The Original Folk and Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm (30 page)

Little Snow White looked out of the window: “What do you have for sale?”

“Stay laces, dear child!” the old woman replied and took out a lace woven from yellow, red, and blue silk. “Do you want it?”

“Well, yes,” said Little Snow White and thought, “I can certainly let this good old woman inside. She's honest enough.”

So Little Snow White unbolted the door and bought the lace.

“My goodness, you're so sloppily laced up!” said the old woman. “Come, I'll lace you up properly for once.”

Little Snow White stood in front of the old woman, who took the lace and tied it around Little Snow White so tightly that she lost her breath and fell down as if dead. Then the queen was satisfied and left.

Not long after nightfall the dwarfs came home, and when they saw their dear Snow White lying on the ground, they were horrified, for she seemed to be dead. They lifted her up, and when they saw that she was laced too tightly, they cut the stay lace in two. At once she began to breathe a little, and after a while she had fully revived.

“That was nobody else but the queen,” they said. “She wanted to take your life. Be careful, and don't let anyone else enter the cottage.”

Now the queen asked her mirror:

“Mirror, mirror, on the wall,

who in this land is fairest of all?”

The mirror answered:

“You, my queen, may have a beauty quite rare,

But Little Snow White's alive, this I must tell,

She's with the dwarfs and doing quite well.

Indeed, she's still a thousand times more fair.”

The queen was so horrified that all her blood rushed to her heart when she realized that Little Snow White was alive once again. So she began thinking day and night how she could put an end to Little Snow White. Finally, she made a poisoned comb, disguised herself in a completely different shape, and went off to the dwarfs' cottage once again. When she knocked on the door, however, Little Snow White called out: “I'm not allowed to let anyone enter!”

The queen then took out the comb, and when Little Snow White saw it shine and that the woman was someone entirely different from the one she had previously met, she opened the door and bought the comb.

“Come,” said the peddler woman, “I'll also comb your hair.”

But no sooner did the old woman stick the comb in Little Snow White's hair than the maiden fell down and was dead.

“Now you'll remain lying there,” the queen said, and her heart had become lighter as she returned home.

However, the dwarfs came just in the nick of time. When they saw what had happened, they pulled the poison comb out of Little Snow White's hair, and she opened her eyes and was alive again. She promised the dwarfs that she would certainly not let anyone inside again.

Now the queen stepped in front of her mirror once more and asked:

“Mirror, mirror, on the wall,

who in this land is fairest of all?”

The mirror answered:

“You, my queen, may have a beauty quite rare,

But Little Snow White's alive, this I must tell,

She's with the dwarfs and doing quite well.

Indeed, she's still a thousand times more fair.”

When the queen heard this once again, she trembled and shook with rage. “Little Snow White shall die!” she exclaimed. “Even if it costs me my own life!”

Then she went into a secret chamber where no one was allowed to enter. Once inside she made a deadly poisonous apple. On the outside it looked
beautiful with red cheeks. Anyone who saw it would be enticed to take a bite. Thereafter, she disguised herself as a peasant woman, went to the dwarfs' cottage, and knocked on the door. Little Snow White looked and said “I'm not allowed to let anyone inside. The seven dwarfs have strictly forbidden me.”

“Well, if you don't want to let me in, I can't force you,” answered the peasant woman. “I'll surely get rid of my apples in time. But let me give you one to test.”

“No,” said Little Snow White. “I'm not allowed to take anything. The dwarfs won't let me.”

“You're probably afraid,” said the old woman. “Look, I'll cut the apple in two. You eat the beautiful red half.”

However, the apple had been made with such cunning that only the red part was poisoned. When Little Snow White saw the peasant woman eating her half, and when her desire to taste the apple grew stronger, she finally let the peasant woman give her the other half through the window. As soon as she took a bite of the apple, she fell to the ground and was dead.

The queen rejoiced, went home, and asked the mirror:

“Mirror, mirror, on the wall,

who in this land is the fairest of all?”

And the mirror answered:

“You, my queen, are now the fairest of all.”

“Now I can rest in peace,” she said. “Once again I'm the most beautiful in the land, and Snow White will remain dead this time.”

When the dwarfs came home from the mines that evening, they found Little Snow White lying on the ground, and she was dead. They unlaced her and tried to find something poisonous in her hair, but nothing helped. They couldn't revive her. So they laid her on a bier, and all seven of them sat down beside it and wept and wept for three whole days. Then they intended to bury her, but she looked more alive than dead, and she still had such pretty red cheeks. So, instead they made a glass coffin and placed her inside so that she could easily be seen. Then they wrote her name on
the coffin in gold letters and added the family name. One of the dwarfs remained at home every day to keep watch over her.

So Little Snow White lay in the coffin for a long, long time but did not rot. She was still white as snow and red as blood, and if her eyes could have opened, they would have been black as ebony, for she lay there as if she were sleeping.

Now it happened that a prince came to the dwarfs' cottage one day and wanted to spend the night there. When he entered the room and saw Little Snow White lying in the coffin and the seven little candles casting their light right on her, he couldn't get enough of her beauty. Then he read the golden inscription and saw that she was a princess. So he asked the dwarfs to sell him the coffin with the dead Little Snow White inside. But they wouldn't accept all the gold in the world for it. Then he pleaded with them to give Little Snow White to him as a gift because he couldn't live without gazing upon her, and he would honor her and hold her in high regard as his most beloved in the world. Well, the dwarfs took pity on him and gave him the coffin, and the prince had it carried to his castle. It was then placed in his room, where he himself sat the entire day and couldn't take his eyes off her. And when he had to leave the room and couldn't see Little Snow White, he became sad. Indeed, he couldn't eat a thing unless he was standing near the coffin. However, the servants, who had to carry the coffin from place to place in the castle all the time, became angry about this, and at one time a servant opened the coffin, lifted Little Snow White into the air, and said: “Why must we be plagued with so much work all because of a dead maiden?” On saying this he shoved Little Snow White's back with his hand, and out popped the nasty piece of apple that had been stuck in Little Snow White's throat, and she was once again alive. As soon as this happened, she went to the prince, and when he saw his dear Little Snow White alive, he rejoiced so much that he didn't know what to do. Then they sat down at the dinner table and ate with delight.

The wedding was planned for the next day, and Snow White's godless mother was also invited to attend. When she now stepped before the mirror, she said:

“Mirror, mirror, on the wall,

who in this land is the fairest of all?”

And the mirror replied:

“You, my queen, may have a beauty quite rare,

but Little Snow White is a thousand times more fair.”

When she heard this, she was horrified and became so afraid, so very afraid that she didn't know what to do. However, her jealousy drove her so much that she wanted to be seen at the wedding. When she arrived, she saw that Little Snow White was the bride. Iron slippers were then heated over a fire. The queen had to put them on and dance in them, and her feet were miserably burned, but she had to keep dancing in them until she danced herself to death.

54

SIMPLE HANS

Once a king lived happily with his daughter, who was his only child. Then, all of a sudden, she gave birth to a baby, and no one knew who the father was. For a long time the king didn't know what to do. At last he ordered the princess to take the child and go to the church. Once there, a lemon was to be placed in the hands of the child, and the boy was to walk about and offer it to a man. As soon as boy stopped and chose a man, they would know that he was child's father, and he would be declared the princess's husband. Everything was arranged accordingly, and the king also gave orders to allow only highborn people into the church.

However, there was a crooked little hunchback living in the city who was not particularly smart and was therefore called Simple Hans. Well, he managed to push his way into the church among the others without being noticed, and when the child offered the lemon, he handed it to Simple Hans. The princess was mortified, and the king was so upset that he had his daughter, the child, and Simple Hans stuck into a barrel, which was cast into the sea. The barrel soon floated off, and when they were alone at sea, the princess groaned and said, “You nasty, impudent hunchback! You're to blame for my misfortune! Why did you force your way into the church? My child's of no concern to you.”

“That's not true,” said Simple Hans. “He does concern me because I once made a wish that you would have a child, and whatever I wish comes true.”

“Well, if that's the case, wish us something to eat.”

“That's easily done,” replied Simple Hans, and he wished for a dish full of potatoes. The princess would have liked to have something better. Nevertheless, she was so hungry that she joined him in eating the potatoes. After they had satisfied their hunger, Simple Hans said, “Now I'll wish us a beautiful ship!”

No sooner had he said this than they were sitting on a splendid ship that contained more than enough to fulfill their desires. The helmsman guided the ship straight toward land, and when they went ashore, Simple Hans said, “Now I want a castle over there!”

Suddenly there was a magnificent castle standing there, along with servants dressed in golden uniforms. They led the princess and her child inside, and when they were in the middle of the main hall, Simple Hans said, “Now I wish to be a young and clever prince!”

All at once his hunchback disappeared, and he was handsome, upright, and kind. Indeed, the princess took such a great liking to him that she became his wife.

For a long time they lived happily together, and then one day the old king went out riding, lost his way, and arrived at their castle. He was puzzled because he had never seen it before and decided to enter. The princess recognized her father immediately, but he did not recognize her, for he thought she had drowned in the sea a long time ago. She treated him with a great deal of hospitality, and when he was about to return home, she secretly slipped a golden cup into his pocket. After he had ridden off, she sent a pair of knights after him. They were ordered to stop him and search him to see if he had stolen the golden cup. When they found it in his pocket, they brought him back. He swore to the princess that he hadn't stolen it and didn't know how it had gotten into his pocket.

“That's why,” she said, “one must beware of rushing to judgment.” And she revealed to him that she was his daughter. The king rejoiced, and they all lived happily together, and after the king's death, Simple Hans became king.

55

RUMPELSTILTSKIN

Once upon a time there was a miller who was poor, but he had a beautiful daughter. Now, one day he happened to talk to the king and said, “I have a daughter who knows the art of transforming straw into gold.”

So the king had the miller's daughter summoned to him right away and ordered her to spin all the straw in a room into gold in one night, and if she couldn't do this, she would die. Then she was locked in the room where she sat and wept. For the life of her, she didn't have the slightest inkling of how to spin straw into gold. All of a sudden a little man entered the room and said, “What will you give me if I spin everything into gold?”

She took off her necklace and gave it to the little man, and he did what he promised. The next morning the king found the entire room filled with gold, but because of this, his heart grew even greedier, and he locked the miller's daughter in another room full of straw that was even larger than the first, and she was to spin it all into gold. Then the little man came again, and she gave him a ring from one of her fingers, and everything was spun into gold.

However, on the third night the king had her locked again in another room that was larger than the other two and filled with straw.