought a way out, and ordered a ship which could
sail on land and on water. 'As soon as you come sailing back in it,'
said he, 'you shall have my daughter for wife.'

Dummling went straight into the forest, and there sat the little grey
man to whom he had given his cake. When he heard what Dummling wanted,
he said: 'Since you have given me to eat and to drink, I will give you
the ship; and I do all this because you once were kind to me.' Then he
gave him the ship which could sail on land and water, and when the
king saw that, he could no longer prevent him from having his
daughter. The wedding was celebrated, and after the king's death,
Dummling inherited his kingdom and lived for a long time contentedly
with his wife.

[*] Simpleton

Then he set out: and when he had gone on his way some time he came to
a deep valley, overhung with rocks and woods; and as he looked around,
he saw standing above him on one of the rocks a little ugly dwarf,
with a sugarloaf cap and a scarlet cloak; and the dwarf called to him
and said, 'Prince, whither so fast?' 'What is that to thee, you ugly
imp?' said the prince haughtily, and rode on.

But the dwarf was enraged at his behaviour, and laid a fairy spell of
ill-luck upon him; so that as he rode on the mountain pass became
narrower and narrower, and at last the way was so straitened that he
could not go to step forward: and when he thought to have turned his
horse round and go back the way he came, he heard a loud laugh ringing
round him, and found that the path was closed behind him, so that he
was shut in all round. He next tried to get off his horse and make his
way on foot, but again the laugh rang in his ears, and he found
himself unable to move a step, and thus he was forced to abide
spellbound.

Meantime the old king was lingering on in daily hope of his son's
return, till at last the second son said, 'Father, I will go in search
of the Water of Life.' For he thought to himself, 'My brother is
surely dead, and the kingdom will fall to me if I find the water.' The
king was at first very unwilling to let him go, but at last yielded to
his wish. So he set out and followed the same road which his brother
had done, and met with the same elf, who stopped him at the same spot
in the mountains, saying, as before, 'Prince, prince, whither so
fast?' 'Mind your own affairs, busybody!' said the prince scornfully,
and rode on.

But the dwarf put the same spell upon him as he put on his elder
brother, and he, too, was at last obliged to take up his abode in the
heart of the mountains. Thus it is with proud silly people, who think
themselves above everyone else, and are too proud to ask or take
advice.

When the second prince had thus been gone a long time, the youngest
son said he would go and search for the Water of Life, and trusted he
should soon be able to make his father well again. So he set out, and
the dwarf met him too at the same spot in the valley, among the
mountains, and said, 'Prince, whither so fast?' And the prince said,
'I am going in search of the Water of Life, because my father is ill,
and like to die: can you help me? Pray be kind, and aid me if you
can!' 'Do you know where it is to be found?' asked the dwarf. 'No,'
said the prince, 'I do not. Pray tell me if you know.' 'Then as you
have spoken to me kindly, and are wise enough to seek for advice, I
will tell you how and where to go. The water you seek springs from a
well in an enchanted castle; and, that you may be able to reach it in
safety, I will give you an iron wand and two little loaves of bread;
strike the iron door of the castle three times with the wand, and it
will open: two hungry lions will be lying down inside gaping for their
prey, but if you throw them the bread they will let you pass; then
hasten on to the well, and take some of the Water of Life before the
clock strikes twelve; for if you tarry longer the door will shut upon
you for ever.'

Then the prince thanked his little friend with the scarlet cloak for
his friendly aid, and took the wand and the bread, and went travelling
on and on, over sea and over land, till he came to his journey's end,
and found everything to be as the dwarf had told him. The door flew
open at the third stroke of the wand, and when the lions were quieted
he went on through the castle and came at length to a beautiful hall.
Around it he saw several knights sitting in a trance; then he pulled
off their rings and put them on his own fingers. In another room he
saw on a table a sword and a loaf of bread, which he also took.
Further on he came to a room where a beautiful young lady sat upon a
couch; and she welcomed him joyfully, and said, if he would set her
free from the spell that bound her, the kingdom should be his, if he
would come back in a year and marry her. Then she told him that the
well that held the Water of Life was in the palace gardens; and bade
him make haste, and draw what he wanted before the clock struck
twelve.

He walked on; and as he walked through beautiful gardens he came to a
delightful shady spot in which stood a couch; and he thought to
himself, as he felt tired, that he would rest himself for a while, and
gaze on the lovely scenes around him. So he laid himself down, and
sleep fell upon him unawares, so that he did not wake up till the
clock was striking a quarter to twelve. Then he sprang from the couch
dreadfully frightened, ran to the well, filled a cup that was standing
by him full of water, and hastened to get away in time. Just as he was
going out of the iron door it struck twelve, and the door fell so
quickly upon him that it snapped off a piece of his heel.

When he found himself safe, he was overjoyed to think that he had got
the Water of Life; and as he was going on his way homewards, he passed
by the little dwarf, who, when he saw the sword and the loaf, said,
'You have made a noble prize; with the sword you can at a blow slay
whole armies, and the bread will never fail you.' Then the prince
thought to himself, 'I cannot go home to my father without my
brothers'; so he said, 'My dear friend, cannot you tell me where my
two brothers are, who set out in search of the Water of Life before
me, and never came back?' 'I have shut them up by a charm between two
mountains,' said the dwarf, 'because they were proud and ill-behaved,
and scorned to ask advice.' The prince begged so hard for his
brothers, that the dwarf at last set them free, though unwillingly,
saying, 'Beware of them, for they have bad hearts.' Their brother,
however, was greatly rejoiced to see them, and told them all that had
happened to him; how he had found the Water of Life, and had taken a
cup full of it; and how he had set a beautiful princess free from a
spell that bound her; and how she had engaged to wait a whole year,
and then to marry him, and to give him the kingdom.

Then they all three rode on together, and on their way home came to a
country that was laid waste by war and a dreadful famine, so that it
was feared all must die for want. But the prince gave the king of the
land the bread, and all his kingdom ate of it. And he lent the king
the wonderful sword, and he slew the enemy's army with it; and thus
the kingdom was once more in peace and plenty. In the same manner he
befriended two other countries through which they passed on their way.

When they came to the sea, they got into a ship and during their
voyage the two eldest said to themselves, 'Our brother has got the
water which we could not find, therefore our father will forsake us
and give him the kingdom, which is our right'; so they were full of
envy and revenge, and agreed together how they could ruin him. Then
they waited till he was fast asleep, and poured the Water of Life out
of the cup, and took it for themselves, giving him bitter sea-water
instead.

When they came to their journey's end, the youngest son brought his
cup to the sick king, that he might drink and be healed. Scarcely,
however, had he tasted the bitter sea-water when he became worse even
than he was before; and then both the elder sons came in, and blamed
the youngest for what they had done; and said that he wanted to poison
their father, but that they had found the Water of Life, and had
brought it with them. He no sooner began to drink of what they brought
him, than he felt his sickness leave him, and was as strong and well
as in his younger days. Then they went to their brother, and laughed
at him, and said, 'Well, brother, you found the Water of Life, did
you? You have had the trouble and we shall have the reward. Pray, with
all your cleverness, why did not you manage to keep your eyes open?
Next year one of us will take away your beautiful princess, if you do
not take care. You had better say nothing about this to our father,
for he does not believe a word you say; and if you tell tales, you
shall lose your life into the bargain: but be quiet, and we will let
you off.'

The old king was still very angry with his youngest son, and thought
that he really meant to have taken away his life; so he called his
court together, and asked what should be done, and all agreed that he
ought to be put to death. The prince knew nothing of what was going
on, till one day, when the king's chief huntsmen went a-hunting with
him, and they were alone in the wood together, the huntsman looked so
sorrowful that the prince said, 'My friend, what is the matter with
you?' 'I cannot and dare not tell you,' said he. But the prince begged
very hard, and said, 'Only tell me what it is, and do not think I
shall be angry, for I will forgive you.' 'Alas!' said the huntsman;
'the king has ordered me to shoot you.' The prince started at this,
and said, 'Let me live, and I will change dresses with you; you shall
take my royal coat to show to my father, and do you give me your
shabby one.' 'With all my heart,' said the huntsman; 'I am sure I
shall be glad to save you, for I could not have shot you.' Then he
took the prince's coat, and gave him the shabby one, and went away
through the wood.

Some time after, three grand embassies came to the old king's court,
with rich gifts of gold and precious stones for his youngest son; now
all these were sent from the three kings to whom he had lent his sword
and loaf of bread, in order to rid them of their enemy and feed their
people. This touched the old king's heart, and he thought his son
might still be guiltless, and said to his court, 'O that my son were
still alive! how it grieves me that I had him killed!' 'He is still
alive,' said the huntsman; 'and I am glad that I had pity on him, but
let him go in peace, and brought home his royal coat.' At this the
king was overwhelmed with joy, and made it known thoughout all his
kingdom, that if his son would come back to his court he would forgive
him.

Meanwhile the princess was eagerly waiting till her deliverer should
come back; and had a road made leading up to her palace all of shining
gold; and told her courtiers that whoever came on horseback, and rode
straight up to the gate upon it, was her true lover; and that they
must let him in: but whoever rode on one side of it, they must be sure
was not the right one; and that they must send him away at once.

The time soon came, when the eldest brother thought that he would make
haste to go to the princess, and say that he was the one who had set
her free, and that he should have her for his wife, and the kingdom
with her. As he came before the palace and saw the golden road, he
stopped to look at it, and he thought to himself, 'It is a pity to
ride upon this beautiful road'; so he turned aside and rode on the
right-hand side of it. But when he came to the gate, the guards, who
had seen the road he took, said to him, he could not be what he said
he was, and must go about his business.

The second prince set out soon afterwards on the same errand; and when
he came to the golden road, and his horse had set one foot upon it, he
stopped to look at it, and thought it very beautiful, and said to
himself, 'What a pity it is that anything should tread here!' Then he
too turned aside and rode on the left side of it. But when he came to
the gate the guards said he was not the true prince, and that he too
must go away about his business; and away he went.

Now when the full year was come round, the third brother left the
forest in which he had lain hid for fear of his father's anger, and
set out in search of his betrothed bride. So he journeyed on, thinking
of her all the way, and rode so quickly that he did not even see what
the road was made of, but went with his horse straight over it; and as
he came to the gate it flew open, and the princess welcomed him with
joy, and said he was her deliverer, and should now be her husband and
lord of the kingdom. When the first joy at their meeting was over, the
princess told him she had heard of his father having forgiven him, and
of his wish to have him home again: so, before his wedding with the
princess, he went to visit his father, taking her with him. Then he
told him everything; how his brothers had cheated and robbed him, and
yet that he had borne all those wrongs for the love of his father. And
the old king was very angry, and wanted to punish his wicked sons; but
they made their escape, and got into a ship and sailed away over the
wide sea, and where they went to nobody knew and nobody cared.

And now the old king gathered together his court, and asked all his
kingdom to come and celebrate the wedding of his son and the princess.
And young and old, noble and squire, gentle and simple, came at once
on the summons; and among the rest came the friendly dwarf, with the
sugarloaf hat, and a new scarlet cloak.

And the wedding was held, and the merry bells run.
And all the good people they danced and they sung,
And feasted and frolick'd I can't tell how long.

When therefore the son had been proclaimed king, and the time of
mourning was over, he was forced to keep the promise which he had
given his father, and caused the king's daughter to be asked in
marriage, and she was promised to him. His first betrothed heard of
this, and fretted so much about his faithfulness that she nearly died.
Then her father said to her: 'Dearest child, why are you so sad? You
shall have whatsoever you will.' She thought for a moment and said:
'Dear father, I wish for eleven girls exactly like myself in face,
figure, and size.' The father said: 'If it be possible, your desire
shall be fulfilled,' and he caused a search to be made in his whole
kingdom, until eleven young maidens were found who exactly resembled
his daughter in face, figure, and size.

When they came to the king's daughter, she had twelve suits of
huntsmen's clothes made, all alike, and the eleven maidens had to put
on the huntsmen's clothes, and she herself put on the twelfth suit.
Thereupon she took her leave of her father, and rode away with them,
and rode to the court of her former betrothed, whom she loved so
dearly. Then she asked if he required any huntsmen, and if he would
take all of them into his service. The king looked at her and did not
know her, but as they were such handsome fellows, he said: 'Yes,' and
that he would willingly take them, and now they were the king's twelve
huntsmen.

The king, however, had a lion which was a wondrous animal, for he knew
all concealed and secret things. It came to pass that one evening he
said to the king: 'You think you have twelve huntsmen?' 'Yes,' said
the king, 'they are twelve huntsmen.' The lion continued: 'You are
mistaken, they are twelve girls.' The king said: 'That cannot be true!
How will you prove that to me?' 'Oh, just let some peas be strewn in
the ante-chamber,' answered the lion, 'and then you will soon see.
Men have a firm step, and when they walk over peas none of them stir,
but girls trip and skip, and drag their feet, and the peas roll
about.' The king was well pleased with the counsel, and caused the
peas to be strewn.

There was, however, a servant of the king's who favoured the huntsmen,
and when he heard that they were going to be put to this test he went
to them and repeated everything, and said: 'The lion wants to make the
king believe that you are girls.' Then the king's daughter thanked
him, and said to her maidens: 'Show some strength, and step firmly on
the peas.' So next morning when the king had the twelve huntsmen
called before him, and they came into the ante-chamber where the peas
were lying, they stepped so firmly on them, and had such a strong,
sure walk, that not one of the peas either rolled or stirred. Then
they went away again, and the king said to the lion: 'You have lied to
me, they walk just like men.' The lion said: 'They have been informed
that they were going to be put to the test, and have assumed some
strength. Just let twelve spinning-wheels be brought into the ante-
chamber, and they will go to them and be pleased with them, and that
is what no man would do.' The king liked the advice, and had the
spinning-wheels placed in the ante-chamber.

But the servant, who was well disposed to the huntsmen, went to them,
and disclosed the project. So when they were alone the king's daughter
said to her eleven girls: 'Show some constraint, and do not look round
at the spinning-wheels.' And next morning when the king had his twelve
huntsmen summoned, they went through the ante-chamber, and never once
looked at the spinning-wheels. Then the king again said to the lion:
'You have deceived me, they are men, for they have not looked at the
spinning-wheels.' The lion replied: 'They have restrained themselves.'
The king, however, would no longer believe the lion.

The twelve huntsmen always followed the king to the chase, and his
liking for them continually increased. Now it came to pass that once
when they were out hunting, news came that the king's bride was
approaching. When the true bride heard that, it hurt her so much that
her heart was almost broken, and she fell fainting to the ground. The
king thought something had happened to his dear huntsman, ran up to
him, wanted to help him, and drew his glove off. Then he saw the ring
which he had given to his first bride, and when he looked in her face
he recognized her. Then his heart was so touched that he kissed her,
and when she opened her eyes he said: 'You are mine, and I am yours,
and no one in the world can alter that.' He sent a messenger to the
other bride, and entreated her to return to her own kingdom, for he
had a wife already, and someone who had just found an old key did not
require a new one. Thereupon the wedding was celebrated, and the lion
was again taken into favour, because, after all, he had told the
truth.

One day, as he was roaming along in a brown study, thinking with no
great comfort on what he had been and what he now was, and was like to
be, all on a sudden there stood before him a little, rough-looking,
black dwarf. 'Prithee, friend, why so sorrowful?' said he to the
merchant; 'what is it you take so deeply to heart?' 'If you would do
me any good I would willingly tell you,' said the merchant. 'Who knows
but I may?' said the little man: 'tell me what ails you, and perhaps
you will find I may be of some use.' Then the merchant told him how
all his wealth was gone to the bottom of the sea, and how he had
nothing left but that little plot of land. 'Oh, trouble not yourself
about that,' said the dwarf; 'only undertake to bring me here, twelve
years hence, whatever meets you first on your going home, and I will
give you as much as you please.' The merchant thought this was no
great thing to ask; that it would most likely be his dog or his cat,
or something of that sort, but forgot his little boy Heinel; so he
agreed to the bargain, and signed and sealed the bond to do what was
asked of him.

But as he drew near home, his little boy was so glad to see him that
he crept behind him, and laid fast hold of his legs, and looked up in
his face and laughed. Then the father started, trembling with fear and
horror, and saw what it was that he had bound himself to do; but as no
gold was come, he made himself easy by thinking that it was only a
joke that the dwarf was playing him, and that, at any rate, when the
money came, he should see the bearer, and would not take it in.

About a month afterwards he went upstairs into a lumber-room to look
for some old iron, that he might sell it and raise a little money; and
there, instead of his iron, he saw a large pile of gold lying on the
floor. At the sight of this he was overjoyed, and forgetting all about
his son, went into trade again, and became a richer merchant than
before.

Meantime little Heinel grew up, and as the end of the twelve years
drew near the merchant began to call to mind his bond, and became very
sad and thoughtful; so that care and sorrow were written upon his
face. The boy one day asked what was the matter, but his father would
not tell for some time; at last, however, he said that he had, without
knowing it, sold him for gold to a little, ugly-looking, black dwarf,
and that the twelve years were coming round when he must keep his
word. Then Heinel said, 'Father, give yourself very little trouble
about that; I shall be too much for the little man.'

When the time came, the father and son went out together to the place
agreed upon: and the son drew a circle on the ground, and set himself
and his father in the middle of it. The little black dwarf soon came,
and walked round and round about the circle, but could not find any
way to get into it, and he either could not, or dared not, jump over
it. At last the boy said to him. 'Have you anything to say to us, my
friend, or what do you want?' Now Heinel had found a friend in a good
fairy, that was fond of him, and had told him what to do; for this
fairy knew what good luck was in store for him. 'Have you brought me
what you said you would?' said the dwarf to the merchant. The old man
held his tongue, but Heinel said again, 'What do you want here?' The
dwarf said, 'I come to talk with your father, not with you.' 'You have
cheated and taken in my father,' said the son; 'pray give him up his
bond at once.' 'Fair and softly,' said the little old man; 'right is
right; I have paid my money, and your father has had it, and spent it;
so be so good as to let me have what I paid it for.' 'You must have my
consent to that first,' said Heinel, 'so please to step in here, and
let us talk it over.' The old man grinned, and showed his teeth, as if
he should have been very glad to get into the circle if he could. Then
at last, after a long talk, they came to terms. Heinel agreed that his
father must give him up, and that so far the dwarf should have his
way: but, on the other hand, the fairy had told Heinel what fortune
was in store for him, if he followed his own course; and he did not
choose to be given up to his hump-backed friend, who seemed so anxious
for his company.

So, to make a sort of drawn battle of the matter, it was settled that
Heinel should be put into an open boat, that lay on the sea-shore hard
by; that the father should push him off with his own hand, and that he
should thus be set adrift, and left to the bad or good luck of wind
and weather. Then he took leave of his father, and set himself in the
boat, but before it got far off a wave struck it, and it fell with one
side low in the water, so the merchant thought that poor Heinel was
lost, and went home very sorrowful, while the dwarf went his way,
thinking that at any rate he had had his revenge.

The boat, however, did not sink, for the good fairy took care of her
friend, and soon raised the boat up again, and it went safely on. The
young man sat safe within, till at length it ran ashore upon an
unknown land. As he jumped upon the shore he saw before him a
beautiful castle but empty and dreary within, for it was enchanted.
'Here,' said he to himself, 'must I find the prize the good fairy told
me of.' So he once more searched the whole palace through, till at
last he found a white snake, lying coiled up on a cushion in one of
the chambers.

Now the white snake was an enchanted princess; and she was very glad
to see him, and said, 'Are you at last come to set me free? Twelve
long years have I waited here for the fairy to bring you hither as she
promised, for you alone can save me. This night twelve men will come:
their faces will be black, and they will be dressed in chain armour.
They will ask what you do here, but give no answer; and let them do
what they will--beat, whip, pinch, prick, or torment you--bear all;
only speak not a word, and at twelve o'clock they must go away. The
second night twelve others will come: and the third night twenty-four,
who will even cut off your head; but at the twelfth hour of that night
their power is gone, and I shall be free, and will come and bring you
the Water of Life, and will wash you with it, and bring you back to
life and health.' And all came to pass as she had said; Heinel bore
all, and spoke not a word; and the third night the princess came, and
fell on his neck and kissed him. Joy and gladness burst forth
throughout the castle, the wedding was celebrated, and he was crowned
king of the Golden Mountain.

They lived together very happily, and the queen had a son. And thus
eight years had passed over their heads, when the king thought of his
father; and he began to long to see him once again. But the queen was
against his going, and said, 'I know well that misfortunes will come
upon us if you go.' However, he gave her no rest till she agreed. At
his going away she gave him a wishing-ring, and said, 'Take this ring,
and put it on your finger; whatever you wish it will bring you; only
promise never to make use of it to bring me hence to your father's
house.' Then he said he would do what she asked, and put the ring on
his finger, and wished himself near the town where his father lived.

Heinel found himself at the gates in a moment; but the guards would
not let him go in, because he was so strangely clad. So he went up to
a neighbouring hill, where a shepherd dwelt, and borrowed his old
frock, and thus passed unknown into the town. When he came to his
father's house, he said he was his son; but the merchant would not
believe him, and said he had had but one son, his poor Heinel, who he
knew was long since dead: and as he was only dressed like a poor
shepherd, he would not even give him anything to eat. The king,
however, still vowed that he was his son, and said, 'Is there no mark
by which you would know me if I am really your son?' 'Yes,' said his
mother, 'our Heinel had a mark like a raspberry on his right arm.'
Then he showed them the mark, and they knew that what he had said was
true.

He next told them how he was king of the Golden Mountain, and was
married to a princess, and had a son seven years old. But the merchant
said, 'that can never be true; he must be a fine king truly who travels
about in a shepherd's frock!' At this the son was vexed; and forgetting
his word, turned his ring, and wished for his queen and son. In an
instant they stood before him; but the queen wept, and said he had
broken his word, and bad luck would follow. He did all he could to
soothe her, and she at last seemed to be appeased; but she was not so in
truth, and was only thinking how she should punish him.

One day he took her to walk with him out of the town, and showed her
the spot where the boat was set adrift upon the wide waters. Then he
sat himself down, and said, 'I am very much tired; sit by me, I will
rest my head in your lap, and sleep a while.' As soon as he had fallen
asleep, however, she drew the ring from his finger, and crept softly
away, and wished herself and her son at home in their kingdom. And
when he awoke he found himself alone, and saw that the ring was gone
from his finger. 'I can never go back to my father's house,' said he;
'they would say I am a sorcerer: I will journey forth into the world,
till I come again to my kingdom.'

So saying he set out and travelled till he came to a hill, where three
giants were sharing their father's goods; and as they saw him pass
they cried out and said, 'Little men have sharp wits; he shall part
the goods between us.' Now there was a sword that cut off an enemy's
head whenever the wearer gave the words, 'Heads off!'; a cloak that
made the owner invisible, or gave him any form he pleased; and a pair
of boots that carried the wearer wherever he wished. Heinel said they
must first let him try these wonderful things, then he might know how
to set a value upon them. Then they gave him the cloak, and he wished
himself a fly, and in a moment he was a fly. 'The cloak is very well,'
said he: 'now give me the sword.' 'No,' said they; 'not unless you
undertake not to say, "Heads off!" for if you do we are all dead men.'
So they gave it him, charging him to try it on a tree. He next asked
for the boots also; and the moment he had all three in his power, he
wished himself at the Golden Mountain; and there he was at once. So
the giants were left behind with no goods to share or quarrel about.

As Heinel came near his castle he heard the sound of merry music; and
the people around told him that his queen was about to marry another
husband. Then he threw his cloak around him, and passed through the
castle hall, and placed himself by the side of the queen, where no one
saw him. But when anything to eat was put upon her plate, he took it
away and ate it himself; and when a glass of wine was handed to her,
he took it and drank it; and thus, though they kept on giving her meat
and drink, her plate and cup were always empty.

Upon this, fear and remorse came over her, and she went into her
chamber alone, and sat there weeping; and he followed her there.
'Alas!' said she to herself, 'was I not once set free? Why then does
this enchantment still seem to bind me?'

'False and fickle one!' said he. 'One indeed came who set thee free,
and he is now near thee again; but how have you used him? Ought he to
have had such treatment from thee?' Then he went out and sent away the
company, and said the wedding was at an end, for that he was come back
to the kingdom. But the princes, peers, and great men mocked at him.
However, he would enter into no parley with them, but only asked them
if they would go in peace or not. Then they turned upon him and tried
to seize him; but he drew his sword. 'Heads Off!' cried he; and with
the word the traitors' heads fell before him, and Heinel was once more
king of the Golden Mountain.

On this the servants looked terribly uneasy, and made a sign to the
doctor that they wished him to step outside for a moment. When
therefore he went out, all four of them confessed to him that they had
stolen the money, and said that they would willingly restore it and
give him a heavy sum into the bargain, if he would not denounce them,
for if he did they would be hanged. They led him to the spot where the
money was concealed. With this the doctor was satisfied, and returned
to the hall, sat down to the table, and said: 'My lord, now will I
search in my book where the gold is hidden.' The fifth servant,
however, crept into the stove to hear if the doctor knew still more.

So the father sent one of his sons in haste to the spring to get some
water, but the other six ran with him. Each wanted to be first at
drawing the water, and so they were in such a hurry that all let their
pitchers fall into the well, and they stood very foolishly looking at
one another, and did not know what to do, for none dared go home. In
the meantime the father was uneasy, and could not tell what made the
young men stay so long. 'Surely,' said he, 'the whole seven must have
forgotten themselves over some game of play'; and when he had waited
still longer and they yet did not come, he flew into a rage and wished
them all turned into ravens. Scarcely had he spoken these words when
he heard a croaking over his head, and looked up and saw seven ravens
as black as coal flying round and round. Sorry as he was to see his
wish so fulfilled, he did not know how what was done could be undone,
and comforted himself as well as he could for the loss of his seven
sons with his dear little daughter, who soon became stronger and every
day more beautiful.

For a long time she did not know that she had ever had any brothers;
for her father and mother took care not to speak of them before her:
but one day by chance she heard the people about her speak of them.
'Yes,' said they, 'she is beautiful indeed, but still 'tis a pity that
her brothers should have been lost for her sake.' Then she was much
grieved, and went to her father and mother, and asked if she had any
brothers, and what had become of them. So they dared no longer hide
the truth from her, but said it was the will of Heaven, and that her
birth was only the innocent cause of it; but the little girl mourned
sadly about it every day, and thought herself bound to do all she
could to bring her brothers back; and she had neither rest nor ease,
till at length one day she stole away, and set out into the wide world
to find her brothers, wherever they might be, and free them, whatever
it might cost her.

She took nothing with her but a little ring which her father and
mother had given her, a loaf of bread in case she should be hungry, a
little pitcher of water in case she should be thirsty, and a little
stool to rest upon when she should be weary. Thus she went on and on,
and journeyed till she came to the world's end; then she came to the
sun, but the sun looked much too hot and fiery; so she ran away
quickly to the moon, but the moon was cold and chilly, and said, 'I
smell flesh and blood this way!' so she took herself away in a hurry
and came to the stars, and the stars were friendly and kind to her,
and each star sat upon his own little stool; but the morning star rose
up and gave her a little piece of wood, and said, 'If you have not
this little piece of wood, you cannot unlock the castle that stands on
the glass-mountain, and there your brothers live.' The little girl
took the piece of wood, rolled it up in a little cloth, and went on
again until she came to the glass-mountain, and found the door shut.
Then she felt for the little piece of wood; but when she unwrapped the
cloth it was not there, and she saw she had lost the gift of the good
stars. What was to be done? She wanted to save her brothers, and had
no key of the castle of the glass-mountain; so this faithful little
sister took a knife out of her pocket and cut off her little finger,
that was just the size of the piece of wood she had lost, and put it
in the door and opened it.

As she went in, a little dwarf came up to her, and said, 'What are you
seeking for?' 'I seek for my brothers, the seven ravens,' answered
she. Then the dwarf said, 'My masters are not at home; but if you will
wait till they come, pray step in.' Now the little dwarf was getting
their dinner ready, and he brought their food upon seven little
plates, and their drink in seven little glasses, and set them upon the
table, and out of each little plate their sister ate a small piece,
and out of each little glass she drank a small drop; but she let the
ring that she had brought with her fall into the last glass.

On a sudden she heard a fluttering and croaking in the air, and the
dwarf said, 'Here come my masters.' When they came in, they wanted to
eat and drink, and looked for their little plates and glasses. Then
said one after the other,

'Who has eaten from my little plate? And who has been drinking out of
my little glass?'

'Caw! Caw! well I ween
Mortal lips have this way been.'

When the seventh came to the bottom of his glass, and found there the
ring, he looked at it, and knew that it was his father's and mother's,
and said, 'O that our little sister would but come! then we should be
free.' When the little girl heard this (for she stood behind the door
all the time and listened), she ran forward, and in an instant all the
ravens took their right form again; and all hugged and kissed each
other, and went merrily home.

'What may you be about, Miss Cat?
Do you sleep or do you wake?'

She answered:

'I am not sleeping, I am waking,
Would you know what I am making?
I am boiling warm beer with butter,
Will you be my guest for supper?'

'No, thank you, miss,' said the fox, 'what is Mrs Fox doing?' The maid
replied:

'She is sitting in her room,
Moaning in her gloom,
Weeping her little eyes quite red,
Because old Mr Fox is dead.'

'Do just tell her, miss, that a young fox is here, who would like to
woo her.' 'Certainly, young sir.'

The cat goes up the stairs trip, trap,
The door she knocks at tap, tap, tap,
'Mistress Fox, are you inside?'
'Oh, yes, my little cat,' she cried.
'A wooer he stands at the door out there.'
'What does he look like, my dear?'

'Has he nine as beautiful tails as the late Mr Fox?' 'Oh, no,'
answered the cat, 'he has only one.' 'Then I will not have him.'

Miss Cat went downstairs and sent the wooer away. Soon afterwards
there was another knock, and another fox was at the door who wished to
woo Mrs Fox. He had two tails, but he did not fare better than the
first. After this still more came, each with one tail more than the
other, but they were all turned away, until at last one came who had
nine tails, like old Mr Fox. When the widow heard that, she said
joyfully to the cat:

'Now open the gates and doors all wide,
And carry old Mr Fox outside.'

But just as the wedding was going to be solemnized, old Mr Fox stirred
under the bench, and cudgelled all the rabble, and drove them and Mrs
Fox out of the house.

'Good day, Mrs Cat of Kehrewit,
How comes it that alone you sit?
What are you making good?'

The cat replied:

'In milk I'm breaking bread so sweet,
Will you be my guest, and eat?'

'No, thank you, Mrs Cat,' answered the wolf. 'Is Mrs Fox not at home?'

The cat said:

'She sits upstairs in her room,
Bewailing her sorrowful doom,
Bewailing her trouble so sore,
For old Mr Fox is no more.'

The wolf answered:

'If she's in want of a husband now,
Then will it please her to step below?'
The cat runs quickly up the stair,
And lets her tail fly here and there,
Until she comes to the parlour door.
With her five gold rings at the door she knocks:
'Are you within, good Mistress Fox?
If you're in want of a husband now,
Then will it please you to step below?

Mrs Fox asked: 'Has the gentleman red stockings on, and has he a
pointed mouth?' 'No,' answered the cat. 'Then he won't do for me.'

When the wolf was gone, came a dog, a stag, a hare, a bear, a lion,
and all the beasts of the forest, one after the other. But one of the
good qualities which old Mr Fox had possessed, was always lacking, and
the cat had continually to send the suitors away. At length came a
young fox. Then Mrs Fox said: 'Has the gentleman red stockings on, and
has a little pointed mouth?' 'Yes,' said the cat, 'he has.' 'Then let
him come upstairs,' said Mrs Fox, and ordered the servant to prepare
the wedding feast.

'Sweep me the room as clean as you can,
Up with the window, fling out my old man!
For many a fine fat mouse he brought,
Yet of his wife he never thought,
But ate up every one he caught.'

Then the wedding was solemnized with young Mr Fox, and there was much
rejoicing and dancing; and if they have not left off, they are dancing
still.

The huntsman thanked her, and thought to himself, 'If all this does
happen, it will be a fine thing for me.' When he had gone a hundred
steps or so, he heard a screaming and chirping in the branches over
him, and looked up and saw a flock of birds pulling a cloak with their
bills and feet; screaming, fighting, and tugging at each other as if
each wished to have it himself. 'Well,' said the huntsman, 'this is
wonderful; this happens just as the old woman said'; then he shot into
the midst of them so that their feathers flew all about. Off went the
flock chattering away; but one fell down dead, and the cloak with it.
Then the huntsman did as the old woman told him, cut open the bird,
took out the heart, and carried the cloak home with him.

The next morning when he awoke he lifted up his pillow, and there lay
the piece of gold glittering underneath; the same happened next day,
and indeed every day when he arose. He heaped up a great deal of gold,
and at last thought to himself, 'Of what use is this gold to me whilst
I am at home? I will go out into the world and look about me.'

Then he took leave of his friends, and hung his bag and bow about his
neck, and went his way. It so happened that his road one day led
through a thick wood, at the end of which was a large castle in a
green meadow, and at one of the windows stood an old woman with a very
beautiful young lady by her side looking about them. Now the old woman
was a witch, and said to the young lady, 'There is a young man coming
out of the wood who carries a wonderful prize; we must get it away
from him, my dear child, for it is more fit for us than for him. He
has a bird's heart that brings a piece of gold under his pillow every
morning.' Meantime the huntsman came nearer and looked at the lady,
and said to himself, 'I have been travelling so long that I should
like to go into this castle and rest myself, for I have money enough
to pay for anything I want'; but the real reason was, that he wanted
to see more of the beautiful lady. Then he went into the house, and
was welcomed kindly; and it was not long before he was so much in love
that he thought of nothing else but looking at the lady's eyes, and
doing everything that she wished. Then the old woman said, 'Now is the
time for getting the bird's heart.' So the lady stole it away, and he
never found any more gold under his pillow, for it lay now under the
young lady's, and the old woman took it away every morning; but he was
so much in love that he never missed his prize.

'Well,' said the old witch, 'we have got the bird's heart, but not the
wishing-cloak yet, and that we must also get.' 'Let us leave him
that,' said the young lady; 'he has already lost his wealth.' Then the
witch was very angry, and said, 'Such a cloak is a very rare and
wonderful thing, and I must and will have it.' So she did as the old
woman told her, and set herself at the window, and looked about the
country and seemed very sorrowful; then the huntsman said, 'What makes
you so sad?' 'Alas! dear sir,' said she, 'yonder lies the granite rock
where all the costly diamonds grow, and I want so much to go there,
that whenever I think of it I cannot help being sorrowful, for who can
reach it? only the birds and the flies--man cannot.' 'If that's all
your grief,' said the huntsman, 'I'll take there with all my heart';
so he drew her under his cloak, and the moment he wished to be on the
granite mountain they were both there. The diamonds glittered so on
all sides that they were delighted with the sight and picked up the
finest. But the old witch made a deep sleep come upon him, and he said
to the young lady, 'Let us sit down and rest ourselves a little, I am
so tired that I cannot stand any longer.' So they sat down, and he
laid his head in her lap and fell asleep; and whilst he was sleeping
on she took the cloak from his shoulders, hung it on her own, picked
up the diamonds, and wished herself home again.

When he awoke and found that his lady had tricked him, and left him
alone on the wild rock, he said, 'Alas! what roguery there is in the
world!' and there he sat in great grief and fear, not knowing what to
do. Now this rock belonged to fierce giants who lived upon it; and as
he saw three of them striding about, he thought to himself, 'I can
only save myself by feigning to be asleep'; so he laid himself down as
if he were in a sound sleep. When the giants came up to him, the first
pushed him with his foot, and said, 'What worm is this that lies here
curled up?' 'Tread upon him and kill him,' said the second. 'It's not
worth the trouble,' said the third; 'let him live, he'll go climbing
higher up the mountain, and some cloud will come rolling and carry him
away.' And they passed on. But the huntsman had heard all they said;
and as soon as they were gone, he climbed to the top of the mountain,
and when he had sat there a short time a cloud came rolling around
him, and caught him in a whirlwind and bore him along for some time,
till it settled in a garden, and he fell quite gently to the ground
amongst the greens and cabbages.

Then he looked around him, and said, 'I wish I had something to eat,
if not I shall be worse off than before; for here I see neither apples
nor pears, nor any kind of fruits, nothing but vegetables.' At last he
thought to himself, 'I can eat salad, it will refresh and strengthen
me.' So he picked out a fine head and ate of it; but scarcely had he
swallowed two bites when he felt himself quite changed, and saw with
horror that he was turned into an ass. However, he still felt very
hungry, and the salad tasted very nice; so he ate on till he came to
another kind of salad, and scarcely had he tasted it when he felt
another change come over him, and soon saw that he was lucky enough to
have found his old shape again.

Then he laid himself down and slept off a little of his weariness; and
when he awoke the next morning he broke off a head both of the good
and the bad salad, and thought to himself, 'This will help me to my
fortune again, and enable me to pay off some folks for their
treachery.' So he went away to try and find the castle of his friends;
and after wandering about a few days he luckily found it. Then he
stained his face all over brown, so that even his mother would not
have known him, and went into the castle and asked for a lodging; 'I
am so tired,' said he, 'that I can go no farther.' 'Countryman,' said
the witch, 'who are you? and what is your business?' 'I am,' said he,
'a messenger sent by the king to find the finest salad that grows
under the sun. I have been lucky enough to find it, and have brought
it with me; but the heat of the sun scorches so that it begins to
wither, and I don't know that I can carry it farther.'

When the witch and the young lady heard of his beautiful salad, they
longed to taste it, and said, 'Dear countryman, let us just taste it.'
'To be sure,' answered he; 'I have two heads of it with me, and will
give you one'; so he opened his bag and gave them the bad. Then the
witch herself took it into the kitchen to be dressed; and when it was
ready she could not wait till it was carried up, but took a few leaves
immediately and put them in her mouth, and scarcely were they
swallowed when she lost her own form and ran braying down into the
court in the form of an ass. Now the servant-maid came into the
kitchen, and seeing the salad ready, was going to carry it up; but on
the way she too felt a wish to taste it as the old woman had done, and
ate some leaves; so she also was turned into an ass and ran after the
other, letting the dish with the salad fall on the ground. The
messenger sat all this time with the beautiful young lady, and as
nobody came with the salad and she longed to taste it, she said, 'I
don't know where the salad can be.' Then he thought something must
have happened, and said, 'I will go into the kitchen and see.' And as
he went he saw two asses in the court running about, and the salad
lying on the ground. 'All right!' said he; 'those two have had their
share.' Then he took up the rest of the leaves, laid them on the dish
and brought them to the young lady, saying, 'I bring you the dish
myself that you may not wait any longer.' So she ate of it, and like
the others ran off into the court braying away.

Then the huntsman washed his face and went into the court that they
might know him. 'Now you shall be paid for your roguery,' said he; and
tied them all three to a rope and took them along with him till he
came to a mill and knocked at the window. 'What's the matter?' said
the miller. 'I have three tiresome beasts here,' said the other; 'if
you will take them, give them food and room, and treat them as I tell
you, I will pay you whatever you ask.' 'With all my heart,' said the
miller; 'but how shall I treat them?' Then the huntsman said, 'Give
the old one stripes three times a day and hay once; give the next (who
was the servant-maid) stripes once a day and hay three times; and give
the youngest (who was the beautiful lady) hay three times a day and no
stripes': for he could not find it in his heart to have her beaten.
After this he went back to the castle, where he found everything he
wanted.

Some days after, the miller came to him and told him that the old ass
was dead; 'The other two,' said he, 'are alive and eat, but are so
sorrowful that they cannot last long.' Then the huntsman pitied them,
and told the miller to drive them back to him, and when they came, he
gave them some of the good salad to eat. And the beautiful young lady
fell upon her knees before him, and said, 'O dearest huntsman! forgive
me all the ill I have done you; my mother forced me to it, it was
against my will, for I always loved you very much. Your wishing-cloak
hangs up in the closet, and as for the bird's heart, I will give it
you too.' But he said, 'Keep it, it will be just the same thing, for I
mean to make you my wife.' So they were married, and lived together
very happily till they died.

Now it came to pass that his father said to him one day: 'Hearken to
me, you fellow in the corner there, you are growing tall and strong,
and you too must learn something by which you can earn your bread.
Look how your brother works, but you do not even earn your salt.'
'Well, father,' he replied, 'I am quite willing to learn something--
indeed, if it could but be managed, I should like to learn how to
shudder. I don't understand that at all yet.' The elder brother smiled
when he heard that, and thought to himself: 'Goodness, what a
blockhead that brother of mine is! He will never be good for anything
as long as he lives! He who wants to be a sickle must bend himself
betimes.'

The father sighed, and answered him: 'You shall soon learn what it is
to shudder, but you will not earn your bread by that.'

Soon after this the sexton came to the house on a visit, and the
father bewailed his trouble, and told him how his younger son was so
backward in every respect that he knew nothing and learnt nothing.
'Just think,' said he, 'when I asked him how he was going to earn his
bread, he actually wanted to learn to shudder.' 'If that be all,'
replied the sexton, 'he can learn that with me. Send him to me, and I
will soon polish him.' The father was glad to do it, for he thought:
'It will train the boy a little.' The sexton therefore took him into
his house, and he had to ring the church bell. After a day or two, the
sexton awoke him at midnight, and bade him arise and go up into the
church tower and ring the bell. 'You shall soon learn what shuddering
is,' thought he, and secretly went there before him; and when the boy
was at the top of the tower and turned round, and was just going to
take hold of the bell rope, he saw a white figure standing on the
stairs opposite the sounding hole. 'Who is there?' cried he, but the
figure made no reply, and did not move or stir. 'Give an answer,'
cried the boy, 'or take yourself off, you have no business here at
night.'

The sexton, however, remained standing motionless that the boy might
think he was a ghost. The boy cried a second time: 'What do you want
here?--speak if you are an honest fellow, or I will throw you down the
steps!' The sexton thought: 'He can't mean to be as bad as his words,'
uttered no sound and stood as if he were made of stone. Then the boy
called to him for the third time, and as that was also to no purpose,
he ran against him and pushed the ghost down the stairs, so that it
fell down the ten steps and remained lying there in a corner.
Thereupon he rang the bell, went home, and without saying a word went
to bed, and fell asleep. The sexton's wife waited a long time for her
husband, but he did not come back. At length she became uneasy, and
wakened the boy, and asked: 'Do you know where my husband is? He
climbed up the tower before you did.' 'No, I don't know,' replied the
boy, 'but someone was standing by the sounding hole on the other side
of the steps, and as he would neither gave an answer nor go away, I
took him for a scoundrel, and threw him downstairs. Just go there and
you will see if it was he. I should be sorry if it were.' The woman
ran away and found her husband, who was lying moaning in the corner,
and had broken his leg.

She carried him down, and then with loud screams she hastened to the
boy's father, 'Your boy,' cried she, 'has been the cause of a great
misfortune! He has thrown my husband down the steps so that he broke
his leg. Take the good-for-nothing fellow out of our house.' The
father was terrified, and ran thither and scolded the boy. 'What
wicked tricks are these?' said he. 'The devil must have put them into
your head.' 'Father,' he replied, 'do listen to me. I am quite
innocent. He was standing there by night like one intent on doing
evil. I did not know who it was, and I entreated him three times
either to speak or to go away.' 'Ah,' said the father, 'I have nothing
but unhappiness with you. Go out of my sight. I will see you no more.'

'Yes, father, right willingly, wait only until it is day. Then will I
go forth and learn how to shudder, and then I shall, at any rate,
understand one art which will support me.' 'Learn what you will,'
spoke the father, 'it is all the same to me. Here are fifty talers for
you. Take these and go into the wide world, and tell no one from
whence you come, and who is your father, for I have reason to be
ashamed of you.' 'Yes, father, it shall be as you will. If you desire
nothing more than that, I can easily keep it in mind.'

When the day dawned, therefore, the boy put his fifty talers into his
pocket, and went forth on the great highway, and continually said to
himself: 'If I could but shudder! If I could but shudder!' Then a man
approached who heard this conversation which the youth was holding
with himself, and when they had walked a little farther to where they
could see the gallows, the man said to him: 'Look, there is the tree
where seven men have married the ropemaker's daughter, and are now
learning how to fly. Sit down beneath it, and wait till night comes,
and you will soon learn how to shudder.' 'If that is all that is
wanted,' answered the youth, 'it is easily done; but if I learn how to
shudder as fast as that, you shall have my fifty talers. Just come
back to me early in the morning.' Then the youth went to the gallows,
sat down beneath it, and waited till evening came. And as he was cold,
he lighted himself a fire, but at midnight the wind blew so sharply
that in spite of his fire, he could not get warm. And as the wind
knocked the hanged men against each other, and they moved backwards
and forwards, he thought to himself: 'If you shiver below by the fire,
how those up above must freeze and suffer!' And as he felt pity for
them, he raised the ladder, and climbed up, unbound one of them after
the other, and brought down all seven. Then he stoked the fire, blew
it, and set them all round it to warm themselves. But they sat there
and did not stir, and the fire caught their clothes. So he said: 'Take
care, or I will hang you up again.' The dead men, however, did not
hear, but were quite silent, and let their rags go on burning. At this
he grew angry, and said: 'If you will not take care, I cannot help
you, I will not be burnt with you,' and he hung them up again each in
his turn. Then he sat down by his fire and fell asleep, and the next
morning the man came to him and wanted to have the fifty talers, and
said: 'Well do you know how to shudder?' 'No,' answered he, 'how
should I know? Those fellows up there did not open their mouths, and
were so stupid that they let the few old rags which they had on their
bodies get burnt.' Then the man saw that he would not get the fifty
talers that day, and went away saying: 'Such a youth has never come my
way before.'

The youth likewise went his way, and once more began to mutter to
himself: 'Ah, if I could but shudder! Ah, if I could but shudder!' A
waggoner who was striding behind him heard this and asked: 'Who are
you?' 'I don't know,' answered the youth. Then the waggoner asked:
'From whence do you come?' 'I know not.' 'Who is your father?' 'That I
may not tell you.' 'What is it that you are always muttering between
your teeth?' 'Ah,' replied the youth, 'I do so wish I could shudder,
but no one can teach me how.' 'Enough of your foolish chatter,' said
the waggoner. 'Come, go with me, I will see about a place for you.'
The youth went with the waggoner, and in the evening they arrived at
an inn where they wished to pass the night. Then at the entrance of
the parlour the youth again said quite loudly: 'If I could but
shudder! If I could but shudder!' The host who heard this, laughed and
said: 'If that is your desire, there ought to be a good opportunity
for you here.' 'Ah, be silent,' said the hostess, 'so many prying
persons have already lost their lives, it would be a pity and a shame
if such beautiful eyes as these should never see the daylight again.'

But the youth said: 'However difficult it may be, I will learn it. For
this purpose indeed have I journeyed forth.' He let the host have no
rest, until the latter told him, that not far from thence stood a
haunted castle where anyone could very easily learn what shuddering
was, if he would but watch in it for three nights. The king had
promised that he who would venture should have his daughter to wife,
and she was the most beautiful maiden the sun shone on. Likewise in
the castle lay great treasures, which were guarded by evil spirits,
and these treasures would then be freed, and would make a poor man
rich enough. Already many men had gone into the castle, but as yet
none had come out again. Then the youth went next morning to the king,
and said: 'If it be allowed, I will willingly watch three nights in
the haunted castle.'

The king looked at him, and as the youth pleased him, he said: 'You
may ask for three things to take into the castle with you, but they
must be things without life.' Then he answered: 'Then I ask for a
fire, a turning lathe, and a cutting-board with the knife.'

The king had these things carried into the castle for him during the
day. When night was drawing near, the youth went up and made himself a
bright fire in one of the rooms, placed the cutting-board and knife
beside it, and seated himself by the turning-lathe. 'Ah, if I could
but shudder!' said he, 'but I shall not learn it here either.' Towards
midnight he was about to poke his fire, and as he was blowing it,
something cried suddenly from one corner: 'Au, miau! how cold we are!'
'You fools!' cried he, 'what are you crying about? If you are cold,
come and take a seat by the fire and warm yourselves.' And when he had
said that, two great black cats came with one tremendous leap and sat
down on each side of him, and looked savagely at him with their fiery
eyes. After a short time, when they had warmed themselves, they said:
'Comrade, shall we have a game of cards?' 'Why not?' he replied, 'but
just show me your paws.' Then they stretched out their claws. 'Oh,'
said he, 'what long nails you have! Wait, I must first cut them for
you.' Thereupon he seized them by the throats, put them on the
cutting-board and screwed their feet fast. 'I have looked at your
fingers,' said he, 'and my fancy for card-playing has gone,' and he
struck them dead and threw them out into the water. But when he had
made away with these two, and was about to sit down again by his fire,
out from every hole and corner came black cats and black dogs with
red-hot chains, and more and more of them came until he could no
longer move, and they yelled horribly, and got on his fire, pulled it
to pieces, and tried to put it out. He watched them for a while
quietly, but at last when they were going too far, he seized his
cutting-knife, and cried: 'Away with you, vermin,' and began to cut
them down. Some of them ran away, the others he killed, and threw out
into the fish-pond. When he came back he fanned the embers of his fire
again and warmed himself. And as he thus sat, his eyes would keep open
no longer, and he felt a desire to sleep. Then he looked round and saw
a great bed in the corner. 'That is the very thing for me,' said he,
and got into it. When he was just going to shut his eyes, however, the
bed began to move of its own accord, and went over the whole of the
castle. 'That's right,' said he, 'but go faster.' Then the bed rolled
on as if six horses were harnessed to it, up and down, over thresholds
and stairs, but suddenly hop, hop, it turned over upside down, and lay
on him like a mountain. But he threw quilts and pillows up in the air,
got out and said: 'Now anyone who likes, may drive,' and lay down by
his fire, and slept till it was day. In the morning the king came, and
when he saw him lying there on the ground, he thought the evil spirits
had killed him and he was dead. Then said he: 'After all it is a
pity,--for so handsome a man.' The youth heard it, got up, and said:
'It has not come to that yet.' Then the king was astonished, but very
glad, and asked how he had fared. 'Very well indeed,' answered he;
'one night is past, the two others will pass likewise.' Then he went
to the innkeeper, who opened his eyes very wide, and said: 'I never
expected to see you alive again! Have you learnt how to shudder yet?'
'No,' said he, 'it is all in vain. If someone would but tell me!'

The second night he again went up into the old castle, sat down by the
fire, and once more began his old song: 'If I could but shudder!' When
midnight came, an uproar and noise of tumbling about was heard; at
first it was low, but it grew louder and louder. Then it was quiet for
a while, and at length with a loud scream, half a man came down the
chimney and fell before him. 'Hullo!' cried he, 'another half belongs
to this. This is not enough!' Then the uproar began again, there was a
roaring and howling, and the other half fell down likewise. 'Wait,'
said he, 'I will just stoke up the fire a little for you.' When he had
done that and looked round again, the two pieces were joined together,
and a hideous man was sitting in his place. 'That is no part of our
bargain,' said the youth, 'the bench is mine.' The man wanted to push
him away; the youth, however, would not allow that, but thrust him off
with all his strength, and seated himself again in his own place. Then
still more men fell down, one after the other; they brought nine dead
men's legs and two skulls, and set them up and played at nine-pins
with them. The youth also wanted to play and said: 'Listen you, can I
join you?' 'Yes, if you have any money.' 'Money enough,' replied he,
'but your balls are not quite round.' Then he took the skulls and put
them in the lathe and turned them till they were round. 'There, now
they will roll better!' said he. 'Hurrah! now we'll have fun!' He
played with them and lost some of his money, but when it struck
twelve, everything vanished from his sight. He lay down and quietly
fell asleep. Next morning the king came to inquire after him. 'How has
it fared with you this time?' asked he. 'I have been playing at nine-
pins,' he answered, 'and have lost a couple of farthings.' 'Have you
not shuddered then?' 'What?' said he, 'I have had a wonderful time! If
I did but know what it was to shudder!'

The third night he sat down again on his bench and said quite sadly:
'If I could but shudder.' When it grew late, six tall men came in and
brought a coffin. Then he said: 'Ha, ha, that is certainly my little
cousin, who died only a few days ago,' and he beckoned with his
finger, and cried: 'Come, little cousin, come.' They placed the coffin
on the ground, but he went to it and took the lid off, and a dead man
lay therein. He felt his face, but it was cold as ice. 'Wait,' said
he, 'I will warm you a little,' and went to the fire and warmed his
hand and laid it on the dead man's face, but he remained cold. Then he
took him out, and sat down by the fire and laid him on his breast and
rubbed his arms that the blood might circulate again. As this also did
no good, he thought to himself: 'When two people lie in bed together,
they warm each other,' and carried him to the bed, covered him over
and lay down by him. After a short time the dead man became warm too,
and began to move. Then said the youth, 'See, little cousin, have I
not warmed you?' The dead man, however, got up and cried: 'Now will I
strangle you.'

'What!' said he, 'is that the way you thank me? You shall at once go
into your coffin again,' and he took him up, threw him into it, and
shut the lid. Then came the six men and carried him away again. 'I
cannot manage to shudder,' said he. 'I shall never learn it here as
long as I live.'

Then a man entered who was taller than all others, and looked
terrible. He was old, however, and had a long white beard. 'You
wretch,' cried he, 'you shall soon learn what it is to shudder, for
you shall die.' 'Not so fast,' replied the youth. 'If I am to die, I
shall have to have a say in it.' 'I will soon seize you,' said the
fiend. 'Softly, softly, do not talk so big. I am as strong as you are,
and perhaps even stronger.' 'We shall see,' said the old man. 'If you
are stronger, I will let you go--come, we will try.' Then he led him
by dark passages to a smith's forge, took an axe, and with one blow
struck an anvil into the ground. 'I can do better than that,' said the
youth, and went to the other anvil. The old man placed himself near
and wanted to look on, and his white beard hung down. Then the youth
seized the axe, split the anvil with one blow, and in it caught the
old man's beard. 'Now I have you,' said the youth. 'Now it is your
turn to die.' Then he seized an iron bar and beat the old man till he
moaned and entreated him to stop, when he would give him great riches.
The youth drew out the axe and let him go. The old man led him back
into the castle, and in a cellar showed him three chests full of gold.
'Of these,' said he, 'one part is for the poor, the other for the
king, the third yours.' In the meantime it struck twelve, and the
spirit disappeared, so that the youth stood in darkness. 'I shall
still be able to find my way out,' said he, and felt about, found the
way into the room, and slept there by his fire. Next morning the king
came and said: 'Now you must have learnt what shuddering is?' 'No,' he
answered; 'what can it be? My dead cousin was here, and a bearded man
came and showed me a great deal of money down below, but no one told
me what it was to shudder.' 'Then,' said the king, 'you have saved the
castle, and shall marry my daughter.' 'That is all very well,' said
he, 'but still I do not know what it is to shudder!'

Then the gold was brought up and the wedding celebrated; but howsoever
much the young king loved his wife, and however happy he was, he still
said always: 'If I could but shudder--if I could but shudder.' And
this at last angered her. Her waiting-maid said: 'I will find a cure
for him; he shall soon learn what it is to shudder.' She went out to
the stream which flowed through the garden, and had a whole bucketful
of gudgeons brought to her. At night when the young king was sleeping,
his wife was to draw the clothes off him and empty the bucket full of
cold water with the gudgeons in it over him, so that the little fishes
would sprawl about him. Then he woke up and cried: 'Oh, what makes me
shudder so?-- what makes me shudder so, dear wife? Ah! now I know what
it is to shudder!'

Once upon a time the king held a great feast, and asked thither all
her suitors; and they all sat in a row, ranged according to their rank
--kings, and princes, and dukes, and earls, and counts, and barons,
and knights. Then the princess came in, and as she passed by them she
had something spiteful to say to every one. The first was too fat:
'He's as round as a tub,' said she. The next was too tall: 'What a
maypole!' said she. The next was too short: 'What a dumpling!' said
she. The fourth was too pale, and she called him 'Wallface.' The fifth
was too red, so she called him 'Coxcomb.' The sixth was not straight
enough; so she said he was like a green stick, that had been laid to
dry over a baker's oven. And thus she had some joke to crack upon
every one: but she laughed more than all at a good king who was there.
'Look at him,' said she; 'his beard is like an old mop; he shall be
called Grisly-beard.' So the king got the nickname of Grisly-beard.

But the old king was very angry when he saw how his daughter behaved,
and how she ill-treated all his guests; and he vowed that, willing or
unwilling, she should marry the first man, be he prince or beggar,
that came to the door.

Two days after there came by a travelling fiddler, who began to play
under the window and beg alms; and when the king heard him, he said,
'Let him come in.' So they brought in a dirty-looking fellow; and when
he had sung before the king and the princess, he begged a boon. Then
the king said, 'You have sung so well, that I will give you my
daughter for your wife.' The princess begged and prayed; but the king
said, 'I have sworn to give you to the first comer, and I will keep my
word.' So words and tears were of no avail; the parson was sent for,
and she was married to the fiddler. When this was over the king said,
'Now get ready to go--you must not stay here--you must travel on with
your husband.'

Then the fiddler went his way, and took her with him, and they soon
came to a great wood. 'Pray,' said she, 'whose is this wood?' 'It
belongs to King Grisly-beard,' answered he; 'hadst thou taken him, all
had been thine.' 'Ah! unlucky wretch that I am!' sighed she; 'would
that I had married King Grisly-beard!' Next they came to some fine
meadows. 'Whose are these beautiful green meadows?' said she. 'They
belong to King Grisly-beard, hadst thou taken him, they had all been
thine.' 'Ah! unlucky wretch that I am!' said she; 'would that I had
married King Grisly-beard!'

Then they came to a great city. 'Whose is this noble city?' said she.
'It belongs to King Grisly-beard; hadst thou taken him, it had all
been thine.' 'Ah! wretch that I am!' sighed she; 'why did I not marry
King Grisly-beard?' 'That is no business of mine,' said the fiddler:
'why should you wish for another husband? Am not I good enough for
you?'

At last they came to a small cottage. 'What a paltry place!' said she;
'to whom does that little dirty hole belong?' Then the fiddler said,
'That is your and my house, where we are to live.' 'Where are your
servants?' cried she. 'What do we want with servants?' said he; 'you
must do for yourself whatever is to be done. Now make the fire, and
put on water and cook my supper, for I am very tired.' But the
princess knew nothing of making fires and cooking, and the fiddler was
forced to help her. When they had eaten a very scanty meal they went
to bed; but the fiddler called her up very early in the morning to
clean the house. Thus they lived for two days: and when they had eaten
up all there was in the cottage, the man said, 'Wife, we can't go on
thus, spending money and earning nothing. You must learn to weave
baskets.' Then he went out and cut willows, and brought them home, and
she began to weave; but it made her fingers very sore. 'I see this
work won't do,' said he: 'try and spin; perhaps you will do that
better.' So she sat down and tried to spin; but the threads cut her
tender fingers till the blood ran. 'See now,' said the fiddler, 'you
are good for nothing; you can do no work: what a bargain I have got!
However, I'll try and set up a trade in pots and pans, and you shall
stand in the market and sell them.' 'Alas!' sighed she, 'if any of my
father's court should pass by and see me standing in the market, how
they will laugh at me!'

But her husband did not care for that, and said she must work, if she
did not wish to die of hunger. At first the trade went well; for many
people, seeing such a beautiful woman, went to buy her wares, and paid
their money without thinking of taking away the goods. They lived on
this as long as it lasted; and then her husband bought a fresh lot of
ware, and she sat herself down with it in the corner of the market;
but a drunken soldier soon came by, and rode his horse against her
stall, and broke all her goods into a thousand pieces. Then she began
to cry, and knew not what to do. 'Ah! what will become of me?' said
she; 'what will my husband say?' So she ran home and told him all.
'Who would have thought you would have been so silly,' said he, 'as to
put an earthenware stall in the corner of the market, where everybody
passes? but let us have no more crying; I see you are not fit for this
sort of work, so I have been to the king's palace, and asked if they
did not want a kitchen-maid; and they say they will take you, and
there you will have plenty to eat.'

Thus the princess became a kitchen-maid, and helped the cook to do all
the dirtiest work; but she was allowed to carry home some of the meat
that was left, and on this they lived.

She had not been there long before she heard that the king's eldest
son was passing by, going to be married; and she went to one of the
windows and looked out. Everything was ready, and all the pomp and
brightness of the court was there. Then she bitterly grieved for the
pride and folly which had brought her so low. And the servants gave
her some of the rich meats, which she put into her basket to take
home.

All on a sudden, as she was going out, in came the king's son in
golden clothes; and when he saw a beautiful woman at the door, he took
her by the hand, and said she should be his partner in the dance; but
she trembled for fear, for she saw that it was King Grisly-beard, who
was making sport of her. However, he kept fast hold, and led her in;
and the cover of the basket came off, so that the meats in it fell
about. Then everybody laughed and jeered at her; and she was so
abashed, that she wished herself a thousand feet deep in the earth.
She sprang to the door to run away; but on the steps King Grisly-beard
overtook her, and brought her back and said, 'Fear me not! I am the
fiddler who has lived with you in the hut. I brought you there because
I really loved you. I am also the soldier that overset your stall. I
have done all this only to cure you of your silly pride, and to show
you the folly of your ill-treatment of me. Now all is over: you have
learnt wisdom, and it is time to hold our marriage feast.'

Then the chamberlains came and brought her the most beautiful robes;
and her father and his whole court were there already, and welcomed
her home on her marriage. Joy was in every face and every heart. The
feast was grand; they danced and sang; all were merry; and I only wish
that you and I had been of the party.

The huntsman therefore betook himself with his dog to the forest. It
was not long before the dog fell in with some game on the way, and
wanted to pursue it; but hardly had the dog run two steps when it
stood before a deep pool, could go no farther, and a naked arm
stretched itself out of the water, seized it, and drew it under. When
the huntsman saw that, he went back and fetched three men to come with
buckets and bale out the water. When they could see to the bottom
there lay a wild man whose body was brown like rusty iron, and whose
hair hung over his face down to his knees. They bound him with cords,
and led him away to the castle. There was great astonishment over the
wild man; the king, however, had him put in an iron cage in his
courtyard, and forbade the door to be opened on pain of death, and the
queen herself was to take the key into her keeping. And from this time
forth everyone could again go into the forest with safety.

The king had a son of eight years, who was once playing in the
courtyard, and while he was playing, his golden ball fell into the
cage. The boy ran thither and said: 'Give me my ball out.' 'Not till
you have opened the door for me,' answered the man. 'No,' said the
boy, 'I will not do that; the king has forbidden it,' and ran away.
The next day he again went and asked for his ball; the wild man said:
'Open my door,' but the boy would not. On the third day the king had
ridden out hunting, and the boy went once more and said: 'I cannot
open the door even if I wished, for I have not the key.' Then the wild
man said: 'It lies under your mother's pillow, you can get it there.'
The boy, who wanted to have his ball back, cast all thought to the
winds, and brought the key. The door opened with difficulty, and the
boy pinched his fingers. When it was open the wild man stepped out,
gave him the golden ball, and hurried away. The boy had become afraid;
he called and cried after him: 'Oh, wild man, do not go away, or I
shall be beaten!' The wild man turned back, took him up, set him on
his shoulder, and went with hasty steps into the forest. When the king
came home, he observed the empty cage, and asked the queen how that
had happened. She knew nothing about it, and sought the key, but it
was gone. She called the boy, but no one answered. The king sent out
people to seek for him in the fields, but they did not find him. Then
he could easily guess what had happened, and much grief reigned in the
royal court.

When the wild man had once more reached the dark forest, he took the
boy down from his shoulder, and said to him: 'You will never see your
father and mother again, but I will keep you with me, for you have set
me free, and I have compassion on you. If you do all I bid you, you
shall fare well. Of treasure and gold have I enough, and more than
anyone in the world.' He made a bed of moss for the boy on which he
slept, and the next morning the man took him to a well, and said:
'Behold, the gold well is as bright and clear as crystal, you shall
sit beside it, and take care that nothing falls into it, or it will be
polluted. I will come every evening to see if you have obeyed my
order.' The boy placed himself by the brink of the well, and often saw
a golden fish or a golden snake show itself therein, and took care
that nothing fell in. As he was thus sitting, his finger hurt him so
violently that he involuntarily put it in the water. He drew it
quickly out again, but saw that it was quite gilded, and whatsoever
pains he took to wash the gold off again, all was to no purpose. In
the evening Iron Hans came back, looked at the boy, and said: 'What
has happened to the well?' 'Nothing nothing,' he answered, and held
his finger behind his back, that the man might not see it. But he
said: 'You have dipped your finger into the water, this time it may
pass, but take care you do not again let anything go in.' By daybreak
the boy was already sitting by the well and watching it. His finger
hurt him again and he passed it over his head, and then unhappily a
hair fell down into the well. He took it quickly out, but it was
already quite gilded. Iron Hans came, and already knew what had
happened. 'You have let a hair fall into the well,' said he. 'I will
allow you to watch by it once more, but if this happens for the third
time then the well is polluted and you can no longer remain with me.'

On the third day, the boy sat by the well, and did not stir his
finger, however much it hurt him. But the time was long to him, and he
looked at the reflection of his face on the surface of the water. And
as he still bent down more and more while he was doing so, and trying
to look straight into the eyes, his long hair fell down from his
shoulders into the water. He raised himself up quickly, but the whole
of the hair of his head was already golden and shone like the sun. You
can imagine how terrified the poor boy was! He took his pocket-
handkerchief and tied it round his head, in order that the man might
not see it. When he came he already knew everything, and said: 'Take
the handkerchief off.' Then the golden hair streamed forth, and let
the boy excuse himself as he might, it was of no use. 'You have not
stood the trial and can stay here no longer. Go forth into the world,
there you will learn what poverty is. But as you have not a bad heart,
and as I mean well by you, there is one thing I will grant you; if you
fall into any difficulty, come to the forest and cry: "Iron Hans," and
then I will come and help you. My power is great, greater than you
think, and I have gold and silver in abundance.'

Then the king's son left the forest, and walked by beaten and unbeaten
paths ever onwards until at length he reached a great city. There he
looked for work, but could find none, and he learnt nothing by which
he could help himself. At length he went to the palace, and asked if
they would take him in. The people about court did not at all know
what use they could make of him, but they liked him, and told him to
stay. At length the cook took him into his service, and said he might
carry wood and water, and rake the cinders together. Once when it so
happened that no one else was at hand, the cook ordered him to carry
the food to the royal table, but as he did not like to let his golden
hair be seen, he kept his little cap on. Such a thing as that had
never yet come under the king's notice, and he said: 'When you come to
the royal table you must take your hat off.' He answered: 'Ah, Lord, I
cannot; I have a bad sore place on my head.' Then the king had the
cook called before him and scolded him, and asked how he could take
such a boy as that into his service; and that he was to send him away
at once. The cook, however, had pity on him, and exchanged him for the
gardener's boy.

And now the boy had to plant and water the garden, hoe and dig, and
bear the wind and bad weather. Once in summer when he was working
alone in the garden, the day was so warm he took his little cap off
that the air might cool him. As the sun shone on his hair it glittered
and flashed so that the rays fell into the bedroom of the king's
daughter, and up she sprang to see what that could be. Then she saw
the boy, and cried to him: 'Boy, bring me a wreath of flowers.' He put
his cap on with all haste, and gathered wild field-flowers and bound
them together. When he was ascending the stairs with them, the
gardener met him, and said: 'How can you take the king's daughter a
garland of such common flowers? Go quickly, and get another, and seek
out the prettiest and rarest.' 'Oh, no,' replied the boy, 'the wild
ones have more scent, and will please her better.' When he got into
the room, the king's daughter said: 'Take your cap off, it is not
seemly to keep it on in my presence.' He again said: 'I may not, I
have a sore head.' She, however, caught at his cap and pulled it off,
and then his golden hair rolled down on his shoulders, and it was
splendid to behold. He wanted to run out, but she held him by the arm,
and gave him a handful of ducats. With these he departed, but he cared
nothing for the gold pieces. He took them to the gardener, and said:
'I present them to your children, they can play with them.' The
following day the king's daughter again called to him that he was to
bring her a wreath of field-flowers, and then he went in with it, she
instantly snatched at his cap, and wanted to take it away from him,
but he held it fast with both hands. She again gave him a handful of
ducats, but he would not keep them, and gave them to the gardener for
playthings for his children. On the third day things went just the
same; she could not get his cap away from him, and he would not have
her money.

Not long afterwards, the country was overrun by war. The king gathered
together his people, and did not know whether or not he could offer
any opposition to the enemy, who was superior in strength and had a
mighty army. Then said the gardener's boy: 'I am grown up, and will go
to the wars also, only give me a horse.' The others laughed, and said:
'Seek one for yourself when we are gone, we will leave one behind us
in the stable for you.' When they had gone forth, he went into the
stable, and led the horse out; it was lame of one foot, and limped
hobblety jib, hobblety jib; nevertheless he mounted it, and rode away
to the dark forest. When he came to the outskirts, he called 'Iron
Hans' three times so loudly that it echoed through the trees.
Thereupon the wild man appeared immediately, and said: 'What do you
desire?' 'I want a strong steed, for I am going to the wars.' 'That
you shall have, and still more than you ask for.' Then the wild man
went back into the forest, and it was not long before a stable-boy
came out of it, who led a horse that snorted with its nostrils, and
could hardly be restrained, and behind them followed a great troop of
warriors entirely equipped in iron, and their swords flashed in the
sun. The youth made over his three-legged horse to the stable-boy,
mounted the other, and rode at the head of the soldiers. When he got
near the battlefield a great part of the king's men had already
fallen, and little was wanting to make the rest give way. Then the
youth galloped thither with his iron soldiers, broke like a hurricane
over the enemy, and beat down all who opposed him. They began to flee,
but the youth pursued, and never stopped, until there was not a single
man left. Instead of returning to the king, however, he conducted his
troop by byways back to the forest, and called forth Iron Hans. 'What
do you desire?' asked the wild man. 'Take back your horse and your
troops, and give me my three-legged horse again.' All that he asked
was done, and soon he was riding on his three-legged horse. When the
king returned to his palace, his daughter went to meet him, and wished
him joy of his victory. 'I am not the one who carried away the
victory,' said he, 'but a strange knight who came to my assistance
with his soldiers.' The daughter wanted to hear who the strange knight
was, but the king did not know, and said: 'He followed the enemy, and
I did not see him again.' She inquired of the gardener where his boy
was, but he smiled, and said: 'He has just come home on his three-
legged horse, and the others have been mocking him, and crying: "Here
comes our hobblety jib back again!" They asked, too: "Under what hedge
have you been lying sleeping all the time?" So he said: "I did the
best of all, and it would have gone badly without me." And then he was
still more ridiculed.'

The king said to his daughter: 'I will proclaim a great feast that
shall last for three days, and you shall throw a golden apple. Perhaps
the unknown man will show himself.' When the feast was announced, the
youth went out to the forest, and called Iron Hans. 'What do you
desire?' asked he. 'That I may catch the king's daughter's golden
apple.' 'It is as safe as if you had it already,' said Iron Hans. 'You
shall likewise have a suit of red armour for the occasion, and ride on
a spirited chestnut-horse.' When the day came, the youth galloped to
the spot, took his place amongst the knights, and was recognized by no
one. The king's daughter came forward, and threw a golden apple to the
knights, but none of them caught it but he, only as soon as he had it
he galloped away.

On the second day Iron Hans equipped him as a white knight, and gave
him a white horse. Again he was the only one who caught the apple, and
he did not linger an instant, but galloped off with it. The king grew
angry, and said: 'That is not allowed; he must appear before me and
tell his name.' He gave the order that if the knight who caught the
apple, should go away again they should pursue him, and if he would
not come back willingly, they were to cut him down and stab him.

On the third day, he received from Iron Hans a suit of black armour
and a black horse, and again he caught the apple. But when he was
riding off with it, the king's attendants pursued him, and one of them
got so near him that he wounded the youth's leg with the point of his
sword. The youth nevertheless escaped from them, but his horse leapt
so violently that the helmet fell from the youth's head, and they
could see that he had golden hair. They rode back and announced this
to the king.

The following day the king's daughter asked the gardener about his
boy. 'He is at work in the garden; the queer creature has been at the
festival too, and only came home yesterday evening; he has likewise
shown my children three golden apples which he has won.'

The king had him summoned into his presence, and he came and again had
his little cap on his head. But the king's daughter went up to him and
took it off, and then his golden hair fell down over his shoulders,
and he was so handsome that all were amazed. 'Are you the knight who
came every day to the festival, always in different colours, and who
caught the three golden apples?' asked the king. 'Yes,' answered he,
'and here the apples are,' and he took them out of his pocket, and
returned them to the king. 'If you desire further proof, you may see
the wound which your people gave me when they followed me. But I am
likewise the knight who helped you to your victory over your enemies.'
'If you can perform such deeds as that, you are no gardener's boy;
tell me, who is your father?' 'My father is a mighty king, and gold
have I in plenty as great as I require.' 'I well see,' said the king,
'that I owe my thanks to you; can I do anything to please you?' 'Yes,'
answered he, 'that indeed you can. Give me your daughter to wife.' The
maiden laughed, and said: 'He does not stand much on ceremony, but I
have already seen by his golden hair that he was no gardener's boy,'
and then she went and kissed him. His father and mother came to the
wedding, and were in great delight, for they had given up all hope of
ever seeing their dear son again. And as they were sitting at the
marriage-feast, the music suddenly stopped, the doors opened, and a
stately king came in with a great retinue. He went up to the youth,
embraced him and said: 'I am Iron Hans, and was by enchantment a wild
man, but you have set me free; all the treasures which I possess,
shall be your property.'

CAT-SKIN

There was once a king, whose queen had hair of the purest gold, and
was so beautiful that her match was not to be met with on the whole
face of the earth. But this beautiful queen fell ill, and when she
felt that her end drew near she called the king to her and said,
'Promise me that you will never marry again, unless you meet with a
wife who is as beautiful as I am, and who has golden hair like mine.'
Then when the king in his grief promised all she asked, she shut her
eyes and died. But the king was not to be comforted, and for a long
time never thought of taking another wife. At last, however, his wise
men said, 'this will not do; the king must marry again, that we may
have a queen.' So messengers were sent far and wide, to seek for a
bride as beautiful as the late queen. But there was no princess in the
world so beautiful; and if there had been, still there was not one to
be found who had golden hair. So the messengers came home, and had had
all their trouble for nothing.

Now the king had a daughter, who was just as beautiful as her mother,
and had the same golden hair. And when she was grown up, the king
looked at her and saw that she was just like this late queen: then he
said to his courtiers, 'May I not marry my daughter? She is the very
image of my dead wife: unless I have her, I shall not find any bride
upon the whole earth, and you say there must be a queen.' When the
courtiers heard this they were shocked, and said, 'Heaven forbid that
a father should marry his daughter! Out of so great a sin no good can
come.' And his daughter was also shocked, but hoped the king would
soon give up such thoughts; so she said to him, 'Before I marry anyone
I must have three dresses: one must be of gold, like the sun; another
must be of shining silver, like the moon; and a third must be dazzling
as the stars: besides this, I want a mantle of a thousand different
kinds of fur put together, to which every beast in the kingdom must
give a part of his skin.' And thus she though he would think of the
matter no more. But the king made the most skilful workmen in his
kingdom weave the three dresses: one golden, like the sun; another
silvery, like the moon; and a third sparkling, like the stars: and his
hunters were told to hunt out all the beasts in his kingdom, and to
take the finest fur out of their skins: and thus a mantle of a
thousand furs was made.

When all were ready, the king sent them to her; but she got up in the
night when all were asleep, and took three of her trinkets, a golden
ring, a golden necklace, and a golden brooch, and packed the three
dresses--of the sun, the moon, and the stars--up in a nutshell, and
wrapped herself up in the mantle made of all sorts of fur, and
besmeared her face and hands with soot. Then she threw herself upon
Heaven for help in her need, and went away, and journeyed on the whole
night, till at last she came to a large wood. As she was very tired,
she sat herself down in the hollow of a tree and soon fell asleep: and
there she slept on till it was midday.

Now as the king to whom the wood belonged was hunting in it, his dogs
came to the tree, and began to snuff about, and run round and round,
and bark. 'Look sharp!' said the king to the huntsmen, 'and see what
sort of game lies there.' And the huntsmen went up to the tree, and
when they came back again said, 'In the hollow tree there lies a most
wonderful beast, such as we never saw before; its skin seems to be of
a thousand kinds of fur, but there it lies fast asleep.' 'See,' said
the king, 'if you can catch it alive, and we will take it with us.' So
the huntsmen took it up, and the maiden awoke and was greatly
frightened, and said, 'I am a poor child that has neither father nor
mother left; have pity on me and take me with you.' Then they said,
'Yes, Miss Cat-skin, you will do for the kitchen; you can sweep up the
ashes, and do things of that sort.' So they put her into the coach,
and took her home to the king's palace. Then they showed her a little
corner under the staircase, where no light of day ever peeped in, and
said, 'Cat-skin, you may lie and sleep there.' And she was sent into
the kitchen, and made to fetch wood and water, to blow the fire, pluck
the poultry, pick the herbs, sift the ashes, and do all the dirty
work.

Thus Cat-skin lived for a long time very sorrowfully. 'Ah! pretty
princess!' thought she, 'what will now become of thee?' But it
happened one day that a feast was to be held in the king's castle, so
she said to the cook, 'May I go up a little while and see what is
going on? I will take care and stand behind the door.' And the cook
said, 'Yes, you may go, but be back again in half an hour's time, to
rake out the ashes.' Then she took her little lamp, and went into her
cabin, and took off the fur skin, and washed the soot from off her
face and hands, so that her beauty shone forth like the sun from
behind the clouds. She next opened her nutshell, and brought out of it
the dress that shone like the sun, and so went to the feast. Everyone
made way for her, for nobody knew her, and they thought she could be
no less than a king's daughter. But the king came up to her, and held
out his hand and danced with her; and he thought in his heart, 'I
never saw any one half so beautiful.'

When the dance was at an end she curtsied; and when the king looked
round for her, she was gone, no one knew wither. The guards that stood
at the castle gate were called in: but they had seen no one. The truth
was, that she had run into her little cabin, pulled off her dress,
blackened her face and hands, put on the fur-skin cloak, and was Cat-
skin again. When she went into the kitchen to her work, and began to
rake the ashes, the cook said, 'Let that alone till the morning, and
heat the king's soup; I should like to run up now and give a peep: but
take care you don't let a hair fall into it, or you will run a chance
of never eating again.'

As soon as the cook went away, Cat-skin heated the king's soup, and
toasted a slice of bread first, as nicely as ever she could; and when
it was ready, she went and looked in the cabin for her little golden
ring, and put it into the dish in which the soup was. When the dance
was over, the king ordered his soup to be brought in; and it pleased
him so well, that he thought he had never tasted any so good before.
At the bottom he saw a gold ring lying; and as he could not make out
how it had got there, he ordered the cook to be sent for. The cook was
frightened when he heard the order, and said to Cat-skin, 'You must
have let a hair fall into the soup; if it be so, you will have a good
beating.' Then he went before the king, and he asked him who had
cooked the soup. 'I did,' answered the cook. But the king said, 'That
is not true; it was better done than you could do it.' Then he
answered, 'To tell the truth I did not cook it, but Cat-skin did.'
'Then let Cat-skin come up,' said the king: and when she came he said
to her, 'Who are you?' 'I am a poor child,' said she, 'that has lost
both father and mother.' 'How came you in my palace?' asked he. 'I am
good for nothing,' said she, 'but to be scullion-girl, and to have
boots and shoes thrown at my head.' 'But how did you get the ring that
was in the soup?' asked the king. Then she would not own that she knew
anything about the ring; so the king sent her away again about her
business.

After a time there was another feast, and Cat-skin asked the cook to
let her go up and see it as before. 'Yes,' said he, 'but come again in
half an hour, and cook the king the soup that he likes so much.' Then
she ran to her little cabin, washed herself quickly, and took her
dress out which was silvery as the moon, and put it on; and when she
went in, looking like a king's daughter, the king went up to her, and
rejoiced at seeing her again, and when the dance began he danced with
her. After the dance was at an end she managed to slip out, so slyly
that the king did not see where she was gone; but she sprang into her
little cabin, and made herself into Cat-skin again, and went into the
kitchen to cook the soup. Whilst the cook was above stairs, she got
the golden necklace and dropped it into the soup; then it was brought
to the king, who ate it, and it pleased him as well as before; so he
sent for the cook, who was again forced to tell him that Cat-skin had
cooked it. Cat-skin was brought again before the king, but she still
told him that she was only fit to have boots and shoes thrown at her
head.

But when the king had ordered a feast to be got ready for the third
time, it happened just the same as before. 'You must be a witch, Cat-
skin,' said the cook; 'for you always put something into your soup, so
that it pleases the king better than mine.' However, he let her go up
as before. Then she put on her dress which sparkled like the stars,
and went into the ball-room in it; and the king danced with her again,
and thought she had never looked so beautiful as she did then. So
whilst he was dancing with her, he put a gold ring on her finger
without her seeing it, and ordered that the dance should be kept up a
long time. When it was at an end, he would have held her fast by the
hand, but she slipped away, and sprang so quickly through the crowd
that he lost sight of her: and she ran as fast as she could into her
little cabin under the stairs. But this time she kept away too long,
and stayed beyond the half-hour; so she had not time to take off her
fine dress, and threw her fur mantle over it, and in her haste did not
blacken herself all over with soot, but left one of her fingers white.

Then she ran into the kitchen, and cooked the king's soup; and as soon
as the cook was gone, she put the golden brooch into the dish. When
the king got to the bottom, he ordered Cat-skin to be called once
more, and soon saw the white finger, and the ring that he had put on
it whilst they were dancing: so he seized her hand, and kept fast hold
of it, and when she wanted to loose herself and spring away, the fur
cloak fell off a little on one side, and the starry dress sparkled
underneath it.

Then he got hold of the fur and tore it off, and her golden hair and
beautiful form were seen, and she could no longer hide herself: so she
washed the soot and ashes from her face, and showed herself to be the
most beautiful princess upon the face of the earth. But the king said,
'You are my beloved bride, and we will never more be parted from each
other.' And the wedding feast was held, and a merry day it was, as
ever was heard of or seen in that country, or indeed in any other.

The two children were so fond of one another that they always held
each other by the hand when they went out together, and when Snow-
white said: 'We will not leave each other,' Rose-red answered: 'Never
so long as we live,' and their mother would add: 'What one has she
must share with the other.'

They often ran about the forest alone and gathered red berries, and no
beasts did them any harm, but came close to them trustfully. The
little hare would eat a cabbage-leaf out of their hands, the roe
grazed by their side, the stag leapt merrily by them, and the birds
sat still upon the boughs, and sang whatever they knew.

No mishap overtook them; if they had stayed too late in the forest,
and night came on, they laid themselves down near one another upon the
moss, and slept until morning came, and their mother knew this and did
not worry on their account.

Once when they had spent the night in the wood and the dawn had roused
them, they saw a beautiful child in a shining white dress sitting near
their bed. He got up and looked quite kindly at them, but said nothing
and went into the forest. And when they looked round they found that
they had been sleeping quite close to a precipice, and would certainly
have fallen into it in the darkness if they had gone only a few paces
further. And their mother told them that it must have been the angel
who watches over good children.

Snow-white and Rose-red kept their mother's little cottage so neat
that it was a pleasure to look inside it. In the summer Rose-red took
care of the house, and every morning laid a wreath of flowers by her
mother's bed before she awoke, in which was a rose from each tree. In
the winter Snow-white lit the fire and hung the kettle on the hob. The
kettle was of brass and shone like gold, so brightly was it polished.
In the evening, when the snowflakes fell, the mother said: 'Go, Snow-
white, and bolt the door,' and then they sat round the hearth, and the
mother took her spectacles and read aloud out of a large book, and the
two girls listened as they sat and spun. And close by them lay a lamb
upon the floor, and behind them upon a perch sat a white dove with its
head hidden beneath its wings.

One evening, as they were thus sitting comfortably together, someone
knocked at the door as if he wished to be let in. The mother said:
'Quick, Rose-red, open the door, it must be a traveller who is seeking
shelter.' Rose-red went and pushed back the bolt, thinking that it was
a poor man, but it was not; it was a bear that stretched his broad,
black head within the door.

Rose-red screamed and sprang back, the lamb bleated, the dove
fluttered, and Snow-white hid herself behind her mother's bed. But the
bear began to speak and said: 'Do not be afraid, I will do you no
harm! I am half-frozen, and only want to warm myself a little beside
you.'

'Poor bear,' said the mother, 'lie down by the fire, only take care
that you do not burn your coat.' Then she cried: 'Snow-white, Rose-
red, come out, the bear will do you no harm, he means well.' So they
both came out, and by-and-by the lamb and dove came nearer, and were
not afraid of him. The bear said: 'Here, children, knock the snow out
of my coat a little'; so they brought the broom and swept the bear's
hide clean; and he stretched himself by the fire and growled
contentedly and comfortably. It was not long before they grew quite at
home, and played tricks with their clumsy guest. They tugged his hair
with their hands, put their feet upon his back and rolled him about,
or they took a hazel-switch and beat him, and when he growled they
laughed. But the bear took it all in good part, only when they were
too rough he called out: 'Leave me alive, children,

'Snow-white, Rose-red,
Will you beat your wooer dead?'

When it was bed-time, and the others went to bed, the mother said to
the bear: 'You can lie there by the hearth, and then you will be safe
from the cold and the bad weather.' As soon as day dawned the two
children let him out, and he trotted across the snow into the forest.

Henceforth the bear came every evening at the same time, laid himself
down by the hearth, and let the children amuse themselves with him as
much as they liked; and they got so used to him that the doors were
never fastened until their black friend had arrived.

When spring had come and all outside was green, the bear said one
morning to Snow-white: 'Now I must go away, and cannot come back for
the whole summer.' 'Where are you going, then, dear bear?' asked Snow-
white. 'I must go into the forest and guard my treasures from the
wicked dwarfs. In the winter, when the earth is frozen hard, they are
obliged to stay below and cannot work their way through; but now, when
the sun has thawed and warmed the earth, they break through it, and
come out to pry and steal; and what once gets into their hands, and in
their caves, does not easily see daylight again.'

Snow-white was quite sorry at his departure, and as she unbolted the
door for him, and the bear was hurrying out, he caught against the
bolt and a piece of his hairy coat was torn off, and it seemed to
Snow-white as if she had seen gold shining through it, but she was not
sure about it. The bear ran away quickly, and was soon out of sight
behind the trees.

A short time afterwards the mother sent her children into the forest
to get firewood. There they found a big tree which lay felled on the
ground, and close by the trunk something was jumping backwards and
forwards in the grass, but they could not make out what it was. When
they came nearer they saw a dwarf with an old withered face and a
snow-white beard a yard long. The end of the beard was caught in a
crevice of the tree, and the little fellow was jumping about like a
dog tied to a rope, and did not know what to do.

He glared at the girls with his fiery red eyes and cried: 'Why do you
stand there? Can you not come here and help me?' 'What are you up to,
little man?' asked Rose-red. 'You stupid, prying goose!' answered the
dwarf: 'I was going to split the tree to get a little wood for
cooking. The little bit of food that we people get is immediately
burnt up with heavy logs; we do not swallow so much as you coarse,
greedy folk. I had just driven the wedge safely in, and everything was
going as I wished; but the cursed wedge was too smooth and suddenly
sprang out, and the tree closed so quickly that I could not pull out
my beautiful white beard; so now it is tight and I cannot get away,
and the silly, sleek, milk-faced things laugh! Ugh! how odious you
are!'

The children tried very hard, but they could not pull the beard out,
it was caught too fast. 'I will run and fetch someone,' said Rose-red.
'You senseless goose!' snarled the dwarf; 'why should you fetch
someone? You are already two too many for me; can you not think of
something better?' 'Don't be impatient,' said Snow-white, 'I will help
you,' and she pulled her scissors out of her pocket, and cut off the
end of the beard.

As soon as the dwarf felt himself free he laid hold of a bag which lay
amongst the roots of the tree, and which was full of gold, and lifted
it up, grumbling to himself: 'Uncouth people, to cut off a piece of my
fine beard. Bad luck to you!' and then he swung the bag upon his back,
and went off without even once looking at the children.

Some time afterwards Snow-white and Rose-red went to catch a dish of
fish. As they came near the brook they saw something like a large
grasshopper jumping towards the water, as if it were going to leap in.
They ran to it and found it was the dwarf. 'Where are you going?' said
Rose-red; 'you surely don't want to go into the water?' 'I am not such
a fool!' cried the dwarf; 'don't you see that the accursed fish wants
to pull me in?' The little man had been sitting there fishing, and
unluckily the wind had tangled up his beard with the fishing-line; a
moment later a big fish made a bite and the feeble creature had not
strength to pull it out; the fish kept the upper hand and pulled the
dwarf towards him. He held on to all the reeds and rushes, but it was
of little good, for he was forced to follow the movements of the fish,
and was in urgent danger of being dragged into the water.

The girls came just in time; they held him fast and tried to free his
beard from the line, but all in vain, beard and line were entangled
fast together. There was nothing to do but to bring out the scissors
and cut the beard, whereby a small part of it was lost. When the dwarf
saw that he screamed out: 'Is that civil, you toadstool, to disfigure
a man's face? Was it not enough to clip off the end of my beard? Now
you have cut off the best part of it. I cannot let myself be seen by
my people. I wish you had been made to run the soles off your shoes!'
Then he took out a sack of pearls which lay in the rushes, and without
another word he dragged it away and disappeared behind a stone.

It happened that soon afterwards the mother sent the two children to
the town to buy needles and thread, and laces and ribbons. The road
led them across a heath upon which huge pieces of rock lay strewn
about. There they noticed a large bird hovering in the air, flying
slowly round and round above them; it sank lower and lower, and at
last settled near a rock not far away. Immediately they heard a loud,
piteous cry. They ran up and saw with horror that the eagle had seized
their old acquaintance the dwarf, and was going to carry him off.

The children, full of pity, at once took tight hold of the little man,
and pulled against the eagle so long that at last he let his booty go.
As soon as the dwarf had recovered from his first fright he cried with
his shrill voice: 'Could you not have done it more carefully! You
dragged at my brown coat so that it is all torn and full of holes, you
clumsy creatures!' Then he took up a sack full of precious stones, and
slipped away again under the rock into his hole. The girls, who by
this time were used to his ingratitude, went on their way and did
their business in town.

As they crossed the heath again on their way home they surprised the
dwarf, who had emptied out his bag of precious stones in a clean spot,
and had not thought that anyone would come there so late. The evening
sun shone upon the brilliant stones; they glittered and sparkled with
all colours so beautifully that the children stood still and stared at
them. 'Why do you stand gaping there?' cried the dwarf, and his ashen-
grey face became copper-red with rage. He was still cursing when a
loud growling was heard, and a black bear came trotting towards them
out of the forest. The dwarf sprang up in a fright, but he could not
reach his cave, for the bear was already close. Then in the dread of
his heart he cried: 'Dear Mr Bear, spare me, I will give you all my
treasures; look, the beautiful jewels lying there! Grant me my life;
what do you want with such a slender little fellow as I? you would not
feel me between your teeth. Come, take these two wicked girls, they
are tender morsels for you, fat as young quails; for mercy's sake eat
them!' The bear took no heed of his words, but gave the wicked
creature a single blow with his paw, and he did not move again.

The girls had run away, but the bear called to them: 'Snow-white and
Rose-red, do not be afraid; wait, I will come with you.' Then they
recognized his voice and waited, and when he came up to them suddenly
his bearskin fell off, and he stood there a handsome man, clothed all
in gold. 'I am a king's son,' he said, 'and I was bewitched by that
wicked dwarf, who had stolen my treasures; I have had to run about the
forest as a savage bear until I was freed by his death. Now he has got
his well-deserved punishment.

Snow-white was married to him, and Rose-red to his brother, and they
divided between them the great treasure which the dwarf had gathered
together in his cave. The old mother lived peacefully and happily with
her children for many years. She took the two rose-trees with her, and
they stood before her window, and every year bore the most beautiful
roses, white and red.

******

The Brothers Grimm, Jacob (1785-1863) and Wilhelm (1786-1859), were
born in Hanau, near Frankfurt, in the German state of Hesse.
Throughout their lives they remained close friends, and both studied
law at Marburg University. Jacob was a pioneer in the study of German
philology, and although Wilhelm's work was hampered by poor health the
brothers collaborated in the creation of a German dictionary, not
completed until a century after their deaths. But they were best (and
universally) known for the collection of over two hundred folk tales
they made from oral sources and published in two volumes of 'Nursery
and Household Tales' in 1812 and 1814. Although their intention was to
preserve such material as part of German cultural and literary
history, and their collection was first published with scholarly notes
and no illustration, the tales soon came into the possession of young
readers. This was in part due to Edgar Taylor, who made the first
English translation in 1823, selecting about fifty stories 'with the
amusement of some young friends principally in view.' They have been
an essential ingredient of children's reading ever since.