The Original Folk and Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm (39 page)

“My goodness, granny, what are you doing there?”

“I'm scraping intestines, my child. Tomorrow I'll be scraping yours, too!”

The maiden was so terrified by her words that she dropped the key she was holding into a basin of blood, and she couldn't wash the blood off the key.

“Now your death is certain,” said the old woman, “because my master will be able to see you were in the chamber, and no one is allowed to enter here except him and me.”

(One must indeed know that this was the way her two sisters had lost their lives before her.)

Just then a hay wagon began to drive away and leave the castle. The old woman told her the only way she could save herself was by hiding under the hay and driving off in the wagon. And this is what the maiden did. In the meantime, the nobleman returned home and asked where the maiden was.

“Oh,” said the old woman, “since I had no more work for today, and since she was due to be slaughtered tomorrow, I decided to kill her. Here's
a lock of her hair. The dogs ate up the heart, the warm blood, and all the rest. I'm scraping out the intestines.”

The nobleman was glad that she was dead. Meanwhile, she arrived in the hay wagon at a nearby castle, where the hay was supposed to be delivered. She climbed out of the hay and told everything she knew. Then she was asked to remain, and after some time had passed, the lord of this castle invited all the gentry of the surrounding region to a great feast. Since the nobleman from the castle of murder had also been invited, the maiden changed her features and clothes so she wouldn't be recognized.

Once they were all there, everyone had to tell a tale. When it was the maiden's turn, she told the particular story that concerned the nobleman and made his heart tremble with fear, and he wanted to force his way out. However, the lord of the castle had planned ahead of time to have the authorities ready to take our fine count to prison. His castle was destroyed, and all the treasures were given to the maiden for her own. Afterward she married the lord's son in the house where she had been so well received, and they lived together many, many years.

74

JOHANNES WATERSPRING AND CASPAR WATERSPRING

A king insisted his daughter was not to marry and had a house built for her in the most secluded part of a forest. She had to live there with her ladies in waiting, and no other human being was allowed to see her. Near the house in the woods, however, there was a spring with marvelous qualities, and when the princess drank from it, she consequently gave birth to two princes. They were identical twins and named after the spring—Johannes Waterspring and Caspar Waterspring.

Their grandfather, the old king, had them instructed in hunting, and as they grew older, they became big and handsome young men. When the day arrived for them to set out into the world, each received a silver star, a horse, and a dog to take on the journey. Once they came to a forest, they immediately saw two hares and wanted to shoot them, but the hares asked
for mercy and said that they would like to serve them and that they could be useful and help them whenever they were in danger. The two brothers let themselves be persuaded and took them along as servants.

Soon after they came upon two bears, and when they took aim at them, these animals also cried out for mercy and promised to serve them faithfully. So the retinue was increased, and now they came to a crossroad, where they said, “We've got to separate here, and one of us should go to the right, and the other should head off to the left.”

Before doing this, each of them stuck a knife in a tree at the crossroad so that they could determine by the rust whether the other was faring well and whether he was still alive. Then they took leave from another, kissed one another, and rode off.

Johannes Waterspring came to a city that was quite still and sad because the princess was to be sacrificed to a dragon that was devastating the entire country and could be pacified only by this sacrifice. It was announced that whoever wanted to risk his life and kill the dragon would receive the princess for his bride. However, nobody had volunteered. They had also tried to trick the monster by sending out the princess's chambermaid, but the dragon realized what was happening right away and did not take the bait.

Johannes Waterspring thought, “You must try your luck. Perhaps you'll succeed.” And so he set out with his company and headed toward the dragon's nest. The battle was fierce: the dragon spewed forth fire and flames and ignited all the grass around them so that Johannes Waterspring certainly would have suffocated if the hare, dog, and bear had not stamped out and subdued the fire. Finally, the dragon succumbed, and Johannes Waterspring cut off its seven heads and then sliced its seven tongues, which he stuck into his sack. Now, however, he was so tired that he lay down right at that spot and fell asleep. While he was sleeping, the princess's coachman arrived, and when he saw the man lying there and the seven heads next to him, he thought, “You've got to take advantage of this. So he stabbed Johannes Waterspring to death and took the seven heads with him. He carried everything to the king and said he had killed the monster. Indeed, he had brought the seven heads as evidence, and the princess became his bride.

In the meantime Johannes Waterspring's animals had set up camp nearby after the battle and had also slept. When they returned to their master, they found him dead. As they were looking, they saw how the ants, whose mound had been stamped on during the battle, were spreading the sap from an oak tree on their dead ones, and these ants immediately came back to life. So the bear went and fetched some of the sap, and he spread it on Johannes Waterspring. Shortly thereafter Johannes was completely well and healthy and thought about the princess for whom he had fought. So he rushed to the city, where her marriage to the coachman was being celebrated, and the people were saying that the coachman had killed the seven-headed dragon. Johannes Waterspring's dog and bear ran into the castle where the princess tied some roast meat and wine around their necks and ordered her servants to follow the animals and to invite their owner to the wedding. So now Johannes Waterspring showed up at the wedding just as the platter with the seven dragon heads was being displayed. These were the heads that coachman had brought with him, but now Johann Waterspring pulled out the seven tongues from his sack and placed them next to the heads. Consequently, he was declared the real dragon slayer and became the princess's husband, while the coachman was banished.

Not long thereafter Johannes went out hunting and followed a deer with silver antlers. He hunted the deer for a long time but could not catch it. Finally, he met an old woman, who turned him and his dog, horse, and bear into stone.

Meanwhile Caspar Waterspring returned to the tree in which he and his brother had stuck their knives and saw that his brother's knife had rusted. He immediately decided to search for his twin and rode off. Soon he came to the city where his brother's wife was living. She thought he was her real husband because he looked just like him and was delighted by his return and insisted that he stay with her. But Caspar Waterspring continued traveling until he found his brother and animals, all turned into stone. Soon after he forced the old woman to break the magic spell, and then the brothers rode toward their home. Along the way, they agreed that the first one to be embraced by the princess should be her husband. Well, it turned out to be Johannes Waterspring.

75

THE BIRD PHOENIX

One day a rich man went for a walk along the river. All at once he saw a small casket swimming by. He grabbed hold of the casket, and when he opened the cover, he saw a small child lying inside. So he took the child home and had him raised in his house. However, the rich man disliked the boy, and one time he took the boy with him in boat on the river. Once the boat was in the middle of the river, he swam to shore, and left the child alone in the boat. The boat continued floating down the river until it passed the mill, and the miller saw the child. The miller took pity on the child, fetched him from the boat, and raised him in his house.

One day the rich man happened to come by, recognized the child, and carried him away. Soon thereafter he gave the young man a letter to bring to his wife, and the letter read: “As soon as you read this letter, you are to kill the person who delivered it.”

However, as the young man was traveling through the forest, he met an old man who said to him: “Show me the letter that you're carrying in your hand.”

The old man took the letter, turned it around once, and gave it back to the young man. Now the letter read: “You are immediately to offer our daughter as wife to the young man delivering this letter.”

And this is what happened, and when the rich man heard about this, he became furious and said: “Well, this wedding's not going to happen so quickly. Before I give you my daughter, you must bring me three feathers from the bird Phoenix.”

So, the young man set out on his way to the bird Phoenix and met the old man again on the same spot in the forest.

“Keep walking for the entire day,” he said. “In the evening you'll come to a tree. Two doves will be sitting on it, and they'll tell you how to proceed.”

That evening, when the young man came to the tree, two doves were sitting on it. One of the doves said: “Whoever searches for the bird Phoenix must walk the entire day. In the evening he'll come to a gate that's locked.”

Then the second dove said: “There is a gold key that lies underneath this tree, and it will open the gate.”

The young man found the key and later used it to open the gate. Two men were sitting there, and one of them said: “Whoever searches for the bird Phoenix must travel a great distance over the high mountain, and then he'll finally come to a castle.”

On the evening of the third day he finally reached the castle, where a wise little lady sat and said: “What do you want here?”

“Oh, I'd like to get three feathers from the bird Phoenix.”

“Your life is in danger,” she said. “If the bird Phoenix becomes aware of your presence, he'll eat you up skin and hair. Nevertheless, I'll see if I can help you get the three feathers. He comes here every day, and I must comb him with a narrow comb. So now quick, get under the table.”

After he did this, young man was then covered completely by a cloth.

Meanwhile the bird Phoenix came home, sat down at the table, and said: “I smell, I smell human flesh!”

“Oh, what! You see, don't you, that nobody's here!”

“Comb me now!” the bird Phoenix responded.

The wise little lady combed the bird Phoenix, and as she was doing this, he fell asleep. When he was sound asleep, she grabbed a feather, pulled it out, and threw it beneath the table. All at once he woke up: “Why are you tearing my hair like that? I dreamed that a human came and pulled out one of my feathers.”

She calmed him down, and so it went, two more times. When the young man had the three feathers, he set out for home and was now able to obtain his bride.

76

THE CARNATION

A long time ago there lived a king who never wanted to marry. Now one day he stood at a window and watched some people entering the church. Among them was a maiden who was so beautiful that he immediately abandoned his resolution. So he had the maiden summoned to him and
chose her for his wife. After one year had passed, she gave birth to a prince, and the king didn't know whom to ask to be the godfather. Finally, he said: “The first man I meet, no matter who it is, I'll ask him to be the godfather.”

He went out, and the first person he met was a poor old man, and he asked him to be the godfather. The poor man agreed but requested that he be the only one to carry the child into the church, that the church was to be locked, and that nobody be allowed to observe the ceremony. All this was granted. However, the king had an evil, curious gardener, and when the old man carried the child into the church, he sneaked after him and hid himself among the benches. Soon he watched the old man carrying the child before the altar and blessing him. The old man seemed to be someone who understood secret powers, and he gave the child the gift of realizing everything he wished for.

The evil gardener immediately thought how advantageous it would be for him if he had the child. So one day when the queen went for a walk and carried the child in her arm, the gardener tore it away from her, smeared her mouth with the blood of a slaughtered chicken, and accused her of killing and eating her child in the garden. So the king had her thrown into prison, while the gardener sent the child far away to a forester in the woods. He was supposed to raise the child, and it was there that the prince learned all about hunting. Moreover, the forester had a beautiful daughter by the name of Lisa, and the two young children became very fond of one another. Lisa revealed to him that he was a prince, and that he had the power to realize every wish he made.

After some time had passed, the gardener came to the forester, and when the prince saw him, he immediately wished the gardener to become a poodle, and his dear Lisa, a carnation. He stuck her on himself, and the poodle had to run alongside the prince. Then he went to his father's court, where he entered the royal service as hunter, and soon he became the king's favorite hunter because he could shoot any kind of animal in the forest. All the prince had to do was to wish, and the animals came running to him. Despite all the services he rendered the king, the prince did not ask to be compensated. He only asked for a room for himself that he kept locked, and he insisted on taking care of meals for himself. All this seemed strange
to his fellow hunters, especially his refusal to receive wages, so that one of his comrades followed him and looked through the keyhole. All at once he saw the new hunter sitting at a table next to a beautiful maiden, who was his dear Lisa, whom he changed into her natural form whenever he was in the room. She kept him company whenever they were alone, and whenever he went out, she became a carnation again and stood in a glass of water.