Grimm fairy tales

Its skin is fur of a thousand different kinds,but it is lying asleep.” Said the King, “See if you can catch it alive, and thenfasten it to the carriage, and we will take it with us.” Whe

GRIMM FAIRY-TALES

Author: The Brothers Grimm

Source: http://www.grimmstories.com/ eBook created (18/01/‘16): QuocSan

All-kinds-of-fur (Allerleirauh)

There was once on a time a King who had a wife with golden hair, and shewas so beautiful that her equal was not to be found on earth It came to passthat she lay ill, and as she felt that she must soon die, she called the King andsaid, “If thou wishest to marry again after my death, take no one who is notquite as beautiful as I am, and who has not just such golden hair as I have:this thou must promise me.” And after the King had promised her this sheclosed her eyes and died

For a long time the King could not be comforted, and had no thought oftaking another wife At length his councillors said, “There is no help for it,the King must marry again, that we may have a Queen.” And nowmessengers were sent about far and wide, to seek a bride who equalled thelate Queen in beauty In the whole world, however, none was to be found,and even if one had been found, still there would have been no one who hadsuch golden hair So the messengers came home as they went

Now the King had a daughter, who was just as beautiful as her deadmother, and had the same golden hair When she was grown up the Kinglooked at her one day, and saw that in every respect she was like his latewife, and suddenly felt a violent love for her Then he spake to hiscouncillors, “I will marry my daughter, for she is the counterpart of my latewife, otherwise I can find no bride who resembles her.” When the councillorsheard that, they were shocked, and said, “God has forbidden a father to marryhis daughter, no good can come from such a crime, and the kingdom will beinvolved in the ruin.”

The daughter was still more shocked when she became aware of herfather’s resolution, but hoped to turn him from his design Then she said tohim, “Before I fulfil your wish, I must have three dresses, one as golden asthe sun, one as silvery as the moon, and one as bright as the stars; besidesthis, I wish for a mantle of a thousand different kinds of fur and hair joinedtogether, and one of every kind of animal in your kingdom must give a piece

of his skin for it.” But she thought, “To get that will be quite impossible, andthus I shall divert my father from his wicked intentions.” The King, however,did not give it up, and the cleverest maidens in his kingdom had to weave thethree dresses, one as golden as the sun, one as silvery as the moon, and one asbright as the stars, and his huntsmen had to catch one of every kind of animal

in the whole of his kingdom, and take from it a piece of its skin, and out of

these was made a mantle of a thousand different kinds of fur At length, whenall was ready, the King caused the mantle to be brought, spread it out beforeher, and said, “The wedding shall be to-morrow.”

When, therefore, the King’s daughter saw that there was no longer anyhope of turning her father’s heart, she resolved to run away from him In thenight whilst every one was asleep, she got up, and took three different thingsfrom her treasures, a golden ring, a golden spinning-wheel, and a golden reel.The three dresses of the sun, moon, and stars she put into a nutshell, put onher mantle of all kinds of fur, and blackened her face and hands with soot.Then she commended herself to God, and went away, and walked the wholenight until she reached a great forest And as she was tired, she got into ahollow tree, and fell asleep

The sun rose, and she slept on, and she was still sleeping when it was fullday Then it so happened that the King to whom this forest belonged, washunting in it When his dogs came to the tree, they sniffed, and ran barkinground about it The King said to the huntsmen, “Just see what kind of wildbeast has hidden itself in there.” The huntsmen obeyed his order, and whenthey came back they said, “A wondrous beast is lying in the hollow tree; wehave never before seen one like it Its skin is fur of a thousand different kinds,but it is lying asleep.” Said the King, “See if you can catch it alive, and thenfasten it to the carriage, and we will take it with us.” When the huntsmen laidhold of the maiden, she awoke full of terror, and cried to them, “I am a poorchild, deserted by father and mother; have pity on me, and take me with you.”Then said they, “Allerleirauh, thou wilt be useful in the kitchen, come with

us, and thou canst sweep up the ashes.” So they put her in the carriage, andtook her home to the royal palace There they pointed out to her a closetunder the stairs, where no daylight entered, and said, “Hairy animal, therecanst thou live and sleep.” Then she was sent into the kitchen, and there shecarried wood and water, swept the hearth, plucked the fowls, picked thevegetables, raked the ashes, and did all the dirty work

Allerleirauh lived there for a long time in great wretchedness Alas, fairprincess, what is to become of thee now! It happened, however, that one day

a feast was held in the palace, and she said to the cook, “May I go up-stairsfor a while, and look on? I will place myself outside the door.” The cookanswered, “Yes, go, but you must be back here in half-an-hour to sweep thehearth.” Then she took her oil-lamp, went into her den, put off her fur-dress,

and washed the soot off her face and hands, so that her full beauty once morecame to light And she opened the nut, and took out her dress which shonelike the sun, and when she had done that she went up to the festival, andevery one made way for her, for no one knew her, and thought no otherwisethan that she was a king’s daughter The King came to meet her, gave hishand to her, and danced with her, and thought in his heart, “My eyes havenever yet seen any one so beautiful!” When the dance was over she curtsied,and when the King looked round again she had vanished, and none knewwhither The guards who stood outside the palace were called and questioned,but no one had seen her.

She had, however, run into her little den, had quickly taken off her dress,made her face and hands black again, put on the fur-mantle, and again wasAllerleirauh And now when she went into the kitchen, and was about to get

to her work and sweep up the ashes, the cook said, “Leave that alone tillmorning, and make me the soup for the King; I, too, will go upstairs awhile,and take a look; but let no hairs fall in, or in future thou shalt have nothing toeat.” So the cook went away, and Allerleirauh made the soup for the king,and made bread soup and the best she could, and when it was ready shefetched her golden ring from her little den, and put it in the bowl in which thesoup was served When the dancing was over, the King had his soup broughtand ate it, and he liked it so much that it seemed to him he had never tastedbetter But when he came to the bottom of the bowl, he saw a golden ringlying, and could not conceive how it could have got there Then he orderedthe cook to appear before him The cook was terrified when he heard theorder, and said to Allerleirauh, “Thou hast certainly let a hair fall into thesoup, and if thou hast, thou shalt be beaten for it.” When he came before theKing the latter asked who had made the soup? The cook replied, “I made it.”But the King said, “That is not true, for it was much better than usual, andcooked differently.” He answered, “I must acknowledge that I did not make

it, it was made by the rough animal.” The King said, “Go and bid it come uphere.”

When Allerleirauh came, the King said, “Who art thou?” “I am a poor girlwho no longer has any father or mother.” He asked further, “Of what use artthou in my palace?” She answered, “I am good for nothing but to have bootsthrown at my head.” He continued, “Where didst thou get the ring which was

in the soup?” She answered, “I know nothing about the ring.” So the Kingcould learn nothing, and had to send her away again

After a while, there was another festival, and then, as before, Allerleirauhbegged the cook for leave to go and look on He answered, “Yes, but comeback again in half-an-hour, and make the King the bread soup which he somuch likes.” Then she ran into her den, washed herself quickly, and took out

of the nut the dress which was as silvery as the moon, and put it on Then shewent up and was like a princess, and the King stepped forward to meet her,and rejoiced to see her once more, and as the dance was just beginning theydanced it together But when it was ended, she again disappeared so quicklythat the King could not observe where she went She, however, sprang intoher den, and once more made herself a hairy animal, and went into thekitchen to prepare the bread soup When the cook had gone up-stairs, shefetched the little golden spinning-wheel, and put it in the bowl so that thesoup covered it Then it was taken to the King, who ate it, and liked it asmuch as before, and had the cook brought, who this time likewise was forced

to confess that Allerleirauh had prepared the soup Allerleirauh again camebefore the King, but she answered that she was good for nothing else but tohave boots thrown at her head, and that she knew nothing at all about thelittle golden spinning-wheel

When, for the third time, the King held a festival, all happened just as ithad done before The cook said, “Faith rough-skin, thou art a witch, andalways puttest something in the soup which makes it so good that the Kinglikes it better than that which I cook,” but as she begged so hard, he let her go

up at the appointed time And now she put on the dress which shone like thestars, and thus entered the hall Again the King danced with the beautifulmaiden, and thought that she never yet had been so beautiful And whilst shewas dancing, he contrived, without her noticing it, to slip a golden ring on herfinger, and he had given orders that the dance should last a very long time.When it was ended, he wanted to hold her fast by her hands, but she toreherself loose, and sprang away so quickly through the crowd that shevanished from his sight She ran as fast as she could into her den beneath thestairs, but as she had been too long, and had stayed more than half-an-hourshe could not take off her pretty dress, but only threw over it her fur-mantle,and in her haste she did not make herself quite black, but one finger remainedwhite Then Allerleirauh ran into the kitchen, and cooked the bread soup forthe King, and as the cook was away, put her golden reel into it When theKing found the reel at the bottom of it, he caused Allerleirauh to besummoned, and then he espied the white finger, and saw the ring which he

had put on it during the dance Then he grasped her by the hand, and held herfast, and when she wanted to release herself and run away, her mantle of furopened a little, and the star-dress shone forth The King clutched the mantleand tore it off Then her golden hair shone forth, and she stood there in fullsplendour, and could no longer hide herself And when she had washed thesoot and ashes from her face, she was more beautiful than anyone who hadever been seen on earth But the King said, “Thou art my dear bride, and wewill never more part from each other.” Thereupon the marriage wassolemnized, and they lived happily until their death.

END.

no use to us; go and make a living for thyself.” The soldier had nothing leftbut his gun; he took that on his shoulder, and went forth into the world Hecame to a wide heath, on which nothing was to be seen but a circle of trees;under these he sat sorrowfully down, and began to think over his fate “I have

no money,” thought he, “I have learnt no trade but that of fighting, and nowthat they have made peace they don’t want me any longer; so I seebeforehand that I shall have to starve.” All at once he heard a rustling, andwhen he looked round, a strange man stood before him, who wore a greencoat and looked right stately, but had a hideous cloven foot “I know alreadywhat thou art in need of,” said the man; “gold and possessions shall thouhave, as much as thou canst make away with do what thou wilt, but first Imust know if thou art fearless, that I may not bestow my money in vain.” “Asoldier and fear – how can those two things go together?” he answered; “thoucanst put me to the proof.” “Very well, then,” answered the man, “lookbehind thee.” The soldier turned round, and saw a large bear, which camegrowling towards him “Oho!” cried the soldier, “I will tickle thy nose forthee, so that thou shalt soon lose thy fancy for growling,” and he aimed at thebear and shot it through the muzzle; it fell down and never stirred again “Isee quite well,” said the stranger, “that thou art not wanting in courage, butthere is still another condition which thou wilt have to fulfil.” “If it does notendanger my salvation,” replied the soldier, who knew very well who wasstanding by him “If it does, I’ll have nothing to do with it.” “Thou wilt look

to that for thyself,” answered Greencoat; “thou shalt for the next seven yearsneither wash thyself, nor comb thy beard, nor thy hair, nor cut thy nails, norsay one paternoster I will give thee a coat and a cloak, which during this timethou must wear If thou diest during these seven years, thou art mine; if thouremainest alive, thou art free, and rich to boot, for all the rest of thy life.” Thesoldier thought of the great extremity in which he now found himself, and as

he so often had gone to meet death, he resolved to risk it now also, andagreed to the terms The Devil took off his green coat, gave it to the soldier,and said, “If thou hast this coat on thy back and puttest thy hand into thepocket, thou wilt always find it full of money.” Then he pulled the skin offthe bear and said, “This shall be thy cloak, and thy bed also, for thereon shaltthou sleep, and in no other bed shalt thou lie, and because of this apparel shaltthou be called Bearskin.” After this the Devil vanished.

The soldier put the coat on, felt at once in the pocket, and found that thething was really true Then he put on the bearskin and went forth into theworld, and enjoyed himself, refraining from nothing that did him good andhis money harm During the first year his appearance was passable, butduring the second he began to look like a monster His hair covered nearlythe whole of his face, his beard was like a piece of coarse felt, his fingers hadclaws, and his face was so covered with dirt that if cress had been sown on it,

it would have come up Whosoever saw him, ran away, but as he everywheregave the poor money to pray that he might not die during the seven years, and

as he paid well for everything he still always found shelter In the fourth year,

he entered an inn where the landlord would not receive him, and would noteven let him have a place in the stable, because he was afraid the horseswould be scared But as Bearskin thrust his hand into his pocket and pulledout a handful of ducats, the host let himself be persuaded and gave him aroom in an outhouse Bearskin was, however, obliged to promise not to lethimself be seen, lest the inn should get a bad name

As Bearskin was sitting alone in the evening, and wishing from the bottom

of his heart that the seven years were over, he heard a loud lamenting in aneighboring room He had a compassionate heart, so he opened the door, andsaw an old man weeping bitterly, and wringing his hands Bearskin wentnearer, but the man sprang to his feet and tried to escape from him At lastwhen the man perceived that Bearskin’s voice was human he let himself beprevailed on, and by kind words bearskin succeeded so far that the old manrevealed the cause of his grief His property had dwindled away by degrees,

he and his daughters would have to starve, and he was so poor that he couldnot pay the innkeeper, and was to be put in prison “If that is your onlytrouble,” said Bearskin, “I have plenty of money.” He caused the innkeeper to

be brought thither, paid him and put a purse full of gold into the poor oldman’s pocket besides

When the old man saw himself set free from all his troubles he did notknow how to be grateful enough “Come with me,” said he to Bearskin; “mydaughters are all miracles of beauty, choose one of them for thyself as a wife.When she hears what thou hast done for me, she will not refuse thee Thoudost in truth look a little strange, but she will soon put thee to rights again.”This pleased Bearskin well, and he went When the eldest saw him she was

so terribly alarmed at his face that she screamed and ran away The secondstood still and looked at him from head to foot, but then she said, “How can Iaccept a husband who no longer has a human form? The shaven bear thatonce was here and passed itself off for a man pleased me far better, for at anyrate it wore a hussar’s dress and white gloves If it were nothing but ugliness,

I might get used to that.” The youngest, however, said, “Dear father, thatmust be a good man to have helped you out of your trouble, so if you havepromised him a bride for doing it, your promise must be kept.” It was a pitythat Bearskin’s face was covered with dirt and with hair, for if not they mighthave seen how delighted he was when he heard these words He took a ringfrom his finger, broke it in two, and gave her one half, the other he kept forhimself He wrote his name, however, on her half, and hers on his, andbegged her to keep her piece carefully, and then he took his leave and said, “Imust still wander about for three years, and if I do not return then, thou artfree, for I shall be dead But pray to God to preserve my life.”

The poor betrothed bride dressed herself entirely in black, and when shethought of her future bridegroom, tears came into her eyes Nothing butcontempt and mockery fell to her lot from her sisters “Take care,” said theeldest, “if thou givest him thy hand, he will strike his claws into it.”

“Beware!” said the second “Bears like sweet things, and if he takes a fancy

to thee, he will eat thee up.” “Thou must always do as he likes,” began theelder again, “or else he will growl.” And the second continued, “But thewedding will be a merry one, for bears dance well.” The bride was silent, anddid not let them vex her Bearskin, however, travelled about the world fromone place to another, did good where he was able, and gave generously to thepoor that they might pray for him

At length, as the last day of the seven years dawned, he went once moreout on to the heath, and seated himself beneath the circle of trees It was notlong before the wind whistled, and the Devil stood before him and lookedangrily at him; then he threw Bearskin his old coat, and asked for his owngreen one back “We have not got so far as that yet,” answered Bearskin,

“thou must first make me clean.” Whether the Devil liked it or not, he wasforced to fetch water, and wash Bearskin, comb his hair, and cut his nails.After this, he looked like a brave soldier, and was much handsomer than hehad ever been before.

When the Devil had gone away, Bearskin was quite lighthearted He wentinto the town, put on a magnificent velvet coat, seated himself in a carriagedrawn by four white horses, and drove to his bride’s house No onerecognized him, the father took him for a distinguished general, and led himinto the room where his daughters were sitting He was forced to placehimself between the two eldest, they helped him to wine, gave him the bestpieces of meat, and thought that in all the world they had never seen ahandsomer man The bride, however, sat opposite to him in her black dress,and never raised her eyes, nor spoke a word When at length he asked thefather if he would give him one of his daughters to wife, the two eldestjumped up, ran into their bedrooms to put on splendid dresses, for each ofthem fancied she was the chosen one The stranger, as soon as he was alonewith his bride, brought out his half of the ring, and threw it in a glass of winewhich he reached across the table to her She took the wine, but when she haddrunk it, and found the half ring lying at the bottom, her heart began to beat.She got the other half, which she wore on a ribbon round her neck, joinedthem, and saw that the two pieces fitted exactly together Then said he, “I amthy betrothed bridegroom, whom thou sawest as Bearskin, but through God’sgrace I have again received my human form, and have once more becomeclean.” He went up to her, embraced her, and gave her a kiss In themeantime the two sisters came back in full dress, and when they saw that thehandsome man had fallen to the share of the youngest, and heard that he wasBearskin, they ran out full of anger and rage One of them drowned herself inthe well, the other hanged herself on a tree In the evening, some one knocked

at the door, and when the bridegroom opened it, it was the Devil in his greencoat, who said, “Seest thou, I have now got two souls in the place of thyone!”

END.

Brides on their trial

There was once a young shepherd who wished much to marry, and wasacquainted with three sisters who were all equally pretty, so that it wasdifficult to him to make a choice, and he could not decide to give thepreference to any one of them Then he asked his mother for advice, and shesaid, “Invite all three, and set some cheese before them, and watch how theyeat it.” The youth did so; the first, however, swallowed the cheese with therind on; the second hastily cut the rind off the cheese, but she cut it so quicklythat she left much good cheese with it, and threw that away also; the thirdpeeled the rind off carefully, and cut neither too much nor too little Theshepherd told all this to his mother, who said, “Take the third for thy wife.”This he did, and lived contentedly and happily with her

END.

Brother Lustig

There was one on a time a great war, and when it came to an end, manysoldiers were discharged Then Brother Lustig also received his dismissal,and besides that, nothing but a small loaf of contract-bread, and four kreuzers

in money, with which he departed St Peter had, however, placed himself inhis way in the shape of a poor beggar, and when Brother Lustig came up, hebegged alms of him Brother Lustig replied, “Dear beggar-man, what am I togive you? I have been a soldier, and have received my dismissal, and havenothing but this little loaf of contract-bread, and four kreuzers of money;when that is gone, I shall have to beg as well as you Still I will give yousomething.” Thereupon he divided the loaf into four parts, and gave theapostle one of them, and a kreuzer likewise St Peter thanked him, wentonwards, and threw himself again in the soldier’s way as a beggar, but inanother shape; and when he came up begged a gift of him as before BrotherLustig spoke as he had done before, and again gave him a quarter of the loafand one kreuzer St Peter thanked him, and went onwards, but for the thirdtime placed himself in another shape as a beggar on the road, and spoke toBrother Lustig Brother Lustig gave him also the third quarter of bread andthe third kreuzer St Peter thanked him, and Brother Lustig went onwards,and had but a quarter of the loaf, and one kreuzer With that he went into aninn, ate the bread, and ordered one kreuzer’s worth of beer When he had had

it, he journeyed onwards, and then St Peter, who had assumed theappearance of a discharged soldier, met and spoke to him thus: “Good day,comrade, canst thou not give me a bit of bread, and a kreuzer to get a drink?”

“Where am I to procure it?” answered Brother Lustig; “I have beendischarged, and I got nothing but a loaf of ammunition-bread and fourkreuzers in money I met three beggars on the road, and I gave each of them aquarter of my bread, and one kreuzer The last quarter I ate in the inn, andhad a drink with the last kreuzer Now my pockets are empty, and if thou alsohast nothing we can go a-begging together.” “No,” answered St Peter, “weneed not quite do that I know a little about medicine, and I will soon earn asmuch as I require by that.” “Indeed,” said Brother Lustig, “I know nothing ofthat, so I must go and beg alone.” “Just come with me,” said St Peter, “and if

I earn anything, thou shalt have half of it.” “All right,” said Brother Lustig, sothey went away together

Then they came to a peasant’s house inside which they heard loud

lamentations and cries; so they went in, and there the husband was lying sickunto death, and very near his end, and his wife was crying and weeping quiteloudly “Stop that howling and crying,” said St Peter, “I will make the manwell again,” and he took a salve out of his pocket, and healed the sick man in

a moment, so that he could get up, and was in perfect health In great delightthe man and his wife said, “How can we reward you? What shall we giveyou?” But St Peter would take nothing, and the more the peasant folksoffered him, the more he refused Brother Lustig, however, nudged St Peter,and said, “Take something; sure enough we are in need of it.” At length thewoman brought a lamb and said to St Peter that he really must take that, but

he would not Then Brother Lustig gave him a poke in the side, and said, “Dotake it, you stupid fool; we are in great want of it!” Then St Peter said at last,

“Well, I will take the lamb, but I won’t carry it; if thou wilt insist on having

it, thou must carry it.” “That is nothing,” said Brother Lustig “I will easilycarry it,” and took it on his shoulder Then they departed and came to a wood,but Brother Lustig had begun to feel the lamb heavy, and he was hungry, so

he said to St Peter, “Look, that’s a good place, we might cook the lambthere, and eat it.” “As you like,” answered St Peter, “but I can’t haveanything to do with the cooking; if thou wilt cook, there is a kettle for thee,and in the meantime I will walk about a little until it is ready Thou must,however, not begin to eat until I have come back, I will come at the righttime.” “Well, go, then,” said Brother Lustig, “I understand cookery, I willmanage it.” Then St Peter went away, and Brother Lustig killed the lamb,lighted a fire, threw the meat into the kettle, and boiled it The lamb was,however, quite ready, and the apostle Peter had not come back, so BrotherLustig took it out of the kettle, cut it up, and found the heart “That is said to

be the best part,” said he, and tasted it, but at last he ate it all up At length St.Peter returned and said, “Thou mayst eat the whole of the lamb thyself, I willonly have the heart, give me that.” Then Brother Lustig took a knife and fork,and pretended to look anxiously about amongst the lamb’s flesh, but not to beable to find the heart, and at last he said abruptly, “There is none here.” “Butwhere can it be?” said the apostle “I don’t know,” replied Brother Lustig,

“but look, what fools we both are, to seek for the lamb’s heart, and neither of

us to remember that a lamb has no heart!” “Oh,” said St Peter, “that issomething quite new! Every animal has a heart, why is a lamb to have none?”

“No, be assured, my brother,” said Brother Lustig, “that a lamb has no heart;just consider it seriously, and then you will see that it really has none.” “Well,

it is all right,” said St Peter, “if there is no heart, then I want none of thelamb; thou mayst eat it alone.” “What I can’t eat now, I will carry away in myknapsack,” said Brother Lustig, and he ate half the lamb, and put the rest inhis knapsack.

They went farther, and then St Peter caused a great stream of water to flowright across their path, and they were obliged to pass through it Said St.Peter, “Do thou go first.” “No,” answered Brother Lustig, “thou must gofirst,” and he thought, “if the water is too deep I will stay behind.” Then St.Peter strode through it, and the water just reached to his knee So BrotherLustig began to go through also, but the water grew deeper and reached to histhroat Then he cried, “Brother, help me!” St Peter said, “Then wilt thouconfess that thou hast eaten the lamb’s heart?” “No,” said he, “I have noteaten it.” Then the water grew deeper still and rose to his mouth “Help me,brother,” cried the soldier St Peter said, “Then wilt thou confess that thouhast eaten the lamb’s heart?” “No,” he replied, “I have not eaten it.” St Peter,however, would not let him be drowned, but made the water sink and helpedhim through it

Then they journeyed onwards, and came to a kingdom where they heardthat the King’s daughter lay sick unto death “Hollo, brother!” said the soldier

to St Peter, “this is a chance for us; if we can heal her we shall be providedfor, for life!” But St Peter was not half quick enough for him, “Come, liftyour legs, my dear brother,” said he, “that we may get there in time.” But St.Peter walked slower and slower, though Brother Lustig did all he could todrive and push him on, and at last they heard that the princess was dead

“Now we are done for!” said Brother Lustig; “that comes of thy sleepy way

of walking!” “Just be quiet,” answered St Peter, “I can do more than curesick people; I can bring dead ones to life again.” “Well, if thou canst do that,”said Brother Lustig, “it’s all right, but thou shouldst earn at least half thekingdom for us by that.” Then they went to the royal palace, where every onewas in great grief, but St Peter told the King that he would restore hisdaughter to life He was taken to her, and said, “Bring me a kettle and somewater,” and when that was brought, he bade everyone go out, and allowed noone to remain with him but Brother Lustig Then he cut off all the dead girl’slimbs, and threw them in the water, lighted a fire beneath the kettle, andboiled them And when the flesh had fallen away from the bones, he took outthe beautiful white bones, and laid them on a table, and arranged themtogether in their natural order When he had done that, he stepped forward

and said three times, “In the name of the holy Trinity, dead woman, arise.”And at the third time, the princess arose, living, healthy and beautiful Thenthe King was in the greatest joy, and said to St Peter, “Ask for thy reward;even if it were half my kingdom, I would give it thee.” But St Peter said, “Iwant nothing for it.” “Oh, thou tomfool!” thought Brother Lustig to himself,and nudged his comrade’s side, and said, “Don’t be so stupid! If thou hast noneed of anything, I have.” St Peter, however, would have nothing, but as theKing saw that the other would very much like to have something, he orderedhis treasurer to fill Brother Lustig’s knapsack with gold Then they went ontheir way, and when they came to a forest, St Peter said to Brother Lustig,

“Now, we will divide the gold.” “Yes,” he replied, “we will.” So St Peterdivided the gold, and divided it into three heaps Brother Lustig thought tohimself, “What craze has he got in his head now? He is making three shares,and there are only two of us!” But St Peter said, “I have divided it exactly;there is one share for me, one for thee, and one for him who ate the lamb’sheart.”

“Oh, I ate that!” replied Brother Lustig, and hastily swept up the gold

“You may trust what I say.” “But how can that be true,” said St Peter, “when

a lamb has no heart?” “Eh, what, brother, what can you be thinking of?Lambs have hearts like other animals, why should only they have none?”

“Well, so be it,” said St Peter, “keep the gold to yourself, but I will stay withyou no longer; I will go my way alone.” “As you like, dear brother,”answered Brother Lustig “Farewell.”

Then St Peter went a different road, but Brother Lustig thought, “It is agood thing that he has taken himself off, he is certainly a strange saint, afterall.” Then he had money enough, but did not know how to manage it,squandered it, gave it away, and and when some time had gone by, once morehad nothing Then he arrived in a certain country where he heard that aKing’s daughter was dead “Oh, ho!” thought he, “that may be a good thingfor me; I will bring her to life again, and see that I am paid as I ought to be.”

So he went to the King, and offered to raise the dead girl to life again Nowthe King had heard that a discharged soldier was traveling about and bringingdead persons to life again, and thought that Brother Lustig was the man; but

as he had no confidence in him, he consulted his councillors first, who saidthat he might give it a trial as his daughter was dead Then Brother Lustigordered water to be brought to him in a kettle, bade every one go out, cut thelimbs off, threw them in the water and lighted a fire beneath, just as he had

seen St Peter do The water began to boil, the flesh fell off, and then he tookthe bones out and laid them on the table, but he did not know the order inwhich to lay them, and placed them all wrong and in confusion Then hestood before them and said, “In the name of the most holy Trinity, deadmaiden, I bid thee arise,” and he said this thrice, but the bones did not stir So

he said it thrice more, but also in vain: “Confounded girl that you are, getup!” cried he, “Get up, or it shall be worse for you!” When he had said that,

St Peter suddenly appeared in his former shape as a discharged soldier; heentered by the window and said, “Godless man, what art thou doing? Howcan the dead maiden arise, when thou hast thrown about her bones in suchconfusion?” “Dear brother, I have done everything to the best of my ability,”

he answered “This once, I will help thee out of thy difficulty, but one thing Itell thee, and that is that if ever thou undertakest anything of the kind again, itwill be the worse for thee, and also that thou must neither demand nor acceptthe smallest thing from the King for this!” Thereupon St Peter laid the bones

in their right order, said to the maiden three times, “In the name of the mostholy Trinity, dead maiden, arise,” and the King’s daughter arose, healthy andbeautiful as before Then St Peter went away again by the window, andBrother Lustig was rejoiced to find that all had passed off so well, but wasvery much vexed to think that after all he was not to take anything for it “Ishould just like to know,” thought he, “what fancy that fellow has got in hishead, for what he gives with one hand he takes away with the other there is

no sense whatever in it!” Then the King offered Brother Lustig whatsoever

he wished to have, but he did not dare to take anything; however, by hintsand cunning, he contrived to make the King order his knapsack to be filledwith gold for him, and with that he departed When he got out, St Peter wasstanding by the door, and said, “Just look what a man thou art; did I notforbid thee to take anything, and there thou hast thy knapsack full of gold!”

“How can I help that,” answered Brother Lustig, “if people will put it in forme?” “Well, I tell thee this, that if ever thou settest about anything of thiskind again thou shalt suffer for it!” “Eh, brother, have no fear, now I havemoney, why should I trouble myself with washing bones?” “Faith,” said St.Peter, “the gold will last a long time! In order that after this thou mayst nevertread in forbidden paths, I will bestow on thy knapsack this property, namely,that whatsoever thou wishest to have inside it, shall be there Farewell, thouwilt now never see me more.” “Good-bye,” said Brother Lustig, and thought

to himself, “I am very glad that thou hast taken thyself off, thou strange

fellow; I shall certainly not follow thee.” But of the magical power which hadbeen bestowed on his knapsack, he thought no more.

Brother Lustig travelled about with his money, and squandered and wastedwhat he had as before When at last he had no more than four kreuzers, hepassed by an inn and thought, “The money must go,” and ordered threekreuzers’ worth of wine and one kreuzer’s worth of bread for himself As hewas sitting there drinking, the smell of roast goose made its way to his nose.Brother Lustig looked about and peeped, and saw that the host had two geesestanding in the oven Then he remembered that his comrade had said thatwhatsoever he wished to have in his knapsack should be there, so he said,

“Oh, ho! I must try that with the geese.” So he went out, and when he wasoutside the door, he said, “I wish those two roasted geese out of the oven and

in my knapsack,” and when he had said that, he unbuckled it and looked in,and there they were inside it “Ah, that’s right!” said he, “now I am a mademan!” and went away to a meadow and took out the roast meat When he was

in the midst of his meal, two journeymen came up and looked at the secondgoose, which was not yet touched, with hungry eyes Brother Lustig thought

to himself, “One is enough for me,” and called the two men up and said,

“Take the goose, and eat it to my health.” They thanked him, and went with it

to the inn, ordered themselves a half bottle of wine and a loaf, took out thegoose which had been given them, and began to eat The hostess saw themand said to her husband, “Those two are eating a goose; just look and see if it

is not one of ours, out of the oven.” The landlord ran thither, and behold theoven was empty! “What!” cried he, “you thievish crew, you want to eat goose

as cheap as that? Pay for it this moment; or I will wash you well with greenhazel-sap.” The two said, “We are no thieves, a discharged soldier gave usthe goose, outside there in the meadow.” “You shall not throw dust in myeyes that way! the soldier was here but he went out by the door, like anhonest fellow I looked after him myself; you are the thieves and shall pay!”But as they could not pay, he took a stick, and cudgeled them out of thehouse

Brother Lustig went his way and came to a place where there was amagnificent castle, and not far from it a wretched inn He went to the inn andasked for a night’s lodging, but the landlord turned him away, and said,

“There is no more room here, the house is full of noble guests.” “It surprises

me that they should come to you and not go to that splendid castle,” saidBrother Lustig “Ah, indeed,” replied the host, “but it is no slight matter to

sleep there for a night; no one who has tried it so far, has ever come out of italive.”

“If others have tried it,” said Brother Lustig, “I will try it too.”

“Leave it alone,” said the host, “it will cost you your neck.” “It won’t kill

me at once,” said Brother Lustig, “just give me the key, and some good foodand wine.” So the host gave him the key, and food and wine, and with thisBrother Lustig went into the castle, enjoyed his supper, and at length, as hewas sleepy, he lay down on the ground, for there was no bed He soon fellasleep, but during the night was disturbed by a great noise, and when heawoke, he saw nine ugly devils in the room, who had made a circle, and weredancing around him Brother Lustig said, “Well, dance as long as you like,but none of you must come too close.” But the devils pressed continuallynearer to him, and almost stepped on his face with their hideous feet “Stop,you devils’ ghosts,” said he, but they behaved still worse Then BrotherLustig grew angry, and cried, “Hola! but I will soon make it quiet,” and gotthe leg of a chair and struck out into the midst of them with it But nine devilsagainst one soldier were still too many, and when he struck those in front ofhim, the others seized him behind by the hair, and tore it unmercifully

“Devils’ crew,” cried he, “it is getting too bad, but wait Into my knapsack,all nine of you!” In an instant they were in it, and then he buckled it up andthrew it into a corner After this all was suddenly quiet, and Brother Lustiglay down again, and slept till it was bright day Then came the inn-keeper,and the nobleman to whom the castle belonged, to see how he had fared; butwhen they perceived that he was merry and well they were astonished, andasked, “Have the spirits done you no harm, then?” “The reason why theyhave not,” answered Brother Lustig, “is because I have got the whole nine ofthem in my knapsack! You may once more inhabit your castle quitetranquilly, none of them will ever haunt it again.” The nobleman thankedhim, made him rich presents, and begged him to remain in his service, and hewould provide for him as long as he lived “No,” replied Brother Lustig, “I

am used to wandering about, I will travel farther.” Then he went away, andentered into a smithy, laid the knapsack, which contained the nine devils onthe anvil, and asked the smith and his apprentices to strike it So they smotewith their great hammers with all their strength, and the devils uttered howlswhich were quite pitiable When he opened the knapsack after this, eight ofthem were dead, but one which had been lying in a fold of it, was still alive,slipped out, and went back again to hell Thereupon Brother Lustig travelled

a long time about the world, and those who know them can tell many a storyabout him, but at last he grew old, and thought of his end, so he went to ahermit who was known to be a pious man, and said to him, “I am tired ofwandering about, and want now to behave in such a manner that I shall enterinto the kingdom of Heaven.” The hermit replied, “There are two roads, one

is broad and pleasant, and leads to hell, the other is narrow and rough, andleads to heaven.” “I should be a fool,” thought Brother Lustig, “if I were totake the narrow, rough road.” So he set out and took the broad and pleasantroad, and at length came to a great black door, which was the door of Hell.Brother Lustig knocked, and the door-keeper peeped out to see who wasthere But when he saw Brother Lustig, he was terrified, for he was the verysame ninth devil who had been shut up in the knapsack, and had escapedfrom it with a black eye So he pushed the bolt in again as quickly as hecould, ran to the devil’s lieutenant, and said, “There is a fellow outside with aknapsack, who wants to come in, but as you value your lives don’t allow him

to enter, or he will wish the whole of hell into his knapsack He once gave me

a frightful hammering when I was inside it.” So they called out to BrotherLustig that he was to go away again, for he should not get in there! “If theywon’t have me here,” thought he, “I will see if I can find a place for myself inheaven, for I must be somewhere.” So he turned about and went onwardsuntil he came to the door of Heaven, where he knocked St Peter was sittinghard by as door-keeper Brother Lustig recognised him at once, and thought,

“Here I find an old friend, I shall get on better.” But St Peter said, “I reallybelieve that thou wantest to come into Heaven.” “Let me in, brother; I mustget in somewhere; if they would have taken me into Hell, I should not havecome here.” “No,” said St Peter, “thou shalt not enter.” “Then if thou wiltnot let me in, take thy knapsack back, for I will have nothing at all fromthee.” “Give it here, then,” said St Peter Then Brother Lustig gave him theknapsack into Heaven through the bars, and St Peter took it, and hung itbeside his seat Then said Brother Lustig, “And now I wish myself inside myknapsack,” and in a second he was in it, and in Heaven, and St Peter wasforced to let him stay there

END.

Cat and mouse in partnership

A cat had made the acquaintance of a mouse, and had said so much to herabout the great love and friendship that he felt for her, that at last the mouseagreed that they should live and keep house together “But we must makepreparations for winter, or else we shall suffer from hunger,” said the cat,

“and you, little mouse, cannot venture out everywhere, or in the end you will

be caught in a trap.” This good advice was followed, and they bought a pot offat, but they did not know where to store it Finally, after much consideration,the cat said, “I know of no place where it will be better stored up than in thechurch No one dares take anything away from there We will put it beneaththe altar, and not touch it until we are need it.” So the pot was stored safelyaway, but it was not long before the cat took a great longing for it, and said tothe mouse, “I wanted to tell you, little mouse, that my cousin has brought alittle son into the world, and she has asked me to be his godfather He iswhite with brown spots, and I am to hold him over the baptismal font Let me

go out today, and you look after the house by yourself.” – “Yes, yes,”answered the mouse “By all means go, and if you get anything good to eat,think of me I would like to drink a drop of sweet red christening winemyself.” All this, however, was untrue The cat had no cousin, and had notbeen asked to be godfather He went straight to the church, crept up to the pot

of fat, began to lick at it, and licked off the top of the fat Then he went for astroll on the roofs of the town, looked out for opportunities, and thenstretched out in the sun, licking his whiskers whenever he thought of the pot

of fat He did not return home until it was evening “Well, here you areagain,” said the mouse “You must have had a happy day.” – “Everythingwent well,” answered the cat “What name did they give the child?” asked themouse “Top-Off,” said the cat quite coolly “Top-Off?” cried the mouse

“That is a very odd and uncommon name Is it a usual one in your family?” –

“What does that matter?” said the cat “It is no worse than Crumb-Thief, asyour godchildren are called.”

Before long the cat was seized by another fit of longing He said to themouse, “You must do me a favor, and once more manage the house alone for

a day I have been asked again to be godfather, and since the child has awhite ring around its neck, I cannot refuse.” The good mouse consented.However, the cat crept behind the town wall to the church, and devoured halfthe pot of fat “Nothing tastes as good as that which one eats by oneself,” he

said, and was quite satisfied with his day’s work When he arrived home themouse asked, “What name was this child christened with?” – “Half-Gone,”answered the cat “Half-Gone? What are you saying? I have never heard thatname in all my life I’ll wager it is not in the almanac.”

The cat’s mouth soon again began to water for the delicious goods “Allgood things come in threes,” he said to the mouse “I have been asked to begodfather again The child is totally black, only it has white paws Otherwise

it has not a single white hair on its whole body This only happens once everyfew years You will let me go, won’t you?” – “Top-Off Half-Gone,”answered the mouse “They are such odd names, that they make me stop andthink.” – “Here you sit at home,” said the cat, “with your dark gray fur coatand long braid of hair capturing fantasies That is because you do not go out

in the daytime.” During the cat’s absence the mouse cleaned the house, andput it in order, but the greedy cat devoured all the rest of the fat “One haspeace only after everything is eaten up,” he said to himself Well filled andfat, he did not return home until nighttime The mouse immediately askedwhat name had been given to the third child “You will not like it either,” saidthe cat “His name is All-Gone.” – “All-Gone!”, cried the mouse “That is themost worrisome name of all I have never seen it in print All-Gone! Whatcan that mean?” Then she shook her head, curled herself up, and lay down tosleep

From this time forth no one invited the cat to be godfather, but whenwinter had come and there was no longer anything to be found outside, themouse thought of their stored food, and said, “Come cat, we will go to ourpot of fat which we have stored up for ourselves It will taste good now.” –

“Yes,” answered the cat “You will enjoy it as much as you would enjoysticking that dainty tongue of yours out of the window.” They set out on theirway, but when they arrived, the pot of fat, to be sure, was still in its place, but

it was empty “Alas,” said the mouse, “now I see what has happened Now itcomes to light You are a true friend You ate everything when you wereserving as a godfather First top off, then half done, then…” – “Be quiet!”cried the cat “One more word, and I will eat you too.”

“All gone,” was already on the poor mouse’s lips She had scarcely spoken

it before the cat sprang on her, seized her, and swallowed her down You see,that is the way of the world

END.

The new wife brought two daughters home with her, and they werebeautiful and fair in appearance, but at heart were, black and ugly And thenbegan very evil times for the poor step-daughter “Is the stupid creature to sit

in the same room with us?” said they; “those who eat food must earn it Outupon her for a kitchen-maid!” They took away her pretty dresses, and put onher an old grey kirtle, and gave her wooden shoes to wear “Just look now atthe proud princess, how she is decked out!” cried they laughing, and thenthey sent her into the kitchen There she was obliged to do heavy work frommorning to night, get up early in the morning, draw water, make the fires,cook, and wash Besides that, the sisters did their utmost to torment her,mocking her, and strewing peas and lentils among the ashes, and setting her

to pick them up In the evenings, when she was quite tired out with her hardday’s work, she had no bed to lie on, but was obliged to rest on the hearthamong the cinders And as she always looked dusty and dirty, they named herCinderella

It happened one day that the father went to the fair, and he asked his twostep-daughters what he should bring back for them “Fine clothes!” said one

“Pearls and jewels!” said the other “But what will you have, Cinderella?”said he “The first twig, father, that strikes against your hat on the way home;that is what I should like you to bring me.” So he bought for the two step-daughters fine clothes, pearls, and jewels, and on his way back, as he rodethrough a green lane, a hazel-twig struck against his hat; and he broke it offand carried it home with him And when he reached home he gave to thestep-daughters what they had wished for, and to Cinderella he gave the hazel-twig She thanked him, and went to her mother’s grave, and planted this twigthere, weeping so bitterly that the tears fell upon it and watered it, and itflourished and became a fine tree Cinderella went to see it three times a day,

and wept and prayed, and each time a white bird rose up from the tree, and ifshe uttered any wish the bird brought her whatever she had wished for.

Now if came to pass that the king ordained a festival that should last forthree days, and to which all the beautiful young women of that country werebidden, so that the king’s son might choose a bride from among them Whenthe two stepdaughters heard that they too were bidden to appear, they feltvery pleased, and they called Cinderella, and said, “Comb our hair, brush ourshoes, and make our buckles fast, we are going to the wedding feast at theking’s castle.” Cinderella, when she heard this, could not help crying, for shetoo would have liked to go to the dance, and she begged her step-mother toallow her “What, you Cinderella!” said she, “in all your dust and dirt, youwant to go to the festival! you that have no dress and no shoes! you want todance!” But as she persisted in asking, at last the step-mother said, “I havestrewed a dish-full of lentils in the ashes, and if you can pick them all upagain in two hours you may go with us.” Then the maiden went to thebackdoor that led into the garden, and called out, “O gentle doves, O turtle-doves, And all the birds that be, The lentils that in ashes lie Come and pick

up for me!

The good must be put in the dish,

The bad you may eat if you wish.”

Then there came to the kitchen-window two white doves, and after themsome turtle-doves, and at last a crowd of all the birds under heaven, chirpingand fluttering, and they alighted among the ashes; and the doves nodded withtheir heads, and began to pick, peck, pick, peck, and then all the others began

to pick, peck, pick, peck, and put all the good grains into the dish Before anhour was over all was done, and they flew away Then the maiden broughtthe dish to her step-mother, feeling joyful, and thinking that now she should

go to the feast; but the step-mother said, “No, Cinderella, you have no properclothes, and you do not know how to dance, and you would be laughed at!”And when Cinderella cried for disappointment, she added, “If you can picktwo dishes full of lentils out of the ashes, nice and clean, you shall go withus,” thinking to herself, “for that is not possible.” When she had strewed twodishes full of lentils among the ashes the maiden went through the backdoorinto the garden, and cried, “O gentle doves, O turtle-doves, And all the birdsthat be, The lentils that in ashes lie Come and pick up for me!

The good must be put in the dish,

The bad you may eat if you wish.”

So there came to the kitchen-window two white doves, and then someturtle-doves, and at last a crowd of all the other birds under heaven, chirpingand fluttering, and they alighted among the ashes, and the doves nodded withtheir heads and began to pick, peck, pick, peck, and then all the others began

to pick, peck, pick, peck, and put all the good grains into the dish And beforehalf-an-hour was over it was all done, and they flew away Then the maidentook the dishes to the stepmother, feeling joyful, and thinking that now sheshould go with them to the feast; but she said “All this is of no good to you;you cannot come with us, for you have no proper clothes, and cannot dance;you would put us to shame.” Then she turned her back on poor Cinderella,and made haste to set out with her two proud daughters

And as there was no one left in the house, Cinderella went to her mother’sgrave, under the hazel bush, and cried,

“Little tree, little tree, shake over me,

That silver and gold may come down and cover me.”

Then the bird threw down a dress of gold and silver, and a pair of slippersembroidered with silk and silver., And in all haste she put on the dress andwent to the festival But her step-mother and sisters did not know her, andthought she must be a foreign princess, she looked so beautiful in her goldendress Of Cinderella they never thought at all, and supposed that she wassitting at home, arid picking the lentils out of the ashes The King’s son came

to meet her, and took her by the hand and danced with her, and he refused tostand up with any one else, so that he might not be obliged to let go her hand;and when any one came to claim it he answered, “She is my partner.”

And when the evening came she wanted to go home, but the prince said hewould go with her to take care of her, for he wanted to see where thebeautiful maiden lived But she escaped him, and jumped up into the pigeon-house Then the prince waited until the father came, and told him the strangemaiden had jumped into the pigeon-house The father thought to himself, “Itcannot surely be Cinderella,” and called for axes and hatchets, and had thepigeon-house cut down, but there was no one in it And when they enteredthe house there sat Cinderella in her dirty clothes among the cinders, and alittle oil-lamp burnt dimly in the chimney; for Cinderella had been veryquick, and had jumped out of the pigeon-house again, and had run to thehazel bush; and there she had taken off her beautiful dress and had laid it on

the grave, and the bird had carried it away again, and then she had put on herlittle gray kirtle again, and had sat down in the kitchen among the cinders.The next day, when the festival began anew, and the parents and step-sisters had gone to it, Cinderella went to the hazel bush and cried,

“Little tree, little tree, shake over me,

That silver and gold may come down and cover me.”

Then the bird cast down a still more splendid dress than on the day before.And when she appeared in it among the guests every one was astonished ather beauty The prince had been waiting until she came, and he took her handand danced with her alone And when any one else came to invite her he said,

“She is my partner.” And when the evening came she wanted to go home,and the prince followed her, for he wanted to see to what house she belonged;but she broke away from him, and ran into the garden at the back of thehouse There stood a fine large tree, bearing splendid pears; she leapt aslightly as a squirrel among the branches, and the prince did not know whathad become of her So he waited until the father came, and then he told himthat the strange maiden had rushed from him, and that he thought she hadgone up into the pear-tree The father thought to himself, “It cannot surely beCinderella,” and called for an axe, and felled the tree, but there was no one in

it And when they went into the kitchen there sat Cinderella among thecinders, as usual, for she had got down the other side of the tree, and hadtaken back her beautiful clothes to the bird on the hazel bush, and had put onher old grey kirtle again

On the third day, when the parents and the step-children had set off,Cinderella went again to her mother’s grave, and said to the tree,

“Little tree, little tree, shake over me,

That silver and gold may come down and cover me.”

Then the bird cast down a dress, the like of which had never been seen forsplendour and brilliancy, and slippers that were of gold And when sheappeared in this dress at the feast nobody knew what to say for wonderment.The prince danced with her alone, and if any one else asked her he answered,

“She is my partner.”

And when it was evening Cinderella wanted to go home, and the princewas about to go with her, when she ran past him so quickly that he could notfollow her But he had laid a plan, and had caused all the steps to be spread

with pitch, so that as she rushed down them the left shoe of the maidenremained sticking in it The prince picked it up, and saw that it was of gold,and very small and slender The next morning he went to the father and toldhim that none should be his bride save the one whose foot the golden shoeshould fit Then the two sisters were very glad, because they had pretty feet.The eldest went to her room to try on the shoe, and her mother stood by Butshe could not get her great toe into it, for the shoe was too small; then hermother handed her a knife, and said, “Cut the toe off, for when you are queenyou will never have to go on foot.” So the girl cut her toe off, squeezed herfoot into the shoe, concealed the pain, and went down to the prince Then hetook her with him on his horse as his bride, and rode off They had to pass bythe grave, and there sat the two pigeons on the hazel bush, and cried,

“There they go, there they go!

There is blood on her shoe;

The shoe is too small,

Not the right bride at all!”

Then the prince looked at her shoe, and saw the blood flowing And heturned his horse round and took the false bride home again, saying she wasnot the right one, and that the other sister must try on the shoe So she wentinto her room to do so, and got her toes comfortably in, but her heel was toolarge Then her mother handed her the knife, saying, “Cut a piece off yourheel; when you are queen you will never have to go on foot.” So the girl cut apiece off her heel, and thrust her foot into the shoe, concealed the pain, andwent down to the prince, who took his bride before him on his horse and rodeoff When they passed by the hazel bush the two pigeons sat there and cried,

“There they go, there they go!

There is blood on her shoe;

The shoe is too small,

Not the right bride at all!”

Then the prince looked at her foot, and saw how the blood was flowingfrom the shoe, and staining the white stocking And he turned his horse roundand brought the false bride home again “This is not the right one,” said he,

“have you no other daughter?” – “No,” said the man, “only my dead wife leftbehind her a little stunted Cinderella; it is impossible that she can be thebride.” But the King’s son ordered her to be sent for, but the mother said,

“Oh no! she is much too dirty, I could not let her be seen.” But he would haveher fetched, and so Cinderella had to appear First she washed her face andhands quite clean, and went in and curtseyed to the prince, who held out toher the golden shoe Then she sat down on a stool, drew her foot out of theheavy wooden shoe, and slipped it into the golden one, which fitted itperfectly And when she stood up, and the prince looked in her face, he knewagain the beautiful maiden that had danced with him, and he cried, “This isthe right bride!” The step-mother and the two sisters were thunderstruck, andgrew pale with anger; but he put Cinderella before him on his horse and rodeoff And as they passed the hazel bush, the two white pigeons cried,

“There they go, there they go!

No blood on her shoe;

The shoe’s not too small,

The right bride is she after all.”

And when they had thus cried, they came flying after and perched onCinderella’s shoulders, one on the right, the other on the left, and soremained

And when her wedding with the prince was appointed to be held the falsesisters came, hoping to curry favour, and to take part in the festivities So asthe bridal procession went to the church, the eldest walked on the right sideand the younger on the left, and the pigeons picked out an eye of each ofthem And as they returned the elder was on the left side and the younger onthe right, and the pigeons picked out the other eye of each of them And sothey were condemned to go blind for the rest of their days because of theirwickedness and falsehood

END.

Clever Else

There was once a man who had a daughter who was called Clever Else,and when she was grown up, her father said she must be married, and hermother said, “Yes, if we could only find some one that would consent tohave.” At last one came from a distance, and his name was Hans, and when

he proposed to her, he made it a condition that Clever Else should be verycareful as well “Oh,” said the father, “she does not want for brains.” – “No,indeed,” said the mother, “she can see the wind coming up the street and hearthe flies cough.” – “Well,” said Hans, “if she does not turn out to be carefultoo, I will not have her.” Now when they were all seated at table, and hadwell eaten, the mother said, “Else, go into the cellar and draw some beer.”Then Clever Else took down the jug from the hook in the wall, and as shewas on her way to the cellar she rattled the lid up and down so as to passaway the time When she got there, she took a stool and stood it in front ofthe cask, so that she need not stoop and make her back ache with needlesstrouble Then she put the jug under the tap and turned it, and while the beerwas running, in order that her eyes should not be idle, she glanced hither andthither, and finally caught sight of a pickaxe that the workmen had leftsticking in the ceiling just above her head Then Clever Else began to cry, forshe thought, “If I marry Hans, and we have a child, and it grows big, and wesend it into the cellar to draw beer, that pickaxe might fall on his head andkill him.” So there she sat and cried with all her might, lamenting theanticipated misfortune All the while they were waiting upstairs forsomething to drink, and they waited in vain At last the mistress said to themaid, “Go down to the cellar and see why Else does not come.” So the maidwent, and found her sitting in front of the cask crying with all her might

“What are you crying for?” said the maid “Oh dear me,” answered she, “howcan I help crying? if I marry Hans, and we have a child, and it grows big, and

we send it here to draw beer, perhaps the pickaxe may fall on its head and killit.” – “Our Else is clever indeed!” said the maid, and directly sat down tobewail the anticipated misfortune After a while, when the people upstairsfound that the maid did not return, and they were becoming more and morethirsty, the master said to the boy, “You go down into the cellar, and see whatElse and the maid are doing.” The boy did so, and there he found both CleverElse and the maid sitting crying together Then he asked what was the matter

“Oh dear me,” said Else, “how can we help crying? If I marry Hans, and we

have a child, and it grows big, and we send it here to draw beer, the pickaxemight fall on its head and kill it.” – “Our Else is clever indeed!” said the boy,and sitting down beside her, he began howling with a good will Upstairs theywere all waiting for him to come back, but as he did not come, the mastersaid to the mistress, “You go down to the cellar and see what Else is doing.”

So the mistress went down and found all three in great lamentations, andwhen she asked the cause, then Else told her how the future possible childmight be killed as soon as it was big enough to be sent to draw beer, by thepickaxe falling on it Then the mother at once exclaimed, “Our Else is cleverindeed!” and, sitting down, she wept with the rest Upstairs the husbandwaited a little while, but as his wife did not return, and as his thirst constantlyincreased, he said, “I must go down to the cellar myself, and see what hasbecome of Else.” And when he came into the cellar, and found them allsitting and weeping together, he was told that it was all owing to the childthat Else might possibly have, and the possibility of its being killed by thepickaxe so happening to fall just at the time the child might be sittingunderneath it drawing beer; and when he heard all this, he cried, “How clever

is our Else!” and sitting down, he joined his tears to theirs The intendedbridegroom stayed upstairs by himself a long time, but as nobody came back

to him, he thought he would go himself and see what they were all about Andthere he found all five lamenting and crying most pitifully, each one louderthan the other “What misfortune has happened?” cried he “O my dearHans,” said Else, “if we marry and have a child, and it grows big, and wesend it down here to draw beer, perhaps that pickaxe which has been leftsticking up there might fall down on the child’s head and kill it; and how can

we help crying at that!” – “Now,” said Hans, “I cannot think that greatersense than that could be wanted in my household; so as you are so clever,Else, I will have you for my wife,” and taking her by the hand he led herupstairs, and they had the wedding at once

A little while after they were married, Hans said to his wife, “I am goingout to work, in order to get money; you go into the field and cut the corn, sothat we may have bread.” – “Very well, I will do so, dear Hans,” said she.And after Hans was gone she cooked herself some nice stew, and took it withher into the field And when she got there, she said to herself, “Now, whatshall I do? shall I reap first, or eat first? All right, I will eat first.” Then sheate her fill of stew, and when she could eat no more, she said to herself,

“Now, what shall I do? shall I reap first, or sleep first? All right, I will sleep

first.” Then she lay down in the corn and went to sleep And Hans got home,and waited there a long while, and Else did not come, so he said to himself,

“My clever Else is so industrious that she never thinks of coming home andeating.” But when evening drew near and still she did not come, Hans set out

to see how much corn she had cut; but she had cut no corn at all, but there shewas lying in it asleep Then Hans made haste home, and fetched a bird-netwith little bells and threw it over her; and still she went on sleeping And heran home again and locked himself in, and sat him down on his bench towork At last, when it was beginning to grow dark, Clever Else woke, andwhen she got up and shook herself, the bells jingled at each movement thatshe made Then she grew frightened, and began to doubt whether she werereally Clever Else or not, and said to herself, “Am I, or am I not?” And, notknowing what answer to make, she stood for a long while considering; at lastshe thought, “I will go home to Hans and ask him if I am I or not; he is sure

to know.” So she ran up to the door of her house, but it was locked; then sheknocked at the window, and cried, “Hans, is Else within?” – “Yes,” answeredHans, “she is in.” Then she was in a greater fright than ever, and crying, “Ohdear, then I am not I,” she went to inquire at another door, but the peoplehearing the jingling of the bells would not open to her, and she could get innowhere So she ran away beyond the village, and since then no one has seenher

END.

Clever Grethel

There was once a cook named Grethel, who wore shoes with red rosettes,and when she walked out with them on, she turned herself this way and that,and thought, “You certainly are a pretty girl!” And when she came home shedrank, in her gladness of heart, a draught of wine, and as wine excites adesire to eat, she tasted the best of whatever she was cooking until she wassatisfied, and said, “The cook must know what the food is like.”

It came to pass that the master one day said to her, “Grethel, there is aguest coming this evening; prepare me two fowls very daintily.” “I will see to

it, master,” answered Grethel She killed two fowls, scalded them, pluckedthem, put them on the spit, and towards evening set them before the fire, thatthey might roast The fowls began to turn brown, and were nearly ready, butthe guest had not yet arrived Then Grethel called out to her master, “If theguest does not come, I must take the fowls away from the fire, but it will be asin and a shame if they are not eaten directly, when they are juiciest.” Themaster said, “I will run myself, and fetch the guest.” When the master hadturned his back, Grethel laid the spit with the fowls on one side, and thought,

“Standing so long by the fire there, makes one hot and thirsty; who knowswhen they will come? Meanwhile, I will run into the cellar, and take a drink.”She ran down, set a jug, said, “God bless it to thy use, Grethel,” and took agood drink, and took yet another hearty draught

Then she went and put the fowls down again to the fire, basted them, anddrove the spit merrily round But as the roast meat smelt so good, Grethelthought, “Something might be wrong, it ought to be tasted!” She touched itwith her finger, and said, “Ah! how good fowls are! It certainly is a sin and ashame that they are not eaten directly!” She ran to the window, to see if themaster was not coming with his guest, but she saw no one, and went back tothe fowls and thought, “One of the wings is burning! I had better take it offand eat it.” So she cut it off, ate it, and enjoyed it, and when she had done,she thought, “the other must go down too, or else master will observe thatsomething is missing.” When the two wings were eaten, she went and lookedfor her master, and did not see him It suddenly occurred to her, “Whoknows? They are perhaps not coming at all, and have turned in somewhere.”Then she said, “Hallo, Grethel, enjoy yourself, one fowl has been cut into,take another drink, and eat it up entirely; when it is eaten you will have somepeace, why should God’s good gifts be spoilt?” So she ran into the cellar

again, took an enormous drink and ate up the one chicken in great glee Whenone of the chickens was swallowed down, and still her master did not come,Grethel looked at the other and said, “Where one is, the other should belikewise, the two go together; what’s right for the one is right for the other; Ithink if I were to take another draught it would do me no harm.” So she tookanother hearty drink, and let the second chicken rejoin the first.

While she was just in the best of the eating, her master came and cried,hurry up, “Haste thee, Grethel, the guest is coming directly after me!” “Yes,sir, I will soon serve up,” answered Grethel Meantime the master looked tosee that the table was properly laid, and took the great knife, wherewith hewas going to carve the chickens, and sharpened it on the steps Presently theguest came, and knocked politely and courteously at the house-door Grethelran, and looked to see who was there, and when she saw the guest, she puther finger to her lips and said, “Hush! hush! get away as quickly as you can,

if my master catches you it will be the worse for you; he certainly did ask you

to supper, but his intention is to cut off your two ears Just listen how he issharpening the knife for it!” The guest heard the sharpening, and hurrieddown the steps again as fast as he could Grethel was not idle; she ranscreaming to her master, and cried, “You have invited a fine guest!” “Eh,why, Grethel? What do you mean by that?” “Yes,” said she, “he has taken thechickens which I was just going to serve up, off the dish, and has run awaywith them!” “That’s a nice trick!” said her master, and lamented the finechickens “If he had but left me one, so that something remained for me toeat.” He called to him to stop, but the guest pretended not to hear Then heran after him with the knife still in his hand, crying, “Just one, just one,”meaning that the guest should leave him just one chicken, and not take both.The guest, however, thought no otherwise than that he was to give up one ofhis ears, and ran as if fire were burning under him, in order to take them bothhome with him

END.

“Good-bye, Grethel.” “Good-bye, Hans.”

Hans takes the needle, sticks it into a hay-cart, and follows the cart home

“Good evening, mother.” “Good evening, Hans Where hast thou been?”

“With Grethel.” “What didst thou take her?” “Took nothing; had somethinggiven me.” “What did Grethel give thee?” “Gave me a needle.” “Where is theneedle, Hans?” “Stuck it in the hay-cart.” “That was ill done, Hans Thoushouldst have stuck the needle in thy sleeve.” “Never mind, I’ll do better nexttime.”

“Whither away, Hans?” “To Grethel, mother.” “Behave well, Hans.” “Oh,I’ll behave well Good-bye, mother.” “Good-bye, Hans.”

Hans comes to Grethel “Good day, Grethel.” “Good day, Hans What dostthou bring that is good?” “I bring nothing; I want to have something given tome.” Grethel presents Hans with a knife “Good-bye, Grethel.” “Good-byeHans.” Hans takes the knife, sticks it in his sleeve, and goes home “Goodevening, mother.” “Good evening, Hans Where hast thou been?” “WithGrethel.” “What didst thou take her?” “Took her nothing, she gave mesomething.” “What did Grethel give thee?” “Gave me a knife.” “Where is theknife, Hans?” “Stuck in my sleeve.” “That’s ill done, Hans, thou shouldsthave put the knife in thy pocket.” “Never mind, will do better next time.”

“Whither away, Hans?” “To Grethel, mother.” “Behave well, Hans.” “Oh, I’llbehave well Good-bye, mother.” “Good-bye, Hans.”

Hans comes to Grethel “Good day, Grethel.” “Good day, Hans Whatgood thing dost thou bring?” “I bring nothing, I want something given me.”Grethel presents Hans with a young goat “Good-bye, Grethel.” “Good-bye,Hans.” Hans takes the goat, ties its legs, and puts it in his pocket When hegets home it is suffocated “Good evening, mother.” “Good evening, Hans.Where hast thou been?” “With Grethel.” “What didst thou take her?” “Tooknothing, she gave me something.” “What did Grethel give thee?” “She gave

me a goat.” “Where is the goat, Hans?” “Put it in my pocket.” “That was illdone, Hans, thou shouldst have put a rope round the goat’s neck.” “Never

mind, will do better next time.”

“Whither away, Hans,?” “To Grethel, mother.” “Behave well, Hans.” “Oh,I’ll behave well Good-bye, mother.” “Good-bye, Hans.” Hans comes toGrethel “Good day, Grethel.” “Good day, Hans What good thing dost thoubring?” “I bring nothing, I want something given me.” Grethel presents Hanswith a piece of bacon “Good-bye, Grethel.” “Good-bye, Hans.”

Hans takes the bacon, ties it to a rope, and drags it away behind him Thedogs come and devour the bacon When he gets home, he has the rope in hishand, and there is no longer anything hanging to it “Good evening, mother.”

“Good evening, Hans.” “Where hast thou been?” “With Grethel.” What didstthou take her?” “I took her nothing, she gave me something.” “What didGrethel give thee?” “Gave me a bit of bacon.” “Where is the bacon, Hans?”

“I tied it to a rope, brought it home, dogs took it.” “That was ill done, Hans,thou shouldst have carried the bacon on thy head.” “Never mind, will dobetter next time.” “Whither away, Hans?” “To Grethel, mother.” “Behavewell, Hans.” “I’ll behave well Good-bye, mother.” “Good-bye, Hans.”

Hans comes to Grethel “Good day, Grethel.” “Good day, Hans.” “Whatgood thing dost thou bring?” “I bring nothing, but would have somethinggiven.” Grethel presents Hans with a calf “Good-bye, Grethel.” “Good-bye,Hans.”

Hans takes the calf, puts it on his head, and the calf kicks his face Goodevening, mother.” “Good evening, Hans Where hast thou been?” “WithGrethel.” “What didst thou take her?” “I took nothing, but had somethinggiven me.” “What did Grethel give thee?” “A calf.” “Where hast thou thecalf, Hans?” “I set it on my head and it kicked my face.” “That was ill done,Hans, thou shouldst have led the calf, and put it in the stall.” “Never mind,will do better next time.”

“Whither away, Hans?” “To Grethel, mother.” “Behave well, Hans.” “I’llbehave well Good-bye, mother.” “Good-bye, Hans.”

Hans comes to Grethel “Good day, Grethel.” “Good day, Hans Whatgood thing dost thou bring?” “I bring nothing, but would have somethinggiven.” Grethel says to Hans, “I will go with thee.”

Hans takes Grethel, ties her to a rope, leads her to the rack and binds herfast Then Hans goes to his mother “Good evening, mother.” “Good evening,Hans Where hast thou been?” “With Grethel.” “What didst thou take her?” “I

took her nothing.” “What did Grethel give thee?” “She gave me nothing, shecame with me.” “Where hast thou left Grethel?” “I led her by the rope, tiedher to the rack, and scattered some grass for her.” “That was ill done, Hans,thou shouldst have cast friendly eyes on her.” “Never mind, will do better.”Hans went into the stable, cut out all the calves’, and sheep’s eyes, andthrew them in Grethel’s face Then Grethel became angry, tore herself looseand ran away, and became the bride of Hans.

END.

Death’s messengers

In ancient times a giant was once travelling on a great highway, whensuddenly an unknown man sprang up before him, and said, “Halt, not onestep farther!” “What!” cried the giant, “a creature whom I can crush between

my fingers, wants to block my way? Who art thou that thou darest to speak soboldly?” “I am Death,” answered the other “No one resists me, and thou alsomust obey my commands But the giant refused, and began to struggle withDeath It was a long, violent battle, at last the giant got the upper hand, andstruck Death down with his fist, so that he dropped by a stone The giant wenthis way, and Death lay there conquered, and so weak that he could not get upagain “What will be done now,” said he, “if I stay lying here in a corner? Noone will die in the world, and it will get so full of people that they won’t haveroom to stand beside each other.” In the meantime a young man came alongthe road, who was strong and healthy, singing a song, and glancing around onevery side When he saw the half-fainting one, he went compassionately tohim, raised him up, poured a strengthening draught out of his flask for him,and waited till he came round “Dost thou know,” said the stranger, whilst hewas getting up, “who I am, and who it is whom thou hast helped on his legsagain?” “No,” answered the youth, “I do not know thee.” “I am Death,” said

he “I spare no one, and can make no exception with thee, but that thou maystsee that I am grateful, I promise thee that I will not fall on thee unexpectedly,but will send my messengers to thee before I come and take thee away.”

“Well,” said the youth, “it is something gained that I shall know when thoucomest, and at any rate be safe from thee for so long.” Then he went on hisway, and was light-hearted, and enjoyed himself, and lived without thought.But youth and health did not last long, soon came sicknesses and sorrows,which tormented him by day, and took away his rest by night “Die, I shallnot,” said he to himself, “for Death will send his messengers before that, but I

do wish these wretched days of sickness were over.” As soon as he felthimself well again he began once more to live merrily Then one day someone tapped him on the shoulder He looked round, and Death stood behindhim, and said, “Follow me, the hour of thy departure from this world hascome.” “What,” replied the man, “wilt thou break thy word? Didst thou notpromise me that thou wouldst send thy messengers to me before comingthyself? I have seen none!” “Silence!” answered Death “Have I not sent onemessenger to thee after another? Did not fever come and smite thee, and

shake thee, and cast thee down? Has dizziness not bewildered thy head? Hasnot gout twitched thee in all thy limbs? Did not thine ears sing? Did nottooth-ache bite into thy cheeks? Was it not dark before thine eyes? Andbesides all that, has not my own brother Sleep reminded thee every night ofme? Didst thou not lie by night as if thou wert already dead? The man couldmake no answer; he yielded to his fate, and went away with Death.

END.

Doctor Know-all

There was once on a time a poor peasant called Crabb, who drove with twooxen a load of wood to the town, and sold it to a doctor for two thalers Whenthe money was being counted out to him, it so happened that the doctor wassitting at table, and when the peasant saw how daintily he ate and drank, hisheart desired what he saw, and he would willingly have been a doctor too So

he remained standing a while, and at length inquired if he too could not be adoctor “Oh, yes,” said the doctor, “that is soon managed.” “What must Ido?” asked the peasant “In the first place buy thyself an A B C book of thekind which has a cock on the frontispiece: in the second, turn thy cart and thytwo oxen into money, and get thyself some clothes, and whatsoever elsepertains to medicine; thirdly, have a sign painted for thyself with the words,

“I am Doctor Knowall,” and have that nailed up above thy house-door.” Thepeasant did everything that he had been told to do When he had doctoredpeople awhile, but not long, a rich and great lord had some money stolen.Then he was told about Doctor Knowall who lived in such and such a village,and must know what had become of the money So the lord had the horsesput in his carriage, drove out to the village, and asked Crabb if he wereDoctor Knowall? Yes, he was, he said Then he was to go with him and bringback the stolen money “Oh, yes, but Grethe, my wife, must go too.” The lordwas willing and let both of them have a seat in the carriage, and they alldrove away together When they came to the nobleman’s castle, the table wasspread, and Crabb was told to sit down and eat “Yes, but my wife, Grethe,too,” said he, and he seated himself with her at the table And when the firstservant came with a dish of delicate fare, the peasant nudged his wife, andsaid, “Grethe, that was the first,” meaning that was the servant who broughtthe first dish The servant, however, thought he intended by that to say, “That

is the first thief,” and as he actually was so, he was terrified, and said to hiscomrade outside, “The doctor knows all: we shall fare ill, he said I was thefirst.” The second did not want to go in at all, but was forced So when hewent in with his dish, the peasant nudged his wife, and said, “Grethe, that isthe second.” This servant was just as much alarmed, and he got out The thirddid not fare better, for the peasant again said, “Grethe, that is the third.” Thefourth had to carry in a dish that was covered, and the lord told the doctor that

he was to show his skill, and guess what was beneath the cover The doctorlooked at the dish, had no idea what to say, and cried, “Ah, poor Crabb.”

When the lord heard that, he cried, “There! he knows it, he knows who hasthe money!”

On this the servants looked terribly uneasy, and made a sign to the doctorthat they wished him to step outside for a moment When therefore he wentout, all four of them confessed to him that they had stolen the money, andsaid that they would willingly restore it and give him a heavy sum into thebargain, if he would not denounce them, for if he did they would be hanged.They led him to the spot where the money was concealed With this thedoctor was satisfied, and returned to the hall, sat down to the table, and said,

“My lord, now will I search in my book where the gold is hidden.” The fifthservant, however, crept into the stove to hear if the doctor knew still more.The Doctor, however, sat still and opened his A B C book, turned the pagesbackwards and forwards, and looked for the cock As he could not find itimmediately he said, “I know you are there, so you had better showyourself.” Then the fellow in the stove thought that the doctor meant him, andfull of terror, sprang out, crying, “That man knows everything!” Then Dr.Knowall showed the count where the money was, but did not say who hadstolen it, and received from both sides much money in reward, and became arenowned man

END.