The Original Folk and Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm (36 page)

“I've drunken and eaten for you,” the little man said, “and now I'll give you the ship. I'm giving you all this because you were so kind and took pity on me.”

So he gave Simpleton the ship that sailed on land and on water, and when the king saw this, he could no longer prevent him from marrying his daughter. Then the wedding was celebrated, and Simpleton inherited the realm and lived a long time happily with his wife.

65

ALL FUR

Once upon a time there was a king who had the most beautiful wife in the world, and her hair was pure gold. They had a daughter together, and she was just as beautiful as her mother, and her hair was just as golden. One day the queen became sick, and when she felt she was about to die, she called the king to her and made a request: if after her death he wanted to marry again, he should only take someone who was as beautiful as she was and who had golden hair like hers. Once the king promised her that, she died.

For a long time the king was so distressed that didn't think about a second wife. Finally, his councilors urged him to remarry. So messengers were sent to all the princesses in the world, but none of them were as beautiful as the dead queen. Nor could they find such golden hair anywhere in the world.

Now one day the king cast his eyes on his daughter, and when he saw that her features were very similar to those of her mother and that she also had such golden hair, he thought, “Since you won't find anyone as beautiful in the world, you must marry your daughter.” And right then he felt such a great love for her that he immediately informed his councilors and the princess of his decision.

The councilors wanted to talk him out of it, but it was in vain. The princess was totally horrified about his godless intention. However, since she was smart, she told the king that he first had to provide her with three dresses, one as golden as the sun, one as white as the moon, and one as bright as the stars and then a cloak made of a thousand kinds of pelts and furs, and each animal in the kingdom had to contribute a piece of its skin to it.

The king had such a passionate desire for her that everyone in his realm was ordered to work. His huntsmen had to catch all the animals and take a piece of their skin. Thus a cloak was made from their fur, and it didn't take long before the king brought the princess what she had demanded.

Now the princess said that she would marry him the next day. However, during the night, she collected the gifts that she had received from
her fiancé from another kingdom: a golden ring, a little golden spinning wheel, and a little golden reel, and the three dresses, all of which she put into a nutshell. Then she blackened her face and hands with soot, put on the cloak made of all kinds of fur, and departed. She walked the whole night until she reached a great forest, where she was safe. Since she was tired, she climbed into a hollow tree and fell asleep.

She continued to sleep until it became broad daylight. As it so happened, the king, her bridegroom,
²
was out hunting in the forest. When his dogs came to the tree, they started to sniff and run around it. The king sent his huntsmen to see what kind of animal was hiding in the tree. When they returned to him, they said that there was a strange animal lying in it, and they had never seen anything like it in their lives. Its skin was made up of a thousand different kinds of fur, and it was lying there asleep. Then the king ordered them to catch it and tie it on the back of the wagon. The huntsmen did this, and as they pulled it from the tree, they saw it was a maiden. Then they tied her on the back of the wagon and drove home with her.

“All Fur,” they said, “you'll do well to work in the kitchen. You can carry wood and water and sweep up the ashes.”

Then they gave her a little stall beneath the steps.

“You can live and sleep there.”

So she had to work in the kitchen, where she helped the cook, plucked the chickens, tended the fire, sorted the vegetables, and did all the dirty work. Since she did everything so diligently, the cook was good to her and sometimes called All Fur to him in the evening and gave her some of the leftovers to eat. Before the king went to bed, she had to go upstairs and pull off his boots, and as soon as she would pull one off, he would always throw it at her head. And so All Fur led a miserable life for a long time. Ah, you beautiful maiden, what shall become of you?

At one time a ball was held in the castle, and All Fur thought, “perhaps now I could see my dear bridegroom once again.” So she went to the cook and asked him to allow her to go upstairs for a while to see the splendor from the doorway.

²
Evidently the princess had never met her fiancé (bridegroom).

“Go ahead,” said the cook, “but you can't stay longer than half an hour. You've got to sweep up the ashes tonight.”

So All Fur took her little oil lamp, went into her little stall, and washed the soot off her so that her beauty came to light again like flowers in springtime. Then she took off the fur cloak, opened the nut, and took out the dress that shone like the sun. When she was fully dressed, she went upstairs, and everyone made way for her, for they believed that she was nothing less than a distinguished princess who had just come into the ballroom. The king immediately offered her his hand and led her forth to dance. And as he was dancing with her, he thought, “this unknown princess resembles my dear bride,” and the longer he gazed at her, the more she resembled her so that he was almost certain it was her. When the dance ended, he wanted to ask her. However, as she finished the dance, she curtsied and disappeared before the king could begin to speak. Then he asked the guards, but nobody had seen the princess leave the castle. She had quickly run to her little stall, taken off her dress, blackened her face and hands, and put on the fur cloak once again. Then she went into the kitchen and started to sweep up the ashes.

“Let it be until morning,” the cook said. “I want to go upstairs and take a look at the dance. Make a soup for the king, but don't let any hairs fall in, otherwise you'll get nothing more to eat.”

All Fur cooked a bread soup for the king, and then at the end, she slipped the golden ring that the king had given to her as a present into the soup. When the ball came to an end, the king had his bread soup brought to him, and it tasted so good that he was convinced that he had never eaten one so good. However, when he had finished, he found the ring at the bottom of the bowl. As he looked at it carefully, he saw that it was his wedding ring and was puzzled.
³

He couldn't grasp how the ring came to be there, and so he had the cook summoned, and the cook became angry with All Fur.

“You must have certainly let a hair fall into the soup. If that's true, you'll get a beating!”

However, when the cook went upstairs, the king asked him who had cooked the soup because it had been better than usual. So the cook had to confess that All Fur had made it, and the king ordered him to send All Fur up to him. When she came, the king said: “Who are you and what are you doing in my castle? Where did you get the ring that was in the soup?”

Then she replied:

“I'm nothing but a poor child whose mother and father are dead

I am nothing and am good for nothing except for having boots thrown at my head.

I also know nothing about the ring.”

Upon saying that she ran away.

Some time later there was another ball, and once again All Fur asked the cook's permission to go upstairs. The cook allowed her but only for half an hour, and then she was to return and cook the bread soup for the king. So, All Fur went to her little stall, washed herself clean, took out the dress as silvery as the moon and cleaner and more sparkling than fallen snow. When she appeared upstairs, the dance had already begun. The king offered his hand to her again and danced with her. He no longer doubted that she was his bride, for nobody in the world except her had such golden hair. However, when the dance was over, the princess had already departed once again, and despite all his efforts, the king couldn't find her, and he hadn't even spoken a single word with her.

Indeed, she was All Fur again with blackened hands and face. She stood in the kitchen and cooked the bread soup for the king while the cook went upstairs to watch the dance. When the soup was done, she put the golden spinning wheel into the bowl. The king ate the soup, and it seemed even better this time. When he found the golden spinning wheel at the bottom, he was even more astounded because he had at one time sent it to his bride as a present. The cook was summoned, and then All Fur, but once again she replied that she knew nothing about it, and that she was only there to have boots thrown at her head.

When the king held a ball for the third time, he hoped his bride would come again, and he wanted to make sure to hold on to her. All
Fur asked the cook again to let her go upstairs, but he scolded her and said: “You're a witch. You always put something in the soup and can cook it better than I do.”

However, since she pleaded so passionately and promised to behave herself, he let her go upstairs again for half an hour. Thereupon she put on the dress that sparkled as bright as the stars in the night and went upstairs and danced with the king. He thought he had never seen her more beautiful. As they were dancing, however, he slipped a ring onto her finger and ordered the dance to last for a very long time. Nevertheless, he couldn't hold onto her, nor could he speak a single word to her, for when the dance was over, she mingled with the people so quickly that she vanished before he turned around.

All Fur ran to her little stall, and since she had been away longer than half an hour, she undressed quickly. In her hurry she couldn't blacken herself completely so that a finger remained white. When she went into the kitchen, the cook was already upstairs, and she quickly cooked the bread soup and put the golden reel into it.

Just as he had found the ring and the golden spinning wheel, the king also found the reel. Now he knew for sure that his bride was nearby, for nobody else could have possessed the presents. All Fur was summoned and wanted once again to avoid the king and run away. However, as she tried to run off, the king caught sight of the white finger on her hand and held her tight. He found the ring that he had slipped onto her finger and tore off her fur cloak. Then her golden hair toppled down, and she was his dearly beloved bride. Now the cook was richly rewarded, and the king held the wedding and they lived happily until their death.

³
This was the ring that he had sent to her as a gift.

66

HURLEBURLEBUTZ

Once a king got lost during a hunt, and suddenly a little white dwarf appeared before him.

“Your majesty,” he said, “if you give me your youngest daughter, I'll show you how to get out of the forest.”

The king consented out of fear, and the dwarf helped him find his way. As he took leave of the king, he cried out: “I'll be coming to fetch my bride in a week.”

When the king reached home, he was sad about his promise because his youngest daughter was his favorite. His daughters noticed how sad he was and wanted to know what the cause of his worry was. Finally, he had to tell them that he had promised the youngest of them to a little white dwarf in the forest and that the dwarf would be coming to fetch her in a week. However, they told him to cheer up, for they would lead the dwarf on a wild goose chase.

When the day came for the dwarf's arrival, they dressed a cowherd's daughter in their clothes and sat her down in their room.

“If someone comes to fetch you, you're to go with him!” they ordered, and they themselves left the house.

No sooner had they left than a fox entered the castle and said to the maiden, “Sit down on my furry tail, Hurleburlebutz! Off to the forest!”

The maiden sat down on the fox's tail, and he carried her out into the forest. When they came to a beautiful clearing, where the sun was shining very bright and warm, the fox said, “Get off and take the lice out of my hair!”

The maiden followed his orders, and the fox laid his head on her lap so she could louse him. While she was doing this, the maiden said, “When I was in the forest yesterday about this time, it was more beautiful!”

“What were you doing in the forest?” the fox asked.

“Oh, I was tending the cows with my father.”

“So, you're not the princess! Sit down on my furry tail, Hurleburlebutz! Back to the castle!”

The fox carried her back and said to the king, “You've deceived me. That was a cowherd's daughter. I'll come again in a week and fetch your daughter.”

At the end of the week the princesses dressed a gooseherd's daughter in splendid garments, sat her down, and went away. Then the fox came again and said, “Sit down on my furry tail, Hurleburlebutz! Off to the forest!”

When they arrived at a sunny spot in the forest, the fox said once more, “Get off and take the lice out of my hair!”

As the maiden was lousing the fox, she sighed and said, “I wonder where my geese are now?”

“What do you know about geese?”

“Oh, I take them to the meadow every day with my father.”

“So, you're not the king's daughter! Sit down on my furry tail, Hurleburlebutz! Back to the castle!”

The fox carried her back and said to the king, “You've deceived me again. That was the gooseherd's daughter. I'm going to come again in a week, and if you don't give me your daughter, you'll be in for trouble.”

The king became frightened, and when the fox returned, he gave him the princess.

“Sit down on my furry tail, Hurleburlebutz! Off to the forest!”

She had to ride on the fox's tail, and when they got to a sunny place, he said to her, “Get off and take the lice out of my hair!”

However, when he laid his head in her lap, the princess began to cry and said, “I'm a king's daughter, and yet I must louse a fox! If I were sitting at home now, I'd be looking at the flowers in my garden!”