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TRANSFERRED T

” WH O COLLEGE u m m
198
2

Cop g h t , 18
yr i 97 ,
Br B OUGHTON, MI FFLI N 00 .

All r i
g hts r eser ved .

Elect rot y p
ed an d n t ed by H O Houg h t on
Pr i . . an d Comp
any .
 C ONTE NTS .

THE CAT AND THE MOUSE

OLD SULTA N
THE NAIL
THE FR O G-KING
THE HAR E AND THE HE DG E HOG
BE I D ES ON THE I R TR IAL
THE PACK or RA GAMUFFINS
S NOW -W HI TE AND ROSE -RED
MOTHER HOLLE
THE BRE ME N TOW N MUSICI ANS
THUMB L I NG
THE SI x SW A N S

THE SE A MOUSE
h is STAE MONE Y

THE THRE E BR OTHE R S

THE SI NOI NO , SOA RI NG LARK
THE VALIANT LITT LE TAILOR
THE W OLE AND T H E Fox
THE D EATH OF THE LITTL E HE N
THE W ATE R OF LI FE
SW E E T PORR I DG E

THE W OLF AND T HE SE V E N LI

TTLE KI D S

TH E Fo x AND T HE HORSE
THE SHOE S THAT W E R E D ANOE D To PIE CE S
THE GOOSE -GI RL
FAITHFUL JOH N
JOE I ND A AND JOE I NOE L
THE W HITE S NA KE
iv C ONTE NTS .

THE GIA N AN H
T D T E TAILOR
LITTLE SN OW W H
- I TE

THE STRAW , THE COAL , AND THE N

BE A
THE HUT I N THE W OOD
THE CUN NING LITTLE TAIL OR
THE SPINDLE THE SHUTTL E AND
, , THE NEE D LE
THE THREE SPINNE RS
HANSE L AND GRE THE L
RUMPE LSTILTSK I N
THE W O ND E R FUL MUSI CIAN
THE QUE E N BEE
 INTROD UCTION .

f
GR I MM S TAL E S is the well kno wn t itle of a
’
-

great number O German wonder stories and the ,

names of Grimm and Andersen are very Often

coupled for their stories hav e m u ch in common
,
.

f
Andersen was a Dane who had grown upout of
the peasant lie and when he came to tell
,

stories told over again some of the folk stories

,
-

which h e had heard as a child but many more ,

and those the most characteristic were of his ,

own invention Grimm was t he name of two

.

German brothers Jacob Ludwig Karl Grimm

,

and Wilhelm Karl Grimm who were born the , ,

elder in 1 7 85 the yo u nger in 1 7 86 They

, .

were sons of a lawyer who died when th ey

,

were quite young and they were tr ained in the

,

schools and universiti es of Germ any Wilhelm .

,

the younger died in 1 859 and Jacob in 1 863

, , ,

so that their lives were n early eq ual They were .

constantly together and worked in the same

f
scholarly p ursuits They were both most cheer
ul men who enjoyed li
,
.

fe an d were especially
,

fond of having flowers about them Their .

st udies they carried on together though Jacob ,

was the more learned and made great con t ribu

,
Vi I NTR OD UC TI ON .

tions to the science of language while W ilhelm ,

was more artist ic in his tastes an d was a capit al

story teller
-
.

f
This combination of po wers was a happy one
for the task which they set themselves O gather
ing the common stories of the German peasants
and throwing them into the form O writ ten f ,

tales They were thirteen years in picking up

.

the stories which they printe d in their first vol

ume in 1812 and three years later they added a
,

second volume They drew them from a variety

.

of sources They lived in the province of Hesse

.

Cassel from which by the way the Hessians

, , ,

came who fought in th e British army durin g the

American war for independence ; and it was from
the peasan ts in this province that they derived

ff
a great many tales The best friend they had .

was the wie O a cow herd a woman of about

-
,

fifty who had a g enius for story telling In

,
- .

the preface to a later edition when the authors ,

were describing their task t hey said Her ,

memory kept a fir m hold of all sagas She her .

self knew that this gift was n c t granted to every

On e an d that there we r e many w
,
h o could r e
member nothing conn ec te dly She told her .

f
stories thoughtf ully acc urately and with won , ,

der ul vividness and evi dently had a delight in

,

doing it First she related them from beg in

.
,

ning to end and then if required repeated

, , ,

them more Slowly so th at after some practice it

,
 I NTR OD UC TI ON. Vi
i

was perfec t ly easy to write fr om her dicta

tion .Any one who holds that tradition 18 so
easily falsified and carelessly preserved that it
is impossible for it to last for any length of time ,

ought t o have heard ho wclose she always kept

to t h e story and how ze alous she was for its
,

an
y part
r ect e d i
and
,
i f
accur acy When repeating it She never al te red
.

she m ade a mi
”
stake always cor

t herself imme diately .

The brothers Grimm added a number of

stories which they found in old books and manu
scripts but their mai n purpose was to give as
,

exact a reproduction as they co u ld of stories

which may be said to have no author in p ar t i
cu

lar bu t to have been passed from one to another

, ,

especially from parent to child They wrote .

down every story just as they heard it, an d this

is what gives their colle ction its gre at value .

They added al so interesting notes showin g the ,

various forms which the stories had taken an d ,

f
the origin of them when they coul d
The collection o tal es has more than once
.

been t ranslate d into English and the fullest and

,

m ost faith ful translation appears t o be that by

Margar et Hunt edited by An drew Lang and
,

published in t wo volumes in Bohu s Library ’

.

It contains t wo hundred and ten tales together ,

with the authors notes It will be seen thus

’
.

that o nly about a fift h of t he number is retained

i t ion ; but an y o n e w
n th e p rese n t e di h o takes
vi
ii I NTR OD UC TI ON .

the trouble to go through the full collection will

f
readily see that the stories needed to be sifted
before they coul d be o ered to children for their
readin g. It must be remembered that the
Grimms were not collecting and report i n g the

tales for the use of children Their purpose was

.

to preserve a body of folk lore and to set it

-

forth in a scientific spirit and they told just

,

su ch sto ries as came to th em .

The st ories had thus the qualities of the

minds that held them with the ignorance the
, ,

f
superst ition the traditionary beliefs of the peas
,

ants o Hesse-Cassel and other places In many .

there was a frankn e ss and familiarity in t h e use

of sacred names that wo ul d shock an older per
son reading the stories with chil dren and would ,

be u ndesirable for the children themselves to

take as m atter of cour se T here is also in the
orig inal form a very frequent reco u rse to the
Devil as one of the dr am atis per son ae and ,

always a great dependence on all m anner of

i maginary supernatural creatures In some of .

the stories also thou gh not in many the laws

, ,

of right an d wrong are reversed and the cruel ,

stepmother is a very much more common figure

than she is in real life .

Neverth eless when the objectionable stories

,

have b ee n thrown out there remains a goodly

,

n umber w hich are well worth saving for the de

lig ht and edifi o n of children
cat i The minds .
 I NTR OD UC TI ON . i
x

that devised and harbored t h e stories or iginally

were child like minds to whom the world was a
-
,

much more m arvelous place than to modern

educated men an d women ; not it should be,

said more marvelous than it is to the m ind

,

which can penetrate below the surface of things

and read the wonders of actual nature ; but
superficially more marvelous and children still
,

look o ut on the world with somewhat the same

eyes.

For one thing what we call dumb animals

,

and inanimate things are the playmates of chil

dren and it is an easy step for them to take
,

when they talk with these playmates and listen

to what in imagin ation they say And the .

transform ations wrought by enchantment seem

almost as possible to them as chemical changes
do to the chemist They do not with their u h
.

n gs accept these entertai

der st an di ning stor ies ,

but they have much the same sort of belief in

them that when they are older they will take in
t h e men and women of Shakespeare s dram as ;
’

and the exercise of their imag ination in thus

f
making real the singular objects presen ted to
them is a healthful one i it is kept simple and
,

unstr ained j u st as it is good for older people

,

to forget themse lves and t he actual world in

n o vels provi
, ded the novels do not have t h e con
t ag ion of mo r al disease in them and do not,

keep them from nearer duties .

 I NTROD UC TI ON .

There is a sturdy element in the nature of

healthful children which makes these stories to
be appropriated in the right way so that they ,

furnish delightful ente rtain ment and height en

the activity of the child s imaginative powers
’
.

No w and then a child has the misfo rtune to

be born or bred with a supersensitive temper
which needs to be g u arded as one child out of
,

many cannot be tu rned loo se in play with it s

fellows It wo ul d be a pity if the great majority
.

of children were to be dep rived of this nutr i

,
f
ment b ecause it ag rees i

f
ll with a few
lessons also i we must use that word are al
,

most always o the reward of fidelity constancy

The
,
.

, ,

obedience and cheerful industry ; but it is hardly

,

worth while to hunt too energetically for the

application of moral principles The tal es have.

their surest advantage in giving the ch ild s mind ’

a frolic an d gambol as recess gives him a chance

,

to t urn Somersault and run joyo u sly A pleas .

ure also will be found by both older persons and

children in discovering the likeness bet we en
some of th ese tales an d the familiar ones that we
think of as English fairy t ales Th ere is a com
.

mon stock for them but children may be left to

,

f
grow up before they are taxed either with the
ethnic or igin o t h e tales or with their compar a
tive appearance or even with their symbolism .
,

Such stories as these li ke the fables and folk

,

st ories and Hans Anderse n s tales belong in t h e

’

,
 I NTR OD UC TI ON
. xi

very early reading ; they come in place after a

child has mastered the simplest combinations

f
.

He m isses a great deal of the pleasur e to be de

rived from them i he has to wait till he has read
all the school readers ; he will then be too old to
take the hear tiest interest in them Therefore
.
,

in edit in g this collection the editor has kept

,

before his min d the intelligence of a child be

ginning to read, and has aimed at relieving the
stori es of unnecessarily hard words and involved
, w
form s A simple straightfor ard English a
.

vocabulary largely of Saxon speech and a quick

,

ness of movement have been sought It will .

f
be a great satisfact ion if children from seven to
nine year s o age can make out to read it and ,

f
one of the g reatest reinforcements to the cour
age o such readers will be found in the inte rest
created by the stories themselves .

H E S
. . .
 GE RMAN HOUSE HOLD TALE S .

THE CAT AND THE M OUS E .

A C E RTAI N Cat had made friends with a

Mouse and had said so much to her about the
,

great love she felt for her that at last the Mouse
agreed they sho ul d keep house together .

f
But we must put away some things for
”
winte r or else we shall su e r from hunger
, ,

said the Cat ; and you little Mouse cannot

, ,

go everywhere or you will be caught in a trap

,

some day So a pot of fat was bought but ,

they did not know where to put it At last the .

Cat said ,

I know no place where it will be better

f
stored than in the church for no one dares take
,

anything away rom there We will set it there

.
,

and not touch it until we are really in need of

”
it
. So the pot was placed in safety but it was ,

not long before the Cat had a great long ing for
it and said to the Mouse
, ,

I want to tell you something lit tle Mouse

,

my cousin has a lit tle son and has asked me to

be godm other ; he is white with brown spots .

Let me go out to day and you look aft er the

-
,
”
house by yourself .

”
Yes yes answered the Mouse
, ,
by all ,
 THE CA T AND THE MOUSE .

mean s go and if you get anything very good ,

think of me I should like a drop of sweet red

.

”
win e too. But all this was untrue ; the Cat
had no cousin and had not been asked to be
,

godmother She went straight to the ch urch

.
,

stole to the p
licked the top of t he fat o
,

f
f
ot of fat began to lick at it and
Then she took a
.

walk upon the roofs of the town an d stretched

,

herself in the sun and licked her lips whenever

,

she thought of the pot of fat and not until it ,

was evening did Sh e re t urn home .

”
Well here you are again said the Mouse
, ,

f
”
no doubt you have had a merry day .

”
All went o well answered t he Cat
,
.

f
f
What name did they give the child
Top o
f
f
said the Cat quite coolly
- .

Top o ! cried the Mouse that is a very

-
,

odd name ; is it a usual one in your family

”
What does it matter said the Cat , it is
not worse than Cr um b ste aler as your god
-
,

children ar e called .

Before long the Cat had another fit of long

ing She said to the Mouse
.
,

You must do me a favor and once more ,

m anage t h e house for a day alone I am again .

asked to be godmother an d as the child h as a

, ,
”
white ring round its neck I cannot refuse , .

The good Mouse conse nted but the Cat crept ,

behind the town walls to the church and de ,

vou r e d h alf the pot of fat .

 THE C A T AND THE M OUSE . 3

Nothing ever seems so good as what one

” ’
keeps to one s self said she and was quite con
, ,

te nt with her day s work When she went ’

.

home the Mouse inquired ,

f
And what was this child named
”
Hal done answered t he Cat
-
,
.

f
Half done What are you saying I never
-
”
heard the name in my li e .

The Cat s mouth soon began to water for

’

som e more lickin g .

All good thin gs go in threes said Sh e ; ,

I am asked to stan d godmother again The .

child is quite black only it has white paws ; but

,

except that it has not a single white hair on its

,

whole body This o n ly happens once every few

.

y ears ,
and I don t know when it
’
will happ e n

f
’
again you will let me go won t you ,

Top oi Half done answered t h e Mouse

- - .

They are such odd names they make me very ,

”
thoughtful .

“
You sit at home said the Cat in your , ,

dark gray fur coat and long tail an d are filled

-
,

with fancies that s because you do not go out

’

”
in the daytim e During the Cat s absence the
.
’

Mouse cleaned the house and put it in order , ,

but the greedy Cat entirely em ptied the pot of

fat.

When everyt hin g is eaten up one has som e

”
peace said she to herself and well filled and
, , ,

fat she did not return home till night The

,
.
4 THE CA T AND THE M OUSE .

Mouse at o n ce asked what name had been given

to the thir d child .

It will not please you more than the others ,

”
said the Cat He is called All gone
.
- .

All gone cried the Mouse

-
, that is the
queerest name of all ! I have never seen it in
print All gon e
.
- what can that mean an d

she shook her head curled herself up and lay , ,

down to sleep .

Fr om this time forth no one invited the Cat

to be godmother but when the winter had come,

and there was no longer anyt hing t o be found

out side the Mouse thought of their store and
, ,

said,

Come Cat we will go to our pot of fat

, ,

which we have stored up for ourselves we

”
shall enjoy that .

”
Yes answered the Ca
,
you will en joy it
as much as you would enjoy sticking that dainty
”
tongue of yours out of the window They se t .

out on their way but when they reached the ,

church the pot of fat was still in it s place but ,

it was empty .

”
A las ! said t h e Mouse now I see what ,

has happened ; now it comes to light ! You a

f
true friend ! You have eaten all when you were
standing godmother First top o then half .
,

done then
,

W ill you hold your ton gue cried t he Cat ,

on e word more and I will eat you too , .

 OLD SULTAN .

A FARME R once had a faithful dog called

Sul t an who had grown old and lost all his
,
.

teeth so that he co uld no longer hold anyt hing

,

fast One day the farmer was stan ding with

.

his wi fe before the door and said , ,

—
To morrow I think I must shoot Old Sult an ;
he is no longer of any use ”
His w fe who felt
i .
,

pity for the faithful beast said , ,

f ,
He has served us so long and bee n so faith
ul we m i ght well g ive him his keep
Eh ! what said the m an You are
,

not very sharp He has not a tooth left in his

.

f
f
mouth and not a thief is afraid of him ; now
,

he may be o If he h as se rved us he has had

.
,

good feeding for it .

The poor Dog who was lyin g in the sun

f
f ,

not far o hear d everything and was sor ry to

, ,

m orrow was to be hi s last day He had a good .

friend a Wolf and he crept out in the evening

, ,

into the wood to him and told him what was ,

to happen .

Hark ye said the Wolf

,
be of good ,

cheer I will help you out of your trouble I

,
.

have thought of a way To morrow early in

- .
,
 OLD S UL TAN . 7

the morning your master is going with his wife

,

to make hay and they will take their little child

,

with them for no one will be left behin d in the

,

house While they are workin g they will lay

.

the child under the hedge in the shade you lay

yourself there too just as if you wished to take
,

f
f
care of it Then I will come out of the wood
.
,

and carry o the child You must rush after .

me as if you would take it away from me I

,
.

will let it fall and you will take it back to its

,

parents who will think you have saved it and

, ,

will be far too grateful to do you any harm ;

you will be in high favor and they will never ,

let you want for anyt hin g again

f
f
.

The plan pleased the Dog and all went o ,

j u st as the Wolf said The father screamed .

when he saw the Wolf r unnin g across the field

with his child but when Old Sultan brought it
,

back he was full of joy and str oked him and ,

sai d ,

Not a hair of yours shall be hurt ; you shall

”
eat my bread fr ee as long as you live And .

to his wife he said Go home at once and make

.

Old S ultan some bread sop that he will not have

-

to bite and bring the pillow out of my bed I

,

f
”
will give him that to lie upon .

After this Old Sultan was as well o as he

f
coul d wish to be Now the Wolf came to visit
.

him and was pleased that all had gone o so

,

well .
8 U
OLD S L TAN .

will just wink an eye

f
“ But said be “ you
, ,

if when I have a chance I carry o one of your

, ,
’ ”
master s fat sheep .

Do not reckon upon that answered the ,

Dog ; I will remain true to my master I can

”
not agree to that The Wolf thought Old Sul
.

tan did not really mean this and he came creep ,

ing about in the night and was going to take

away the sheep But the farmer to whom the
.
,

faithful Sultan had told the Wolf s plan caught

f
’

f
f
him and gave him a sound beat ing
had to be o but he cried out to the Dog
,
The Wol .

Wait a bit you rascal you Shall pay for

,

this .

Next day the Wolf sent the Boar to bid the

f
f
Dog come out into the wood so that they might
settle the a air Old Sultan could fin d no one
.

to stand by him but a Cat with only three legs ,

and as they went out together the poor Cat

limped along and at the same t ime stuck out
,

f
her tail in to the air with pain
The Wol and his friend were on the Spot
waiting but when they saw the Dog coming
.

, , ,

they thought he was brin g ing a sword with him ,

for they mistook the tail of the Cat for one .

And when the poor beast hopped on its three

legs they could only think every tim e that it was
,

pickin g up a stone to throw at them So they .

were both afraid ; the wild Boar crept into t he

underbrush and the Wolf jumpe d up a tree .
 OLD S UL TAN . 9

The Dog and the Cat when they came up

, ,

wondered that there was no one to be seen .

But the wild Boar had not been able to hide

himself wholly and one of his ears was still to
be seen As the Cat was looking all about the
.
,

Boar moved his ear ; the Cat thought it was a

m ouse moving there and she jumped upon it
,

t it hard
an d h i . The Boar made a great noise
an d ran a w ay crying out
, ,

T he real sinner is up in the tree . The

Dog and the Cat looked up and saw the Wolf ,

who hung his head and looked Sheepish enough ,

an d made p eace with the D og .

 THE NAIL .

A MER C HANT had done good business at the

fair ; he had sold his wares and filled his bag ,

with gold and silver Then he set out at once

.

on his journey home for he wished to be in his

,

own house before night He packed his bag .

with the money on his horse and rode away , .

At noon he rested in a town ; when he want e d

to go on t h e stable boy brought out his horse
,
-
,

and said ,

A nail is wanting sir in the shoe of its left

, ,
”
hind foot .

Let it be wanting answered the merchant ,

the shoe will stay on for the six miles I have

st ill to go I am in a hurry. In the after
noon when he once more got down and had his
,

horse fed the st able boy went into t h e room to

-
,

him and said

, ,

Sir a shoe is want ing from your horse s left

,
’

hind foot Shall I take him to the black

.

smith
Let it still be want ing said the man ,

the h orse can very well hold out for a couple

”
of miles more I am in a hurry . .

He rode forth but before long the horse be

,
 THE NAI L . 11

gan to li mp It had not limped long before it

.

began to stumble and it had not stumbled long

,

before it fell down and broke its leg The mer .

chant had to leave the horse where it was and ,

unstrap the bag take it on his back and go

, ,

home on foot And he did not get there until

.

qu ite late at night

m ade all this trouble

.

That unlucky nail said he t o him sel

”
.
, has f
,

Make haste slowly .

 THE FROG-K ING .

IN old times when wishes were horses and

beggars coul d ride there lived a king who had
,

f
beautiful daughters but the yo u ngest was so
,

beauti ul that the sun itself which had seen so

much was amazed whenever it shone in her
,

face Close by the King s castle was a great

.
’

dark wood and under an old lime tree in the

,
-

wood was a well When the day was very .

’
warm the King s child went out into the wood
,

and sat down by the side of the cool fountain

when she was dull she took a golden ball and ,

threw it up on high and caught it .

This ball was her favorite plaything and it ,

chanced that once the Princess s golden ball did ’

not fall into the lit tle hand which she was hold
ing up for it but on to the ground beyond
, ,
’
and rolled straight into the water The Kin g .

daughter followed it with her eyes but it was ,

gone and the well was deep

,
so dee p that she ,

coul d not see the bottom At this she began to .

f
cry and cried louder and louder and would not
be com orte d As she thus wept some one said
to her
.
,

You
’
What ails you King s daughter ,
14 THE FR OG— KI NG .

down ; in a short tim e he came swimmi ng up

again with the ball in his mouth and threw it ,
’
on the grass The King s daughte r was de
.

lighted to see her pretty playt hing once more ,

an d picked it up and ran away with it , .

Wait wait said the Frog take me with

”
, , ,
’ ”
you I can t r u n as fast as yo u can
. B ut .

what good was it for h im to scream his croak ,

croak after her as loudly as he coul d

, , She
did not listen to it but ran home and soon ,

forgot the poor Frog who was forced to go ,

back into his well again .

The next day when she had se ate d her self at

table with the King and all the co u rt and was ,

eatin g from her little golden plate something ,

came creeping sp sh splash

li p
s lish sp lash up , ,

the marble staircase ; when it had got to the

t Opi,t knocked at the door and cried , ,

Princess yo u ngest princess open the door

, ,
”
for me She ran to see who was there but
.
,

when she opened the door there sat the Frog ,

in front of it Then she slammed the door to

.
,

in great haste sat down to dinner again an d

, ,

was very uneasy The Kin g saw plainly that .

her hear t was b eat ing hard and said , ,

My child what are you so afraid of

,
Is
there a gi ant outside who w ants to carry you
away
“Ah no said she ; it is no giant but a
, , ,

horrid Frog .
 THE FR OG— KI NG . 15

What does the Frog want with you

Ah dear father yesterday when I was in
, ,

t h e wood sitting by the well playing my golden ,

b all fell into the water And because I cried .

so the Frog brought it out again for me and ,

because he made such a point of it I promised ,

h im he Should be my friend but I never ,

thought he would be able to come out of his

water ! And now he is outside there and ,

wants to come in to me .

The Frog knocked a second time and cried , ,

f
Pr in ce ss youn ge st pr in ce ss

Op e n t h e d oo r or m e
D o y o u n ot kn o ww
f
h at e e ll bf
Ye st er da y by de o t h e w
t h e si e ll

f
Pr i
n ce ss, y g
oun e st pr in ce ss

Ope n t h e doo r or me

Then said the King You must do what you ,

”
said you would Go and let him in
. She .

went and opened the door and the Frog hopped ,

in and followed her step by step to her chair

, ,
.

There he sat st ill and cried ,

”
Lift me up She did not like to but at
.
,

last the King bade h e r do it When the Frog .

was once on the chair he wanted to be on the

table and when he was on the table he said
, ,

Now p ush your little golden plate nearer

,
”
to me that we may eat together
,
She did this .
,

but it was easy to see that she did not want to

do it The Frog enjoyed what he ate but al
.
,

most every mouthful she took choked her At .

last he sai
d ,
16 THE FR OG— KI NG '
.

I have eaten and have had enough No wI

,
.

am t ired ; carry me into your little room and ,

make yo u r litt le silken bed ready and I will lie ,

”
down and go to sleep .

The King s daughte r began to cry for Sh e

’

was afraid of t he cold Frog which she did not ,

like to touch and which was now to Sleep in her

,

prett y clean little bed But the King grew

,
.

angry and said

, ,

You ought not to feel so to one who helped

”
o u when you were in tr ouble So she took
y .

hold of the Frog with two fingers carried him ,

u pstairs and put him in a corner But when

, .

Sh e was in bed he crept to her and said ,

I am tired ; I want t o Sleep as well as y ou

-
.

”
Lift me up or I will tell your father
,
Then she .

was very angry and took him u pand threw him

,

with all her might against the wall .

Now will you be quiet hateful Frog

, she ,

said But when he fell down he was no Frog

.

but a King s son with beautiful kind eyes

’
.

Then he told her how he had been made a Frog

by a wicked woman and how no one but she ,

could un do the mischief and that to morr ow-

,

they wo ul d go togeth er into his kingdom The .

next morning when the sun was up a carriage

, ,

came driving up with eight white horses which ,

had white ost rich feathers on their heads and ,

were harnessed with golden harness behind

stood the young Ki ng s servant faithful Henry
’
.
,
 THE FR OG— KI NG . 17

Faithful Henry had been so unhappy when his

master was changed into a Frog that he had
three iron bands laid round his heart lest it ,

should burst with grief and sadness The car .

rie g e was to carry the young King into his

kin gdom Faithful Henry helped them both in
.
,

an d got up behind and was full of joy because

,

his master had been set free And when th ey .

f
had driven a part of the way the Kin g s son ,
’

heard a cracking behind him as i something

had broken So he tu rned round and cried
.
, ,
”
Henry the carriage is breaking
, .

N0 master it is not the carriage It is a

, , .

band from my heart which was put there in my

,

great pain when you were a frog and shut up

in the we Again and once again while they
were on their way something cracked and each ,
’
t ime the King s son thought the carriage was

f
breaking ; but it was only the bands which were
spring ing r om the heart of faithful Henry be
cause his maste r was set free and was happy .
 THE HAR E AND TH E H E DGE HOG .

A HED GE HOG stood by his door with his arms

akimbo one Sunday morning He was taking
, .

the air and slowly tr illin g a litt le song to him

self which was neither better nor worse than
,

the songs which Hedgehogs are in the habit of

sin ging on a happy Sunday morning W hil e .

he was thus singing half aloud to himself he ,

fell to thinkin g that while his wife was wash

,

ing and drying t h e children he might very well

,

take a walk into the field and see h o whis t ur

,

nips were going on The turnips were in fact

.
, ,

close by his house and he and his family were

,

wont to eat them ; so he looked u pon them as

his own .

No sooner said th an done The Hedgehog .

shut t he house door behind him and took the

-
,

path to the field He had not gone very far

.

from home and was just turning round the b u sh

,

which stands there outside the field to go up ,

into the turnip field ; there he saw the Hare wh o

-
,

had gone out on an errand of the same kind he

meant to visit his cabbages .

When the Hedgehog caught sight of the

Hare he bade him a frien dly good morning - .
,
 THE HARE AND THE HE D GE HOG . 19

Bu t the Hare who was in his own way a great ,

man an d very proud did not return the Hedge

1

, ,

hog s greeting but said t o him in a lofty

’

, ,

manner ,

How do you happen to be running about

h ere in the field so early in the morning
”
I am taking a walk said the Hedgehog , .

A walk said the Hare with a smile It ,

.

se ems to m e you might use yo r legs for some

u
thing better This ans wer made the Hedgehog
.

ve ry angry for he can hear anything but a sneer

,

at his legs which are cr ooke d by nature , So .

n o wthe Hedgeh og said to the Hare ,

You seem to think you can do more with

”
your legs than I with mine .

That is j u st what I do think said the ,

Hare .

f
That can be put to the test said t h e Hedge ,

hog . I bet that i we run a race I will out

”
st rip you .

That is absurd ! You with your short

f
legs ! said the Hare ; but for my part I am
willing i you have such a great fancy for it
, .

What shall we bet ?

A piece of gold and a bot tle of wine said ,

the Hedgehog .

f
“Done ” said the Hare Shake han ds on
, .

”
it and then it may as well come o at once
, .

”
Nay said the Hedgehog there is no such
, ,

great hurry ! I am still hungry ! I will go home

20 THE HARE AND THE HE D GE HOG .

first and have a little breakfast I n half an

, .

f
”
hour I will be back again at this place .

At this the Hedgehog went o for the Hare ,

was willing On his way the Hedgehog th ough t

.

to himself ,

The Hare trusts to his long legs but I will ,

cont rive to get the better of him He may be a .

great man but he is a very Silly fellow and he

, ,
”
Sh all pay for what he has said So when the .

'

Hedgehog reached home he said to his wife , ,

Wife, dress yourself quickly ; you m ust go

”
out to the field with me .

What is going on there said his wife .

I have made a bet with the Hare for a piece

of gold and a bottle of wine I am to run a .

”
race with him and you must be on hand
,
.

”
Good heavens h usband , the wife now ,

cried ,
have you lost your wits W h at can
make you want to run a race with the Hare

f
f
”
Hold your tongu e woman said the Hedge
, ,

f
f
hog that is my a air Don t beg in to talk
.
’

about things which are matters for m e n Be o .

,
”
dr ess yourself and come with me
,
What could .

the Hedgehog s wife do ’

She had to obey him ,

whether Sh e liked it or not .

So when they h ad set out on their way the ,

Hedgehog said to his wife ,

Now listen to what I am going to say Look .

-
you I will make the long field our race course
, .

The Hare shall run in one furrow and I in an ,

 THE HARE AND THE HE D GE HOG .

And once more he went OE like the wind in a

storm SO that he seemed to fly
, But the Hedge .

f
h og s wi
’
fe stayed quietly in her place So when .

the Hare reached the top O the field the Hedge ,

hog himself cried out t o him ,

I am here already The Har e however

.
, ,

quite beside himself with anger cried , ,

It mu st be r u n again we must have it

again .

All r ig ht sa id
,
the Hedgehog ; for my
”
p art I 11 run as Ofte n as you like
’
SO the Har e .

-
r an seventy thr ee t imes more and the Hedgehog ,

always held out again st him and every t i me the

,

Hare reached either the top or the bott om eithe r ,

the Hedgehog or his wife said ,

”
I am here already .

At the se vent y fourth tim e the Hare could n o

-
,

longer reach the end In the middle of the

.

field he fell to the ground and lay dead on the

,

spot But the Hedgehog took the piece of gold

.

f
he had won and the bottle of wine and called his ,

living there still

,

.
f
wife out O the furrow both went home together
side by side and i they are n ot dead they are ,
 BRID E S ON THE IR TRIAL .

T HE RE was once a young shepherd who wished

much to marry ; he knew three sisters w h o were
all equally pretty so that it was very hard for
,

him to make a choice Then he asked his mother

.

what he should do and she said

, ,

Bid all three to a feast and set some cheese

,

before them and watch how they eat it

,
”
The .

youth did so the first swallowed the cheese with

the rind on ; t he second hast ily cut the rind OE
t h e cheese but she cut it so quickly that she left
,

much good cheese with it and threw that away

,

also ; the third peeled the rind OE carefully and ,

cut neither too much nor too little The shep .

herd told all this to his mother and she said

, ,
”
Take the third for your wife This he did
.
,

f
and lived happily with her for he found her a
p rudent wie .
,
 THE PACK OF RAGAMUFFINS .

THE Cock once sai d to the He n ,

I t is now the ti
me when the nuts are r i
pe
SO let us go to the hill together and for o nc e
eat our fi ll before the Squirre l takes them all

Yes,replied t h e He n c om e we will have

, ,

some ple asur e together

”
Then they went away
.

to t he hill and as it was a bright day they stayed

,

till evening Now I d o not know whethe r it

.

was that they had eaten t ill they were too fat ,

or whether they had become proud but they ,

would not go home on foot and the Cock had ,

to build a little carriage of nutshells When it .

was ready the little Hen seated herself in it and

,

said to the Cook ,

Just harne ss yourself to it .

I like that said the Cook I wo ul d ,

rather go home on foot than let myself be h ar

,

n esse d to it no that is not our b argain I do

,
.

not mind being coachman and sitt ing on t h e

”
box but drag it myself I will not
,
As they .

were thus disputin g a Duck quacked to them

, ,

You thieving folks who said you m ight g o

,
”
-
to my nut hill Wait you shall pay for it !
,
 THE PACK OF RAGAMUFFI NS . 25

an d ran with op en beak at the Cock But the .

Co ok also was not i dl e and fell boldly on the

,

Duck and at last woun de d her so with his spurs

,

that she begged for mer cy and let herself be ,

harnesse d to the carriage .

The little Cock now seated himself on the box

an d w as coachman and th ey went OE in a g al
,

f
lopw
”
,
ith Duck go as fast as you can
, When .

they had driven a part O the way they met t wo

going afoot They were a Pin and a Needle
.
,

an d they cr ied Stop stop

,
and said that it
would soon be as dark as pitch and then they ,

o a step far ther an d that i

f
c o u ld not
g t was dirty,

on the road ; they asked i th ey could not get

in to the carr i age for a while They had been .

at the tailor s i n n by the gate an d had stayed

’

t o o long over the beer .

As they were thin people who did n Ot take ,

up much room the Cock let th em both get in

, ,

but they had to p romise him and his little Hen

n ot to step on their feet Late in the evening
.

th ey came t o an inn and as they did not like to

,

o farther by night and as t h e Duck also w as

g ,

n ot st rong on her feet and fell from on e side t o

,

t h e other they went i

,
n .

The host at first would not take them ; he

said his house was already full besides he ,

thought they could not be very gre at persons ;

but at last as they made pleasant speeches and
, ,

t old hi m that he sho uld have the egg whi ch t h e

26 THE PAC K OF RAGAM FFI NS U .

little Hen had laid on the way and should also ,

keep the Duck which laid one every day he at

, ,

last said they m ight stay one night And now .

they had themse lves well se rved and feasted an d ,

r ioted .

Early in the morning when day was breaking , ,

and every one was aslee p the Cook awoke t h e ,

Hen brought the egg pecked it open and they

, , ,

ate it together but they threw the Shell on t he

,

hearth T hen they went t o the Needle which

.
,

was st ill asleep took it by the head and stuck it

,
’
into the cushion of the landlord s chair ; they
put the Pin in his towel and at last without more
,

ado they flew away over the heath .

The Duck who liked to sleep in the open air

,

and had stayed in the yard he ard them going ,

away Sh e made herse lf merry and found a

stream down which she swam that was a much
,

quicker way of traveling than dragging a car

ig e
r a .

The host did not get out of bed for t wo hours

hi f
after this ; he washed himself and wanted to dry
m %l but the Pin went over his face and made
,

a red st reak from one ear to t he other After .

this he went into the kitchen an d wan ted t o

light a pipe but when he came to the hear th the
,

eggshell darted into his eyes .

T his morning everything attacks my head

said he and sat down angrily in his g r an d a
,
f
,

thor s chair but h e jumped up again and cried

’

, ,
 THE PA C K U
OF RAGAM FFI NS . 27

Woe is me for the Nee dle had p ricked him

,

st ill worse than the Pin and not in the head

, .

Now he was very angry in deed and was sure

,

t h e mi schief had been done by t he guest s who

had come 80 late the night before ; when he
went and looked about for them they were gone
,
.

f
Then he made a vow to take no more raga
mu fi n s into hi
s house for they eat much pay
, ,

for nothing and play t ricks into the b argain by

,
 SNOW WHITE — AND ROS E RED — .

T HERE was once a poor widow who lived in a

lonely cottage In front of t h e cot tage was a
.

garden and in the garden stood t wo rose t r ees ;

,
-

one of these bore white roses and the other red

roses The widow had t wo children who were
.

like the two rose trees so she called one Snow

-
,

white and the other Rose red

,
- .

They were as good and happy as busy and ,

cheerful as ever t wo children in the world were ,

only Snow white was more quiet and gentle than

-

Rose red Rose red liked bette r to r un about in

- .
-

the m eadows and fields lookin g for flowers and

catching butterflies ; but Snow white sat at home
-

with her mother and helped her with her house

,

work Or read to her when there was n othing

,

to do .

The t wo children were so fond of each other

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 -

,

an swered Never so lon g as we live and their

, , ,

mother would add ,

What one has she must Share with the

”
ther .
30 SN0 W WHI TE AND —
R OSE RE D .

One evening as they sat thus by each other

, ,

some one 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

-
, , ,

traveler who needs to come under cover Rose .

red went and pushed back the bolt but it was ,

not a poor man ; it was a Bear that poked his

broad black head inside the door
,
.

Rose red screamed and sprang b ack the Lamb

-
,

bleated the Dove trembled and Snow white hid

,
-
,
’
herself behind her mother s bed But the Bear .

began to speak and said ,

f
Do not be afraid ; I will do you no harm !
I am half roze n and only want to warm myse lf
”
,

a little beside you .

”
Poor Bear said the mother lie down by
, ,

the fir e 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 an d

’
swept the Bear s hide clean ; and be stretched
h im self by the fire and g rowled he was so war m ,

and easy in his mind .

It was not long before they grew quite at

home and played tricks with their clum sy g uest
, .
 SNOW W HI TE AND —
R OSE RE D . 31

They pulled at his hair with their hands ; they

p u t their feet u pon his back and ro lled h i
m
a bout or they took a switch and beat him and
, ,

when he growled they laughed But the Bear .

t ook it all in good part only when they were t oo

,

r ough he called o u t ,

Le ave me alive children ! ,

Sn o w -w
y t e , Ro s
hi y- re d ,

Wi
l l y ou b e at y ou r lo ve r de ad

When it was bedtime and the others went to ,

be d the mother said to the Bear

, ,

y ou w ill
”
be safe rom the f
You can lie there by the hearth an d then
cold and the bad
,

weather . As soon as day dawned the two chil

dren let him out and he trotte d across the snow
,

into the forest .

After that the Bear came every evening at the

same ti me lay down by the hearth and let the
, , ,

c hildren play with him as much as they li ked ;

an d they got so used to him that the doors

were never locked until their black riend had f

c ome in .

When spring had come and all outside was

green the B e ar said one morning to Snow
,

white ,

Now I must go away and cannot come back ,

”
for the whole summer .

Where are you going dear Bear asked ,

Snow white
- .

I must go into the wood and guar d my treas

32 SNOW W HI TE AND ROSE RE D
- .

r w
f
when t he m r t h is rom n har d flley have t o st ay ,

belo wan d can n ot w o r k t he i a

y t hm u h ; but
g
n ow w he n t he sun has t haw
,
e d an d w ar m e d t h e

an d M ; an d what on ce
g e ts i
nto t he i
r han ds,
an d i
ntc t h ei
r traves, do es n ot m ai
ly g e t ou t
”
ai
g n .

p
iece f
o hi
s hai
r
y c oat was tor n oE ; i
t seem e d

t hm u
g h i
g b u t sh e was n ot snr e . The m n

t he t rees .

The re t he y fo un d a bi
g t re e which lay on t he
was

yar d lon g .

f f
Th e en d O t h e hear d w as cau h t i
g n

a c rack o th e t r ee , an d t h e lit tle fello w w as

to a ro pe , an d did n o t kn o ww hat t o do .

He glar e d at t h e g ir ls wit h his fie ry re d eyes,

 SN OW W HI TE
— AND R OSE RE D
— . 33

Why do you stan d there Can you not

co me here and help me

What are you about there little m an ,

asked ROse red - .

You stupid prying goose, said t he Dwar f

I was going to split the tree to g et a litt le wood
for cooking I had just driven t he wedge
.

safely i n an d ever t hi
, y ng was going as I wished ;

but the horrid wood was too smooth and t h e

we dge flew out the tr ee clo se d quickly and
caught m y beautiful white hear d ; so now it
is t ight in an d I cannot g et away and the silly , ,

f
sleek m ilk faced things laugh ! Ug h !how hate
,
-
”
ul you ar e !

The children tr ied very hard but they could ,

n ot p ull t h e beard out ; i

t was caught too fast .

I will ru n an d fetch some one said Rose

”
,

You si lly goose ! snarled the Dwarf ; w hy

Should you fetch some one

two to o many for m e

You are already
can you not thin k O f
something better
Don t be cross said Snow white ; I w
’
-
,
ill

f
f
help you and she pulled her scissors out of her
,

pocket and cut o the end of the beard

,
.

As soon as the Dwarf was fre e he laid hold ,

f
of a bag which lay by the roots of the tree it
was full O gold and he lifted it up grumblin g
, ,

to himself ,

Stupid people to cut OE a piece O my fin e

,
f
34 SNOW WHI TE AND R OSE RED
- .

f
f
”
beard Bad luck to you ! and then he swung
.

the bag upon his back and went o without ,

even once looking at the childr en .

Some t ime after that 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 toward the water as if it ,

were goin g 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 n o t such a fool !” cri ed the Dwarf ;
don t you see that the naughty fish wants to
’

pull me in The litt le man had been sitt ing

there fishin g and the wind had t wisted his
,

beard with the fishin g -line j u st then a big fish

bit and the Dwarf was not strong enough to
,

pull it out ; inste ad of that the fish p ulled the ,

Dwarf toward him He held on to all the

.

reeds and ru shes but it was of little use ; he had

,

f
t o follow the fish as it pulled and was i
danger O being dragged into the water
n great

The girls came just in time ; they held him

,

fast and tried to free his hear d from the line ; it

was in vain ; beard and line were in a snarl
.
.

Nothing was left but to bring out t he scissors

and cut the beard and so a small part of it was
,

lost When the Dwarf sawthat he screamed

.
,

out ,

I S that civil you toad sto ol to mar one s

,
-
,
’
 SN0 W W HI T AND ROSE RE D
E — . 35

face Was it not enough to clip OE the end of

f
f
f
m y be ard Now you have cut o the best part
o it I cannot let myself be see n by my people
. .

I wi sh you had been m ade t o run the soles

”
OE your shoes ! Then he took out a sack of
p e arls w hich lay in the rushes a n d without say
,

f i
i n
g a word m o re he dragged t away and was
o u t O sight behind a stone .

It happened soon afte r that the mother se nt

,

t he t w o chi ldren to town to buy needles and

t hr ead and laces and ribbons
, The r oad led .

of
t h em across a plai n and on the plain huge pieces
,

rock lay here and there Now they saw a .

large bi rd up in the air flying Slowly round and

,

round above them it sank lower and lower ,

an d at last se ttled near a rock not far OE Al l .

at onc e they heard a loud cry for help They .

r an up an d saww

se i ze d thei

t o carry hi
r Old fri

m OE
th horror th at t he eagle had
i
end the Dwar and was going
.
f ,

The childr en full of pity at once took tight

, ,

hold of the little m an and pu lled against the

,

e agle so long t hat at last the eagle let his prey

go As soon as t he Dwarf found himself safe

.

he cried with his shrill voice ,

Could you not have done it with more car e

f
You pull ed at my brown cost so that it is all
t orn and full O holes you clum sy things
,

Then he to ok up a sack full of pre cious stones ,

an d Sli pped away again under the rock into his

36 SNOW W HI TE AND ROS RE D
E - .

f
hole The gir ls who by this time wer e used t o
.
,

getting no thanks rom him went on their way ,

an d did their errands in the tow n .

As they crossed the plain again on their way

home they came upon the Dwarf who had ,

emptied his bag of precious stones upon a clean

spot and had not thought that an y one would
,

come there so late The evening sun shone

.

upon the brilliant sto nes ; t hey glitte red and

sparkled with all colo r s so finely that the chil
dren st ood st ill and looked at them .

Why do you st and gaping there crie d

the Dwarf and his gr ay face be came r ed with
,

rage He was going on with his bad wor ds

.

when a loud growl was he ar d an d a black B ear ,

came trottin g toward them out of t he wood .

The Dwarf sprang up in a fright but he could ,

not get to his cave for the B ear was already

,

close Then in his fear he cried

.
,

Dear Mr Bear spare me I will give yo u

.
,
.

all m y treasures ; look se e t h e beauti

ful jewels
,

lying there ! Grant me my life ; what do you

want with such a little fellow as I you wo ul d
not feel me bet ween your teeth Come tak e .
,

these t wo wicked g ir ls They are t ender mor

.

sels for you ; they are fat as young quai ls ; for

”
mercy s sake eat them ! The Bear took n o
’

heed of his words but g ave the wicked thing a

,

Single blow w ith his paw an d he did not move

,
 M OTHER HOLLE .

THERE was on ce a widow who had two

daughte rs one of them was prett y and worked
hard ; the other was ugly and idle But she .

was much fonder of the ugly and idl e one ,

because Sh e was her own daughte r ; and the

other had to do all the work and be the Cinder
,

ella of the house Every day the poor girl had

.

to sit by a well in the road an d spin and spin

, ,

till her fingers bled .

Now one day the shuttle was marked with her

blood so she went to the well to wash the m ark
, ,

OE but it dropped Out of her hand and fell to

the bottom She began t o weep and ran to h er
.
,

mother and told her of the mishap But the .

widow scolded her sharply and was so unkind

,

as to say ,

Since you have let the shutt le fall in you ,

must fetc h it out again .

SO the g irl went back to the well and did ,

not know what to do ; and in the sorrow of her

heart she jumped in to the well t o get the
shutt le She lost her senses ; and when she
.

awoke an d came to herself again she was in a ,

lovely meadow where the sun was shining and

,
 MOTHE R HOLLE .

many thousands of flowers were growing .

Along this meadow Sh e went an d at last came ,

t o a baker s oven fu ll of bread and the Bread

’

cried out ,

Oh take me out !take me out !or I shall

,
”
burn ; I have been baked a long t ime ! SO she
went up to it and took out all the loaves one
,

after another with the bread shovel Afte r that

-
’

she wen t on till she came to a Tree covered with

apples which called out to her
, ,

Oh shake me !shake me !we apples are all

,
”
ri pe ! So Sh e shook the Tree t ill the apples
fell like rain and went on shaking till they were
,

all down and when she had gathered them into

,

a heap she went on her way .

At last she came to a little house and an Old ,

woman peeped out of it ; but she had such larg e

te eth that the girl was afraid and was about to ,

r u n away But the old woman called out t o

.

h er ,
What are you afraid of dear child Stay ,

with me ; if you will do all the work in the

hou se properly you shall be the bet ter for it
,
.

Only you must take care to make my bed well ,

and to shake it thoroughly till the feathers fly

for then there is snow on the earth I am .

”
Mother Holle .

As the Old woman spoke so kindly to her the ,

g rl
i took heart and ag reed to stay with her .

She di d everything w ell and always shook her ,

 MOTHE R HOLLE .

bed so hard that the feathers flew about like

snowflakes SO she had a pleasant life with the
.

Old woman ; never an angry word ; and boil e d

or roast meat every day .

She stayed some time wit h Mother Holle an d ,

then she became sad At fi r st she did n o t

.

know what was the matter with her but foun d ,

at last it was homesickness she was many tho u

sand t imes bette r OE here than at home still sh e ,

had a long ing to be there At last she said t o.

the Old woman ,

I have a longing for home ; and well OE as

I am down here I cannot st ay any longer ; I
,

m ust go up agai n to my own people Moth e r .

Holle said ,

I am pleased that you long for your hom e

again and as you have se rved me so truly I m y
, ,
”
self will take you up again So she took her .

by the hand and led her to a large door Th e

,
.

door was open ed and just as the maiden was

,

standing beneath the doorway a heavy shower

of golden rain fell and all the gold remained
,

sticking to her so that she was completely cc v

,

ered with it .

You shall have that because you have been

”
so busy said Mother Holle ; and at the sam e
,

time she gave her back the shutt le which she

had let fall into the well At that the door .

clo sed and the maiden found herself up above

,

upon the earth not far from her mother s house

,
’
.
 M OTHE R HOLLE . 41

As she went into the yard the Cook was stand

in g by the well side and cried
-
,

Coc k-a -d oodle -doo 1

Your g o lde n g
r l s com e
i
’
b
ac k t o y ou

So she went in to her mother and as she came ,

thus covered with gold she was welcomed both , ,

by her and her sister .

The girl told all that had happened to her ;

an d as soon as the mother heard how she had

c o me by so much we alth she was very anxi ous ,

t o Obtain the same good luck for the ugly and

‘

lazy daughter SO this girl had to seat herself

.

by the well and spin ; but she hated to work ,

and in order that her shuttle m ight be stained

with blood she stuck her hand into a thorn
,

b ush and pricked her finger Then she threw .

h e r shutt le into the well and jumped in after it

, .

She came like the other to the beautiful

, ,

m eadow and walked al ong the very same path .

When she got to the oven the Bread again

cr ied
,

Oh take m e out !take me out !or I shall

,
”
burn ; I have been baked a long time ! But

f
the lazy thing answered
As i I had any wish to make myself
,

dirt y and on she went Soon she came to .

the Apple Tree which cried

-
, ,

Oh shake me shake me we apples ar e all

,

ri pe ! But she answered ,

I like that ! One of you might fall on my

42 M OTHE R HOLLE .

head and so went on When she came t o

,
.

f
Mother Holle s house she was not afraid for sh e
’
,

had already heard O her big teeth and she hire d ,

herself to her at once .

The first day she forced herself to work hard ,

f
and obeyed Mother Holle when she told her t o
do anyt hing for she was thinking O all th e
,

gold that she woul d get But on the secon d .

day she began to be lazy and on the third day ,

still more so and then she would not get up in

,

the morning at all Neither did she mak e.

Mother Holle s bed as she ought and did n o t

’

f
shake it so as to make the feathers fly up .

Mother Holle was soon t ir ed O this and gav e ,

her notice to leave The lazy girl was w

. illing
enough to go and thought that now the golden
,

rain would come Mother Holle led her too t o

.
, ,

f
the great door ; but while she was standing
under it instead of the gold a big kettleful o
,

pitch was emptied over her

That is the reward O your service said
Mother Holle and shut the door
f
.

, .

So the lazy gir l went h ome ; but she was

quite covered with pitch and the Cock by the ,

well side as soon as he saw her cried out

-
, , ,

Cock-a-d oodle -doo 1

Your pit chy g
r l s co m e
i ’
ac k t o you I b

f
f
And the pitch stuck fast to her
be got o as long as she lived .
, an d could not
 TH E BR E M EN TOWN MUSICIANS .

A C E RTAI N man had a Donkey which had ,

c ar ried the corn sacks to the mill day after day

-

for many a long year but his strength was g o

ing and he was growing more and more unfit
,

for work Then his master began to think how

.

he might best save his keep ; but the Donkey ,

seeing that no good wind was blowin g ran away ,

and set out on the road to Bremen .

There he thought I can surely be town

, ,
”
musician .When he had walked some distance ,

he found a Hound lying in the road gasping ,

like one who had run till he was tired .

What are you gasping so for you big fel ,

low asked the Donkey .

”
Ah replied the Hound
, I am old and , ,

daily grow weaker and bec ause I no longe r can

,

hunt my master wanted to kill me ; so I took

,

to flight ; but now how am I to earn my

bread
I tell you what said the Donkey ; I am
,

going to Bremen and shall be town musician

,

there ; go with me and also be a musician I .

will play the lute and you shall beat the drum
,
.

The Hound agreed and on they went Be

,
.
44 THE BRE ME N TOW N M USI CI ANS.

fore long they came to a Cat sittin g on the path , ,

with a face like three rainy days !

Now then old shaver what has gone askew
, ,

with you asked the Donkey .

Who can be merry when his neck is in

danger answered the Cat I am now get .

ting old an d my teeth are worn t o stumps and

, ,

because I prefer to sit by the fi r e and spin ,

rather than h unt mice m y mistress wanted to

,

drown me so I ran away But now good advice

,
.

is scarce Where am I to go
.

Go with us to Bremen You understand .

”
night music so you can be a town musician
, .

The Cat thought well of it and went with ,

them After this the three cam e to a farm

.

yar d where a Cock was sitting upon the gate

, ,

crowing w ith all his m ight .

Your crow goes through and through one ,

said the Donkey What is the matter

.

I have been foretelling fi n e weather said ,

the Cock but guests are coming for Sunday ,

so the housewife has no pity and has told the ,

cook that she means to eat me in the soup to

f
f
morrow and this evening I am to have my head
,

cut o Now I am crowin g at full pitch while

.

”
I can .

Ah but red comb said t he Donkey you

,
-
, , ,

f
had bette r come away with us We are goin g to .

Bremen you have a good voice and i we make ,

”
m usic together it must be worth somethi ng .
 THE BRE ME N TOW N M USI CI ANS .

Yes yes ah how I wish we were there

, ,

said the Donkey .

Then they took co u nsel together how the y

cou ld drive away the robbers and at last the y ,

thought of a plan The Donkey was to plac e .

him self with his fore feet upon the window

-
’
ledge the Hou nd was t o jump on the Donkey s
,

b ack the Cat was to climb upon the Hou nd an d

, ,

lastly the Cock was to fly up and perch upon t h e

head of the Cat .

When this was done at a given sig nal they ,

began to perfor m their music together t h e

Donkey brayed the Hound barked the Cat
, ,

me wed and the Cock crowed ; then they burst

,

through the window into the room so that t he ,

glass clattered
A t this horri ble din the robbers sprang u p ,

thin king that a ghost had come in and fled in ,

a great fright out in to the wood The four .

now sat down at the table well content with ,

what was left and ate as if they were going t o

,

fast for a month .

As soon as the four town musicians had done ,

they put out the light and each looked out for ,

a place to sleep in The Donkey lay down upon.

some str aw in the yard the Hound lay behind ,

the door the Cat lay upon the hearth near the
,

warm ashes and the Cock perched himsel upon

,

a beam of the roof ; and being tired with their

f
long walk, they soon went to sleep .
 THE BRE ME N TOW N M USI CI ANS . 47

When it was past midnight, and the robbers

saw from afar that the light was no longer
burning in their house and all was quiet the , ,

captain said ,

We ought not to have let ourselves be

scared out of our wi ts and bade one of them
go and look into the house The robber found .

all still and went into the kitchen t o light a

, .

can dl e ; he took the fiery eyes of the Cat for

live coals and held a match to them to light it
,
.

But the Cat did not like the joke and flew in ,

hi s face spitting and scratc hi

,
ng He was scared .

o u t of hi sw its, an d ran to the back door but ,

the Hound who lay there sprang up and bit his

, ,

le g ; and as he r an across the yard by the straw

heap the Donkey gave him a smart kick with his
,

hind foot The Cock too wh o had been waked

.
, ,

by the noise and had become lively cried down

, ,

from the beam ,

- - -
Cock a doodle doo
Then the robber ran back as fast as he could
to his captain and said , ,

Ah there is an old witch sitting in the

,

house who spat on me and scratched my face

,

with her long claws ; and by the door stands a

m an with a kn i fe who stabbed me in the leg ;
,

an d in the yard there lies a b lack monster who ,

beat me with a wooden club and above upon ,

t h e roof sits the judge who calle d out

, Bring , ,

the rogu e here to me ! so I got away as well ’

as I co uld .
48 THE BRE ME N TOW N M USI CI ANS
.

After this the robber s did not trust themse lves

the house again but it suited the fo ur town
musicians of Bremen so well that they did n ot
care t o leave it any more And the mouth of
.

him who last told this story is st ill war m

.
 THUMBLING .

T HE RE was a tailor who had a son and he was ,

a tailor too As the litt le fellow who happened

.
,

to be small was no big ger than a Thumb he got

,

the name of Thumbling But he was brave i

he was small and so he said t o his father
.
,

f
, ,

Father I must and will go out in to t h e

,
”
world .

That s right my son said the old m an

’

, , ,

and took a long darning nee dle and made a

-

knob of sealing wax on it at the candle and

-
,

there is a sword for you to take with you on

Then Thumbling wanted to have one more

meal at home and hopped into the kitchen to
;
,

see what his mother had cooked for the last

time.

Mother h e asked what is there to eat

, ,

to day
f
-

See for yoursel said she So Thu mbling

,
.

jumped on to the hearth and peeped into the ,

dish but as he stretched h is neck in too far the

,

ste am fr om the food caught hold of him and

f
carried him up the chimney He rode about in .

the air on the ste am or a while until at last h e ,

50 THUMBLI NG .

sank down to the ground again Nowthe little .

tailor was outside in the wide world and h e ,

f
tr aveled about and went to a master in his
,

craft But the food was n ot good enough or

.

Mistress if you give u s no better food

, ,

said Thumbling I will go away and early to

, ,

morro w mornin g I wi ll write with chalk on the

door of your house Too many potatoes t oo
litt le meat ! Good by Mr Potato King
- -
, ,
’
,
. .

What would you have pray grasshopper , ,

said the mistress and she g rew angry and, ,

seized a dish cloth and was just going to str ike

-
,

him but Thumbling crept nimbly un der a thim

ble peeped out from beneath it and put his
, ,

tongue out at the mistress She took u p the .

thimble and wanted to get hold of him but

, ,

little Thumbling hopped into the cloth and ,

while she was opening it out and looking for

him he got into a crack in the table
, .

”
Ho ho mistress cried he and thrust his
, , , ,

head out and when she began to strike him h e

,

leapt d own into the drawer At last however .

, ,

she caught h im and drove him out of the house .

The little tailor journeyed on and came to a

great wood and there he fell in with a band of
,

r obbers who meant to ste al the King s treasure ’

.

When they saw the little tailor they thought , ,

A little fellow like that can creep through a

le an d serve as picklock to us .
 TH UMBLI NG . 51

Hollo cried one of them you g iant will

, , ,

o u go to the tr easure chamber w

- ith us You
y
”
can slip in and throw out the money .

Thumbling thought a while and at last he ,

sai d yes and went with them to the treasure

”
,

c hamber

f
Then he looked at the doors above
.

an d below to see i there was any crack in them

, .

Yes there was one which was broad enough to

,

le t him in He was about to get in when one

.
,

of the two sentries who stood before the door

sawhi m and sai d, ,

What an ugly Spider is creeping there ; I

”
will kill it .

Let the poor thing alone said the other , ,

it has done you no harm Then Thumbling

got safely through the crack into the t reasure
ch amber opened the window under which t he
,

robbers were standing and thre wout to them

,

one piece of gold after another When t he .

little tailor was in full swing he heard the King,

coming and crept hastily into a hiding place

,
- .

The Kin g looked and sawthat several solid gold

pieces were missing but could not think who
,

could have stolen them for locks and bolts ,

were all right and the chamber seemed empty

,
.

Then he went away again and said to the sen ,

tries
,

Be on the watch ; some one is after the

”
money . So when Thumbling fell to work
agai n the se nt ri
, es heard the money moving and ,
52 TH UMBLI NG
f
.

a sou nd of klink klin k klink They ran switly

, , .

in to seize the thief but the little tailo r who

, ,

heard them comin g was still sw ift er He leapt

,
.

into a corner and covered him self with a coin so ,

f
that nothing could be seen of him and at the ,

same time he made un of the se ntries and cried ,

Here am I !
The sentries ran to wh ere the voice came from ,

but as they got there he had already hoppe d

into another corner u nder a coin and was cry ,

i
n
g ,
”
Ho ho here am I !
, ,

The watchmen hurried there but Thumblin g ,

had long ago got into a third corner and was ,

crying ,
”
Ho ho here am I ! And thus he made
, ,

fools of them and drove them so long roun d

,
-
about the treasure chamber th at they were wo rn
out and went away Then he threw all the gold
.

pieces out one by one and hopped to the groun d

,

on t he last .

Thou art a valiant hero said the robber s ;

wilt thou be our captain
But Thumbling said no he wanted to see ,

the world first They now divided the gold but

.
,

the little tailor asked only for a penny because

he could not carry more .

Then he once more buckled on his sword bade ,

the robbers good by and took to the road

-
,
.

Fir st he went to work with some masters but

, ,
54 TH UMBLI NG .

Where are you he asked .

In the black cow said Thumbling bu t , ,

the master did not make out what he said an d ,

went out .

Next mornin g the cow was killed By goo d .

luck Thumblin g did not meet with one blow at

the cutting u pand chopping he got among t h e
-
sausage meat And when the butcher came in
.

and began his work he cried out with all his ,

might ,
’
Don t chop too deep ; don t chop too deep ;
’

”
I am in here .

No one heard this the chopping knife made

-
,

such a noise Now poor Thumbling was in

.

trouble but trouble makes one sharp and h e

, ,

dodg ed so quickly between blows that th ey did

not touch him and he got out with a whole skin
,
.

Still he could not get away ; there was nothin g

for it and he had to let h imself be put in to a
,

black pud ding with the bits of bacon

- Then .

the black-pudding was hun g up in the ch imney

to be smoked and there time did hang very
,

h eavy on his hands .

At last in winter the black pudding was taken

-

down again as it had to be set before a guest

, .

When the housewife was cutting it in slices ,

Thumbling took care not to stretch out his head

too far lest a bit of it sho uld be cut ofi
z; at last
’

he saw his chance and jumped out .

The little tailor would not stay any long er in

 TH UMBLI NG . 55

a hou se where h e fared so ill but at once set ,

out on his journey again But he was not safe.

long In the open country he met with a fox

.

who snapped him up .

“
Hollo Mr Fox cried the little tailor it is
.
, , ,
”
I who am sticking in your throat ; set me free .

f
”
You are right answered the Fox
, You .

are next to nothing to me and i you will prom ,

ise me the fowls in your father s yard I will let ’

you go .

With all my heart replied Thumblin g , .

You shall h ave all the cocks and hens ; I give

”
you my word Then the Fox let him g o again
.
,

an d carried him home .

When the father once more saw his dear son ,

h e gladly gave the Fox all the fowls he had .

For this I too bring you a good bit of

”
m oney ,
said Th u m blin g an d gave his father
,

the penny he had earned on his t ravels .

But why did the fox get the poor chickens

to eat

f
Oh you goose your father would surely love
, ,

hi s child ar more than the fowls in t he yard !

 TH E SI ! S W ANS .

ONC E upon a time a King was hunting in a

great wood and he chased a wild beast so fas t
,

and so far that non e of his men co ul d follow

him When even ing drew near he stopped an d
.

looked about and saw that he had lost his way

,
.

He tried to find a way out but could find n o ne ,

.

T hen he caught sig ht of an old woman with a

head which kept nid nid noddin g She came
, ,
.

to ward him but she was a witch

,
.

”
Good woman said he to her,
can y ou ,

not show me the way throu gh the wood

”
Oh yes Lord King she answered I can
, , , ,

and I will if you in turn will do one thin g for

me If you will not you must stay here and
.
,

What is it asked t h e King .

I have a daughter said the old woman , ,

who is as beautiful as any one in the world ;

if you w ill make her your Queen I will show ,
”
you the way out of the wood In h is sad .

plig ht the King agreed and the old woman led

,

him to her little hut where her daughter was

,

sitt ing by the fire She met the King as if she

.

h ad been lookin g for him and he saw that she ,

 THE SI ! 3 W ANS . 57

was very beautiful but still she did not please

,

him , and he cou ld not look at her without secret

horror Aft er he had taken the maiden up on
.

his horse the old woman showed him the way

, ,

an d the Kin g reached hi s royal palace again ,

a n d there they were married t h e King and t he ,

m aid .

T he King had already been married once and ,

had by his first wife seven children six boys ,

and a girl whom he loved better than anything

,

else in the world A s he now feared that the

.

new Queen might not treat them well and even ,

do them some harm he took them to a lonely ,

castle which stood in the midst of a wood It .

was so hidden and the way was so hard to find

, ,

that he himself would not h ave found it if a

wise woman had not given him a wonderf ul ball
of yarn .

f
When he threw it down before him it u n
wound itsel and sh owed him his path But
the Kin g went so often to his de ar children that
,

the Queen became curious and wanted to know ,

what h e did when he was quite alone in the

wood She gave a g reat deal of money to his
.

ser vants and they told her and told her also of
, ,

the ball which alone co ul d point out the way .

And n ow she knew no rest until she had

learnt where the King kept the ball of yarn ;
then she made little shirts of white silk and as ,

sh e w as a witch like h e r mother she sewed a ,

58 THE SI ! S W ANS .

charm inside them Then when the King next

.

rode forth to hunt she too k the litt le shirts an d

,

went into the wood and the ball showed her t h e

,

way .

The chil dren who saw from afar that some

,

o n e was com i
n g thought it was their dear father
, ,

and full of joy ran to meet him Then sh e .

threw one of the little shirt s over each of them ,

and no sooner had the shirts touched their

bodies than they were changed int o swans and ,

flew away over the wood .

The Queen went home quite pleased and ,

thought she had got rid of t h e chi l dren but the ,

girl had not run out with her brothers and the ,

Queen knew nothing about her Next day the .

King went to visit his children but he fo un d ,

no one but the little girl .

Where are your brothers asked the Kin g .

”
Alas dear father she answered
, ,
they ,
”
h ave go n e away and left me alone ! and she
told him that she had seen from her win dow
how her brothers had flo wn away over the wood
in the shape of swans ; and she showed him the
feathers which they had let fall in the yard
, ,

and which she had picked up .

The King was sad but he did not t hink the

,

Queen had done this wicked de ed and as he ,

feared the girl wo ul d also be stolen away from

him he wante d to take her away with him
, .

But she was afraid of the Queen and begged ,

 THE SI ! S WANS . 59

t he King to let her stay just this one night

m ore in the castle The poor girl thought .
,
“I can n o longer stay here I will go and .

”
seek my brothers So when night came she .

ran away and went straight into the wood

, .

Sh e walked all night and next day also without , ,

stopping u ntil she could not go one step farther

, .

Then sh e saw a bu t and went into it and found , ,

a room with six li ttle beds She did not dare .

t o get into any one of them but crept under ,

one and lay down on the hard ground There

, .

sh e meant to lie all night but just before sun se t ,

sh e heard wings and saw six Swans come flying

,

in at the win dow They dropped to the g round .

f
f
an d blew at each other and blew all the feathers ,

o ,
and their swan s skins stripped ofl like a
’ ’

shirt .

Then the maiden looked at them and knew

her brothers and was glad and crept forth from
,

un der the bed The brothers were not less

.

glad to see their little sister but their joy was ,

short .

You cannot stay here they said to her , .

This is a robbers hut if they co m e home and ’

find you th ey will kill you

, .

”
But can you not take care of me ? asked
the little sister .

”
No th ey replied only for one quarte r of
, ,

an hour each evening can we lay aside our

swan s skins and have our real bodies ; aft er that
’

,
60 THE SI ! S WANS .

we are once more turned into swans Th e .

little siste r wept and said ,

Can you not be set free

”
Al as no they answered
, , the way is t oo ,

hard ! For six years you may not speak nor

laugh and in that t ime you m ust sew together
,

six little shirts of starwort for us And if o n e .

single word falls fr om yo ur lips all your work ,

will be lost And when the brothers had said

.

this the quarter of an hour was over and they

, ,

flew out of the window again as S wans .

Now the maiden said to her self she wou l d

set her brothers fr ee if it cost her life She,
.

left the hut went into the midst of the wood

, ,

clim bed up into a t ree and there passed t h e ,

night Next morning she went out an d gathered

.

starwort and began to sew She could not speak .

to any one and she did not wish to laugh ; she

,

sat there and looked at nothing but her work .

When she had already spent a long time there ,

it came to pass that the King of the count r y

was hunting in the forest and his hun tsmen ,

came to the tree on which the maiden was sit

ting They called to her and said
.
,

W h o are you ? But she made no answer .

Come down to us said they “ We will not .

,
”
do you any harm She only shook her head
. .

As they kept on talkin g she threw h er golden

necklace down to them an d thought to conte nt ,

them thus They kept on asking her and then

.
,
62 THE SI ! S W ANS .

’
and smeared the Quee n s mouth with blood as
she slept Then she went to the King and said
.

the Queen had ate her child up .

f
f
Th e King woul d not believe it and would not ,

su er any one to do her an harm She sat

y .

always sewing at the shirts and caring for no ,

thing else The next time when she again bore

.
,

a beautiful boy the false old woman used t h e

,

sam e t rick but the King co u ld n ot b ring himself

,

to believe her He said .

,

f
She is too pious and good to do anythin g of
that kind ; i she were not dumb she would te ll ,

u s all about it But when t h e old woman stole

away the newly born child for t h e th ird time ,

and told the same sto ry an d the Queen still ,

said nothing the King co u ld not help himself

,
.

f
f
He gave her over to the judges and she was ,

sentenced to su er death by fir e .

When the day came for her to be burned it ,

was the last day of the six years during which

f
sh e was not to speak or laugh Th e six shirts .

were ready only the le t sleeve of the sixth was

,

wanting So when she was led to t h e stake she

.
,

laid the sh irts on her arm ; when she stood on

high and the fire was just going to be lighted ,

she looked around and six Swans came flying

through the air toward her .

T he n she saw that her help was near and her ,

heart leapt with joy T he Swans swept toward

.

er and sank down so that sh e could th row t h e

 THE SI ! 5 W ANS . 63

shirts over them and as they were touched by

,

them their swan s skins fell ofl and her brothers

,
’
,

stood in their own bodies before her st r aight ,

an d handsome .The youngest only lacked his

left arm and had in the place of it a Swan s
,
’

wing on his shoul der .

They hugged and kisse d each other and ,

the Queen went to the King who was greatly ,

m oved and she began to speak and said

, ,

Dearest husband now I may speak and tell

,

f
you that I am innocent She told him of the
trick o the old woman who had taken away her
th ree children and hidden them Then to the .

great joy of the King they were brought an d ,

the wicked old woman was bound to the stake ,

an d burnt to ashes But the Kin g and the

.

Queen with their six brothers lived many years

in happiness and p eace .
 THE S E A MOUS E .

T HE RE was once u pon a W e a Princess wh o

f
f
lived in a great castle She had one room with
.

twelve windows which looked twelve di erent

,

ways ; when she climbed up to it and looked

around h e r she coul d see over her whole kin g
,

dom When she looked out of the first h er

.
,

sight was more keen than that of any other

human being ; from t h e second she cou ld see
still better from the third more clearly still an d
, ,

so it went on un t il the t welfth from which sh e

, ,

saw everything above the earth and under t he

ear th and nothin g at all coul d be ke pt secret
,

from her .

She was a proud princess and would obey no

one ; she wished to keep the power for herself
alone so she caused it to be given out that no
,

one should ever be her h u sband who could not

hide himself fr om her so surely that it should
be quite impossible for her to find him If any .

f
f
one tried this and was found out by her he was
, ,

t o have his head cut o and stuck on a post

,
.

Nin et y seven post s with the heads of dead

- '

m en on them were already standing before the

castle and no one had come forward for a lo n g
,
 THE SE A MOUSE . 65

time The Princess was highly pleased and

.
,

thought to herself ,

No w I shall be free as long as I live .

Then three brothers came before her and said ,

they would like to try their luck The eldest .

thought he wo uld be quite safe if he crept into

a lime pit ; but she saw hi
- m from the first win

f
f
do w made him come out and had his head cut
, ,

o . The second crept into the cellar of the

p al ac e ; but she saw him also from the first
window an d his fate was sealed His head was
, .

placed on the ninety ninth post

- .

Then the youngest came to her and begged

h e r to give him a day to think it o ver and also ,

to be so kind as to overlook it if she should

f
f
h appen to find him twice but if he failed the ,

third time she was to cut his head o

, As he .

was handsome and begged hard she said

, , ,

Yes I will grant you that bu t you will not

, ,
”
succeed .

Next day he thought for a long t ime how he

should hide himself but all in vain ,
Then he .

took his gun and went out hunting He saw .

a Raven took a good aim at him and was just

, ,

g oing to fire when the bird

, cried ,
’
Don t shoot ; I will make it worth your
”
while to leave me alive He put his gun down
.
,

went on and came to a lake where he saw a

, ,

large Fish which had co m e u pfrom the depths

below to the top of the water When he had .

aimed at it the Fish cried

, ,
66 THE SE A M OUSE .

Don t sh oot an d I will make it worth your

’
,
”
while He let it dive down again went on
.
, ,

and met a Fox which was lame He fired an d .

missed it and the Fox cried

, ,

You had mu ch better come here and dra w

the thorn out of my foot for me He did this ; .

but when he wanted to kill the Fox and skin it ,

the Fox said ,

f
Stop and I will make it worth your while
, .

The youth let him go and th en went home or , ,

it was evening .

Next day he was to hide himself he puzzled

his brains over it but he did not know where ,

he shoul d go He went in to the wood to t he .

Raven and said , ,

f
I let you live on so now tell me where I ,

am to hide mysel so that the King s daughter ,

’

”
sh all not see me The Raven hung his head .

and thought it over for a long time At last .

he croaked ,

I have it He fetched an egg out of his

.

nest cut it into two parts and shut the youth

, ,

inside it then he made it whole again and sat ,

’
on it When the King s daughter went to the
.

first window she could not find him nor coul d ,

she from the other s and she began to be uneasy , ,

but from the eleventh she saw him She ordered .

the Ra ven to be shot and the egg to be bro ug h t ,

and broken and the youth had to come out

,
.

Sh e said
,
 THE SE A MOUSE 67

f
.

For once I will let you go but i you do ,

n ot do better than this you are lost ,

Next day he went to the lake called the Fish ,

to him and said , ,

f
I let you live now tell me where to hide
,
’
se l so that the King s daughter may not see
y
”
me . The Fish thought for a while and at last ,

c ried ,

I have it I will shut you up in my stom

a ch . So the Fish g ulped him and went down ,

t o the bottom of the lake The King s daughter ’

.

f
l ooked out of one w indow after another ; even
rom the eleventh she did not see him and began ,

to be troubled but at last from the twelfth she

sawhim She had the Fish caught and killed
.
,

an d then the youth stood before her Any one .

c an guess what a state of mind h e was in She .

said ,

Twice I have let you o but you may be f

f ,

sure your head will be set on the hundredth

post On the last day he went with a heavy

.
,

heart into the count ry and met the Fox ,

.

You know how to find all kin ds of hiding

”
places said he ; I let you live ; now tell me
,
’
where I shall hide myself so that the King s
”
daught er shall not find me .

”
That s a hard task answered the Fox
’

, ,

looking very wise At last he cried .

,

I have it and went with him to a spring

t h ere he dippe d himself in it and came out as a ,
68 THE SE A MOUSE .

stall keeper in the market and dealer in animals

-
, .

Th e youth had to di p himself n the water also

i ,

and was changed into a small Sea Mouse The .

merchant went into the town and showed t h e ,

pretty little anim al an d many persons came t o

,

gether to see it .

At last the King s daughter came too and as

’

she liked it very much she bought it and g av e , ,

the merchant a good deal of mo n ey for it Be .

fore he g ave the Sea Mouse over to her he said ,

to it ,

When the King s daughte r goes to t h e ’

window creep quickly under the braids of h e r

,
”
hair .

And now the time came when she was t o

search for him She went to one window afte r
.

another in tu rn from t h e first to the eleventh

, ,

f
and did not see him When she did not se e .

him from the t w elft h either she was full o ,

trouble an d anger and shut it down so har d

,

that the glass in every window was broken int o

a thousand pieces and the whole castle shook
,
.

She went back and felt the Sea Mouse beneath

,

the braids of her hair She seized it and threw

.
,

it on the g round crying out

, ,

Away with you !get o ut of my sight It

r an to the merchant and both of them hurri
, ed
to the spring ; they plunged into it and g o t ,

back their t rue forms .

The youth thanked the Fox and said , ,

 THE ST AR— M ONE Y .

ONCE on a t im e there was a little girl ; her

father and mother were dead and she was so ,

poor that she no longer had any little room to

live in or bed to sleep in ; at last she had n o
,

thing but the clothes she was wearing and a ,

little bit of bread in her hand which some ki n d

,

soul had g iven her .

She was howe ver good and pious And as

, ,
.

she was thus left alone by all the world sh e ,

went forth in to t h e Open country tr usting in ,

the good God Then a poor man met her wh o

.
,

said,

Ah give me something to eat I am so

, ,
”
hungry ! She gave him the whole of he r
piece of bread and said
, ,

May God bless it to thy use and went on , .

Th en came a ch ild who cried and said

, ,

f
f
My head is so cold give me something t o
,

cover it wi So she took O her h ood an d

gave it to him ; and when she had walked a little
farther she met another child who had no jacket
,

and was frozen with t h e cold T hen she gave

.

it her own jacket ; and a little farther on on e

begged for a frock and she gave away that also
,
.
 THE STAR— MONE Y
. 71

At last sh e got into a wood and it had ,

already become dark and there came yet an

,

other child and asked for a little shir t an d the

, ,

g ood little girl thought to herself ,

It is a dark night and no one see s me ; I

f
f
”
can very well g ive my little sh ir t away and ,

took it O and gave away that also And as

,
.

she so stood and had not one single thing left

, ,

suddenly some stars from heave n fell down and ,

she saw they were hard smooth pieces of money ;

,

an d although she had just given her littl e shirt

away there was a new one m ade of the ver y

,

finest lin en Then she gathered the pieces of

.

money into this and was rich all the days of her
,
 TH E THREE BROTHE RS .

THE RE was once a man who had three son s ,

and nothin g else in the world but the house in

which he lived Now each of the sons wishe d
.

to have t h e house after his father s death ; bu t ’

the father loved them all ali ke and did n o t ,

know what t o do ; he did not w ish to sell t h e

house because it had belonged to his fathe r
, ,

else he m ight have sold it and divided the mon e y

amongst them At last a plan c ame into his
.

head and he said to his sons

, ,

GO into the world and try each of you t o

,

learn a trade and when you all come back h e

, , ,

who does the best at his t rade shall have t h e

”
house .

T he sons were well content with this and t h e ,

eldest said he would be a blacksmith the secon d ,

a barber and the third a fencing master Th ey

,
- .

fixed a t ime when they shoul d all come home

again and then each went his way
,
.

It chanced that they all found skillful maste rs ,

who taught them their trades well The black .

’
smith had to shoe the King s horses and h e ,

thou ght to himself ,

The house is mine without doubt

,
.
 THE THRE E BR OTHE RS . 73

The barber shaved only great people and he , ,

too already looked upon the house as his own

,
.

Th e fencing master got many a blow bu t he

-
,

f
only bit his lip and let nothing vex him ;
,

For said he to himself i y ou are afraid of

, ,

a blow you 11 never w

”
in the house
’
.
,

When the time had come t h e three brothers ,

c ame back home to their father ; bu t they did

n ot know how they were to show o t heir f

f
t rades for there were no horses to be shod
,

e ve ry one shaved him sel

t o fence
f
and no one knew h o w
So they sat and talked about it As
.
,

.
,

t hey were sitti n g thus all at once a hare came

,

r u nning across the field .

Ah ha just in t ime
, , said the bar ber SO .

h e took his basin and soap and lathered away ,

u n t il the b ar e came up ; then he soaped an d

shaved Ofl the hare s whiskers whi lst he was r un
" ’

n in g at the top of his speed ; and he di d not

e ven cut his skin or i njure a hair on his body .

“ W ell done !” said the Old m an “yo

,

brothers will have to do something famous or ,

”
the house will be yours .

Soon aft er up came a nobleman in his coach

, ,

dashin g along at full speed .

Now you shall see what I can do father , ,

said the blacksmith ; so away he ran after the

f
f
f
c oach ,
took all fo u r shoes o the feet of one
o the horses whilst he was galloping and put ,

on hi m four new shoes without stopping him .

74 THE THRE E B ROTHE RS .

You are a fine fellow and as clever as your ,

”
broth er said his father ; I do not know to
,
”
which I ought to give the house Then the .

third son said ,

Father let me have my tur n if you please ;

, ,

and as it was beginnin g to rain he drew h is

, ,

sword and swung it backwards and forw

, ards
abo ve hi s head so fast that not a drop fell u pon
’

him . It rained harder and harder till at last it ,

cam e down in a flood ; but he only waved his

sword faster and faster and was as dry as if h e
,

were sitt ing in a house When his father saw .

this he was amaze d and said , ,

This is the masterpiece the house is your s ! ,

His brothers were satisfied with this as was ,

agreed beforehand ; an d as they loved one an ,

other very much they all three stayed togeth e r

,

in the house ; they followed their trades an d , ,

as they had lear nt them so well and were so

clever they earned a great deal of money
, .

Thus they lived together happily unti l the y

grew Old ; and at last when one of them fell ,

sick and died the two others grieved so sorely

,

about it that they also fell ill and soon afte r ,

died And because they had been so clever an d

.
,

had loved one a n other so much they were all ,

laid in the same grave .

 THE SINGING SOARING LARK , .

T HERE was once on a time a man who was

ab out to set out on a long jour ney ; he asked

hi s three daughters what he sho ul d bri ng back

with him for them The eldest wished for
.

p earls
, the second wished for diamonds bu t the ,

third said ,

Dear father I sho ul d like a singing soaring

, ,

Lar The father said ,

Yes if I can get it you shall have it

, , ,

kissed all three and set out , Now when the .

t ime had come for him to be on his way home

again he had brought pearls and di
, amonds for
the t wo eldest but he had sought in vain for a
,

sin i n g soar ing Lark for the youngest and he

g , ,

was very unhappy about it for she was his ,

favorite child .

His road lay through a wood and in the m idst ,

of it was a splendid castle and near the castle ,

st ood a tree but quite on the top of the t ree he

,

sawa singing soaring Lark ,

.

”
Aha you come just at the right moment !
,

he said with great joy and called to his servant

,

to climb up and catch the little creature But .

as he drew near the tr ee a Li on leapt from be

,
76 THE SI NGI NG, SOARI NG LAR K .

neath it shook himself and roared till the leave s

, ,

on the t ree tr embled .

I will eat up any one who tr ies to steal my

”
singing soaring Lark he cried The n the
, ,
.

m an sai d ,

I did not know that the bird belonged to

you I will make amends for the wrong I have
.

done and give you a large sum of money only

”
spare my life The Lion said
.
,

Nothing can save you unless you will ,

f
promise to give me for my own the first who
meets you on your retur n home but i you will
do that I will grant you your life and you shall
, ,

have the bird for your daughter into the bar ,

gain . The man said ,

That might be my youn gest daughter ; she

loves me best and always runs to meet me o n
,
”
my return home But the servant was in great
.

fear and said

, ,

Why should your daughter be the very one

to meet you It might as easily be a cat or a
”
dog . Then the man let himself be persuaded ,

took the singin g soaring Lark and promised to

, ,

g ive the Lion whatever sho uld fir st meet him on

his retu rn home .

When he reached home and entered his house ,

the fi r st who met him was no other than his

youngest and dearest daughter ; she came run
ning up an d kissed him and when she saw that
, ,

he had brought with him a sing in g soaring ,

78 THE SI NGI NG, SOARI NG LAR K
.

father again and went with the lion s There

,
.

was great joy when she came for they had all ,

believed that she had been torn in pieces by the

Lion and had long ceased to live But she told
,
.

f
f
them what a handsome husband she had and ,

how well O she was ; she stayed with them

—
while the wed ding feast laste d and then went ,

back again to the wood .

When the se cond daughter was about to b e

married and she was again asked to the wed
,

ding she said to the Lion

, ,

This time I will not be alone ; you must

come with me The Lion said that the risk
.

was too g reat for if when there a ray from a

,

burning candle fell on him he woul d be changed

,

into a dove and for seven years long woul d

,

have to fly about with the doves She said .

,

Ah but do come with me I will take great

,
”
care of you and guard you from all light .

SO they went away together and took with them ,

their little child as well She had a chamber

.

built so strong and thick that no ray coul d

pierce it in this he was to shut himself u p
when the candles were lit for the wedding feast
- .

But the door was made of green wood which ,

warped and left a little crack which no one saw .

There was a splendid wedding but when the ,

people with all their candles and torches came

back from church and p assed by this cham
,

ber a ray about the breadth of a hair fell on t he

,
 THE SI NGI NG, SOARI NG LAR K
. 79

K ing s son when this ray touched him he was

’

c hanged in an instant and when his wi

, fe came
in and looked for him she did not see him but
, ,

a white Dove was sitting there The Dove said

.

t o her ,

For seven years must I fly about the world ,

b u t at every seventh step that you take I will let

fall a drop of red blood and a white feather and
these will show you the way and i you ollo w
t h e trace you can set me free
”
,

At th at the
.
ff ,

D ove flew out at the door and she followed him

, ,

an d at every seventh step a drop of red blood

'

an d a little wh ite feather fell down and showed

h e r the way .

SO she went further and further in t h e wide

world never looking about her or resting and
, ,

the seven years were almost past then she was

g lad and thought th at they would soon be free ,

an d yet they were so far from it

Once when they were thus moving onward ,

n o little feather and no drop of r ed blood

fell and when she raised her eyes the Dove was
,

f
n owhere to be seen And as she tho u ght to
.

hersel ,

In this no man can help me she climbed ,

up to the Sun and said to him

, ,

Thou shin e st into ever y crack and over ,

e ver y peak ; hast not thou seen a white Dove

flying
NO said the Sun I have seen none but
, , ,
-
8
0 THE SI NGI NG, S OARI NG LAR K
.

I give thee a casket Open it when thou ar t

”
in sorest need . Then she thanked the Sun ,

and went on un til evening came and the Moo n

appeared she then asked her ,

Thou shin e st the whole night through an d ,

on every field and forest ; hast thou not seen a

white Dove fl yin g
”
No said the Moon I have seen n o Dove
, , ,

but here I give thee an egg break it when thou

”
ar t in great need She thanked the Moon an d
.
,

wen t on until the Night Wind came up and blew

on her t hen she said to it ,

Thou blowest over every tree and u nder

ever y leaf hast thou not seen a white Dove fly
ing
No said the Night Wind
, I have seen ,

none bu t I will ask the three other winds ; per

,

haps they hav e seen it Th e East Wind and

.

t h e West Win d came and had seen nothing but

, ,

t h e South Win d said ,

I have seen the white Dove it has flown to

the Red Sea there it has become a Lion again ,

for the seven years are over and the Lion is ,

there fighting with a Dragon for the Dragon

”
is an enchanted Princess The Night Wind
.

then said to her ,

I will tell thee what to do go to the Red

f
f
Sea on the right bank are some tall reeds ;
count them break O the eleventh and strike
,

t h e Dragon with it then the Lion w

,

, ill be able
 THE SI NGI NG, SOARI NG LARK . 81
to conquer it and both then wi
, ll regain their

f
human form Aft er that look round and thou
.
,

wilt see the Gri fin which is by the Red Sea ;

swing thyself with thy beloved upon his back
, , ,

an d the bird will carry you over the sea to yo ur

Ow n home Here is a nut for thee when thou

.

ar t above the middle of the sea let the nut fall ,

it will at once shoot up and a tall nut tree w

-
, i
ll
g row out of the water on which the G ri
flin may

re st ; for if he cannot rest he will not be st rong ,

e n ough to carr y you across and if thou dost ,

fo rget to throw down the nut he will let you ,

fall into the sea .

Then she went and found everything as t he

f
f
Night Wind had said She counted the reeds .

by the sea and cut o the eleventh she struck

,

the Dragon with it and the Lion overcame the

Dragon and at once both of them had again
,

their human shapes .

But when the Prin cess who had before been ,

the Dragon was set free from enchantment she

, ,

took the youth by the arm seate d herself on the

Gr i flin , and carried him O with her There
,

f
f .

stood the poor maiden who had wandered so far

and was again forsaken She sat down and .

cried but at last she took courage and said

, , ,

Still I will go as far as the wind blows and

as long as the cock crows until I find him ,

and she went forth by long long roads un til at , ,

last she came to the castle where both of them

82 THE SI NGI NG, SOARI NG LAR K .

were livin g together ; there she heard that soon a

feast was to be held for they were to have t heir
,

wedding but she said

, ,

I will not despair and Opened the casket

,

that the Sun had given her A dress lay therein

.

as b r illian t as the sun itself SO she took it out

.

and put it on and went u pinto the castle and

, ,

every one even the bride herself looked at her

, ,

with wonder The dress pleased the bride so

.

wel l that she thought it might do for her wed

din g dress and asked if it was for sale
-
,
”
Not for mo ney or land she answered but , ,
”
for flesh and blood The bride asked her what
.

sh e meant by that then she said ,

Let me sleep a night in the ch amber wher e

”
the br idegroom sleeps The bride woul d not
.
,

yet wanted very much to have the dress ; at last

she agreed but the Page was to give the Prin ce
,

a sleeping draught When it was night there

-
.
,

fore and the youth was already asleep she was

, ,

led into the chamber ; she sat by the bed and ,

said ,

I have followed you for seven years I have .

been to the Sun and the Moon and the four ,

winds and h ave inquired for you and have

, ,

helped you against the Dragon will you then , ,

quite forget me But the Prince slept so

soundly that it on ly seemed to him as if the
wind were whistling outside in the fir trees
- .

So when day broke the m aiden was led ou t

 THE SI NGI NG, SOARI NG LAR K . 8
8
a gain and had to g ive up the golden dress
, .

A nd as that even had been of no avail she was ,

sad went out into a meadow sat down there

, , ,

an d wept While she was sitt ing there sh e

.
,

t hought of the egg whi ch the Moon had given

her she op ened it and there came out a d uck
,

in
g hen with twelve chickens all of gold and ,

they ran about chirping and crep t again under ,

the Old hen s wings ; nothing more beaut iful was

’

ev er se en in the world !
Then she arose an d drove th em through the
,

f
m eadow before her until the bri , de looked out
o the window The little chickens pleased the
.

f
b r ide so much that she at once came down and
a sked i they were for sale

Not for money or land but for flesh and

.

blood let me sleep another night in the cham

b e r wh ere t he bridegroom sleep s The bride .

said ,

Yes mean ing to cheat her as on the former

,

e vening But when the Prince went to bed he

.

asked the Page what the murmuring and rustling

i n the night had been On this t he Page told
all that he had been forced to give him a sleep
i n
g
-draught because
, a poor girl had slept se
c r e t ly in the chamber and that he w , a to give s

him another that night The Prince said .

,
”
Pour out the draught by t he bedside At .

ni ght the maiden was again led in and when ,

she began to relate how ill all had fared with

 THE SI NGI NG, SOARI NG LAR K
.

he knew at once his beloved wife by h er

h er ,

f
voice and sprang up and cr ied
, , ,

Now I really am ree ! I have been as it

were in a dream for the strange princess has
,

bewitched me so that I have been made to forget

you but I am now set free from the spell at the
,
”
right time .

Then they both left the castle secretly in t h e

night for they feared the father of the Princess
, ,

f
who was a sorcerer ; they seate d themselves on
the Gri fin which bore them across the Red Sea
, ,

and when they were in the midst of it she let ,

fall the nut A t all nut tree grew up whereon

.
-
,

the bird rested and then carried them home

, ,

where they found their child who had grown

,

tall and beautiful and they all lived together

,

happily unt il their death .

8

f
6 THE VALI ANT LI TTLE TAI L OR

f
.

cupboard cut a piece o the loaf and spread t h e

, ,
”
jam over it This won t taste bitter said he
.
’

, ,

but I will j ust finish the jacket be fore I tak e

a bite .

He laid the bread near him sewed on and in , ,

his joy made bigger and bigger st itches NOW .

the smell of the sweet jam rose to the wall ,

where the flies were sittin g in great nu mbers ,

so that they were drawn to it in hosts .

Hola !who asked yOu in said the litt le

Tailor and drove the unbidden guests away
,
.

But the flies would not be turned away ; they

came back again more and more of them Then .

the little Tailor lost all patience and got a bit ,

of cloth from the hole u nder his work table - .

”
Wait said he ,
and I will give it to you
,
”
,

and so struck at them When he drew the .

cloth away an d counted there lay before him ,

no fe wer than seven flies dead and with legs ,

stretched out .

Art thou a fellow of that sort said he ,

and coul d not help adm iring his own bravery .

”
The whole town shall know of this ! And
the little Tailor made haste to cut himself a
girdl e st itched it and worked on it in large let
, ,
”
ters Seven at one stroke !
,

What the town ,

he went on the whole
”
world shall hear of it ! and his heart wagg e d
with joy like a lamb s tail The T ailor put on
’
.

the girdle an d went forth into the world for

, ,
 THE VALI ANT LI TTLE TAI L OR . 87
he thought his workshop was too small for his
valor Before he went away he looked about
.
,

in the house to see if there was anything he

could t ake with him he found nothing but an
Old cheese and that he put in his pocket
, In .

front of the door he saw a bird which had got

caught in the thicket That had to go into his
.

pocket with the cheese .

Now he took to the road boldly and as he ,

was light an d nimble he did not tire The , .

road led h im up a mountain and when he had ,

re ached the highest point of it there sat a great ,

Giant looking about him quite at ease The .

little Tailor went bravely up spoke to him and , ,

said ,

Good day comrade so you are sittin g there

, ,

looking out over the wide world ! I am just on

m y way thither and want to try my luck
,
.

W o ul d you like to go w ith me The Giant

lo oked with scorn at the Tai l or and said , ,

You rag bag ! You snipe you !

-
,
”
Oh indeed ! answered the little Tailor and
, ,

u nbuttoned his coat and showed the Giant the

,

g irdle There
. mayst thou read what k nd
i of a
”
m an I am ! The Giant read Seven at one ,
”
st roke and thought they had been men whom
,

the Tailor had killed and began to feel a little

,

r espect for the tiny fellow St i

ll he wished to .
,

t ry him fi rst and took a stone in his hand and

,

squee z ed it so that water dropped out of it .

88 THE VALI ANT LI TTLE TAI L OR .

Do you do that said the Giant if you

, ,

have streng th enough

Is that all said the Tailor that is child s ,
’

play with me and put his hand in to h is

pocket brought out the soft cheese and pressed
, ,
”
it un til the mi lk ran out of it Faith said .
,

he that was a little bette r was n t it

, ,
’

The Gian t did not kn ow what to say an d ,

could not believe it of the little man Then t h e .

Giant picked up a stone and threw it so high

that the eye could scarcely follow it .

Now little mite of a man do that likewise

, , .

”
Well thrown said the Tailor ; but afte r
,

all the stone came do w n to earth again I will .

throw yo u one which shall never come back at

”
all
, and he put h is hand into his pocket took ,

out the bird and th rew it into the air Th e

,
.

bird glad to be free rose flew away and did not

, , , ,

come back .How does that shot please you ,

comrade asked the Tailor .

f
”
You really can throw said the Gi ant ; but
,

now we will see i you are able to carry as mu ch

”
as I . He took the lit t le Tailor to a great oak
tree which lay there felled on the ground an d ,

said If you are strong enough help m e t o

, ,
”
carry the tree out of the forest .

”
All ready said the li
,
tt le m an do you take
the tru nk on your shoulders and I will go t o ,

the other end and raise up the top part that is

the heaviest The Giant took t h e trunk on his
.
90 THE VALI ANT LI TTLE TAI L OR .

little Tailor DO you thi

. n k that could be any

thin g t o a m an wh o h as st ruck down seven at

o n e blow I leapt over the t re e because t h e
h u nt s m en ar e shootin g down ther e in the thicket .

”
J u m pas I did if you can do it ,
The Gian t .

t ri ed but could not g e t over the tr ee ; so i

,
n

this also the Tailor kept the u p per han d Th e .

Giant said ,

If yo u ar e such a valiant fellow come with ,

me into o ur cavern and spend the night with

us
”
. The little Tailor was willing and wen t ,

after him When they went into the cave othe r

.
,

giant s were sit ting ther e by t h e fire and each ,

of them had a roaste d sheep in his han d an d

was eatin g it The litt le Tailor looked roun d
.

and said t o himself ,

It is much more roomy her e than in m y

”
workshop The Giant showed him a bed an d
.
,

said he was to lie down in it an d sleep Th e .

b e d was far too big for the litt le Tailor ; he did

not lie down in it but crept into a corner ,
.

When m idnight came and the Gian t thought ,

the little Tailor was lying in a soun d slee p h e ,

got u ptook a great iron bar and broke through

,

the bed with one blow .

Now I ve done for that little fellow said

’
,

he to the other g iants As soon as it was light .

they all wen t into the forest and had quite ,

forgotten the little Tailor when all at onc e ,

h e walked up to them merrily and boldly Th e .

 THE VALI ANT L I TTLE TAI L OR . 91

giants were scared to death ; they were afraid

h e wo uld strike them all dead and so they ran ,

away i n a great hurry .

The little Tailor went on his way always follow ,

ing his own pointed nose Afte r he had walked .

for a long t ime he came to the yard of a palace

, ,

an d as he was tired he lay down on the grass

an d fell asleep As he lay there the people

.
,

c ame and looked hi m over on all sides and read ,

o n his girdl e ,

Seven at one stroke

”
Ah ! said they what does the great ,

warrior here in the midst of peace He must

”
b e a mighty lord They went and told their
.

story to the Ki ng and said that if war shoul d

,

b reak out this would be a valiant man who

,

o ug ht on no account to be allowed to depart .

of
Th e counsel pleased the King and he sent one
his courti ers to the little tailor to O er him
,

f
a place in h i

f
f
s army The messenger waited till
.

the Tailor woke and then m ade him the O er

, .

That is the very reason I have come here ,

the Tailor replied I am ready to enter the

,

King s service
’
He was shown great honor
.
,

and a palace of his own was given him The .

sol diers however were set against the little

, ,

Tailor and wished him a thousand miles away

,
.

What is to be the end of this they said

amongst themselves If we quarrel with him
.
,

an d he st rikes about him seven of us will fall at ,

92 THE VALI ANT LI TTLE TAI L OR .

e very blow ; not one of us can stand again st

him .SO they went in a body to the King ,

and begged to be let out of the army We .

do not wish said they to stay with a m an

, ,
”
who kills seven at one stroke .

The King was sorry th at for the sake of on e

he should lose all his faithful se rvant ; h e s

wished he had never set eyes on the Tailor an d ,

wo ul d g ladly have been rid of him again Bu t .

he did not dare send him away for he feare d ,

lest he shoul d strike him and all his people dead ,

and plac e him self on the royal throne He .

thought about it for a long t ime and at la st ,

found good counsel .

He sent word to the little Tailor that as he ,

f
f
was such a great warrior the King had o n e ,

favor to ask him In a forest not far o lived

.

two g ian t s who were robbing killing and burn

, , ,

ing and no one coul d get near them without

,

putt ing himself in danger of death If the Tailor .

killed these t wo Giants he wo u ld g ive him h is

,

only daughter to wife and half of his kingdom

, ,

and one hundred horsemen sho uld go with him

to help him .

That would indeed be a fine thing for a

f On e
man like me though t the little Tailor .

f
is not o ered a beautiful princess and half a
” ’
kin gdom every day of one s li e Oh yes , ,

he replied I will soon put an end to t he

,

Giants and do not need t h e help of the hu n

,
94 THE VALI ANT LI TTL E TAI L OR .

Tailor began his game again he picked out t h e

biggest stone and threwit with all his m ight at
,

the breast of the first Giant .

”
That is too bad ! cried he and sprang ,

up like a madman and pushed his companion

,

against the tree until it shook The other paid .

hi m back i n the same coin and they got into ,

such a rage that they tore up trees and thr ashed '

each other so long that at last they both fell

,

dow n dead on the ground at the same t ime .

Then the little Tailor leapt down .

It is a lucky thing said he that they , ,

did not tear up the tree on which I was sit tin g ,

Or I should have had to sp ring on to anothe r

like a squirrel ; but we tailors are nimble ”

He .

drew out his sword and gave each of them a .

couple of thrust s in the breast and then wen t ,

out to the horsemen and said The work is ,

done ; I have g iven both of them their finishing

st roke but it was hard work ! They to re u p
,

trees in their sore need and defended themselves

,

with them but all that is to no purpose when a

,

man like me comes who can kill seven at on e

,

blow .

“ But are you not woun ded ? asked t h e

horsemen .

You need not concern yourself about that ,

answered the Tailor they have not b e nt o n e

,
”
hair of mine The horsemen would not believe
.

hi m and rode into the forest

, there they found
 THE VALI ANT LI TTLE TAI L OR . 95

the Giants swim ming in their blood and all ,

ro u nd about lay the torn uptrees

-
.

The little Tailor demanded of the King t he

promised reward ; but t h e King repented of his
promise and again thought how he co uld get
,

ri d of the hero .

Before you receive my daughter and t h e ,

”
half of my kingdom said he to him , y ou ,

m ust perform one more heroic deed In the .

forest roams a Unicorn which does great harm

1
,
”
a n d you must catch it first .

I fear one Unicorn still less than t wo Giants .

”
Seven at one blow is m y way He took a rope .

a n d an axe with hi m went forth into the forest

, ,

an d agai n bade those who were sent with him to

wait outside He had not to seek long The
. .

Unicorn soon came toward him and rushed

directly on the Tailor as i it would spit him on
, f ,

hi s horn without more ado .

’
Softly softly it can t be done as quickly as
,
”
t hat , said he and stood still and waited until
,

the animal was quite close and then sprang ,

nimbly behind the tree The Unicorn ran.

against the tree with all its streng th and struck ,

his horn so fast in the trunk that he had not

str ength enough to draw it out again and thus ,

he w as caught .

Now I have the bird said the Tailor and

, , ,

came out from behind the tree and put the rope
1 Th e u ni
c or n was a fable d one-hor ne d be ast .
96 THE VALI ANT L I TTLE TAI L OR .

round the Unicorn s neck and then with his axe

’

he hewed the horn out of the tree and when all ,

was ready he led the beast away and to ok him

to the King .

The King still wo ul d not g ive h im the prom

ised reward and made a third deman d Before
, .

the wedding the Tailor was to catch him a

wild Boar that made great havoc in the forest ,

and the huntsmen sho ul d give him t heir help .

”
Gladly said the Tailor ; that is child s
,
’

play He did not take the huntsmen with

him into the forest and they were well please d
,

that he did not for the wild Boar had mor e

,

than once met them in such a m an ner that they

had no wish to lie in wait for him When t h e .

Boar caught sight of the Tailor it ran at him ,

with foaming mouth and whet ted tusks and was ,

about to throw him to the g ro u nd but the act ive ,

hero sprang into a little b uilding which was

near and up to the window at once and in o n e
, ,

bound out ag ain .

The Boar ran in after him but the Tailor r an

,

round outside and shut the door behind it thus

the raging beast which was much too heavy an d
,

cl umsy to leap out of the window was caught ,

.

The litt le Tailor called the huntsmen that they

m ight see the prisoner with their own eyes .

The Kin g was now whether he liked it or not

, ,

obliged to keep his promise and g ive the h ero

,

his daughter and the half of his kingdom Had .

98 THE VALI ANT LI TTLE TAI L OR .

patch me the pantaloons or I will rap the yard

,

measure over you r ear s I smote seven at on e

.

blow I killed two g iants I brought away one

.
,

unicorn and caught a wild boar and am I t o

, ,

fear those who ar e standing outside the room

When these men heard the Tailor speakin g
thus they were fi
,
lled with a great dread and ,

ran as if the wild h untsman were behin d them ,

and none of them wo ul d dare anything furth e r

against him SO the little Tailor was a King
.
,

and rem ained one to the end of his life .

 TH E WOLF AND THE FO! .

THE Wolf and the Fox lived together and ,

whatever the Wolf wished that the Fox had to ,

do for he w
, as the weaker Now t h e Fox woul d
.

g la dl y have bee n rid of hi

s master and as they ,

we r e going through the wood the Wolf said , ,

Red fox get me something to eat or else I

-
, ,
”
will eat you up Then the Fox said
.
,

f
I kn ow a farmyard where there are two
youn g lambs i you like it we will have on e of
th em . That suited the Wolf and they wen t ,

thither and the Fox stole a little lamb took it

, ,

t o the Wolf an d wen t away , The Wolf ate it .

up but he wanted the other as well and went to

, ,

get it He was so clumsy about it the mother

.

of the litt le lamb heard him and began to cry ,

o u t and to bleat so that the Farm er came run

,

ni ng up He found the Wolf and beat him so

.
,

that he went to the Fox limping and howling .

You have done me a bad turn said he ; ,

I wanted to fetch the other lamb and the old ,

Farmer caught me and beat me to a jelly

, The .

Fox replied ,

Why are you such a glutt on

f
Next day they again went into the country ,

and the greedy Wol once more said ,

1 00 THE W OLF AND THE FO! .

Re dfox get me something t o eat or I will

-
, ,

f
”
eat you up Then the Fox said
.
,

I know a far mhou se where the wie is bak

-
ing cakes to night ; we will get some of them
”
for ourselves They went there and the Fox
.
,

slipped roun d t h e house and peeped and sn ifle d ,

’

about un til he found where the dish was an d ,

then drew down six cakes an d carried them t o ,

”
the Wolf There is something for you to eat
.
,

said h e to him and then went his way The , .

Wolf swallowed down the cakes in an inst an t ,

and said ,
°

They make me wan t more and went in ,

an d to re the whole di sh down so that it broke in

pieces This made such a noise that the woma n
.

cam e out and when she saw the Wolf she calle d
,

the people who hurr ied there and beat him as

, ,

long as their sticks would hold together ; so wit h

two lame legs he got back howling t o the Fox in
t h e wood .

What a scrape you have got m e in to !

cried he the folks caught me and tanned m y
, ,

skin for me But the Fox replied

.
,

Why are you s u ch a glut ton

f
On the third day when they were out t o ,

gether and the Wol coul d only limp along h e

, ,

said again ,

Red fox get me something to eat or I will

-
, ,

”
eat you up The Fox answered
.
,

I know a man who has some salted meat in

 THE D EATH OF TH E LITTL E HE N .

ONCE up on a tim e the little Hen went with

t h e little Cock to the nut heap and they agreed
-
,

that the one who found a kernel of a n u t sho u ld

share it with the other The Hen found a large
.
,

large nut but said nothing about it mean ing t o

, ,

eat the kernel herself The kern el was so large

.

that she could not swallow it and it remained ,

st icking in her throat so that she was afr aid

,

she should be choked Then she cried

.
,

Cock I pray you run as fast as you can and

, ,
”
fetch m e some water or I shall choke
,
T he .

little Cock did r un as fast as he could to t h e

Well and said
, ,

Well you are to give me some water ; the

,

little Hen is lying on t he nut heap and she h as

-
,
”
swallowed a large nut an d is choking ,
The .

Well answered ,

First r un to the Bride and get her t o give

,

you some red s The little Cock ran to t h e

'

B r ide and said ,

Bride you are to g ive me some red silk ;

,

I want to give red silk t o the Well t h e We ll is ,

to give me some water I am to take the wate r

,

to the little Hen who i ,s lying on the nut heap

-
 THE DE A TH OF THE LI TTLE HE N . 1 03

an d has swallowed a great nut kernel and is -

,
”
choking with it The Bride answered
.
,

Fir st run and bring me my little wreath ,

which is hang ing on a will ow ”

SO the little .

Cock ran to the wi ll ow and drew the wreath ,

from the branch and took it to the Bride and

, ,

the Bride gave him some red silk for it which he ,

took to the Well who gave him some water for

,

it
. Then the little Cock took the water to the
He n but when he got there the Hen had choked
,

an d lay there quite dead .

Then the Cock was so sad that he cried aloud ,

an d every animal came to mourn for the little

Hen and six Mice b uilt a little car to carry her

,

to her grave and when the car was ready th ey

,

h arnessed themselves t o it and the Co ok drove ,

.

On the way they met the Fox who said , ,

Where are you going little Cock ,

I am going to bury m y little Hen .

May I drive with you

Yes but seat yourself at the back of the car
,

ri a e for in the front my little horses could not

g ,
”
drag you Then the Fox seated him self at the
.

back and after that the Wolf the Bear the

, , ,

Stag t h e Lion and all the beasts of the forest

, ,

did the same Then they marched on until they

.

reached t h e stream .

How are we to get over ? said the little

Cock A straw was lyin g by the stream and it
.
,
1 04 THE D E A TH OF THE LI TTLE HE N .

I will lay myself straight across and then ,

”
you can drive over me But when t h e six Mic e
.

came to the bridge the straw slipped and fell

,

into the water an d the six Mice all fell in and

,

f
were drowned .

Then they were again in dificulty and a hot ,

Coal cam e and said ,

I am large enough I will lay myself across

, ,

and you shall dr ive over m e SO the Coal also

laid itself across the water but when it touched ,

it the Coal hissed was put out an d died

, , , .

When a Stone saw that it to ok pity on t he ,

litt le Cock wished to help him and laid itself

, ,

over the water Then the Co ok drew the car

.

ria e himself ; he got it over and reached t h e

g
shore with the dead Hen and was about to draw ,

over the others who were sitt ing behind but

, ,

there were too many of them the carriage r an

back and they all fell into the water together
, ,

an d were drowned Then the little Cock was

.
,

left alone with t he dead Hen an d dug a grave ,

for her and laid her in it and made a mo u n d ,

above it on which he sat down and frette d u ntil

,

he died too and then every one was dead

, .
1 06 THE W A TE R OF LI FE .

Whither away so fast

Silly shrimp said the Prin ce tossing his
, ,
“ ”
head it is nothing to you and rode on But , .
,

the Dwarf had grown angry and had wished an ,

evil wish Soon aft e r this the Prin ce came into

.

a dark valley and the farther he rode the closer

,

the mountains drew together at last the road

became so narrow that he could not go a step
farther ; it was in vain that he tried to t urn h is
horse or to get down from the saddle and he ,

f
was shut in there as if in prison .

The sick King waited lon g Or him but h e ,

came not Then the second son said

.
,

f
Father let me go forth to seek the water
, ,

and thought to himself I my brother is dead , ,

”
then the kingdom will fall to me At first t h e .

King would not let him go either but at last ,

he gave way SO the Prince set out on the same

.

road that his brother had taken and he too met ,

the Dwarf who stopped him to ask whither he

,

was going in such haste

Little shrimp said the Prince that is
, ,

n othin g to you and rode on without givin g

,

him another look But the Dwarf threw a spell

.

over him and he like the other g ot into a dark

, , ,

valley and co ul d not go forward or backwar d

,
.

SO it is with proud folk .

As the second son al so stayed away the ,

youngest begged that he m ight go forth to fetc h

the water and at last the King had to let him
,
 THE WA TE R OF LI FE . 1 07

go When he met the Dwarf and was asked

.

whither he was goin g in such haste he stopped , ,

and said ,

I am seeking the water of life for my father ,

is sick unto death .

Do you know then where that is to be

, ,

fo u n d
NO said the Prince
,
.

As you have borne yourself as is seemly ,

and not prou dly like your false brothers I will ,

te ll you how you may Obtain the water of

life . It spring s from a well in t h e cour ty ard
of an enchanted castle but you wi ll not be able
,

t o make your way to it so I w ill g ive you an ,

iron wand and t wo small loaves of bread Strike .

three times with the wand on the iron door of

the castle and it will sprin g open ! inside lie
tw o lions wi
,

th Ope n jaws but i you throw a loaf ,

f
to each of them they w
f
ill be quiet ; then make
,

haste to fetc h some of the water of lie before

the clock strikes t welve else the door will shut ,

again and you will be shut up in prison

,
”
.

The Prince th anked him took the wand and ,

the bread and set out on his way When he

, .

reached the castle all was as the Dwarf had

,

sai d The door sprang open at the third stroke

.

of the wand and when he had quieted the

,

lio n s with the bread he went into the castle, ,

and came to a large and splen did hall There .

sat some enchanted Pri nces with rin g s on their

1 08 THE W A TE R OF LI FE

f
.

fin gers These he drew O

. A sword and a .

loaf of bread were lying there ; an d these he

carried away .

Aft er this he went into a room in which was

, ,

a beautiful maiden who was glad when she saw

,

him ; she kissed him and told him he had set ,

her fr ee and should have the whole of her king

dom ; if he wo ul d come back in a year they
should be mar ried she also told him where the
well of the water of life was and that he was ,

to make haste and dr aw some of it before the

clock struck twelve .

Then he went on and at last came to a room

,

where there was a beautiful newly made bed ,

and as he was very tired he lay down and fell

asleep .

When he awoke it was striking a quarter to

,

twelve He sprang up in a fright ran to the

.
,

spring drew some water in a cup which stood

,

near and went away quickly But just as h e

,
.

was passing through the iron door the clock ,

struck twelve and the door shut with such

,

violence that it carried away a piece of his heel .

Bu t he was happy that he now had the w ater

of life and so he went home and again p
,
assed ,

the Dwarf When the Dwarf saw the sword

.

and the loaf he said , ,

With these you have won great wealth ;

with the sword you can slay whole arm ies and ,
”
the bread will never come to an end But the .
1 10 THE W A TE R OF LI FE .

The Prince then took back his loaf and his

sword and the th ree brothers rode on But
,
.

aft e r this they came to t wo more countries

where there was war and famin e and each time ,

the Prin ce gave his loaf and his sword to t he

Nowhe had set free three kin gdoms and aft er ,

that the three brothers went on board a ship and

sailed over the sea Durin g the passage the
.
,

two eldest brothers talked apart an d said ,

The youngest has found the water of life

and not we ; for that our father will g ive him
the kingdom the kingdom which belongs to
,

us and he will rob us of all ou r fortune

°

.
,

Then they began to plot with each other to

destroy him They waited unt il once when
.

f
they found him fast asleep ; then they poured
the water O life out of the cup and took it for ,

themselves but into the cup they pour ed salt

,

sea water
- .

Now therefore when they came hom e the

, ,

youngest took his cup to the sick King in orde r

that he might drink out of it and be cured ,
.

But scarcely had he drunk of the salt sea water

-

than he became still worse than before .

And as he was unhappy over this the t wo ,

eldest brothers came and said the youngest,

meant to poison him but that they had brought

,

him the true water of life and handed it to him

, .

He had scarcely tasted it when he felt hi s sic k

 THE W A TE R OF LI FE . 1 11

ne ss leaving and becam e strong and healthy

,

as in the days of h i s youth After that they .

both went to the youngest mocked him and , ,

said ,

You certainly found the wate r of life but ,

you have had the pain and we the gain ; you

,

should have been sharper and sho uld have kept

,

yo ur eyes Open We took it from you while you

.

were asleep at sea ; and when a year is over ,

one of us will go and fetch the beautiful

Princess But beware that you do not tell of
.

this to our father ; indeed he does not tr ust ,

f
you and if you say a single word you shall lose
,

your life in t o the bargain but i you keep ,

silent you may have your life as a gift .

The old Kin g was angry with his youngest

son and thought h e had plott ed against his life
,
.

So he called the court together and had them ,

give an order tha t his son shoul d be secretly

sh ot Once when the Prince was riding fo rth
.

to the chase th inking no evil the King s Hunts

, ,
’

man had to go with him ; and when they were

quite alon e in the wood the Huntsm an looked
,
,

so sad that the Prin ce said to him ,

Dear Hunt sman what ails you ,

The
Huntsman said ,

I cannot tell you and yet I ought

,
Then .

the Prince said ,

Say openly what it is ; I will pardon you .

Alas said the Huntsman I am t o shoot ,

1 12 THE W A TE R OF LI FE .

you dead ; the King has ordered me to do it .

Then the Prince was shocked an d said , ,

Dear Huntsman let me live ; there I give

, ,

you my royal robes ; g ive me your common ones

”
in their stead
. The Hu n tsman said ,

I will gladly do that ; indeed I should not

have been able to shoot you Then they
.

changed clothe s and the Hun tsman went back

,

home but the Prince went farther into the wood .

After a t im e three wagons of gold an d pre

ciou s st ones came to the Ki n g for his youngest

son ; they had been sent by the three Kin gs

who had slain their enem ies with the Prince s ’

sword and kept their people alive with his

,

bread and now wished t o show their thanks for

,

it The old King then thought ,

Can my son have been innocen t ? and said

to his people Would that he were still alive ;
,

how it grieves me that I have let him be killed !

He still lives said the Hu ntsman ; I could
,

not find it in m y heart to carry out your order ,

and told the King how it had happened The n .

’
a stone fell from the King s heart and he had ,

a message sent to every country that his son

might come back and be taken into favor again .

Now the Princess had h ad a road made up

to her palace bright and golden an d she told ,

her people that he who came riding straigh t

along it to her would be the right wooer and ,

was to be let in and whoever rode by t h e sid e

,
1 14 THE VA TE R OF LI FE
P .

ve d
cei him with joy ; she said he was the o n e
who set her free an d lord of the kingdom and
, ,

they had a fine weddin g .

When it was o ver she told him that his father

bade him come to him for he had forg iven him
, .

SO he rode home and told his father everything ;

,

how his brothers had bet rayed him and how he

,

had for all that kept silence The old King

.

wished to punish them but they had put to sea

, ,

and never came back as long as they lived .

 SWEET PORRI D GE .

T HE RE was a poor but good little girl who

lived alone with her mother and they n o ,

lon ger had anything to eat So the child went .

into the wood and there an old woman m et her

wh o was aware of her trouble and gave her a ,

little pot when she said ,

Cook little pot cook it would cook good

, , , ,

sweet porridg e and when she said Stop little

, , ,
”
pot it ceased to cook
, .

The g irl t ook the pot home to her mother ,

and now they were freed from their poverty and

hunger and ate sweet porridge as Often as they
,

chose Once on a t ime when the girl had gone

.

out her mother said

, ,

Cook little pot cook

, And it did cook
, .
,

and she ate till she had e n ough and then she ,

wanted the pot to stop cooking but did not ,

know the word .

So it went on cooking and the por ridge rose

,

over the edge and still it cooked on un t il the ,

kitchen and whole house were full and then the ,

next house and then the whole street just as if

, ,

it wante d to satisfy the hunger of the whole

world and there was the greatest distress but
, ,

n o o n e k n e whow to stop it .
116 S W E E T P ORRI D GE .

At last when only one single house was left ,

the child came home and just said ,

”
Stop little pot an d it stopped and gave up
, ,

cooking and whoever wished to come back to

,

the town had to eat his way back .

1 1 8 THE W OLF AND SE VE N LI TTLE KI D S .

f
her for each of you But the little Ki ds knew
.

that it was the Wol by the rough voice

,
.

”
We will not open the door cried they ,
.

You are not our mother She has a soft .

,

pleasant voice but your voice is rough ; you

,
”
are the Wolf ! Then the Wolf went away
and bought himself a great lum p of chalk ate ,

this and made his voice soft with it Then he .

came back knocked at the door of the house

, ,

and cried ,

Open the door dear children ; your mother

,

f
is here and has brought something back w ith
”
her for each of you But the Wol had laid
.

his black paws against the win dow and the ,

children sawthem and cried ,

We will not open the door ; our mother has

”
not black feet like you ; you are the Wolf !
Then the Wolf ran to a Baker and said ,

I have hurt my feet rub some dough over

,
”
them for me And when the B aker had
.

rubbed his feet over the Wolf ran to the Mille r

,

and said,

Str ew some white meal over my feet for

me . The Mill er thought to himself Th e ,

Wolf wants to deceive some one and refused ; ,

but the Wolf said ,

If you will not do it I will eat you up,

.

Then the Miller was afraid and made his paw s ,

white for him Truly men are like that So

. .

n owthe wretch went for the third ti me to t h e

muse-door knocked at it and said
, ,
 THE W OLF AND SE VE N LI TTL E KI DS . 11 9

Open the door for me children ; your dear ,

litt le mother has come home and h as brought ,

every one of you something back from the

woods wit h her The little Kids cried
.
,

Fir st show us your paws that we may know

”
if you are our dear little mother Then he put .

his paws in through the window and when the ,

Kids saw that they were white they believed all ,

f
he said was true and opened the door But
, .

who sho ul d come in but the Wol

They were scared and tr ied to hide them
se lves On e sprang under the table the second
.
,

into the bed the third into the stove the fourth
, ,

in to the kitchen the fifth into the cupboard the

, ,

sixth under the washing bowl and the seventh

-
,

into the clock case But the Wolf found them

- .

all and wasted no t ime

, He swallowed them .

down his throat one after the other The .

you ngest in the clock case was the only one he

-

did not find .

f
f
When the Wolf had well eaten he took him
self O lay down under a tree in the green field
,
,

outside and began to sleep

, Soon afterward .

the old Goat came home again from the woods .

Ah !what a sight she saw there ! The house

door stood wide open The table chairs and .
, ,

benches were thrown down the washing bowl -

,

f
lay broken to pieces and the q uilts and pill o ws
,

were pulled O the bed She sought her chil .

dren but they were nowhere to be found She

, .
120 THE W OLF AND SE VE N LI TTLE KI DS
f
.

called them one a te r another by name but no ,

one answered At last when she came to the

.
,

youngest a soft voice cried

, ,

Dear mother I am in the clock c ase

,
- She .

took the Kid out and it told her that the Wolf
,

had come and had eaten all the others Then .

you may believe she wept over her poor childr en .

At last in her grief she went out and the ,

youngest Kid ran with her When they came .

t o the field there lay the Wolf by the tree and

,

snored so loud that the branches shook The .

Goat looked at him on every side and saw that

something was moving and struggling inside
him .

“
Ah heavens said she is it possible that
, , ,

my poor children whom he has swallowed for

,

his supper can be st ill alive

, Then the Kid
had to run home and fetch scisso r s and a nee dl e ,

and thread and the Goat cut open the monste r s

,
’

sto mach and hardly had she made one cut than
, ,

one little Kid thru st its head out and when she ,

f
had cut farther all six sprang out one afte r
,

f
another ; they were all still alive and had su ,

e r e d no har m whatever for in his greediness ,

the monster had swallowed them down who le .

How glad they all were ! They hugged th e ir

dear mother and jumped like a tailor at h is
,

wedding T he mother however said

.
, , ,

Now go and look for some big stones an d ,

we will fill the wicked beast s stomach with th e m ’

 THE FO! AND THE HORS E .

A PE ASANT had a faithfu l Horse which had

g ro wn Old and co ul d do no more work SO his .

m aste r would no longer give hi m anythin g to

e at and said
, ,

I can make no more use of you but st ill I ,

mean well by you ; if you prove yo ur self still

strong enough to bring me a Lion here I will ,

keep you but n owtake yourself away out of my

,
”
stable and with th at he ch ased him into the
,

open country The Ho r se was sad and went to

.
,

the wood to be under cover fr om the weather .

Then the Fox met him and said ,

W hy do you hang your head so and go ,

about all alone

”
Alas replied the Hor se greed and good
, ,

service do not dwell together in one house My .

master has forgotten what I have done for him

for so many years and because I can no long er
,

plough well he will give m e no more food an d

, ,
”
has driven me out .

Without gi vin g you a chance asked the

T he chance was a bad one He said i I

.
,
f
were st ill strong enough to brin g him a Li o n ,
 THE FO! AND THE HORSE . 1 23

he wo uld keep me but be well knows that I can

,
”
'

not do that The Fox said

.
,

f
I will help you ; just lay yo u rself down ,

stretch yourself out as i you were dead and do , ,

”
not stir .

f
T he Horse did as the Fox said and the Fox ,

went to the Lion who had his den not far O

, ,

and said ,

A dead Horse is lying outside there ; just

”
come with me ; you can have a rich meal The .

Lion went with him and when they were both ,

st an di
ng by the Horse the Fox said ,

After all it is not very warm for you here

I tell you what I will fasten it to you by
the tail and then you can drag it into your
,
”
cave and eat it in peace
,
.

This advice ple ased the Lion ! he lay down ,

and in order that the Fox might tie the Horse

fast to him he kept very quiet But the Fox
,
.

’
tied the Lion s legs together with the Horse s
’

tail and twisted and fixed all so well and so

,

st rongly that no stren g th could break it When .

he had finished his work be tapped the Horse ,

on the shoulder and said , ,

Pull white Horse pull

,
Then up sprang ,
.

the Horse at once and drew the Lion away with

,

him The Lion began to roar so that all the

.

birds in the forest flew out in te rror but the ,

Horse let him roar and dr ew him and dragged ,

him over the country to his master s door When ’

.
1 24 THE FO! AND THE HORSE .

the m aster saw the Lion he was of a better

,

mind and said to the Horse

, ,

You shall st ay with me and fare well an d ,

he gave him plenty to eat unt il he di

.

ed .
126 SHOE S DANC E D TO PI E CE S .

lead and he fell asleep and when he awoke in

,

the mornin g all twelve had been to the dance ,

for their shoes were standing there w ith holes i

n

the soles On the second and thir d nights it

.

f
fell out just the same and then his head was ,

struck o without mercy Many others came .

aft er this and tried also but all failed ,

.

Now it came to pass that a poor Sol dier who ,

had a wound and co ul d serve no longer found

, ,

himself on the road to the town where the King

lived There he met an Old Woman who asked
.
,

him where he was going .

f
I h ar dly kn owm yself he said and added
/

, ,

in jest I have hal a mind to find out where

,

the princesses danced their shoes into holes ;

”
then I should become King .

”
That is n ot so hard said the Old Woman , ,

you m ust not drink the wine which will be

brought to y o u at night and must pretend to ,
”
be sound asleep With that she gave him a
.

little cloak and said If you put on that no

, , ,

one can see you an d then you can steal aft er

,
”
the twelve .

When the Soldier had received this good ad

vi ce he went into the thing in earnest took
,
'

heart we nt to the King and said he would try

, ,
.

He was as well received as the others and he ,

was given royal clothes to put on When bedtime .

c ame he was led to his room and the eldest pri n ,

c ess came and brou ht him a cup of wine but

g ,
 SH OE S DANCE D TO PI E C E S . 1 27

he had t ied a sponge under his chin and let the ,

wine r u n down into it without drinking a drop ,

.

Then he lay down and when he had lain a while

, ,

he began to snore as if in the deepest sleep

,
.

The twelve princesses heard that and laughed , ,

and the eldest said ,

He too might as well have saved his life

, ,
.

With that they got up opened their closets , ,

and brought out pretty dresses ; they dressed

themselves before the mir rors and sprang about ,

with joy at t h e prospect of the dance Only the .

youngest said ,

I know not how it is ; you are very happy ,

but I feel very strange ; some evil is about to

”
befall us .

You are a goose you are always afraid , ,

sai d the eldest Have you forgotten how

.

many kings sons have already come here in

’

vain I had hardly any need to give the

Soldier a sleeping dr aught in any case the
-
”
clown would not have wake d up .

When they were all ready they looked closely

at the Soldier but he had shut his eyes and
,

di d not move or sti r so they felt quite secure

,
.

The eldest then went to her bed an d t apped it

at once it sank into the earth and one after the ,

o ther they went do w n through the hole the ,

e ldest going first .

The Sol dier who h ad seen everything waited

, ,

, ttle cloak and went dow

n o longer p ut on his li n ,
1 28 SHOE S DANCE D TO PI E CE S .

last with the yo u ngest Half way down t he

.

steps he just t rod a little on her dress ; she was

,

scared at that and cried out

, ,

What is that ? who is pulli ng at my

dress
“Don t be so silly !” said the eldest “you
’

,
”
have caught it on a nail Then they went all
.

the way down and when they were at the bot

,

tom they stood in a pretty wood all the leaves

,

of the trees were of silver and shone The , .

Soldier thought ,

f
f
I m ust carry a token away with me and ,

broke O a twig from one of them at which the ,

tr ee cracked with a loud sn ap The youn gest .

cried out again ,

Something is wrong ; did you hear the

c rack But the eldest said ,

It is a gun fired for joy because we have ,

”
got rid of our prince so quickly Afte r that .

they came into a wood where all the leaves of

the trees were of gold ; and last in to a third

f
f
where they were of bright diamonds the soldier
broke O a twig fro m each which made such ,

a crack each t ime that the youngest st arted

back in terror but the eldest still said it was the
,

noise of a gun .

They went on and came to a great lake an d ,

on the lake were twelve little bo ats and in each ,

boat sat a handsome prince ; all of them were

waiting for t h e twelve and each took one of
,
1 30 SHOE S D ANCE D TO PI E CE S .

beautiful dresses laid them away put the worn

, ,

out shoes under the bed and lay down ,

.

Next morning the Soldier did not speak but ,

thought he wou ld watch the strange goings on ,

and when night came he again went with them .

E verything was done just as it had been done

the first time and they danced until their shoes
,

were worn to pieces But the third time he .

took a cup away with him as a token .

When the hour had come for him to give his

answer he took the three twigs an d the cup
, ,

and went to the King but the twel ve stood

behind the door to hear what he was going to
say When the King asked
.
,

Where have my twelve daughters dance d

their shoes to pieces in the night he an
sw e r ed ,

In a castle under the ground with twelve

”
princes and told how it h ad come to pass and
, ,

bro ught out the tokens The King then calle d .

his daughters and asked them if t he Soldier had

,

told the truth and they had to say he had told

,

f
the truth Then the King asked which of them
.

he wo ul d have to wie He answered ,

I am no longer young so give me the ,

”
eldest . SO they had the wedding on the self
same day and the kingdom was promised him
,

after the King s death But the princes were

’
.

bewitched for as many days as they had danced

nights with the t welve .
 THE GOOS E GIRL — .

ONCE upon a t ime there was an Old Queen

whose husband had been dead for many years .

She had a beautiful daughter and when this ,

Princess grew up she was betrothed to a prince

who lived far away When the time came for
.

f
f
her to be married an d she had to go forth
,

to meet her bridegroom the Queen sent her O

,

with m any costly treasures of silver and gold ,

and cups an d jewels in short everything which ,

’
a king s daughter should h ave for she loved her ,

child with all her heart She sent too her.

, ,

maid who was to ride with her and han d

, ,

her over to the brideg room Each had a horse .

for the journey but the horse of the Kin g s

,
’

daughter was called Falada and could speak ,

.

Now when the hour of parting had come the ,

aged mother took a small knife and cut her fin

ger with it un til it bled then she held a white
cloth to it into which she let three drops of
blood fall gave it to her daughter and said
, ,

Dear child keep this with care for you may

, ,
”
need it on your way .

So they wept and took leave of each other ;

the Princess put the piece of cloth in her bosom ,
1 32 THE G OOSE GI RL
- .

got up on her horse and wen t away to her bride ,

groom After she had ridden for a while she

.

felt a burning thir st and said to her Maid , ,

Get do wn and take my cup which you have

brought with you for me and get me some water ,

f f
f
”
from the stream for I should like to drink ,
.

”
I you are thirsty said the Maid get O , ,

your horse yourself and lie down and drink o u t ,

of the stream ; I don t choose to be your ser ’

”
vant SO in her great thirst the Pri n cess got
.

down bent over the water in the st ream and

,

drank for she was not allowed to drink out of

,

the golden cup T hen she said .

,

Ah Heaven an d the three drops of blood

,

answered ,

If your mother knew this her hear t would ,

break But the King s daughter was humble

.
’

said nothing and got up on her horse again

,
.

She rode some miles farther but the day was ,

warm ; the sun scorched her and she was thir sty ,

once more ; so when they came to a stream of

water she again cried to her Maid
, ,

Get down and gi ve me some water in my

”
golden cup for she had long ago forgotten the
,

girl s ill words But the Maid said still more

’
.

proudly ,
“If you wi sh to drink drink as you can ; ,
”
I don t choose to be your maid
’
Then in .

her great thirst the King s daughter got down ’

bent o ver the flowing stream wept and sai d , , ,

1 34 THE G OO SE -
GI RL .

The Old King looked o ut of the window an d

saw her standing in the yard and how dainty ,

and prett y she was He went to the royal room

.

and asked the bride about the girl she had with
her who was standing down below in the yard ,

and who she was

p
.

I picked her u on my way said she give ,

the girl something to work at that she may not ,

”
st and idle But the Old King had no work for
.

her and knew of none so he said

, , ,

I have a little boy who tends the geese she ,

may help him The boy was called Conrad

.
,

and the true bride had to help him tend the

geese Soon afterward the false bride said to
.

the young King ,

Dearest h u sband I beg you to do me a

,
”
kindness . He answered ,

I will do so most gladly .

f
f
Then send and h ave the head of the horse
on which I rode here cut O for it vexed me on ,

the way Really she was afraid the horse

.

might tell how she had treated the King s ’

daughter .

T he faithful Falada was to die this came to

f
f
the ears of the real Princess and she went to t h e ,

m an who was to cut O Falada s head and said ’

she would give him a pie ce of gold if he would

do something for her There was a great dark.

lookin g gate w ay in the town through which ,

morning and evening she had to pass with t h e

 THE G OOSE —
GI RL . 1 35

geese would he be so good as to nail up

Falada s head on it so that she might see him
’

f
f
again more than once T he man promised to
,
.

do that and cut o the head and nailed it fast

, ,

beneath the dark gateway .

Early i
n the morning when the real Princess

an d Conrad drove out their flock beneath this

gateway she said in passing

, ,

Alas, Falada, h an gi
n g t her e

Then the Head answered ,

f
Alas, you n g Qu e e n , h o wi ll y ou far e
I t h is y ou r t e n de r m o t h e r k n e w,

He r h e ar t would su r e ly br e ak in t wo .

Then they went still farther out of the town ,

and drove their geese into the country And .

when they had come to the meadow she sat ,

down and u nbound her hair It was like p u re .

gold and Conrad saw it and wante d to pluck

, ,

o u t a few hairs Then she said .

,

Blo w, low b
, t h ou g e n t le win d I , say ,

Blo wCon r ad ’
s li
t t le h at away ,

An d m ak e h i m ch ase i t h e r e an d t h e r e ,
ll I h ave br ai
Ti de d all m y h air ,
An d b ou n d it u pagain ”
.

f
And there came such a strong wind that it blew
Conrad s hat ar away across country an d he
’

had to run after it When he came back she .

had combed her hair and was putting it up again ,

and he could not get any of it T hen Conrad .

was angry an d would not spea

,
k to her and th u s ,
1 36 THE —
G OOSE GI RL .

they watched the geese until the evening an d ,

then they went home .

Next day when they were driving the geese

o ut thro u gh the dark gateway the maiden ,

Alas, Falada, h an gi
n g t he r e

Falada answered ,

h owi
fy
Alas, y ou n gQ u ee n , ll y ou are f
I t hi
s ou r t e n de r m ot h e r kn e w,

He r h e ar t woul d sur e lyb re a k in t wo .

And she sat down again in the field an d began

to comb out her hair and Conrad ran and tried
,

to clutc h it so she said in haste ,

Blo w, lo wb
, t h o u ge n t le win d , I say ,

BlowC on r ad ’
s li
t t le h at aw ay ,

An d ma ke hi
m c h ase it h e r e an d t h er e ,
Ti
ll I have r ai b
de d all m y hai
r,

f
”
An d bou n d it u pag ain .

Then the wind blew and blew his little hat O

,

his head and far away and Conrad had to r u n ,

after it ; and when he came back her hair had ,

been p u t up a long time and he co u ld get none ,

of it and so they looked after their geese till

,

evening came .

But in the evening afte r they had got home ,

Conrad went to the old King and said , ,

I won t tend the geese with that girl any

’

longer !
Why not ? asked the aged King .

Ob because she vexes me the whole day

,
1 38 THE RL

f
GOOSE GI
— .

rad s hat so that he had to run ar away while

’
, ,

the maiden quietly went on combing and plait ing

her hair all of which the King saw
,
.

T hen he went away without her seeing him ,

and when the goose gir l came home in the even

-

ing he called her aside and asked why she did

, ,

all these things .

I may not tell you that for I have sworn by ,

the clear sky above me not to tell to any o n e in

the court what has been done to me ; if I had
not done that I sho ul d have lost my life
,
He .

urged her and left her no peace but he co ul d ,

draw nothing from her Then said he .

,

If you will not tell me anything tell your ,

”
trouble to the ir 0 n stove there and he went ,

away Then she crept into the iron stove and

.
,

began to weep and lament ; and she emptied her

f
f
whole heart and said , ,

Here am I cast o by the whole world and ,

yet I am a King s daughter and a false maid ’

f
f
has by force brought me to this pass I have .

been made to put o my royal clothes and she ,

has taken my place with my bridegroom and I ,

have to be a goose girl If my mother did but

- .

know her heart would brea

,

T he aged King was stan ding outside by the

pipe and heard what she said Then he came
,
.

back again and bade her come out of the stove

,
.

Now royal clothes were put on her and how ,

beautif ul she was ! The aged King called his

 THE GOOSE GI
- RL . 1 39

and to ld him that he had got the fal se bride

so n , ,

who was only a maid but that the tr ue one was,

stan ding there the little goose-g irl

,
.

The young King was glad enough when he

sawher be auty and youth and a great feast was ,

m ade to which all the people and all good fr iends

were bidden At the head of the table sat the
.

bridegroom with the King s daughter at one ’

side of him and the Maid on the other but the

, ,

Maid did not know the Princess in her bright

When they had eaten and dr un ken and were ,

merry the aged Kin g asked the Maid as a

,

r i ddle what sho u ld be done to a person who had

,

behaved in such and such a way to her master ,

and then he told the whole story The false .

bride said ,

She sho ul d be put in a barrel with pointed

nails sticking in it and two white horses sho uld
,

drag her along through On e street after another ,

”
till she was dead .

”
It is thou said the aged King and th ou
, ,

hast spoken thine own sentence and thus shall ,

”
it be done unto thee And when the sentence
.

had been carried ou t the young King married ,

his true bride and both of them ruled their

,

kingdom in peace and happiness .

 FAITH FUL JOHN .

ONC E upon a M e an Old King lay ill an d ,

thought to himself ,

I am lying on what mus t be my death bed

- .

Then said he ,

f Tell Faithful John to come to me

ul John was his favorite servant
Faith
and was so
called because he had for his whole lie long
,
.

f
been so true to his mast er When therefore he
.

came beside the bed the King said to him

, ,

Most faithful John I feel my end is near

, ,

and I have no anxiety except about my son .

He is still of te nder age and cannot always ,

know how to guide himself If you do not .

promise me to teach hi m everyt hin

g that he
ought to know and to be a father to him I can
, ,

not close my eyes in peace ”

Then answered .

Faith ful John ,

f
I wi ll not forsake him and wi ll serve him ,
”
faithfully even i it should cost me my life
,
.

f
f
On this the old King said
Now I die in com ort and peace
ad ded
,

Then he
A ter my death you are to Show him
.

, ,

the whole castle ! all the chambers halls and , ,

vaults and all the t reasures which lie therein ;

,
1 42 FAI THF UL J OHN .

The young Kin g saw that Faithful John al

ways walked past this one door and he said , ,

Why do you never open this one for me

”
There is som e thing therein he replied , ,

which wo ul d sc are you But the King an .

swer ed ,

I have seen all the palace and I will kn ow ,

what is in this room also an d he went and

”
,

t ried to b re ak Ope n the door by force Then .

Fai thful John held him back and said ,

I promised your fathe r before his death that

o u should not see wh at is in thi s ch amber it
y ;
might bring the greatest trouble on you and on

f
”
me .

Ah no replied the you ng King I do “i

, , ,

n it w
n o t go i i
ll be the death of me I shall
, .

have n o rest day or night until I have seen it

with my own eyes I shall not leave the place
.

”
now till you have unloc ked the doo r .

Then Faithful John saw that there was no

h elp for it and with a heavy heart and many
,

sighs he took the key from the gr eat bun ch .

When he had opened the door he went in first , ,

and stood before the King so as to hide the p or

trait but what good did that do

, The Kin g
stood on tiptoe and saw it over Faithful John s ’

shoul der And when he saw the portr ait of the

.

maiden which was so splendid and shone with

,

gold and precious stones he fell fain ting on t h e

,
 FAI THF UL J OHN . 143

Faithful John took him u pcarried him to his ,

bed and tho ught sadly

, ,

The trouble has come upon us ; what will be

the end of it Then he poured wine down
the Kin g s throat until he came to himself again
’
,
.

The first words the King said were ,

Ah the beaut iful face whose is it 7

,

That is the Princess of the Golden Dwell

ing answered Faithf ul John Then the Kin g
”
, .

contin u ed ,

My love for her is so great that if all the ,

f
leaves on all the trees were tong u es they could ,

f
not declar e it I will g ive m y lie to win her
'

. .
o

You are my most faith ul John you must help

”
me .

The faithful servant took a long t i

m e t o think
about the matter for it was hard even t o get
,

sight of the King s daughter At last he

’
.

thought of a way and said to the King , ,

Everything which she has about her is of

gold tables chairs dishes glasses and bowls
, , , , ,
.

Among your treasures are five tons of gold ; let

a goldsmith work these u pinto all manner of
things into all kinds of birds wild beast s and
, , ,

strange animals such as may please her and we

, ,

will go there with them and try our luck ”

.

The King se nt for all the goldsmiths and ,

they had to work night and day until at last the ,

most splen did things were ready When every .

thing was stowed ou board a ship Faithful John ,

144 FAI THF UL J OHN
.

put on the dress of a merchant and the Kin g ,

had to do the sam e that no one might know

him T hen they sailed across the se a and sailed
.
,

on and on until they came to the town where

dwelt the Princess of the Golden Dwelling .

Faithful John bade the King stay behin d on

the shipand wait for him , .

Perhaps I shall brin g the Princess with me ,

said he so see you that everything is in order ;

,

have the golden vessels set out and the whole

ship p u t in fine array
”
Then Fai thful John .

filled his apron with all kinds of gold things ,

went on shore and walked straight to the royal

, ,

palace .

f
When he entered the yard of the palace a ,

beautiul g irl was standing by the well with t wo

golden pails in her hand drawing water with ,

them And when she was just turning roun d

.

to carry away the sparkling water she saw the

stranger and asked who he was SO he an
,
.

wer e d
s ,

I am a merchant and Opened his apron , ,

and let her look in Then she cried .

,
”
Oh what beautiful gold things ! an d put
,

her pails down and looked at the golden wares

one aft e r the other The n said t he g irl
.
,

The Princess must see these she thinks so

m uch of golden things sh e w ill buy all y o u ,
”
have .She took him by the hand and led him
up st airs for she was the waiting maid Whe n
,
- .
146 FAI THF L U J OHN .

and strange animals Many hours went by as

.

she looked and looked and in her delight she

,

did not see that the ship was sailing away .

After she had looked at the last she thanked ,

the merchant and wanted to go home but when ,

she came to the side of the shipshe saw that it ,

was on the deep sea far from lan d an d hurryin g ,

onward with all sail set .

”
Ah cried she in her alarm
,
I am b e ,

t r aye d ! I am c arried away and have fallen into

the power of a merchant I woul d die rather ! .

But the King seized her hand an d said , ,

I am not a merchant I am a King and as .

,

well born as you ; and if I have carried you

away by a trick that is because of my great love
,

for you The first t ime I looked on your pic

.

”
tu re I fell fain t ing to the ground
,
.

When the Princess of the Golden Dwelling

heard that she was more at ease and her hear t
, ,

turned unto him so that she was ready to be his

,

wife .

It happened while they were sailing over t h e

,

deep sea that Faithf ul John who was sitting in

, ,

the fore part of the vessel making music saw , ,

three Ravens in the air flying toward them , .

On this he stopped playing and listened to what

they were saying to each other for he co ul d n u ,

de r st an d them One cried

.
,

f Oh there he is car rying home the Prince ss

,

o the Golden Dwelling

”
.
 FAI THF L U J OHN . 1 47

Yes replied the second but he has n ot

, ,
”
got her yet Said the third.
,

But he has got her she is sittin g beside ,

”
hi m i n the ship Then the first began again .
,

and cried ,

What good will that do him When they

re ach land a Chestnut Horse will leap forward
t o meet him and the Prince will want to mount
,

it but if he does that it will r un away with

, ,

hi m and r ise up into the air with hi

, m and he ,

will never see his m aiden more Then t he .

second asked ,

But is there no escape

Oh yes if an y one else gets on it swiftly
, , ,

and takes out the pistol which must be in the

saddle and shoots the horse dead wi t h it t he
, ,

yo u ng King is saved But who kno ws that .

And whoever does know it and tells it to him , ,

will be turned to stone from the t oe to t he

knee .Then said the secon d ,

I know more than that ; e ven if the horse

be killed the young King will st ill not kee p his
,

bride When they go into the castle tog ether

.
,

fw
a wedding garment will be lying ther e and
looking as i it ere woven o gold and silver ;
it is however nothing but su lphur an d pit ch
f ,

, , ,

and if he p u t it on it will burn him to the very ,

”
bone and marrow .

Is there no escape at all

”
asked the third
Oh yes replied the second i any one
, , , f .
148 FAI THF L U J OHN .

with gloves on seiz es t h e garment and thro ws it

into the fire and burns it the youn g King will
,

be saved But what of that

. Whoever knows
it and tells it to him half his body will b ecom e
,
”
stone from the knee to the heart .

f
Then said the third I know still mor e ;
,

even i the wedding garment be burnt the

young Kin g still will not have his bride After .
,

the wedding when the dancing beg ins and the

,

yo u ng Queen is dancing she will s u ddenly tur n

,

f
f
pale and fall down as if dead and i some on e ,

does not lift her up and draw three drops O

'

f
blood from her side and spit them out again ,

she will die But i any on e who knows that

.

were to declare it he wo u ld become s t one from

,
”
the crown of his head to the sole of his foot .

When the Ravens had spoken of this together ,

they flew on and Faithful John had well under

,

sto od everything but from that t ime forth he

,

became quiet and sad ; for if he hid what he

f
f
had heard fro m his master the Ki ng wo ul d
,

su er all these things and if he told it to him

, ,

he himself must lose his life At last he said .

,

to himself ,

f
I will save my master even if it cost me m y
,

lie.

When they came to shore all happened as ,

had been foretold by the Ravens and a splen did ,

Chestnut Hor se sprang forward .

Good said the King he shall carry m e

, ,
150 FAI THF L U J OHN .

sucked the three drops of blood from her side ,

and spat them out At once she was herself

.

again not knowing what had been done ; but the

,

y oung King had seen this and was very angry ,

with Faithful John and cried Throw him into

, ,

prison Next m orning Faithful John was le d

to t he gallows an d when he stood on high h e
,

said ,
“Every one who has to di e is perm i tted t o
make one last spe ech ; may I too claim t he
right
Yes answered the Kin g
,
it shall be ,
”
granted unto thee Then said Faithfu l John
.
,

I have always been true to thee an d told ,

h owhe had heard the talk of the Ravens w hen

on the sea and how he had to do all these
,

thin gs to save his master Then cried t h e .

O my most faithful John Pardon par don

f
,
.

bring him down But as Faith ul J oh n

.

spoke the last word he had falle n down lieless f

and become a stone
f
f
.

At this the Kin g and the Queen su e re d

greatly and the King said
, ,
”
Ah how ill I have repaid great fidelity !
,

and ordered the stone fig ure to be taken up and

placed in his bedroom beside his bed And as .

Often as he looked on it he wept an d sai

d ,

Ah if I could bring thee to life again my

, ,

most faithful J Ohn Some time passed and t h e

.
 FA I THF UL J OHN . 1 51

Queen bore twins, two sons who grew fast and

were her delight Once when the Q u een was at
.

chur ch and the two children were sitting play

ing beside their father the King ful l of grief
,

again looked at the st o ne figure and sighed ,

and said ,

Ah if I could but bring you to life again

, ,
”
m y most faithf ul John Then the Stone be
.

f
an to spe ak and said
g ,

You can bring me to life again i you will

”
u se for that purpose what is dearest to
y ou .

Then the King cried ,

I will g ive everything I have in the world

for yo u . The Stone we n t on ,

If you will cut OE the h eads of your two

chil dren with your o wn hand and sprinkle me ,

with their blood I shall be restored to life

,
”
.

The K ing nearly died whe n he heard that he

f
h imself must kill his dearest childr en but he ,

thought of Faithful John s great faith ulness ’

an d how he had died for h i m ; so he drew hi s

sword and with his o wn hand cut OE the chil

,

dr en s heads
’
And wh en he had sprinkled the
.

Stone with their blood life cam e back to it and

, ,

Faithful John stood once more safe and sou nd

before him He said to the King
.
,

Your faithf ulness shall be rewarded and ,

took the h eads of the children put them on ,

again and rubbed the wounds with their blood

, ,

on which they at once became whole again and ,

152 FAI THF L U J OHN
f
.

jumped about an d went on playing as i nothing

,

had happened .

Then the King was full of joy and when he

saw the Quee n coming he hid Faith ul John and
the two children in a great cupboard When
,

f
.

she entered he said to her

, ,

Have you been praying in the church

”
Yes she answered but I co ul d think of
, ,

nothing but Faithful John an d what has befallen

hi m through us Then said h e
.
,
“ Dear w ife we can give him h is life ag ain
, ,
”
but it will cost us our two little sons The .

Queen turned p ale and her heart was full of ,

te rror but she said

ness .
, ,

We owe it to him for his great faith ul f

Then the King was rejoiced that she tho u gh t
as he h ad thought and went and opened t h e ,

cupboard an d brought forth Faithful John an d

,

the children and said , ,

Go d be praised h e is delivered and we have

, ,

o u r little sons again also and told her all that ,

had taken place Then they all dwelt toge th e r

.

great joy until their death .

154 J ORI ND A AND J ORI NGE L .

Take care said J orin g el that you do not

, ,

f
go too near the castle ”
It was at the end of a
.

beaut iul day ; the sun shot its beams between

the t runks of the trees and the turtle doves
-
,

sang mournfully upon the youn g boughs of the

birch trees
-
.

n da wept n o w and then

°
Jori she did not
kn ow why ; the sun was low in the west and a ,

sadness came over her J orin g el was sorrowful .

too ; they were as sad as if they were abo u t to

die Then they looked around them and were
.
,

quite at a loss for they did not know by which

,

f
way they should go home The sun was st ill .

hal above the m ountain but the other half was ,

set.

J orin g el looked through the b u shes and saw ,

they were close by the old castle He was filled .

with deadly fear Jorinda was sing ing

.
,

My li
t t le bid wit h t h
r , klace r e d e n ec ,

n gs sor r o w so r r o w sor r o w
Si , , ,

He gs t h t t h d
si
n a e ove m u st soo n be de ad ,
Si gs s
n wsor r o , or Jug , j u
g , j u
g .
”

J orin g el looked for Jorinda She was changed .

“
into a nightingale and sang jug jug ju g .
, , ,

A screech owl with glowing eyes flew three

-

times round about her and three times c r ied ,

—
to whoo to whoo to whoo
- -
, ,

J orin g e l could not move he stood there like

a stone and could neither weep nor speak n or
, ,

move hand or foot .

 J ORI ND A AND J ORI NGE L . 1 55

The sun had now set The owl flew into t h e .

thicket and at once there came out of it a

,

c r o oked Old wom an yellow and lean with large, ,

r e d eyes and a hooked nose the point of which ,

reached to her chin She muttere d to her self .

,

caught the nightingale and took it away in her ,

hand .

J or in g el co uld neither speak nor move fr om

the spot ; the nightingale was gone At last the .

wo m an came back and said in a hollow voice

, ,

Gr ee t thee Zachiel If the moon shines on

,
.

t h e cage Zachi el let him loose at once

, , Then .

J o rin g el was freed He fell on his knees before

.

the woman and begged that she would g ive him

back his Jorinda but she said that he should
,

n ever have her again and went away He ,

.

c alled he wept but all i

, n vain
,
.

Ah what is to become of me
,

J orin g el went away and at last came to a ,

st range vi llage there he kept sheepfor a long

ti me. He Often walked rou nd and round the
c astle but not too near it
, At last he dr eamt .

o n e night that he found a blood red flower and

-
,

in the m iddle of it was a beautiful large pearl

he dreamt again that h e picked the flower and
went with it to the castle and that everything ,

he touched with the flower w as freed from e n

c hantment ; he al so dreamt that by means of it

he set his Jo rin da free .

In the mornin g when he awoke h e began to

, ,
1 56 J ORI ND A AND J ORI NGE L .

seek over hill an d dale for the flower he h ad

seen in his dream Seven days he sought for it
.
,

and then early in the morn ing he foun d the

, ,

blood red flower In the middle of it there was

- .

a large dewdrop as big as the finest pearl

, .

Day an d night he went on his way with this

flower to the castle When he was within a .

hundred steps of it he was not held fast but ,

walked on to the door J orin g el was full of joy ;

.

be touched the door with the flo w er ; it spran g

Open .He walked in through the cour tyard ,

and listened for the sound of the birds At last .

he heard it He went on and found the room

.
,

from wh ence it cam e and there the witch was ,

feedin g the birds in the seven thousand cages .

When she saw J orin g el she was angry very ,

f
angry an d scolded but she could not come
, ,

within two steps o him He did not take any .

notice of her but went and looked at the cages

,

with the birds ; but there were many hun dre d ‘

nightingales ; how was he to find his Jorin da

Just then he saw the Old woman quietly take

away a cage with a bird in it and go toward ,

the door .

Swiftly he sprang toward her touch ed the ,

cage with the flower and also the Old wom an ,

.

She could n o wno longer bewitch any one and

Jorinda was standing there clasping him round ,

the neck and she was as beaut iful as ever

,
1 58 THE WHI TE SNAKE .

which they had se en in the fields and woods .

Now all this came of eating the W hite Snake .

It so happened that on this very day the

Queen lost her best rin g and the King thought
,

this trusty servant must have stolen it for he ,

went everywhere So he ordered the man to be

.

brought before him and told him with angry

,

words that un less he could point out the thief

he should be looked upon as guilty and put to
death I n vain the m an said he had not taken
.

the ring ; he was sent away with no better an

swer .

In his t rouble and fear he went down into

the yard and began to think Now some Ducks .

were sitting by a brook and takin g their rest ;

and while they were making their feathe rs
smooth with their bills they were having a little
talk The servant stood by and listened They
. .

were telling one another of all the places where

they had been waddli n g abou t all the morning ,

said in a pit i ul tone f

and what good food they had found ; and one
,

Something lies heavy on my stomach as I

was eating in haste I swallowed a r ing which lay
under the Queen s windo w
”’
The servant at
.

Once seiz ed the Duck by the neck carried her to ,

the kitchen and said to the Cook

, ,

Here is a fine Duck pray kill her .

”
Yes said the Cook and weighed her in his
, ,

hand she has made herself pret ty fat and has ,

 THE W HI TE SNAKE . 1 59

be en waiting long enough to be roasted So the .

Cook cut OE her head and as the Duck was be

,
’
in
g m ade ready for the table the Queen s ring ,

was found inside her .

The servant could n oweasily pro ve that he did

n ot take the ri n g ; and the King to make up ,

for the wrong told him he might have the best

,

p lace in the court that he could wish for The .

se r vant did not want a place and only asked for ,

a horse and some money as he had a mind to see

,

the world an d go about a little .

The King gave him what he asked and he set

o u t on his w ay .One day he came to a pond ,

where he saw three Fishes caught in the reeds

an d gasping for water Now though it is said
.
,

that fishes are dum b he could hear them crying

,

o u t that they must di e and as he had a kind

, ,

heart he got OE his horse and put the th ree

, .

back into the water They trembled with de

.

light put out their heads and cried to him

, , ,

We will remember you and repay you for

saving us

He rode on and after a while it seemed to him

,

that he heard a voice in the sand at his feet .

He listened and heard an Ant King complain

,
-
,

Why cannot folks with their clumsy beasts

, ,

keep OE our bodies That stupid horse with ,

his heavy hoofs has been treadin g down my

,

p eople without mercy So the man turned

down a side path an d the Ant King cried out to
-
160 THE W HI TE SNAKE .

him We will rememb er you one good tur n

,
—

deserves another
The path led him into a wood and there he ,

saw two Old Ravens standin g by their nest and ,

throwing out their young ones .

-
Out with you you idle good for nothing
-
, ,

things cried they ; we cannot fin d food for

you any longer ; you are big enough an d can ,

provide for yourselves But the poor young

Ravens lay u pon the ground flapping their wings
and crying ,

Oh what helpless chicks we are

,
We must
shift for ourselves and yet we cannot fly What
,

can we do but lie here and starve

, SO the
good you ng fellow got down and killed his horse
with his sword an d gave it to them for foo d
,
.

Then they came hopping up to it ate all they ,

wanted and cried

, ,
1
'

We will remember you one good turn de

serves another
And now he had to u se his own legs an d ,

when he had walked a long way he came to a ,

large city T here was a great noise and a crowd

.

in the streets and a man rode up on horseback

, ,

crying aloud ,

The King s daughter wants a h usband ; but

’

whoever asks for her hand must do a hard task ,

and if he does not su cceed he must lose his

life . Many had already made the trial but in ,

vain still when the youth saw the King s

,
’
162 THE WHI TE SNAKE .

The youth sat do w nin the garden and though t

wh at he could do , buthe could t hink of nothing ,

and there he sat in g rief t ill the break of day ,

when he knew he should be led to death But

as soon as the fir st rays o the sun shone into
the garden he saw all the ten sacks standing side
f .

by side quite full ; not a single gr ain was miss

,

-
ing The Ant King had come in the n ight with
.

f
thousands and thousands of Ant s and the g rate
ul little things had picked up all the seed an d
,

put them into the sacks .

When the King s daughter came do wn into

’

the garden she was am azed to see that the

,

young man had done the task she had given

him But she could not yet put do wn he r proud
.

hear t and said

, ,

He has done both the tasks but he shall ,

not be my husband until he has brought me an

”
apple from the Tree of Life .

The youth did not know where the Tree of

Life stood but he set out and wo ul d have gone
, ,

on forever as long as his legs wo uld carry him

, ,

though he had no hope of finding it He had .

wandered through three kingdoms when h e ,

came one evening to a wood and lay down ,

under a tree to sleep He heard a rustling .

the branches and a golden apple fell into his

,

ha nd At the same ti
. m e three Ravens flew do w n

to him perched upon h is knee and said

, , ,

We are the three young Ravens whom you

 THE W HI TE SNAKE . 1 63

sa ved from star ving ; when we had grown big ,

an d he ard you were seeking the Golden Apple ,

we flew over the sea to the end of the world ,

where the Tree of Life stands and have brought

,
”
you the apple .

The youth full of joy set out for h ome and

, ,

t o ok the Golden Apple to the King s beautiful

’

d aughter who h ad now no more excuses left to

,

m ake .They cut t he Ap ple of Life in two and

at e it together and then her heart became fu ll

f
of love for him an d they lived happily ever
a te r
.
,
 STRONG HANS .

T HE RE were once a man and a woman wh o

had an only child and they lived by them selve s
,

alone in a lonely hut It came to pass th at the

.

mother once went into the wood to gathe r

branches of fir an d took with her little Han s
, ,

wh o was just two years Old It was in spr ing .

,

and the child was happy with t h e flowers so she ,

went still farther with him into the wood All .

at o n ce two robbers sprang out seized t h e ,

mother and child and carried them far away

,

into t h e black forest where no one ever cam e

,
’
from one year s end to another .

The po or woman begged the robbers t o se t

h er and her child free bu t their heart s we re
,

made of stone ; they would not liste n to her,

and drove her on After th ey had worked th eir
.

way through bushes an d briar s for about t wo

.

miles they came to a rock where there was a

,

door ; t he robbers knocked at it and it opened

at once .

They went throu gh a long dark passage an d ,

at last came into a great cave which was ,

lighted by a fire that burnt on the h earth On .

the wall hung swords and guns which shone in ,

1 66 STR ONG HANS .

down Then the captain laughed and gave

.
,

Hans such a box on the ear that be rolled unde r

the table Hans got up again held his tongue
.
, ,

and tho ught ,

I will wait another year and then try again ,

perhaps I shall do better then ” When t h e .

year was over he brought out his club again

, ,

r ubbed the dust OE it looked at it well an d , ,

said ,

It is a stout strong club At night t h e .

robbers came home drank one jug of wine after,

another and their he ads began to be heavy

,
.

Then Hans brought out his club stood before ,

the captain and asked him who was his father

,

But the captain again gave him such a box o n

the ear that Hans rolled under the table but it
was not long before he was up again and beat ,

the captain an d robbers so with his club that

they could no longer move either their arms or
their legs His mother stood in a corner proud
.

of his bravery and streng th When Hans had .

done his work he went to his mother and, ,

said ,

NowI have shown myself to be in earnest ,

but I must also kno wwho is my father .

Dear Hans said the mother , come we , ,

”
will go and seek him until we find him She .

took the door key from the captain and Hans

-
,

fetched a g reat meal sac k and packed into it

-

old and silver until it was full and the n he

g , ,

took it on his back .

 S TR ONG HANS . 1 67

They left the cave but how Hans did open ,

his eyes when he came o ut of the darkne ss into

daylight and saw the green trees and the
, ,

flowers and the birds and the morning sun in

, ,

f
the sky He stood there and stared at ever y
.

thing just as i he had not been very wise His .

mother kept her eyes Open to find the way

ho m e and when they had walked for two hours
, ,

they came to their little house .

The father was sitting in the doorway He .

wept for joy when he saw his wife and heard

that Hans was his son for he had lo n g thought
,

them both dead But Han s altho u gh he was

.
,

not twelve years old was a head taller than his

,

father They went into the little room together

.
,

but Hans had scarcely put his sack on the bench

by the stove when the whole ho u se began to
crack ; the bench broke down an d then t h e
floor and the heavy sack fell through int o the
,

cellar .

”
God save us ! cried the father what s ,
’

that Now you have broken our little house

to pieces !
’
Don t grow any gray hairs about that dear ,
”
father said Hans ; there in that sack is
, , ,
”
more than is wante d for a new house .

The father and Hans at once began to bu ild

a n ew house ; to buy c att le and land and t o ,

keep a farm Hans plou ghed the fields an d

.
,

when he walked after the plough an d pushed it

1 68 STR ONG HANS .

into the ground he was so strong the b ullocks

,

had scarcely an y need t o draw The next .

spr ing Hans said

, ,

Kee p all the money ; only let me have a

walking st ick that weighs a hun dred pounds
-
,
”
and I will set out on my travels When t he .

stick was ready he left his father s house

,
’

went forth and came t o a deep dark wood

, ,
.

There he heard something crunching and crack

ing ; he looked round and saw a fir tree which
,
—

was wound like a rope fr om the bottom to t he

top and when he looked up he saw a great
,

fellow who had laid hold of the tree and was

twisting it like a willow wan d .

Hollo cried Han s ; what are you doing

up there The fellow replied ,

I got some fagots together yest e rday an d

am t w ist ing a rope for them
”
.

”
That is what I like thought Hans he
, ,

has some streng th ; and he called to him ,

”
Leave that alone and come with me
,
The .

fellow came down and he was taller by a whole

,

head than Hans and Hans was n ot little

, .

- ”
Your name is now Fir twis t er said Hans t o ,

Then they went farther an d heard something

,

knocking and hammering so hard that the

ground shook at every stroke Soon they came .

o a m igh t y rock ; a iant was standing before

t
g
and striking great pieces of it away with his
17 0 STRONG HANS .

Hans and Rock splitter went out hunting

- .

When Fir t wiste r was busy cooking a litt le

-
,

dried u p Old m an came to him in the castle

-
,

and asked for some m eat .

”
Be OE he said you need n o meat
, , .

But how amazed Fir twist e r was when the Dwar f

-

sprang up at him and beat him so with his fists

,

that he coul d not defend himself but fell o n ,

the ground and gasped for breath The Dwar f

did n o t go away u ntil he had beat him well .

When the t wo others came home from hun t

ing Fir twiste r said nothing to them of t h e
,
-

little old man and of the blows he had give n

him and thought
, ,

When they stay at home they may j ust try ,

their chance with the little fellow and t h e

mere thought of that healed his bruises .

-
The next day Rock splitt er st ayed at hom e ,

an d he fared just as Fi r twi

- ster had done ; h e
was very ill treated by the Dwarf beca u se he was
not willing to g ive h im any meat When t h e .

others came home in the evening Fir tw - ister ,

easily saw what Rock splitter had suEer e d but

-
,

both kept still and thought

, ,

Hans must also taste some of that soup .

Hans who had to stay at home the next day

, ,

did his work l n the kitc hen as it had to be done

as he stood ski m m in g the pan the Dwarf came , ,

an d without more ado called for a bit of me at .

Then Hans tho ught ,

 S TR ONG HANS . 17 1

He is a poor wretch I will give him some of

,
”
my share that the others m ay not run short
, ,

and handed him a bit When the Dwarf had

.

eate n it he again asked for some meat and

, ,

Hans gave it to h im then he told him it was a

-
good sized piece and that he was to be content
,

with it But the Dwarf begged again for the

.

third time .

”
You have no manners ! said Hans and ,

gave him none Then the Dwarf wanted to

.

spring on him an d tr eat him as he had treate d

Fi r tw ster and Rock splitter but he had fallen
i
- -
,

on the wrong man Han s just st retched out his

.

arm and gave him a couple of blows which made

him jump down the castle steps Han s was .

about to run after him but fell right over him

, ,

he was so tall When he rose up the Dwarf

.
,

had got the start of him .

Han s hurried after him as far as the wood ,

and saw him slip into a hole in the rock Hans .

n o w went home but he had marked the spot

, .

When the two others c ame back they were ,

amazed that Hans was so well He told the m .

what had taken place and then they no longer

,

m ade a secret of how it had fared w ith them .

Hans laughed and said ,

It served you quite right ; why were you

so greedy with your meat It is a shame that
you who are so big should have let yourselves
”
be beaten by the Dwarf At that they took a.
17 2 S TR ONG HANS .

basket and a rope and all three went to the hole

,

in the rock into which the Dwarf h ad slipped ,

and let Hans and his club down in the basket .

When Hans had got to the bottom he found ,

a door and when h e opened it a maiden was

, ,

sitting there who was as lovely as any picture

nay she was so fair that no words can tell it
, ,

an d by her side sat the Dwarf and grinne d at

Hans like a sea cat ! She was bound with

-

chains and looked so sadly at him that Han s

,

felt great pity for her and thought to him

,

You must set her free from the power of t he

wicked Dwarf and gave him such a blo wwith
”
,

his club that he fell down dead Then t he .

chains fell from the maiden and Hans was ,

charm ed with her beau ty She told him she .

was a King s dau ghter ; that a savage count

’

had stolen her away from her home and shut ,

her up there among the rocks because she woul d ,

have nothing to say to him The count had set .

the Dwarf to keep watch an d he had made her

,

u nhappy enough .

And n o w Hans placed t h e maiden in the

basket and had her drawn up the basket came
do wn again but Hans did not t rust his t wo men
, ,

and thought ,

They have already shown themselves to be

false and told me n othing about the Dwar f ;
,

ho knows what plan they may have ag ainst

174 STR ONG HANS.

and leapt without thinking what he was doin g

, ,

club in hand into the water and began to

, ,

swim ; but the club which weighed a hundred

,

pounds dragged him deep down until he was

,

all but drowned .

Then in the very nick of t im e he turned his

f
ring and at once the spirits of the air came and
,

bore him as swit as lightnin g into the boat .

He swung his club and gave his wicked com

rades the blows they had earned and thre w them
,

into the water ; then he sailed away with t h e

beautiful maiden who had been in the great est
,

alarm ; he carried her home to her father an d

m other and married her and all lived happily
, ,

e ver afte r .
 THE GIANT AND THE TAILOR .

A C E RTAI N Tailor who was great at boasting

,

but ill at doing took it into his head to leave

,

his home for a while and look abo ut the world

'

.
,

As soon as he could do so he went away from

his shop an d rambled on his way over hill and
, ,

dale somet imes hither sometimes thither but

, , ,

ever on an d on At last he saw afar OE in the

.

blue distance a steep hill and behind the bill a ,

to wer reaching to the clouds which rose up ou t ,

of a wild dark wood .

Thunder and lightning cried the Tailor ; ,

what is that ? and as he was very cur ious h e ,

went boldly toward it But what made the .

Tailor open his eyes and mouth when he came

near it was to see that the tower h ad legs and
, ,
'
leapt in on e bound over the ste ep bill ; it p roved
to be a great Giant tha t n o wstood before him .

What do you want here you t i n y fly s ,

’

leg cried the Giant with a voice that sou nded

,

like thunder The Tailor whined

.

I want j u st to look about and see i I can

earn a bit of bread for myself ”
.
,

f
If that is what you are after ,

Giant you may h ave a place with me

, .
176 THE GI ANT AND THE TAI L OR .

If it must be why not What wages shall

,

I get
You shall hear what wages you shall have .

Every year three hundred and six fi -

ve days ,

and when it is leap year one more into the bar

-
,

gain Does that suit you

.

”
All right replied the Tailor an d though t
, ,

to himself a man must cut his coat accord ing

,

to his cloth ; I will try to get away as fast as I

”
can . On this the Giant said to him ,

GO little beggar and fetch me a jug of

, ,
”
water .

Had I not bett e r bring the well it self at

once and the spring too
,
asked the boaster ,

and went with the pitc her t o the water .

What !the well and the spring too growled

the Giant in his bear d for he was rather dull ,

and st upid an d began to be afraid

, That .

f
knave is not a fool he is a wizard Be on t hy
, .

guard old Hans ; this is no servingman or

,
”
thee When the Tailor had brought the water
.
,

f
the Gian t bade him go into the fores t and cut ,

a couple O logs of wood and bring them back .

Why not the whole forest at once with one , ,

stroke the whole forest young and Old with , ,

all that is there both rough and smooth

,

asked the litt le Tailor and went to cut the wood

,
.

What the whole forest youn g and Old , ,

with all that is there both rough and smooth , ,

r
n d the well and its spring too rowled the
g ,
 LITTLE SNOW— WHITE .

ONCE upon a time it was the middle of

winter the flakes of snow were falling like
feathers from the sky ; a Queen sat at a win do w
sewing and the frame of the window was m ade
,

of black ebony As she was se wing and look

.

ing out of the window at the snow she pricke d

her finger with the needle and three drops o ,
,

f
blood fell upon the snow And the red looke d
.

pretty upon the white snow and she thought t o,

herself
,

Would that I had a child as white as snow ,

as red as blood and as black as the wood of t h e

win dow frame
- Soon after that she had a little
daughter who was as white as snow and as r e d
, ,

as bloo d and her hair was as black as ebony so

,

she was called Little Snow white And when t he

- .

c hild was born the Que e n died

,
.

A year after the Kin g took to himself an

,

other wife She was beautiful but prou d an d

.
, ,

she could not bear to have an y one else more .

beautiful She had a wonderful Looking glass

.
-
,

and when she stood in front of it and looked at

herself in it and said, ,
 LI TTLE SN0 W W HI TE . 17 9

wall
f
Lo ok i
n g glas
- s, Loo ki
n g-glass , on t he ,

W h o in t his lan d i
s th f i st
e a re o all

the Looking glass answered-

f
,

Th ou , 0 Q u e e n , ar t t he fai r e st o all

At that she was well pleased for she knew ,

the Lookin g g h ss spoke the truth .

Now Snow white grew up an d became more

-
,

and more beaut iful ; and when she was se ven

f
ye ars Old she was as beautiful as the day and ,

more beaut iful than t he Queen hersel And .

Once w hen the Queen asked her Looking glass

-
,

f
Looki gg
n - lass, Lo o ki
n g-gl ss a , on the wal l
,

W h o in t his lan d i
s th fai st
e re o all

i
t answered ,

fai t h all wh
f
“Th o u ar t re r an he Lady Q o are re, u ee n .

Bu t m or e b a t if l by a i S w-whit I w
e u u r s no e, e en .
”

Then the Queen was mad and tur ned green ,

with en vy From that hour whenever she

.
,

looked at Snow white her breath came and

-
,

went she hated the g irl so much

, .

A nd envy grew higher an d higher in her

heart like a weed so that she had no peace day
,

o r n ight .She called a Hu ntsman and said , ,

Take the child away into the wood ; I will

no longer have her in my sight Kill her an d .
,

bring me back her heart as a token The

Huntsman did as he was told and took he r ,

away ; bu t when he had drawn his knife an d ,

was about to pierce Snow white s litt le heart she

- ’

began to weep and said , ,

18
0 LI TTLE SNOW W HI TE .

Ah dear Hun tsman leave me my life ! I

will run away into the w
, ,

ild wood and neve r ,

”
come home again .

An d as she was so beautiful the Huntsman

had pity on her and said ,

Run away then you poor child

, ,
Th e .

”
wild beasts will so on kill you thought he ; and ,

et it seemed as if a stone had been rol led fro m

y
his heart since it was no longer needf ul for him
to kill her A s a young boar just then came
.

runnin g by he stabbed it and cut out its hear t

,

and to ok it to the Queen as a proof that t h e

child was dead The cook had to salt this and
.
,

the wicked Queen at e it and thought she had

,

eaten the heart of Snow white- .

But now the poor child was all alone in t he

great wood and so afraid that she st arted at
,

every bush an d did not know what to do

,
.

Then she began to run an d ran over sharp ,

sto nes and through thorns and the wild beasts,

ran past her but did her no harm

,
.

She r an as long as her feet would go until it

was almost evening ; then she saw a little cot
tage and went into it to rest herself Every
,
.

thing in the cottage was small but neater and ,

cleaner than can be told There was a table on

.

which was a white cover and seven little plate s

, ,

and by each plate was a little spoon there were

se ven little knives and forks and seven little ,

mugs A gainst the wall stood seven little beds

.

ie by side covered w
°

,
ith snow white spreads
- .
182 LI TTLE SNOW WHI TE .

Then the fi r st looked ro u nd and saw that

th ere was a little hole in his bed an d h e said , ,

Who has been get ting in to my bed The

others came up and each called out ,

Somebody has been lying in my bed too .

But the seventh when he looked at his bed saw

little Snow-white who was lying asleep there
, .

And he called the others wh o came running up , ,

and they cried out with wonder and broug ht ,

their seven little candles and let the light fall o n

litt le Snow white
- .

Oh heavens ! Oh heavens
,
cried they, ,

what a lovely child and they were so glad

that they did not wake her bu t let her sleep on ,

in the bed And the seventh dwarf slept with

.

the others one ho u r with each and so g o t

, ,

through the n ight .

When it was mornin g little Snow white

'
-

awoke and was afraid when she saw the seven

,

dwarfs But they were friendly and asked her

.

what her name was .

My name is Snow white she answered

-
, .

How have you come to our house ? said

the d warfs Then she told them that the Queen
.

had wished to have her killed but that the ,

Hun t sman had spared her life She had run for
the whole day until at last she had found their
,

f
house T he dwarfs said
.
,

I you wi ll take care of our house cook

make the beds wash se w and knit ; and i you
, , ,
,

f ,
 LI TTLE SN0 W WHI TE . 183

will keep everything neat and clean you can ,

”
st ay with us and you shall want for nothing
,
.

”
Yes said Snow white with all my heart
,
-
, ,

and she stayed with them She kept the house .

in order for them ; in the mornings they went

to the hills and looked for gold in the evenings
they came back and th en their supper had to be
,

ready T he girl was alone the whole day so t he

.
,

goo d dwarfs warned her and said ,

Beware of the Queen ; she will soon kn ow

th at you are here ; be sure to let no one come

But the Queen thinking she had eaten Snow,

’
white s heart began to suppose she was again
,

the first and most beautiful person in the world ;

and she went to her Lookin g glass and said
-
,

wall
f
Looki
n g-glass , Looki gg
n - lass, on t he ,

W h o in t h i
s lan d i
s th faie r e st o all ?

an d the Glass answered ,

0 Q ue en , t h ou ar t fair e st o f all I see ,

Bu t ove r t h e hi
lls, wh er e t he se ve n dwar fs d wll e ,

Sn ow-w te i
hi s st i
ll alive an d w e ll,

An d n o on e i
s so ai r as sh e
”
f .

And so she thought and thought again how

she might kill Snow white for so long as she
-
,

was not the fairest in the whole land envy let ,

her have no rest A nd when she had at last .

thou ght of something to do she painted her ,

face and dressed herself like an old peddler

,

woman and no one could have known her

,
.
18
4 LI TTLE SNOW W HI TE .

Then she went over the seven hills to the se ven

dwarfs and knocked at the door and cried
, ,

cheap
Pretty things to sell very cheap very
”
. Little Snow white looked out O t h e
-
, ,

f
window and called ou t ,

Good day my good woman what have you

-
, ,

to sell
Good thin gs pret ty things she answered
, ,

st ay laces of all colors and she p ulled out one

-
,

which was wove n of bright silk .

I may let the good old woman in thought ,

Snow white and she unbolted t h e door and

-
,

bought the pretty laces .

”
Child said the Old woman what a fright
, ,

you look ; come I will lace you properly for

,

once .
”
Snow white stood before her and let
-
,

herself be laced with the new laces But the .

old woman laced so quickly an d laced so tig htly

that Snow white lost her breath and fell down
-
”
as if dead Now I am the most beaut iful
.
,

said the Queen to herself and ran away ,

.

Not long afte r in the evening the seven

, ,

dwarfs came home but how shocked they were

,

when they saw their dear little Snow white lying

-

on the groun d ; she did n ot st ir or move and ,

seemed to be dead They lifted her up and as

.
, ,

they saw that she was laced too tightly they cut ,

the laces ; then she began to breathe a little an d

after a while came to lie again When the f .
,

dwarfs heard what had happen ed they said ,

18
6 LI TTLE SNOW WHI TE .

white had no fear and let the old woman do as ,

she please d bu t hardly had she put the com b in

,

her hair than the poison worked and the g ir l fell ,

down senseless .

You piece of beauty said the wicked ,

woman you ar e done for now and she went

, ,

a way .

But as good luck would have it it was al m ost ,

evening and the seven dwarfs soon came home

, .

When they saw Snow white lying as if dead upon

-

the g round they kn ew at Once the Queen had

,

been there and they looked and found the comb

, .

Scarcely had t hey taken it out when Sno wwhite

-

cam e to herself and told them what had hap ,

pened Then they warned her once more to be

.

upon her guard and to Open the door to no

on e .

The Queen at hom e went in front of , , t he

Glass and said
wall
f
Looki
n g glass
-
, Lo ok i
n g-glass , on t he ,

W h o in t h i
s lan d i
s th efai st re o all ?

then it answered as before

f
,

0 Q
u ee n , t h ou ar t fair e st o all I see ,

Bu t o ve r t he hi
lls, wh e re t he se ve n dwar fs d wlle ,

Sn o w-w te i
hi ll ali
s st i ve an d w e ll,
”
An d n o on e i
s so ai r as sh e f .

When she heard the Glass speak thus sh e

f
tr embled and shook with rage .

”
Snow white shall die she cried
- eve n i , ,

it costs me my life
 L I TTLE SN0 W WHI TE . 187

She went into a quite secret lonely room , ,

where no one ever came and there she made an ,

apple full of poison It was white with a red.

c h e ck so th at every one who sawit lon ged for

,

it ; but whoever ate a piece of it must surely

die .

When the apple was ready she painte d her

face and dressed herself up as a countr y woman
,
-
,

an d so she went over the seven hills to the seven

dwarfs She knocked at the door Snow white

.
- .

put her head out of the window and said ,

I cannot le t any one in ; the seven dwarfs

have told m e not to .

It is all the same to me said the woman

I shall soon g e t rid O my apples There I f ,

.
,
,

will g ive you one .

N said Snow white I dare not take any

-
,
”
thing .

A re you afr aid of poison said the old

woman “ look I will cut the apple in two
,

pieces ; you eat the red cheek and I will eat the ,

white ”
The apple was so cunningly made that
.

o nly the red cheek was poisoned Snow white

- .

longed for the fine apple and when she saw that ,

the woman ate part of it she could stand it no

f
longer and stretc hed out her hand and took the
,

other hal But hardl y had she a bit of it in

.

her mouth than she fell down dead Th en the

Quee n looked at her with a dr ead ul look and
laughed aloud and sai d
f
.

,
18
8 LI TTLE SNOW W HI TE .

White as snow red as blood black as ebony

, ,

wood this time the dwarfs cannot wake you up

”
again .

And when she asked of the Lookin g glass at

-

home ,

wall
f
gg
n - lass, Loo ki
Looki n g-glass , on the ,

W h o in t hi
s lan d i
s th f i st
e a re o all

it answered at last
f
,

0 Qu ee n , i s lan d t h ou
n t hi ar t fai re st o all .

Then her envious heart had rest so far as an ,

w
envious heart can have rest .

When the d arfs came hom e in the evening ,

they found Snow white lyin g upon the ground ;

-

she breathed no longer and was dead They .

lifted her up unlaced her combed her hair

, , ,

washed her w ith water and wine but it was all ,

of no use the poor child was dead and stayed ,

dead They laid her upon a bier and all seve n

.
,

of them sat round it and wept for her and wept ,

three whole days .

Then they were going to bury her but she ,

still looked as if she were living and still had ,

her pretty red cheeks They said .

,

ff
We could not bury her in the dark gr ound ,

and they had a co fin O glass made so that she ,

cou ld be seen from all sides and they laid her in ,

it and wrote her name upon it in golden lett ers

, ,

f
’
and that she was a king s daughter Then they .

put the co fin out upon the hill and one of them ,

always st ayed by it and watched it And birds .

1 90 LI TTLE SNOW W HI TE .

f
Oh heavens where am I
, she cried The
, .

King s son full O joy said

’

, , ,
”
You are with me and told her what had ,

happened and said , I love you more than ,

everything in the world ; com e with me to my

father s palace you shall be my wife
’ ”
.

Snow white was willing and went with him

-
, ,

an d their wedding was held with great show and

splendor The wicked Queen was also bidden
.

to the feast When she had put on her beau

.

tiful clothes she went before t he Lookin g glass

,
-
,

an d said ,

wall
g-glass n g-glass

f
Lo oki L kio on t he
n ,
o , ,

W h o in t h is lan d is t he fai r e st o all

the Glass answered

f
,

f
0 Q
u e e n , o all h e r e t h e ai re st f ar t t h ou ,
But t h e ou n y
ueen i gQ
s ai r er f by ar I t ro w .

Then the wicked woman gave a scream and ,

was so wretched so utterly wretched that she

, ,

kn ew not what to do At first she would not .

go to the wedding at all but she had no peace , ,

and must go to see the youn g Queen And .

when she went in she knew Snow white an d

-

she stood still with rage and fear and could not ,

stir But iron slippers had already been put

.

upon the fire and they were brought in with

,

tongs and set before her Then she was forced

,
.

to put on the red hot shoe s and dan ce un t il she

-
,

dropped down dead .

THE STRAW TH E COAL AND TH E
, , BE AN .

IN a village dwelt a poor old woman who had ,

picked together a dish of beans and wanted to

cook them SO she m ade a fire on her hearth
.
,

and to make it burn the quicker she lighted it

with a handful of straw When she was empty
.

ing the beans into the pan one dropped without ,

her seeing it ; it lay on the g roun d beside a

straw and soon afterwards a hot coal from the
,

fire leapt down to the t wo T hen the Straw be

.

gan and said ,

Dear friends h o w do you come here

,

f
The Coal replied ,

I sprang out O the fire and if I had not ,

got away by main force I must have met my

,

death I should have been burnt to ashes .

The Bean said ,

I too have got OE with a whole skin for if

, , ,

the Old woman had got me into the pan I should ,

have been made into broth like my comrades ,

.

And would my lot have been better asked

the Straw . T he old woman has destroyed all
my brethren in fi r e and smoke she seized sixt y
of them at once and took their lives Luckily
, .

”
I slipped through her fingers .
1 92 THE S TRA W , THE C OAL, AND THE BE AN .

But what are we to do now said t he

I think answered the Bean that as we

, ,

have so luckily escaped death we should keep ,

together like good comrades and lest a n e wm is ,

chance should catch us here we should go away ,

together and se t OE for a new country

,
.

The plan pleased the two others an d they se t ,

out on their way in company Soon they came .

to a little brook and as there was no b ridge o r

,

foot plank they did n ot know how they were to

-
,

get over it The Straw hit on a good idea an d

.
,

said ,

I will lay myself straight across and then ,

”
you can walk over on me as on a bridge The .

Straw therefore str etched itself from one bank

to t he other and the Coal who was rather hot
, ,

headed tr ipped quite boldly on to the newly

,

b uilt bridge But when she had reached t h e

.

m id dl e and heard the water rushi

,
n g beneath

her she was after all afraid and stood st ill

, , , , ,

and would go no farther .

The Straw however beg an to burn broke in

, , ,

two pieces and fell into the st ream The Coal

,
.

slipped after her hissed when she got into t h e

,

water and breathed her last The Bean w

,
ho .
,

had wisely stayed behind on the shore could ,

not but laugh at t he event was unable to stop , ,

f
a nd laughed so hearti ly that she burst .

would have been all over with her too i , , ,

 TH E HUT IN THE WOO D .

A POOR wood cutte r lived with his wife an d

-

three daughters in a little hut on the edge of

a lonely woo d One morning as he was about
.

to go to his work he said to his wie

,
f
,

Le t m y dinner be brought into the wood to

me by my eldest daughter in that way I need
not come home at noon and can do more work ;

f
and in order that she may not miss her way ,

I will take a bag O m illet with me and scatter

”
the seeds on the path I take SO when the sun
.

was just above the centre of the wood the gir l ,

set out on her way with a bowl of soup but the ,

field sparrows and wood Sparrows the larks and

-
,
-
,

finches and blackbirds had picked up the mill et

,

long before and the g irl could not find the

,

t rack
. She went on and on until the sun sank
,

and night began to fall The trees rustled in

.

the darkness the owls hooted and she began

, ,

to be afraid Then in the distance she saw a

. .

light shining between the trees .

There ought to be some people living there ,

wh o can take me in for the night she thoug ht

”
, ,

and went up to the light It was not long be

.

fore she cam e to a house with the windows all

 THE H UT I N THE W OOD . 1 95

lighted up She knocked and a rough voice

.
,

from the in side cried ,

”
Come in The girl stepped into the dark
.

hall and knocked at the door of the room

, .

”
Just come in cried the voice and when , ,

she opened the door an Old g ray hair ed man

-
,

was sitting at the table ; his face was propped

up by his hands and his white beard fell down
,

over the table almost as far as the ground By .

the stove lay three animals a h en a cock and , , ,

a brin dled cow The girl told her story to the

.

Old man and begged for shelter for the night

, .

The man said ,

Pr et t y lit t le h en ,
Pr e tt y litt le co ck ,
An d pr e tt y br i n dl ed co w
,

W hat say y e t o t h at

Du ks, answered the animals and that must ,

”
have meant We are willing for the Old man
, ,

sai d
,

Here you shall have shelter and food ; go

to the fire and cook us o u r supper
, The g irl .

found plenty of food in the kitchen and cooked ,

a good supper but she did not think of the

,

animals She carried the full dishes to the

.

table seated herself by the gray hair ed m an and

,
-
,

at e till she was no longer hungry Then she .

said,

But now I am tired ; where is there a bed in

which I can lie down and sleep The an i ,

mals replied ,
1 96 THE HUT I N THE W OOD .

Thou hast eat e n w ith hi m,

Tho u hast dr unk w
f
ith h im,

fy
Tho u hast had n o t h o u h t or us, g
SO fin d o u t or ou r se l w f
h e r e yo u can p ass t h e g
n i ht .

Then said the Old man ,

Just go upstairs and you will find a room,

with two beds ; shake them up and p u t white ,

lin en on them and then I too will come and

, , ,
”
lie down to sleep The g irl went up and when
.
,

she had shaken the beds and put clean sheet s on

she lay down in one O them without waiting for f ,

the Old man Afte r some time however the

.
, ,

g ray -ha ired man came took h i

s candle looked
, ,

at the girl and shook his head When he saw

,
.

that she had fallen in to a sound sleep he Opened ,

a t rap door and let her down into the cellar

-
, .

Late at ni ght the wood-cutter came home and ,

asked his wife why she left him to hunger all

day .

It is not my fault she replied ; the g irl ,

went out with your dinner and must have lost ,

”
herself but she is sure to come back to morrow
,
- .

-
The wood cutter however rose before dawn to
, ,

go into the forest and asked that the se cond

,

daughter shoul d take him his dinner that day .

I will take a bag with lentils said he ,

the see ds are larger than millet the girl will ,

SO at
’
see them better and can t lose her way
,
.

dinner t im c the girl took out the food but there

-
,

were no lentils to be seen The birds had .

1 98 THE HUT I N THE W OOD .

Am I to lose my deare st child as well ,

”
Have no fear he replied the girl will n ot
, ,

go astr ay ; she is too prudent and good ; besides ,

I will take some peas with me and st rewthem ,

about They are still larger than lent ils an d

.
,
”
will show her the way But when the g irl
.

went out with her basket on her arm the wood ,

pigeons had already got all the p e as in their

crops and she did not know which way she was
,

to turn She was full of sorrow as she tho ught

.

how hu ng ry her father would be and how h er

good mother woul d g r ieve i she did not g o f ,

home At last when it g rew dark she sawt he

.
,

light and came to the hut in the wood Sh e .

begged quite prett ily to be allowed to spend t he

night there and the man with the white b eard
,

once more asked his animals ,

Pre t t y li t t le h e n ,
Pr e t t y litt le coc k,
An d pre t t y br in dle d co w ,

W hat say y e t o t hat

said they Then the girl went to

Du ks, .

the stove where the animal s were lying an d ,

pett ed the cock an d hen she stroked their

smooth feathers with her hand and rubbed the ,

brindled cow bet ween her horns and when she ,

had made ready some good soup and the bowl

p
,

was placed u on the table she said , ,

Am I to eat as much as I want and t h e ,

good animals to have nothing There is plenty

 THE H UT I N THE W OOD 1 99

f
.

o food outside I will look af er them first

; t .

SO she went and brought some barley and

strewed it for the cock and hen and a wh ole ,

-
arm ful of sweet sm e lli
n g ba for the cow
y .

I hope you will like it dear animals said , ,

sh e , and yo u shall have something to drink in

”
case you are thirsty Then she fetched in a
.

pail of water and the cock and hen jumped on

,

to the edge of it and dipped their beaks in and ,

then held up their heads as the birds do when

they drink and the b rindled cow also took a
,

hearty draught When the anim als were fed

.
,

the girl seated herself at the table by the Old

man and ate what he had left It was not long
,
.

f
before the cock and t he hen began to thrust
their heads beneath their win g s and the eyes O ,

the cow likewise beg an to blink Then said t he .

girl ,

Ought we not to go to bed

Pre tt y li t t le h e n ,
Pr e t t y lit t le c oc k ,

An d pre t t y br in dle d co w ,

W hat say y e t o t h at

The animals answered D u ks,

Th o u h ast e at e nwit h u s ,

d r un k w
f f
Th ou h ast i
th us ,

Th ou hast h ad ki n d t h o u gh t or all O u s,

We wish t he e g
o od -n i ght .
”

Then the maiden went upstairs shook the ,

-
feather beds and laid clean sheets on them and
, ,

when she had done it the Old man came and lay
200 THE H UT I N THE W OOD .

do wn on one of the beds and his white beard ,

reached dow n to his feet The girl lay down on .

the other said her prayers and fell asleep

, ,
.

She slept till midnight and then there was ,

such a noise in the house that she awoke .

T here was a so und of cracking and splitting

every corner and the doors sprang open and
, ,

beat against the walls The beams groaned as .

if they were being torn out of their joints ; it

seemed as if the stairs were falling down and ,

at last there was a crash as if the ent ire roof h ad

fallen in As however all grew quiet once
.
, ,

more and the girl was not hurt she stayed

, ,

lying where she was and fell asleep again ,

.

But when she woke up in the mornin g in the

bright sunshine what did her eyes see
,
She
was lying in a vast hall and everyt hing around ,

her shon e with royal splendor ; on the walls ,

golden flowers grew upon a ground of green

silk ; the bed was of ivory an d covered with red ,

velvet ; and on a chair close by was a pair of

shoes worked with pe arls The g irl thought she .

must be in a dream but three richly clad se r ,

vants came in and asked what orders she wo ul d

,

like to give
If you will go she replied I will get up
, ,

at once and make ready some soup for the Old

m an and then I will feed the pretty little hen and
, ,
”
the cock and the beautiful brindled cow
,
She .

th ought the Old man was up already and looked ,

 THE GUNNING LITTLE TAILOR .

f
T HE RE was once on a t im e a Prin cess wh o
was very proud I a wooer cam e she gave
.

him some riddle to guess and if he co ul d not

,

find it out he was sent away She let it be

,
.

m ade known that any one who solved her rid

dle should m arry her let him be who he might
,
.

Nowthr ee tailors fell in with each other t he

two eldest thought they had done so many good
bits of work that they co uld not fail to come ou t
all right in this also ; the third was a u seless
little lubber who did not even know his t rade
, ,

but thought he must have some l u ck this t ime ,

for where else was it to come from Then the

two others said to him ,

Just stay at home ; you cannot do much

with your lit tle bit of wisdom .

But the little Tailor did not let himself be

put down and said he had set h is head to work
,

abou t this and he woul d do well enough so he

,

went forth as if the whole world were his .

They all three came before the Princess and ,

said she was to OEe r her riddle to them an d ,

that the right persons were now come for the y ,

h ad minds so fine that they could be threade d

i
t h a nee dle Then said the Princess
.
,
 THE UNNI NG TAI L OR 203

f
C LI TTLE .

I have t wo kinds of hair on my head o ,

what color is it
“
If that be all said the first it m u st be
, ,

black and white like the cloth which is called

,

pepper and salt The Princess said

.
’

,
”
Wrong let the second answer
,
Then said .

the second ,

If it be not black and white then it is ,

”
brown and red like my father s company coat
,
’
.

” “
Wrong again said the Princess let the
, ,

third give t he answer for I see very well he ,

”
kn ows it for certain Then the little Tailor
.

stepped boldly for t h and said ,

The princess has a silver and a golden hair

”
on her head and those are the two colors
,
.

When the Princess heard that she turned pale

and nearly fell down with fright for the little ,

Tailor had guessed her riddl e and she had firmly ,

believed that no man on ear t h could find it out .

When her courage cam e back she said ,

You have not won me yet by that ; there is

st ill something else you must do Below in the .
,

stable is a Bear with which you are to pass the

, ,

night and when I get upin the morning if you

,

f
”
are still alive you shall m arry me She tho ught .

she wo ul d thus get rid O the Tailor for the ,

Bear had never yet left any one alive who had
fallen into his paws The little Tailor did not
.

let himself be driven away but was quite merry , ,

an d said ,
204 THE C UNNI NG LI TTLE TAI L OR .

Nothing vent ure nothing have ,

.

When evening came our little Tailor was ,

taken down to the Bear The Bear was abo u t .

to set at the little fellow at once and give him ,

a hearty welcome with his paws .

”
Softly softly said the litt le Tailor I have
, , ,
”
something for you T hen quietly and as if h e
.
,

had not a care in the world he took some nuts ,

out of his pocket cracked them and ate t he

, ,

kernels When the Bear saw that he had a

.
,

g reat desire to have some nuts too The Tailo r .

felt in his pockets and gave him a handful ;

,

they were not nuts but pebbles T he Bear p

, ut .

them in his m outh but co ul d get nothing out of

,

them let him bite as he would

,
.

”
Eh ! thought he what a stupid block ,

head I am ! I cannot e ven crack a nut ! and

then he said t o the T ailor Here crack me the , ,

nuts .

There see what a stupid fellow you are

,

said the little T ailor to have such a great ,

mouth and not be able to crack a small nut

,

T hen he took the pebble and nimbly put a

nut in his mouth in the place O it and crack f , ,

it was in t wo
I must try the thing again said the Bear ,

when I watch you I then think I ought to ,

”
be able to do it too SO the Tailor once more.

gave him a pebble and the Bear tried and ,

tried to bite into it with all the strength of

206 THE C UNNI NG LI TTLE TAI L OR .

thing else but that he was growling for joy an d ,

had made an end of the Tailor In the morn .

ing sh e aro se careless an d happy but when sh e ,

peeped into the stable the Tailor stood gayly ,

before her and was as healthy as a fish in the

,

wate r .

No w she could not say another word again st

the wedding beca u se she had given a promise
before every one and the King called for a,

carriage in which she was to drive to church

with the Tailor and there she was to be married
, .

When they had got into the carr iage the t wo ,

other tailors who had false hearts and envie d

,

him his good fortune went in to the stable an d

,

let the Bear out of the vice The Bear in g reat .

fury ran after the carriage The Princess heard .

him snorting and growling she was in g rea t

fear and cried
, ,

Ah the Bear is behind us and wants t o

,

f
”
get you ! The Tailor was quick and stood o n ,

his head stuck his legs out O the windo w

, ,

and cried ,

D O yo u see the vi ce ? I you do not be o

you shall be put into it again ”
When the Bear
f
.
f
f
sawthat he turned round and ran away
,
The .

Tailor drove quietly to ch u rch and the Prin cess ,

was married to him at once and he lived with ,

her as happy as a woodlark Whoever doe s not .

believe th is m u st pay a dollar .

THE S PIND LE , THE SHUTTLE AND , THE
NEE D LE .

T HE RE was once a girl whose father and

mother died while she was still a little child .

All alone in a small house at the end of the

,

vi llage lived her Godmother wh o made a living

, ,

by spinn ing weaving and sewi n g The Old

, ,
.

wom an took the poor child to live with her ,

kept her at work and train ed her in all good

,

ways When the girl was fifteen years Old the

.
,

Old woman fell i ll ; she called the child to her

bedside and said
, ,

Dear daughter I feel my end drawing near

, .

I leave you the little house which will shield ,

you from win d and weather ; an d my spindle ,

shuttle an d needle
, with which yo u can earn
,

your bread T hen she laid her hands on the

.

i
’

g rl s head blessed her

, and said Only be , ,
”
good and all will go well with you
, .

f
At that she closed her eyes When she was .

lai d in the earth the m aide n followed the co fin

, ,

an d paid her the last mark of respect And .

n o w t h e maiden lived quite alone in the little

house and was busy all day ; she span and
, ,

wove an d sewed and the blessing of the good

, ,
208 THE SPI NDLE , SH U TTLE AND NE E DLE

f
, .

Old woman was on all she did It seemed as i .

there was always all the flax she needed when

ever sh e wove a piece of cloth or carpet or had ,

made a shirt she at once found a buyer who

,

paid her well for it ; so she was in want of

nothing and even had somethin g to share with
,

others .

About this time the son of the King was

,

traveling about the country looking for a bride .

He was not to choose a poor o n e an d did not ,

want to have a rich one SO he said

f ,
.

She shall be my wi e who is the poorest ,

and at the same t i m e the richest When he .

came to the village where the maiden lived h e ,

aske d as he did wherever he wen t who was t h e

, ,

r ichest and also the poorest girl in the place

They first named the richest ; the poorest they ,

said was the girl who lived in the small house

,

qu ite at the end of the village .

The rich girl was sitting in all her finery

before the door of her house and when the ,

Prin ce came near she got up went to meet him

, , ,

and made h im a low curtsey He looked at .

h e r said nothing and rode on

, ,
.

When he came to the house of the poor g irl ,

she was not standing at the door but sitt in g ,

in her little room He stopped his horse and

'

.
,

looked through the window on which the ,

br ight sun was shining ; there he saw the girl

sitt ing at her spinning wheel spinnin g busily
-
,
.
21 0 THE SPI NDLE , SH UTTLE , AND NEE DLE .

turned his horse about and rode back with , the

golden thread The g irl was sitting at . her
work sin ging , ,

Shu t tle , m y sh u t t le , we ave w ell t hi

s day ,

An d u i gde t h e w ooe r t o m e , I p ray

”
.

Now what do you think happened Th e

shuttle sprang out of her hand and out by t h e

f
door Once outside it began to weave a carpet
.
,

which was more beautiful than the eyes O m an

had ever yet beheld There were lilies an d .

roses on both sides of it ; and on a golde n

ground in the centre you coul d see green ,

branches and beneath hares and r abbi t s stag s ,

and deer pushed their heads in bet ween them ;

,

bright bir ds were sit ting in the branches abo ve

they looked almost ready to sing The shutt l e .

leapt hither and thither and everything seemed ,

to g row of its own accord .

As the shuttle had run away the g irl sat ,

down to sew She held the needle in her hand

.
,

and sang ,

f f
“Nee dl e m n ee n t e d an d fi
dle , sh ar p-poi ne,
, y
Pr e par e or a wooe r t his house o m in e ”
.

Then the needle leapt out of her fingers and ,

fle w everywhere about the room as quick as

lightning It was just as if un seen spirits were
.

working ; they covered tables and benches with

green cloth in an instant and the chairs with ,

velvet and h un g the win dows wi

, th silken cu r
tains .
 THE SPI NDLE , SH U TTLE , AND NE E DLE . 21 1

Hardly had the needl e

put in the last st itch
!

when the maiden saw through the win dow the

white feathers of the Prince ; the spin dle had
brought him by the golden thread He got .

down and stepped u p on the car pet into the

house ; when he went into t h e room there s t ood ,

t h e maiden in her poor clothe s but she shon e

,

out from within them like a rose surr ounded

by leaves .

Thou art t he poorest and also the richest ,

said he to her . Come with me thou shalt be ,

” ’

my bride . She did not speak but she gave ,

hi m her hand .Then he gave her a kiss led ,

her forth lifte d her on to his horse and took

, ,

h er to the royal castle ; there the weddin g w as

held with great pomp The spindle the shutt le

.
, ,

and the needle were kept in the tr easure roo m

-
,

an d held in great honor .

 THE THR EE S PINNE RS .

T HE RE was once a gir l who was idle and

would not spin and her mother say what she
, ,

would could not bring her to it A t last the

, .

mother lost her temper and beat her at which ,

the girl began to weep loudly Now at this .

very moment the Queen drove by and when sh e ,

heard the weeping she stopped her carriage ,

went into the house and asked t h e mother why

,

she was beating her daughter so that the cries

could be heard out in the road
The woman was ashamed to tell how lazy her
daughter was and said , ,

I cannot get her to leave OE spinning She .

insists on spinning for ever and ever and I am ,

”
poor and cannot get the flax for her
, Then .

the Queen answered ,

There is nothing I like better to hear than

spinning and I am never happier than when
,

the wheels are hum ming Let me have your

.

daughter with me in the palace ; I h ave flax

enough and t here she sh all spin as much as she
,

likes
.

T he mother was well pleased with this an d ,

the Queen took the girl with her When they

214 THE THRE E SPI NNE RS .

mat te r with her She told her trouble and ,

f
they said they would help her but added
I you will in vite us to the wedding not
, ,

be ashamed of us and will call us your aunts ;

,

and if you will place us at your table we will ,

spin the flax for you and that in a very short

,

time .

With all my heart she replied ; do but ,

come in and begin the work at once Then .

she let in the three strange women and clear ed ,

a place in the first room where they sat down ,

and began their spinning One drew the thread .

and trod the wheel the second wetted the ,

thr ead the third t wiste d it and stru ck t h e

, ,

table with her finger ; and as Often as she

struck it a skein of thread that was spun in
, ,

the fin est manner possible fell t o the grou nd ,

.

The girl hid the three spinners from the Que en ,

an d showed her whene ver she came the gr eat

, ,

heap of spun thread until the Queen could not

,

praise her enough When the first room was

.

empty she went to the second and at last t o t he ,

third and that too was quickly clear ed Then

,
.

the three women took leave and said to the ,

girl ,

D O not forget w hat you have promised u s ,

”
it will make your fortune .

When the maiden showed the Queen t he

empty rooms and the great heap of yarn sh e
, ,

gave orders for the wedding Her son was .

 THE THRE E SPI NNE RS . 215

glad that he was to have such a clever and hard

working wife and praised her well
,
.

”
I have three aunts said the girl and as
, ,

they have been very kind to me I should not ,

like to forget the m in my good fortune ; let me

ask them to the wedding and let them sit with ,

us at table . The Quee n and the bridegroom

said
,

Why not ? SO when the feast began the ,

three women entered in st range dress and t he ,

bride said ,

Welcome dear aunts

, .

”
Ah,
said the bridegroom how do you
come by these o dious friends He went to
the one with t h e broad flat foot and said , ,

How do y ou come by such a broad foot

”
By treading she answered by treading
, , .

Then the bridegroom went to the second and

sai d
,

How do y ou come by your falling lip

”
By licking she answered
, by licking , .

Then he asked the third ,

How do you come by your broad thumb

By twisting the thread she answered by
”
, ,

twistin g the thread On this the King s son

.
’

took fright and said ,

Neither now nor ever shall my beaut iful

”
-
bride touch a spinning wheel A nd thus she .

got rid of the hateful flax spinning

- .
 HANS EL AND GRETH EL .

HARD by a great forest dwelt a poor wood

cutter with his wife and the two children he had
before he married his wife The boy was called
.

Hansel and the girl Grethel T he wood cutt er- .

had little to bite and to break and once when a ,

great famin e fell on the land he could no longer

get daily bread Now when he thought over
.

this by night in his bed and tossed about in his

,

trouble he groaned and said to his wi e

, ,
f
,

What is to become of us How are we to

feed our poor children when we no longer have
,

anything even for ourse lves

I ll tell you what husband answered t h e
’
, ,

woman early to morrow morning we will take

-

the children out into the woods where it is t h e

thickest ; there we will light a fire for them and ,

g ive each of them one piece of bread more and ,

then we will go to ou r work and leave them

alone They will not find the way home again
.
,

and we shall be rid of them .

”
No wife said the m an “ I wi ll not do
, , ,

that how can I bear to leave my children alone

in the woods the wild beasts would soon
come and tear them to pieces .
21 8 HANSE L AND GRE THE L .

before then for you will get nothing else

,
.

Grethel took the bread un der her apron as ,

f
Han sel had the stones in his pocket Then .

they all se t out toge ther on the way to the o r

e st
. When they had walked a short time Han ,

sel stood still and peeped back at the house and ,

di d so again and again His father said .

,

Hansel what are you looking at there and

,

stayi ng behind for Mind what you are about ,

and do not forget h o wto use your legs ”

.

”
Ah father said Hansel I am lookin g at
, , ,

my little white cat which is sittin g up on t h e

,

f
”
roof and wants t o say good by to me
,
- The .

wie said ,

Fool that is n ot your little cat ; that is t he

,
”
morning sun which is shining on the chimneys .

Hansel however had n ot been lookin g back at

, ,

the cat but had been throwing one aft er another

,

of the white pebble stones out of his pocket on

-

the road When they had reached the middle

.

of the forest the father said

, ,

Now children pile up some wood an d I

, , ,

will light a fi re that you may not be cold .

Hansel and Grethel drew brushwood together

till it was as high as a little h ill The brush .

wood was lighted and when the flames were

,

burning very high the woman said ,

Now childr en lie down by the fire and r est ;

, ,

we will g o into the forest and cut some wo o d .

When we have don e we will come back an d ,

”
fetch you away .
 HANSE L AND GRE THE L . 21 9

Hansel and Grethel sat by the fire and when ,

n oon came each ate a litt le piece of bread and

, ,

as they heard the strokes of the wood axe they

-

were sure their father was near But it was not .

the axe it was a branch which he had tied to a

,

dry tree and the wind was blowing it backward

,

and forward A s they had been sitting such a

.

lo ng time they were tired their eyes shut and , ,

they fell fast asleep When at last they awoke

.
,

it was dark night Grethel began to cry and

.
,

said,

How are we to get out O the forest n ow f

But Han se l comforted her and said , ,
“Just wait a lit tle unti
l the moon has risen, ,
”
and then we will soon find the way And .

when the full moon had risen Hansel took his ,

little sister by the hand and followed the p eb ,

bles which shone like bright silver pieces and

, ,

showed them the way .

They walked the whole night long and by ,

break of day came once more to their father s ’

house They knocked at the door and when

.
,

the woman open ed it and saw that it was Hansel

and Grethel Sh e said , ,

You naughty children why have you slept ,

so long in the forest we thought you were

”
never coming back at all ! The father how ,

e ver was glad for it had cut him to the heart to

, ,

leave them behind alone .

Not long after there was once more a gre at

,
220 HANSE L AND GRE THE L .

lack of food in all parts and the children heard

,

f
the woman saying at nigh t to t heir father ,

Everything is eaten again we have one hal

loaf left and afte r that there is an end The
, .

children must go ; we will take them farther into

the wood so that they will not find their way
,

out again ; there is no other means of saving

”
ourselves ! T he man s heart was heavy and ’

he thought ,

It would be better to share our last m outhful

with the children ”
The wom an however woul d
.
, ,

listen to nothin g he had to say but scolded him , .

He who says A must say B too and as he had , ,

given way the first t im e he had to do so a ,

second time also .

The children were still awake and had heard

the talk When the old folks were asleep Han
.
,

sel again got up and wanted to go out and pick

,

up pebbles but the woman had locked the door

, ,

and he could not get out SO he comforte d his .

little sister and said

, ,

DO not cry Grethel ; go to sleep quietly t h e

, ,
”
good God will help us .

Early in the mornin g came the woman an d ,

took the children out of their beds Their bit .

of bread was given to them b ut it was still ,

smaller than the time before On the way into .

the forest Hansel crumbled his in his pocke t ,

and ofte n stood st ill and threw a morsel on t h e

g round.
222 HANSE L AND GRE THE L .

the woods an d fields had picked them all u p .

Hansel said t o Grethel ,

We shall soon fin d the way but they did ,

not fin d it They walke d the whole night an d

.

all the next day too from morning till even ing , ,

but they did not get out of the forest ; they

were very hun g ry for they had nothing to eat,

but two or thr ee berries which grew on t he ,

gro u nd And as they were so tired that their

.

leg s would carry them no longer they lay down ,

under a tr e e and fell asleep .

It was now three mornin g s since they h ad

left th eir father s house T hey began to walk
’
.

f
again but they always got dee per into the
,

forest and i help did not come soon they must

, ,

di e of hunger and weari n ess When it was .

mi dday they saw a beautiful sn ow white bird

,
-

sitt ing on a bough It sang so sweetly that .

they stood still and listened to it And when .

it had done it spread its wing s and flew away

,

before them and they followed it until they

,

reached a little house on the roof of which it ,

perched ; and when they came quite up to the

litt le house they saw that it was built of bread
,

f
and covered with cakes but that t h e windows ,

were O clear sugar .

We will set to wor k on that said Han se l , ,

and have a good meal I will eat a bit of the .

roof and you Grethel can eat some of the

, , ,
”
window it will taste sweet
, Hansel reached .
 HANSE L AND GRE THE L 223

f
.

u
p ,and broke o E a little O the roof to t r
y how
it taste d and Grethel leant against t h e window
,

an d nibbled at the panes .

Then a soft voice cried from the room ,

Nibble , b g w
n i b le , na ,

W ho i
s n bbli g at m y litt l
i n e ho use

The children ans wered ,

Th e win d t h e win d
, ,

Th e win d fr om h e ave n ,

an d went on eat ing Hansel who thought t he .

,

roof taste d very nice tore down a great piece of ,

it and Grethel pushed out the whole of one

round window pane sat down and went to eat
-
, ,

ing it .

All at once the door Opened and a very very , ,

Old woman who leaned on cr u tches came creep

, ,

ing out Hansel and Grethel were so scared

.

that they let fall what they had in their hands .

The Old woman however nodded her head and , , ,

said ,

Oh you dear children who has brought

, ,

ou here Do come in and stay with me No

y ,
.

”
harm shall happen to you Sh e took them both .

by the hand and led them into her little house

, .

Then good food was set before them milk and ,

pancakes with sugar apples and nuts After

, , ,
.

wards t wo pretty litt le beds were covered with

clean white linen and Hansel and Grethel lay ,

down in them and thought they were in heaven

,
.

The Old woman had only pretended t o be so

224 HANSE L AND GRE THE L .

kin d ; she was in realit y a wicked witch who ,

lay in wait for c hildre n and had only built t h e

,

little bread house in order to coax them there .

Early in the morning before the chil dren ,

were awake she was already up and when she

, ,

saw both of them sleeping and looking so

prett y with th eir plu m p red ch eeks sh e mut
, ,

t e r e d to herself ,

That will be a dain ty mouthful ! The n

”

she seized Hansel carried him into a lit tle st a

,

ble and sh ut him in behind a grated door He

,
.

might scream as he liked it was of no use , .

Then she went to Grethel shook her t ill she ,

awoke and cried

, ,

Get up lazy thing ; fetch some water and

, ,

cook something good for your brother ; he is

in the stable outside and is to be made fat
, .

”
When he is fat I will eat him ,
Grethel be .

gan to weep but it was all in vain ; she was

,

forced to do what the wicked witch told her .

A nd now the best food was cooked for poor

Hansel but Grethel got nothing but crab shells
,
- .

Every morn ing the woman crept to the little

stable and cried
, ,

Hansel stretch out your finger that I may

,

fee l if you will soon be fat Hansel however , ,

stretched out a little bone to her and the old ,

woman who h ad dim eyes could not see it ; she

, ,

tho u ght it was Han sel s finger and wondered

’

why he grew no fatter When four weeks had

.
226 HANSE L AND GRE THE L .

and she crept u pand thr ust her head into t h e

oven Then Grethel gave her a push that
.

drove her far into it and shut the ir on door , ,

tight .

Grethel ran as quick as lightn in g to Hansel ,

Opened hi s little stable and cried Hansel we , , ,

f
”
are saved ! The Old witch is dead ! T hen
Hansel sprang out like a bird rom its cage
when the door is Opened for it How they did .

dance about and kiss each other And as they

had no longer any need t o fear her they went ,

into the witch s house and in every corner’

there st o od chests full of pearls and jewels .

”
These are far bett er than pebbles ! said
Hansel an d filled his pockets and Gr ethel said
, , ,
”
I too will take something home with me
, , ,

and filled her pinafore full .

But now we will go away said Hansel

f
, ,
”
that we may get out of the witch s forest ’
.

When they had walked or two hour s they ,

came to a g reat piece of water We cannot .

”
get over said Hansel ; I se e no foot plank
,
-
,

and no bridge .

And no boat crosses either answered , ,

f
Grethel but a white duck is swim ming there
,

i I ask her she w

”
ill help us over
,
Then sh e .

cried ,

Litt le du ck, li
f
tt le du ck , dost t h ou se e ,
Han se l an d Gr e t h e l are wait in or t h ee
g
’
b g
Th e r e s n e ve r a plan k or r i d e i n si h t , g
Take u s ac r oss on t hy ac k so w
b hite
”
.
 HANSE L AND GRE THE L . 227

T he duck came to them and Han sel sat on ,

its back and told his sister to sit by h im

,
.

NO replied Grethel
”
,
that will be t oo
,

heavy for the little duck ; she shall take us

”
across one after the other
, The good little
.

duck did so and when they were once safely

,

ac ross and had walked for a short time they ,

knew where they were and at last they saw

,

from afar their father s house ’

.

Then they began to run rushed in and threw

, ,

themselves into their father s arm s The m an ’

.

had not known one happy hour since he had

left the children in the forest ; the wom an how ,

ever was dead Grethel emptied her pinafore

,
.

until pearls and precious stones ran about the

room and Hansel thre wone handful after an
,

other out of his pocket to add to them Then .

all care was at an end and they li ved happi

,
ly
together ever after .

My tale is done ; there runs a mouse whoso

ever catches it may make himself a big u r cap f
out of it .
 RUM PELSTILTSKIN .

ONC E there was a poor Mi ller who had a ,

beautiful daughter Now it h appened that h e

.

had to go and spe ak to the King and in orde r ,

to be well thought of he said to the King

, ,

I h ave a daughter who can spin str aw in to

gold The King said to the Miller ,

That is an art which pleases me well if

your daughter is as clever as you say bring he r ,

to morrow to my palace and I will try what sh e

-
,
”
can do .

When the girl was brought to him he took

her into a room which was full of straw gave ,

her a spinning wheel and a reel and said

-
, ,

-
Now set to work and if by to morrow m om
,

ing early you have not spun this straw into gold ,

you must die . Then be locked up the room ,

and left her in it alone SO there sat the p oor

.

Miller s daughter and for her life could not te ll

’
,

what to do ; she had no idea how st raw c oul d

be spun into gold and she grew m ore and more
,

sad unti
, l at last she began to weep .

All at once the door opened and in cam e a ,

little man and said

, ,
280 R UMPE LS TI L TSKI N .

sight bu t st ill he had not gold enough ; and

,

f
he had the Miller s daughter taken in t o a still
’

large r room full O straw an d sai d , ,

f
You must Spin this too in the course of
, ,

wife .
”
f
this night but i y ou su cceed you shall be my
Even i Sh e be a Mi ller s daughter
thought he I co uld not find a richer wife in
,
’
,

,
”
the whole world .

When the girl was alone t h e little m an came

ag ain for the third t ime and said , ,

W hat will you give me if I Spin the straw

for you this time also
I have nothing left that I could give an ,

f
sw e r e d the girl .

Then promise me i you should become

,
”
Q ueen yo ur first child
, .

Who knows if that will ever happen

th ought the Miller s daughter ; and not kn ow
’

in
g how else to help herself She to ld the li
,
ttle

m an he should have what he wante d and for ,

that he once more Spun the straw in to gold .

And when the King came in the mornin g ,

an d found all as he had wished he marri ed h er , ,

and the pretty Miller s dau ghter be came a

’

Queen .

A year after She had a beautiul child an d

, f ,

she n e ver gave a thought t o the lit t le m an .

But all at once he came into her room and sai d , ,

f
Now g ive me what you said you would .

The Queen was in terror and o ere d the lit tle

,
 R UMPE LSTI L TSK I N . 231

m an allthe riches of the kingdom if he would

leave her the child But he said .
,

NO something that is living is dearer to me

,

than all the treasures in the world Then the .

Queen began to weep so that the little m an

,

f
”
pitied her .I will g ive you t hree days time ’

said he i by that time y ou find out my name ,

”
then shall you keep your child .

SO t he Q ueen thought the whole night long

of all the names she had ever heard and Sh e ,

sent over the country to ask far and wide for , ,

any other names there m ight be When the .

little man came the next day Sh e said all the

, ,

names Sh e knew one after another ; but to

,

every on e the little m an said ,

”
That is not my name On the second day
.

the man she had sent over the country came

back with all the names he could find she said
over the strange ones to the little man .

Perhaps your name is Sh or t ribs or Sheep ,

shanks or Laceleg ? but he always answered

, ,

That is not my name .

On the thir d day the man she had sent out

came back again and said , ,

I have not been able to find a single new

name but as I came to a high mountain at the
,

end of the wood where the Fox and the Hare

,

bid each other good night there I saw a little

-
,

house and before the house a fire was burning ,

and round about the fire a queer little m an

232 R UMPE LSTI L TSK I N .

was jumping he hopped upon one leg ,

TO-d ay I bk
a e, b w
t o-m orr o w re ,

Th e I 11 have t h e oun
n e xt
’
y gQ
ue e n
’
ld.
s c hi

Ha lad am I t hat n o on e kn e w
g
That Ru m pe lst i
lt ski
n I am st le d
y .

You m ay thin k how glad the Queen was

when she heard the n am e ! A nd when soon
aft e r the little man came in an d asked , ,

Now Mistress Queen what is my name

, ,

at first she said ,

Is your name Conrad

”
No
.

Is your name Har ry

NO.
”

Perhaps your n ame is R umpelstiltskin

Who has told you that who has told you
that cried the lit tle man and in his anger h e
,

drove his right foot SO deep into the earth that

his whole leg went in ; and then i n rage he
pu lled at his left leg so hard with both hands
that he tore himself in two .
234 THE W ONDE RF L U M USI CI AN .

Lo ok said the Musician if you will learn

, ,
”
t o fid dle put your fore paws into this crack
,
- . .

The Wolf obeyed but the Musician quickly ,

picked up a stone and with one blow wedged the

’
Wolf s two paws so fast that he was forced to
stay there li ke a prisoner .

St ay there un til I come back again said ,

the Musician and went his way After a while

, .

he again said to himself ,

Time begins to pass Slowly with me here in

the woods I will fetch hither another com
”
rade and to ok his fiddle and again played
,

the woods It was not long before a Fox came

.

creeping through the trees toward him .

Ah there s a Fox coming ! said the Musi

,
’

”
oi
’
an . I don t want him The Fox came up .

t o him an d said ,

Oh dear Musician how finely you play ! I

, ,

should like to learn that too ,

.

”
That is soon learnt said the Musician ,
”
you have only to do all I bid you .

Oh Musician then said the Fox I will

,
“
, ,
”
Obey you as a scholar obe s his maste r
y .

”
Follow me said the Musician ; and when
,

they had walked a part of the way they came ,

to a foo t path with high bushes on both Side s

,

of it There the Musician stood still and from

.
,

one Side bent a young hazel bu sh down to t he

-

groun d and put his foot on the top of it ; then

,

e bent down a young tree from the other side

well and said, ,
 THE W ONDE RF UL M USI CI AN 235

f
.

Now little Fox i you wi

,
ll learn somethin g ,
”
give me your left front paw The Fox obeyed .
,

and the Musician fastened h is paw to the left

”
bough .Little Fox said he now reach me , ,
”
your right paw and he tied it to the right
,

bo u gh When he had looked to see if they

.

were firm enou gh he let go and the bushes , ,

sprang up again and jerked up the little Fox

, ,

so that it hung strugglin g in the air .

“Wait there ti ll I come back again said the ,

Musician and went his way Again he said to

,
.

him self ,

Time begins to pass slowly with me here in

the wo o ds ; I will fetch hither another com
”
rade so he took his fiddle and the sound
, ,

echoed through the woods The n a little Hare .

came springing toward him .

Why a Hare is coming said the Musician ;

, ,

I do not want him ”

.

A h dear Musician said the Hare

,
h ow , ,

finely you fiddle ; I too sho uld like to learn , ,

that.

That is soon learnt said the Mu sician ; ,

”
you have only to do all I bid you .

Oh Musician replied the little Hare I

, , ,

will Obey you as a scholar obeys his master .

They went a part of the way together until they

came to an Open space in the woods where stood ,

an aspen tr ee The M u sician tied a long string

-
.

’
rou nd the little Hare s neck the other en d of ,

which he fastened to the t ree .

236 THE W OND E RF L HUSI CI AN U I .

Now briskly litt le Hare r un twenty tim es

, ,
”
ro u nd the t ree ! cried the Musician and the ,

litt le Hare obeyed and when it h ad r un round

,

twenty times it had twiste d the st ring twenty

tim es ro u nd the t runk of the tree ; and the little
Hare was caught and let it pull and t ug as it
,

liked it only made the stri

, ng cut into its te nder
neck .

Wait there t ill I come back said the Musi ,

oian and went onward

, .

The Wolf in the mean t ime had pushed and

, ,

p ulled and bitt en at the stone and had worked ,

'

SO long that he had set his feet at libert y and

had drawn them once more out of the cleft .

Full of anger and rage he hu rr ied aft er the

Musician and wanted to tear him to pieces .

When the Fox saw him running he began t o ,

lament and cried with all his m ight

, ,

Brother Wolf come to my help the Mu si

,

oian has betrayed me ! The Wolf drew down

the little t ree bit the cord in two and freed the
, ,

Fox who went with him to take revenge on t h e

,

Musician T he y found the tied upHare and

.
-
,

they set him free ; then they all sought the

enemy together .

T he Musician had once more played his fiddl e

as he went on his way and this tim e he had ,

been more fortun ate The sound reached the .

e ars of a poor Wood-cutter who at once , ,

whether he wo ul d or no gave up his work and ,

 THE QUEEN BE E .

Two o of a King once went out t o see t h e

s ns

world They fell into such a wild way of liv

.

in
g that they never came home aga i
n Ther e .

was still a third son who was called Sim pleton

, ,

and he set out to seek his brothers He foun d .

them at last but they mocked him for thin kin g

,

that such a sim ple fellow as he could get through

the world when they two could not make their
,

way and yet were SO much cleverer

,
.

They all three set forth on a new journey ,

and came to an ant hill The t wo elder wante d

- .

to dest roy it to see the little ants creeping about

,

in th eir te r ror and carrying their eggs away

, ,

but S impleto n said ,

Leave the creatures in peace I will not let

f
”
you disturb them Then they went on till they
.

came to a lake on which a great number o

,

ducks were swimming The t wo brothers wante d .

to catch a couple and roast them but Simpleto n ,

would not agree and said , ,

Leave the creatures in peace ; I will not let

”
you kill them At last they Came to a bee S
.
’

nest in which there was SO much honey that it

,

r
an out of the trun k of the tree where it w as .
 THE Q UE E N BE E . 239

The t wo wanted to m ake a fire under t he tree ,

and stifle the bees then they could take away

the honey but Simpleton again stopped them
, ,

and said ,

Leave the creatures in peace ; I will not let

you burn them At last the two brothers cam e
to a castle where stone horses were stan din g in
the stables and no human bein g was to be seen ;
,

they went thr ough all the halls until qu ite at ,

the end they came to a door in which were

,

three locks In the middl e of t h e door there

.

was a little pane through which they could see

,

into the room .

There they sawa little gray man who was sit ,

ting at a table They called him once twice

.
, , ,

but he did not hear at last they called him for

the third time ; then he got up opened the ,

locks, and came out He sai d nothing but led.

,

them to a table se t with all manner of dishes ,

and when they had eaten and drunk he t ook ,

each of them to a bedroom .

Next mornin g the little gray m an came to the

eldest nodded to him and led him to a stone
,

ta ble on which were writ ten three tasks ; i he

,

could do these the castle could be set free for

,

f
, ,

it was enchante d The fi r st was that in the

.
,

wood beneath the m oss lay a thousand pearls

, , ,

u , and i by f
belonging to a prin cess ; these must be picked
p sunset one single pearl was mis s

ing he who had looked for them wou ld be

,

turned to stone .
240 THE U
Q E EN BEE .

The eldest went thither and sought the whol e ,

day but when it cam e to an end he had fo u n d

, ,

only one hundred and what was writte n on t h e

,

table came to pass and he was changed into,

stone .

Next day the second brother tr ied his hand

,

but it did not fare much bett er with him than

with the eldest ; he did n ot find more than t wo
hundred pearls and was changed to stone
,
.

At last the turn came to Sim pleton who also ,

sought in the moss It was however so hard .

, ,

to find the pearls and he got on so slowly that

, ,

he sat down on a stone and wept And while ,

.

he was thus Sittin g the King of the ants whose

, ,

life he had once saved came with five thousand ,

ants and before long the litt le creatures had

,

got all the pearls together and laid them in a ,

heap .

The second task was to fetc h out of the lake

the key of the bedchamber O the King s f ’

daughter When Simpleton came to the lake

.
,

the ducks which he had saved swam u pto him ,

dived down and brought the key out of the

,

water .

But the third task was the most dificult The f .

King had three daughters who Slept side by

Side he must point out the youngest and dear
est Now they looked exactly alike and were
.
,

only to be told apart by their havin g eat en diEer

e n t sweetmeats before they fell asleep the eldest
 aye 161 11215102 fi
'

G 19 sub i eaber
"
3 13 e .

1 6 m o, 2 0 5p ag e s, i
n st r o n g pp
a e r c o ve r s, wit h clo t h

f
back, 2 5 c e n t s ; i
n st ro n g c lo t h n di
bi n g , 30 ce n t s

(Public/zed as p
S al
eci Nu m be r K o t be River sid e
Lit e r at a r e Se r ies ) .

F UND AME NTA L I D E AS

f
.

I Tlze ld
elzi m ust a i
nk i
n t elli
g e n t b
ly e or e Ire ca n

f
.

r ea

2 . TIze end q le ar n i
n g t o r ea d i
s to r ea d g r eat books .

Th e se i de as are de ve lo p e d by var i ou s de vi ce s n e wan d

o ld .Th e m an y w e ll-gr ad e d , i n t e re st i n g, i n st ru c t ive , an d
t ho u gh t p r ovo k i
- n g e xe rc i se s, t o ge t h e r w it h t he Si le n t
Re ad i n g Le sso n s, t e ac h t h e p u i

att e m p t s t o re ad alo u d
p l
Th e in t r o duc t i
t o t h
on o w
in k b e f o

f
re h e

o r ds fo u n d

f
.

i n si m p le li
de al o t h e li
r e ad gr e at b oo k s
t e r at u re o c h i f
t e r at u r e an d t h e le sso n s c o n t ai

Th e m an y m axi
.
ni n g a goo d

ld h oo d p r e p ar e t he p u p i
m s, sh o rt say i
l to
n gs,

rh y m e s, p oe m s, st or i

t h e b oo k w
Th e c hi ld i
ill m ake i
s here gi
f f
e s, fab le s, an d fo lk st or i
t o ext r e m e i
ve n m an y o t h o se st o r i
e s gi
n t e re st t o c h i

es w hi
ve n i
ld re n
ch h e
n
.

h as h e re t o for e h ad t o ld h i m b u t h as n e ve r b e fore h ad
,

g iv e n h im i n s u c h a s h ap e t h at h e c o u ld re ad t h e m .

Th i s i s t h e o n ly r i
e ad n g -bo o k t h at a c h ild will n e e d

f
.

I t fo r m s an ad m i r ab le st e pp i n g st o n e t o t he Ri
- ve r si de
Li t e r at u r e Se r i es Th o se b o o k s in t h e Se ri
. e s or w hi ch
t h e Pr i m e r an d Re ade r m ay b e r e gar d e d as an i m m e di at e

p r e p a r a t ion a r
V e r se an d Pro se or Be gi
Gr i
e F a b le s
f
an d F o lk
n n e rs i

m m s Ge r m an Ho use h o ld Tale s (No s 1 0 7

’
S t or ie
n Re ad m
s
( N
g
o s

(N
4
o
7,

an d
.

f f
.
,

Han s An de rse n s St o r i e s (No s Aft e r t h e se

’

49,

f
.

b oo k s h ave b e e n re ad, t h e c h o ice o t h e t e ac h e r is le ss

r e st r ic t e d , an d an y o n e o se ve r al n u m b e r s o t h e Ri ve r
si d e Li t e r at ur e Se r i e s m ay b e t ak e n u p i w
t h advan t age .

HO UG HTO N MI FFL I N , C OMP A NY,

4 PARK ST RE ET, BOSTON ; 11 EAST 1 7 T H STRE ET, NEW YORK ’

- 8
8 8W ABASH AV E NUE, C HI C AGO
37 3 .
 To F OLLO W THE RI VE RSI D E PRI MER AND READ ER .

FABLES AND FOLK STORI ES .

C h osen an d Phrase d HORACE E 800 a . zoo pag es , 1 6m o,

clo bi
n di
n g , 40 ce n ts, n et .

will be sen t to
TABLE OF C ONTENTS .

Part I (Ri
ve rsi t e rat ure Se r i
de Li . es, No .

t tle One Eye Li

Li tt le T o Eyes, w and F ’
Th e arm er s Sons.
Li tt le Three yes Th e Fox i n t he W ell .

T h e Tw
.

T ?h!!
e C rab an o th er
h
. o
c an l e ros e Puss i n Boot s
F
. .

Th e armer and the St ork .

Th e Crow t h e Pi tch er
F
A C ou n tr y e llowan d the
.

The Elve s and t he Shoemaker .

Th e Ass i n t h e Li
’
on s Skin . Tom Th um b .

Be lli
n t he Cat .

Th e Boy and the Net tle Th e and the C a

f
. .

T h e D og i n t h e Mang e r Mil er , h is Son , and t h

T h e Boy w
.

h o sto le Ap ples. Th e W ol i n She ep

’
s C lot hing .

Han s in Luck Th e Arab an d h i s C am e l

F
. .

The Li on an d t h e Mou se . Th e i sh erman an d t he Sp rat .

Th e Li o n an d t h e Be ar The Tort oi se an d t h e Hare

f
. .

T h e Hu nt er an d t h e W oodcut ter Th e Reeds an d t h e Oak

The C o un t ry Mouse an d t he Tow
. .

Th e D O an d t h e W ol House
f
. n
t h e Bean - Stalk h e Gnat an d t h Bu l
g é
an .
e .

W ol an d t he Goat . mderella ; or l he las Sli pp

cs
The Fox an d t he Li
.

T he Stag and t h e Lion . on .

Par t I I (Ri
versi
de Lit e r at ur e Se ri
. e s, NO .

The 81 fi Bu n t h e W ood
i The Tortoi se an d t h e Eag le
g g
n
ot w i an Eag le s Arro w
.

Th e W hi
’
t e Cat

f Th e ackdawand t he Doves.
. .

Th e Fox an d t he Stork
en dt hrit and t h e Sw allow {
Th e tare s an d t h e rog s F
.

The Sp
F
.

Apt an d t h e Grassh op p Th e o u r Bulls an d th e Li

f
er . on .

Th e Lion an d th e Fox The Con n Maid and her Milk-Pail

fe f
. .

Th e W ol an d t he Sh e p herd Th e Li e Ass, and t h Fox

f
on,
e
F
.

F
.

lies an d t h e Pot o Ho m . Th e ishe rman and h i s W ie

Th e Cat , t h e Mon key , and t h e hest nu ts
.

. Th e K id and t h e W ol .

Th e Fox t hat lost h i s Tai l Tit Cat , t h e W easel, an d t h e Young Rab !

;
.

Di ck W h it t in g t o n an d his Cat . l It .

The Trave le rs an d t h e Bear . The W oman an d h er Mai ds.

Th e W olves an d t he She e Th e Traveli n g Mu si cian s .

T he Lark an d h er Youn g es . Th e Ki t e an d t he Pi g eons .

Beaut y an d t he Beast Th e C at an d t h e Mice

f
. .

T h e Lion i n Love

f
.

Th e Travele r an d t he Vi p er . Th e W o l an d t he C ran e .

Th e W ol an d t he Lam b .

The Tr avele rs and t he Axe .

HOU GHTON MI FFLI N AND C OM PANY , ,

4 PA RK S TRE E T, B OS TON ; u E A S T 1 7 TH S TRE E T, NE W YORK

8
3 7 3 8 W A B A SH A VE N UE , CHI CA GO
-8 .
 c ue e n emas itt erat urz 5 mm .

( Con tin u ed )
E ach ng le n u mber ,
r eg u ar si l pp a er , 15 cent s .

B Se ll a, Th an at o p
f O t h e r Po e m "
an d
’ t
3 r y an t s sis, s.
8 Sh ak e sp e ar e s M e r c h an t o
’
en i ce THURB E B V ‘

B k
. .

W e b st e r s F ir st e r Hill Or atio n , an d t h e Or at i on On A d am a
’
8
5
un
an d J e fl e r so n
k
.

l
i Dic e n s s C h r ist m as
’

58 D ic k e n s s C r ic e t o n t h e He ar t h k
fB
’

V
.
.

e r se an d Pr o se eg i n n e rs i n R e ad i
!
o
Uc or ng

f
.

60 , 61 Th e Sir R o g e r d e C o ve r l e y P ap er s In t o p ar t s I w
fw f
.

k
. .

J o h n F is e s W ar o I n d e p
3
en d en ce
’
62 . .

63 L o n g e llo ’
s P au l B e v e r e s R id e ,
’
Ot h e r Poe m s .

k M
.

64, 65, 66 T ale s ro m Sh a e sp

. e ar e Edit e d b y CHARL E S an d .
ARY
Lu n a I n t h r ee p ! Also , in on e volum e , lm en , 50 cen
67 Sh a e spk
.

e ar e ’s J
ar t s
u li u s C e sar i "
.

f
V
.
.

68 G ol d sm it h s De se r t e d ll ag e , Th e Tr ave ll e r , e t c !
i
’

w w
f
.

69 Ha t h o rn e s Old Man se , an
’
d A F e M asse s "

f f
. .

70 . A S e l e c ti on i r o m W h i tt ie r
’
s C h il d L i e in P o e t r y " .

71 . A Se l e c t io n ro m W h it tie r s C ’
h il d L i e i n Pr o se " .

72 . Milt on s L All e g r o , I l Pe n se r o so , C o m u s, L y c id as, e t c "

’ ’
.

73 Te n n y son s E n oc h A r d e n , an d Ot h e r Po e m s
’

w
. .

74 Gr ay s E l e g y , e t c
’
Co p e r s J o h n Gi
’
lp i
n , e tc

f
. . .

75 Sc u d d e r s G e o r g e W ash in g t o n
’

w
. .

76 W or d s o r t h s On t h e I n t im atio n s o I m m or t ality , e t c
’

f
. .

77 B ur n s s C o t t e r s Sat u r d ay Ni
’ ’
g h t , an d O t h e r Poe m s
V
f
. .

78 G ol d sm it h s ’
ic ar o W ak e fie l d §

f
. .

79 . L am b s O l d C h in a, an d Ot h e r E ssay s o E lia
’
.

80 C o l e r id g e s Bim e o
’
t h e A n cie n t M ar in e r , an d Ot h e r Poe m s

f kf
C am p b e ll s L o c h ie l s W ar n in g , an d Ot h e r Po e m s
’ ’
.

8
1 . Ho l m e s s A u t o cr at o t h e
’
rea ast -Tab le ( p
T r B
i le Nu m ber ,
45 .

cen ts , h ne n , 50 cen ts. )

82 H aw t h or n e s T w ic e -To l d T al e s’

f
. .

83 Ge or g e E lio t s Silas Mar n e r ’

84 D an a s T w o Y e ar s B e o r e t h e Mast
’

5 Hu g h e s s To m B r o wn s Sc h o o l D ay s
.

8 ’ ’
.

A l so ,b o u n d in lin e n ! 25 ce n t s “t 11 an d 63 in on e VOL, 40 cen t s ; li ke i se 56 . w

an d 67 , 57 an d 58 , 40 an d 69, 7 0 an d 7 1 , 7 2 an d 94 n on e vol , 40 0 m m
t Also i . . .

5 D ou ble Num be r , p ape r , 30 ce n t s , lin en , 40 cen t s .

cen t s , li
ne n , 60 ce n t s

E ! TRA NUMB E RS .

A A m e r ican A u t h or s
ti on s or t h e f t h e Bi
an d
r th d ay s o Au t h ors
C ele br at ion o y A S ff
m e s an d Sug g es
th ei
r Bi t h d
r
f
ay s . Pro
g
m
ra
“
fw B
.

B Po r t r ait s an d io g r aph ie s o 2 0 A m e r ic an A u t h o r s .

C A L on g e ll o Nig h t For Cat h olic Sch ools an d Socie t ies . .

D L it e r at u r e in Sc h oo l Es says by HORAC E E SC U E R DD
w
fw
.
.

B
.

E Har r ie t e e c h e r St o e D 1alo e s an d Sce n e s . .

F L o n g e ll o L e afl e t s ( h a D ouble Nu m ber , 30 cent s , line n ,

f
.

G W h itt ie r L e afl e t s
’
40 ce nt s ) .Poe m s an d Pr ose Passag es .

H Holm e s L e afl e t s or Re adi n g an d Re ci t at i
on
w
f
. .

L o e l l L e afl e t s .

Th e R ive r sid e Man u al or T e ac h e r s, con ta i

I ll ust r at ive Lesso n s leadi n g up t o Pr i m ar y Be ading
ni
n
F
Sr

a Nu mber )
tion s an d
g fir
K Th e Rive r sid e Pr im e r an d R e ad e r
w1t h
(Sp eci In pa er . .
p
c ove r s, clot h back , 25 ce n t s ; in st r on g li
n e n bi
ndi
ng 30 cen t s.
B k ,

Th e Rive r sid e So n g oo Con t ai

ni 1 20 Classi Am e r ican Poe ms
f
. n c
set t o St an dard Music (D ouble Number , 3 cen ts boar ds 40 cents)
we ll s
. .
, ,
Lo F ab l e (D ouble Number
’
or C r itic s . 30 ce nt s ) .
 c m lath
E c ol!r eg ular si
ng le n

RE CE N T I ssrm s .

f
s Sco t t ’
s I v an h o e .

a De R o b in so n C r u so e
oe s
’
.

w
wf
St o e s Un cl e To m s C ab in
’ ’
a .

V
wf
S i t s G ul live r s o y ag e t o L i llip
’
s ut "
’
.

“ V B
G
f
’
s S it
’
s u lli v e r s o a
y g e t o r o b d in g n ag .

H w
a t h orn e s Ho u se o
f
e
’
t h e Se ve n G abl e s .

s B
ur r ou g h s s A
’
un c h o B
H e r b s, an d Ot h e r P ap er s .

s Sh a e sp k
e ar e s As Y o u L i e I t
’
k .

f
“
a Milt o n
f
’
s P a r ad i s e L o st B ooks I I I I
-

fp
.
. .

95, 96, 97 , 98 C o o p e r s L ast o t h e Mo h ic an s I n our p

’
ar t s

f
. .

f
.

( The ou r a r ts al so boun d in on e volu m e , line n , 60 cen t s .

)
T e n n y so n s C o m irig o A r t h u r , an d O t h e r I d y lls o t h e
’
99
w
.

100 . B k
u r e s C on ci
’

“
liat io n it h t h e C ol o n ie s t e d by ROB E RT 1
Ed i .

11m m , A M . .

101 . Ho m e r s I liad
’
oo s I
“
VI ! ! I I , an d !! I
. B k
Tr an sl at . V .

b y Al e xan d e r Po p e .

Mac au lay s E say s on J oh n son an d Gold sm it h Edit e d by W

’

s
.

m u P TRE NT . .

Mac aul ay s E ssay on Milto n Edi

f
t e d b y W LLI A M P TRE N
f I
’
. .

Mac au l ay s L i e an d W r it in g s o A d d ison Edit ed by W L L

’
. I I
P TRENT
. .
’

C ar ly l e s E ssay o n
’
Edi t ed b y GE ORGE R NOT E S B ur n s. . .
’lb

k D N
f
Sh a e sp e ar e s Mac b e t h Edit ed b y RICHAR GRA T W HITE , 1
’
.

urn i sh e d W it h Addi t ional Not e s by HELEN GRAY CONE “

1 07 , 108 G r im m s G e r m an H o u se h o ld T al e s
’
W it h Not e s I n 1 .

Par t s ( Th e t w
. .

. op ar ts also bou nd in on e volu m e, li nen , 40 cent s ) .

t e d by W I LL IAM VAU H Moo n G N

B
f
1 09 . un y an s Pi
’
l g r im s Pr o g r e ss E di
’
.

1 10 . D e Q u in c e y s Flig h t o
’
a Tar t ar Tr ib e E dit e d b y MI L J .
'

HAI c E T Tun a W ith an I n t rod u ct ion , Not e s, an d Map‘

f
. .

1 11 Te n n y son s Pr in c e ss Ed i t e d b y W J ROLFE W it h cop ious N4

’
. . . .

an d Nu m er ous I llu st r at ion s (D ou ble Nu m ber , 30 cen ts Also, an Rol e s

’
. . .

d e n t s Sen es, clot h , t o Teach er s, 5 3 cen t s )

’
.

1 12 V ir g i l s E n e id
’
oo s I -II I B k
Tr an slat ed b y CHRI STOPHE R PM

f f
. . .
.

C BANCH W it h an I n t r odu ct ion an d Not e s

. .

113 Poe m s ro m t h e W r iti ng s o R alp h W al d o E m e r son Ed it .

“
.

on an d Note s,
W it h an I n t r od u ct i by G l oria ! H Bno m . .

k k w
1 14 Old Gr e e Fol St o r ie s Told An e by JOSE PH E PR E SJ
f IN '
. .

W ith an I n dex o My t h olog y Su pple m en t ary t o Nos 1 7 an d

52 355
1 31111 0 . .

an

1 15 Th e Pie d Pip er OiHam e li n , an d Ot h e r Poe m s By ROB E R T BROt

’
. .

me W ith a Biog r ap
. hical Ske t c h an d Not e s .

k
116 Sh a
f p
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1 1 7 , 1 18 St o r ie s t o m t h e A r ab ian Nig h t s W it h an I n t roduct or y N7 .

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HOUGHTON, MI FFLI N AND C OMPANY .