The Original Folk and Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm (23 page)

But the little table remained as empty as it had been, and the son realized that he had been duped and was ashamed of himself while the relatives left without drinking and eating. Father and son had to resume their usual work.

The second son had gone to a miller, and when he had finished his apprenticeship, the miller gave him the donkey Bricklebrit as a gift. Whenever one said “Bricklebrit” to this donkey. it would begin to spew gold coins from the front and the behind. After he departed, the young man reached the same tavern where his brother's little table had been stolen from him. He let himself be treated like a prince, and when he was given the bill, he went to the donkey in the stable and said: “Bricklebrit!” All at once he had more gold coins than he needed. However, the innkeeper had observed this, and during the night he got up, untied the golden donkey, and replaced it with his animal. So, in the morning the miller's apprentice left with the wrong donkey and didn't realize that he had been deceived. When he returned home to his father, he also declared: “Enjoy life! I have the donkey Bricklebrit, and you can have as much gold as you wish.”

So once again his father invited all their relatives, and a large white cloth was spread out in the middle of the room. Then the donkey was brought
from the stable and set onto the cloth. The miller said: “Bricklebrit!” but it was in vain. Not a single gold coin appeared. Immediately the son realized that he had been duped. He was ashamed of himself and began to practice his trade to support himself.

The third son had gone to a turner, who gave him a sack with a club in it as a gift when the young man was ready to go off on his travels. Whenever he said, “Club, come out of the sack!” the club would jump out and dance on people's backs and beat them mercilessly. Now the young turner had heard that his brothers had lost their treasures at an inn. Therefore, he went to the same inn and said that his brothers had brought with them a little magic table and the donkey Bricklebrit, but what he was carrying in his sack was much more precious and worth much more. The innkeeper was curious and thought that all good things come in threes, and wanted to steal this treasure during the night. But the turner had placed the sack under his pillow, and when the innkeeper came and tried to pull it out, the young man said: “Club, come out of the sack!”

All at once the club jumped out of the sack, and danced with the innkeeper and beat him so mercilessly that he readily promised to return the little magic table and the donkey Bricklebrit. Once he received them, the youngest son set out for home and brought everything to his father and lived with him and his brothers in happiness and joy.

As for the goat, she had run off to a foxhole. And when the fox came home and looked into his cave, he saw a pair of large fiery eyes glaring at him. He became so frightened that he ran away and encountered the bear, who said: “Brother fox, why are you making such a face?”

“A gruesome beast is sitting in my cave with terrifying fiery eyes.”

“Well, then I'll drive it out for you,” the bear said and went to the cave. However, when he arrived at the cave and saw the fiery eyes, he, too, was struck by fear and ran off. Now a bee came flying by and asked: “Why are you looking so pale, bear?”

“A gruesome beast is sitting in the fox's cave, and we can't chase it away.”

Then the bee said: “I'm nothing but a tiny creature and you don't give me the attention that I deserve, but perhaps I can help you.”

So the bee flew into the foxhole and stung the goat on its smooth shaven head so that she jumped up screaming “
Meh! Meh!
” and ran away. And to this day nobody knows whatever happened to the goat.

II

A tailor had three sons whom he wanted to send off into the world one after the other. They were supposed to learn an honest living. Since he didn't want them to leave empty-handed, each was to receive a pancake and a penny.

The eldest set out and encountered a little man who lived in a nutshell. However, he was enormously rich and said to the tailor's son, “If you look after my herd on the mountain and will protect it, you'll receive a good gift from me. However, you must beware of the house at the foot of the mountain. There are a lot of merry things going on there. You can always hear music and shouting and dancing. If you enter that house, then you can forget about working for me.”

The tailor's son agreed, drove the herd up the mountain, looked after it diligently, and always kept far away from the house. However, one time on a Sunday, he heard how much fun people were having inside, and he thought, “One time won't hurt.” So he went inside, danced, and was delighted. But when he went outside again, it was night, and the entire herd had disappeared. So he went to his master with a heavy heart and confessed to him what he had done. The man in the nutshell was immensely angry. However, since the young man had served him so diligently, and since he had confessed his mistake openly, he gave him a magic table as a gift.

The tailor's son was deeply grateful and set out on the way home to his father. Along the way he stopped at an inn and asked the innkeeper to give him a special room. He told him that he didn't need any food and locked himself in the room. The innkeeper wondered what the strange guest was going to do in the room. So he sneaked upstairs and looked through the keyhole. All at once he saw how the stranger set a small table down in front of him and said, “Little table, cover yourself!” and as soon as he said that,
the best food and drink appeared before him. The innkeeper thought that the little table would be better in his hands. So, in the night, when the stranger was fast asleep, he fetched the magic table and replaced it with another that looked the same.

In the morning the tailor's son departed and didn't notice that he had been deceived. When he returned home, he told his father about his good fortune, and the old man was happy and wanted to test the miraculous table right away. But even when his son spoke the words “Little table, cover yourself” a few times, it was to no avail. The table remained empty, and the young man realized that he had been robbed.

Now the second son received his pancake and a penny and went into the world to do better things. He, too, came upon the man in the nutshell and served him faithfully a long time, but he let himself be led astray. He went into the house, had fun, danced, and lost the herd. So he had to take his leave, but the man gave him a donkey. Whenever he said to the animal, “Rattle and shake yourself, spew gold from behind and from the front,” gold rained from all sides. The second son set out for home with great pleasure, but he stopped at the inn, and the innkeeper replaced the donkey with a common one, and when the young man returned home and wanted to make his father rich, it was all over, and his good fortune was ruined.

Finally, the third son was equipped with the pancake and penny and went into the world. And he promised to do better. He served the man in the nutshell faithfully, and in order to prevent himself from entering the dangerous house, he stuffed his ears with cotton, and when the year of service had been completed, he delivered the entire herd to the man, and not one animal was missing. Then the little man said: “I must give you a special reward. Here is a satchel. There's a club in it, and as soon as you say, ‘Club, get out of the satchel,' it will jump out and cause people a great deal of pain.”

The third son set out for home and stopped by the inn and saw the innkeeper who had taken his brothers' gifts. He threw his satchel on the table and spoke about his brothers: “One of them had a little magic table, and the other, a golden donkey. All that's quite good, but it's nothing compared to what I have in this satchel. It's the most valuable thing in the world.”

The innkeeper became curious and hoped to get this treasure as well. When night came, the the third son laid himself down in the straw, and he placed the satchel beneath his head. The innkeeper stayed awake and waited until he thought that the third son was fast asleep. Then he went and fetched another satchel and wanted to pull out the satchel from under the young man's head. However, the third son had stayed awake, and when he noticed the innkeeper's hand, he cried out: “Club, get out of the satchel!”

All at once the club jumped out and fell upon the innkeeper and beat him so badly that he fell upon his knees and screamed for mercy. However, the third son refused to let the club stop until the thief returned the little table and the golden donkey. Then he set out for home with the three magic gifts to join his brothers, and from then on they lived with their wealth and in happiness, and the father always said: “I didn't provide them with my pancake and my penny for nothing.”

37

THE TABLECLOTH, THE KNAPSACK, THE CANNON HAT, AND THE HORN

Once there were three brothers from the region of the Black Mountains. Originally, they were very poor and traveled to Spain, where they came to a mountain completely surrounded by silver. The oldest brother took advantage of the situation by gathering as much silver as he could carry and went back home with his booty. The other two continued traveling and came to a mountain where nothing could be seen but gold. One brother said to the other, “What should we do?”

The second took as much gold as he could carry, as his older brother had done, and went home. However, the third wanted to see if he could have even better luck and continued on his way. He walked for three days and then entered an enormous forest. After wandering about for some time, he became tired, hungry, and thirsty and couldn't find his way out of the forest. So he climbed a tall tree to see if he could catch a glimpse of the end of the forest. However, he saw nothing but the
tops of trees. His only wish now was to fill his body once more, and he began climbing down the tree. When he got to the bottom, he noticed a table covered with many different dishes underneath the tree. He was delighted by this and ate until he was full. After he had finished eating, he took the tablecloth with him and moved on. Whenever he got hungry or thirsty again, he opened the tablecloth, and whatever he wished for would appear on it.

After a day's journey he encountered a charcoal burner, who was burning coals and cooking potatoes. The charcoal burner invited him to be his guest, but he replied, “No thanks, but I want you to be my guest.”

“How's that possible?” the charcoal burner asked. “You don't seem to be carrying anything with you.”

“That doesn't matter,” he said. “Just sit down over here.”

Then he opened his tablecloth, and soon there was everything and anything one could possibly wish for. The charcoal burner enjoyed the meal and wanted to have the tablecloth. After they had eaten everything, he said, “How'd you like to trade with me? I'll give you an old soldier's knapsack for the tablecloth. If you tap it with your hand, a corporal and six men armed from top to bottom will come out each time you tap. They're of no help to me in the forest, but I'd certainly like the tablecloth.”

They made the trade: the charcoal burner kept the tablecloth, while the man from the Black Mountains took the knapsack. However, no sooner had the man gone some distance than he tapped the knapsack. and out popped the war heroes.

“What does my master want?”

“I want you to march back and fetch my tablecloth that I left behind with the charcoal burner.”

So they returned to the charcoal burner and then brought back the tablecloth. In the evening he came to another charcoal burner, who invited him to supper. He had the same potatoes without grease, but the man from the Black Mountains opened his tablecloth instead and invited him to be his guest. Nobody could have wished for a better meal! When it was over, this charcoal burner also wanted to make a trade. He gave the man a hat for the tablecloth. If the man turned the hat on his head,
cannons would fire as if an entire battalion of soldiers and battery were right on the spot.

When the man from the Black Mountains had gone some distance, he tapped the old knapsack again, and the corporal and his six men were ordered to fetch the tablecloth again. Now the man continued his journey in the same forest, and in the evening he came upon a third charcoal burner, who invited him to eat potatoes without grease like the others. Then they negotiated, and the charcoal burner gave the man a little horn for the tablecloth. If the man blew on it, all the cities and villages as well as the fortresses would collapse into heaps of rubble.

The charcoal burner didn't get to keep the tablecloth any longer than the other two, for the corporal and his six men soon came and fetched it. Now, when the man from the Black Mountains had everything together, he returned home and intended to visit his brothers, who had become rich from their gold and silver. When he went to them wearing an old tattered coat they refused to recognize him as their brother. So he immediately tapped his knapsack and had one hundred and fifty men march out and give his brothers a good thrashing on their backs. The entire village came to their aid, but they could do very little in this affair. News of this soon reached the king, who sent a military squad to take the soldiers prisoner, but the man from the Black Mountains kept tapping his knapsack and had an infantry and cavalry march out. They defeated the military squad and forced it to retreat. The following day the king had even more soldiers sent to bring an end to the old guy. However, he kept tapping his knapsack until he had an entire army. In addition, he turned his hat a few times. The cannons fired, and the enemy was defeated and took flight. Finally, peace was made, and he was appointed viceroy and awarded the princess for his bride.

However, the princess was constantly bothered by the fact that she had to take such an old guy for her husband. Her greatest wish was to get rid of him. Every day she tried to discover the source of the power that he used to his advantage. Finally, since he was so devoted to her, he revealed everything to her. She managed to talk him into giving her his knapsack, whereupon she forced him out. Afterward, when soldiers came marching against him, his men were defeated. However, he still had his little hat. So he turned it
and had the cannons fired. Once again he defeated the enemy, and peace was made. After this he was deceived again when the princess talked him into giving her his little hat. Now, when the enemy attacked him, he had nothing left but his little horn. So he blew it, and the villages, cities, and all the fortresses collapsed instantly into heaps of rubble. Then he alone was king and blew his horn until he died.