The Original Folk and Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm (48 page)

When he returned to his house, his little boy was so happy to see him that he held himself up by some benches, toddled over to his father, and grabbed him around the legs. The father was horrified, for he remembered the agreement, and he knew now what he had signed away. Still, he thought the little man might have been playing a joke on him since he didn't find any money. One month later, however, when he went up into his attic to gather some old tinware to sell, he saw a huge pile of money lying on the floor. Once he saw the money, he was delighted and was able to purchase things again and became an even greater merchant than before and trusted in God to make him a good man. In the meantime, his son grew and learned how to use his brains wisely. As he neared his twelfth birthday, however, the merchant became so worried that one could see the anxiety written on his face. One day his son asked him what was bothering him, and the father didn't want to tell him. But the son persisted until his father finally revealed everything to him: how without thinking
he had promised him to a little black man and received a lot of money in return, and how he had given the little man a signed and sealed agreement to deliver him on his twelfth birthday.

“Oh, father,” said the son. “Don't be discouraged. Everything will turn out well. The black man has no power over me.”

The son had himself blessed by the priest, and when the hour arrived, he went out to the field with his father. There he drew a circle and stepped inside it with his father. The little black man came then and said to the old man, “Have you brought what you promised me?”

The father kept quiet, but the son said, “What do you want here?”

“I've come to discuss matters with your father, not with you.”

“You deceived my father and led him astray,” replied the son. “Give me back the agreement.”

“No,” said the little black man, “I won't give up my rights.”

They talked for a long time until it was finally agreed that, since the son no longer belonged to his father, nor did he belong to his arch-enemy, he was to get into a little boat and drift downstream on the river. His father was to shove the boat off with his foot, and the son's fate was to be decided by the river. The boy said farewell to his father, got into the little boat, and the father had to shove it off with his own foot. The little boat capsized with the bottom up and the top face down. Since the father believed his son had drowned, he went home and mourned for him.

However, the boat didn't sink but continued to drift calmly downstream with the boy safely inside. Finally, it touched down upon an unknown shore and stood still. The boy went ashore, saw a beautiful castle in the distance, and went toward it. When he entered, he realized it was enchanted. He went through all the rooms, but they were empty except for the last chamber, where he encountered a snake. Now, this snake was an enchanted princess, who was delighted to see him and said, “Have you come at last, my savior? I've been waiting now twelve years for you. This kingdom is enchanted, and you must release it from the magic spell. Tonight twelve black men wearing chains will come and ask you what you're doing here. You must keep quiet and refuse to answer them. Let them do whatever they want with you: they will torture you, beat you, and stab you. Let them
do that, just don't talk. At midnight they must go away. The second night twelve other men will come, and the third night there will be twenty-four, who will chop off your head. But at midnight their power will be gone, and if you have held out until then and have not uttered a single word, I shall be saved and shall come to you carrying the Water of Life. I'll rub some on you, and you'll be alive again and as healthy as you were before.”

“I shall gladly release you from the spell,” the young man said, and everything happened just as she had said: the black men could not force a word out of him, and on the third night the snake turned into a beautiful princess who came with the Water of Life and brought him back to life. Then she embraced him and kissed him, and there was joy and jubilation throughout the castle. Soon thereafter they celebrated their wedding, and he was king of the Golden Mountain.

From then on they lived happily together, and the queen gave birth to a handsome boy. After eight years had passed, the king's thoughts turned to his father. His heart went out to him, and he wished he could see him again. But the queen didn't want to let him go and said, “I can tell that this will bring me bad luck.”

Still, he gave her no peace until she consented to let him go. Upon his departure she gave him a wishing ring and said, “Take this ring and put it on your finger. With it you can transport yourself immediately to wherever you want to go. But you must promise me never to use it to wish me away from here to your father's place.”

He promised her, put the ring on his finger, and wished that he was home, outside the city where his father lived. All at once he found himself outside the city. When he reached the city gate, the sentries wouldn't let him enter because he was wearing such strange and rich clothes. So he climbed a hill where a shepherd was tending his flock. He exchanged clothes with him, put on the shepherd's old coat, and then went into the city without being disturbed. After he got to his father's house, he revealed his identity, but his father wouldn't believe he was his son and said that, to be sure, he had had a son, but this son had long since been dead. Nevertheless, the father offered the man a plate of food since he saw he was a poor, needy shepherd.

“I'm truly your son,” said the shepherd to his parents. “Don't you remember any birthmarks you'd recognize me by?”

“Yes,” said his mother, “our son had a raspberry mark under his right arm.”

He pulled up his shirt, and when they saw the raspberry mark, they no longer doubted that he was their son. Then he told them that he was king of the Golden Mountain and that he had a princess as his wife and a handsome seven-year-old son.

“Now that can't possibly be true,” said his father. “What kind of a king would run around in a tattered shepherd's coat?”

Immediately the son got angry, and not thinking of his promise, he turned his ring and wished both his wife and son there, and within seconds they were with him. But the queen wept and accused him of breaking his promise and making her unhappy. Since she was there, however, and couldn't do anything about it, she had to accept her situation, but there was evil on her mind.

Shortly thereafter her husband led her outside the city to the field and showed her the spot on the riverbank where the little boat had been shoved off. Then he said, “I'm tired now. Sit down next to me. I'd like to sleep a little on your lap.”

He laid his head on her lap, and she loused him a bit until he fell asleep. While he was sleeping, she took the ring off his finger and drew her foot out from under him, leaving only her slipper behind. Finally, she took her child in her arms and wished herself back in her kingdom. When he awoke, he was lying there all alone. His wife and child were gone, and the ring as well. Only the slipper, as a token, had been left behind. “You can't go back home again to your parents,” he said to himself. “They'd only say you were a sorcerer. You'd better pack up and get back to your kingdom.”

So he went on his way and finally came to a mountain where three giants were standing and quarreling about how best to divide their father's inheritance. When they saw him riding by, they called to him and said that since little people were clever, they wanted him to divide the inheritance among them. This inheritance consisted of three things: First, a sword that chopped off everyone's head except that of the person who held it and
said, “All heads off except mine!” Then the heads would lie on the ground. Second, a cloak that made one invisible if one put it on. Third, a pair of boots that carried the person who wore them to any spot he wished in a matter of seconds.

The king told them that they had to give him the three objects so that he could test them to see if they were in good condition. They handed him the cloak, and when he had put it on his shoulders, he wished to become a fly, and he was immediately turned into a fly.

“The cloak is good,” he said. “Now give me the sword.”

“No,” they said. “We won't give it to you. If you say, ‘All heads off except mine!' we'd lose our heads, and you alone would keep yours.”

Nevertheless, they gave it to him on condition that he try it out on a tree. He did that, and the sword was also good. Now he wanted to have the boots, but they said, “No, we won't give them away. If you put them on and wish yourself on top of the mountain, then we would stand here below with nothing.”

“Oh, no,” he said, “I'd never do anything like that.”

So they gave him the boots as well. But when he had all three objects, he wished himself to be on top of the Golden Mountain, and he was immediately there. Moreover, the giants had vanished, and this was the way their inheritance was divided.

When the king now drew near the castle, he heard cries of joy and the sounds of fiddles and flutes. The people at the court told him that his wife was celebrating her wedding with another man. So he put on the cloak and turned himself into a fly. Then he went into the castle and took a place behind his wife, and nobody saw him. When they put a piece of meat on her plate, he snatched it and ate it. And when they gave her a glass of wine, he snatched it and drank it. They kept giving her food and wine, but she would always end up with nothing because her plate and glass would vanish immediately. She became so ashamed that she left the table, went into her chamber, and began weeping, while he stayed behind her all the time.

“Has the devil got me in his power?” she said out loud to herself. “Perhaps my savior never came!”

Then he gave her a couple of rough smacks in the face and said, “Your savior came! Now he's got you in his power, you faithless thing! Did I deserve to be treated the way you treated me?”

After saying this he went into the hall and announced that the wedding was over and that he had returned. But he was mocked by the kings, princes, and ministers who were assembled there. Since he wanted to make short work of them, he asked them to leave or else. Upon hearing that, they tried to take him prisoner, but he took out his sword and said, “All heads off except mine!”

All at once they all lay there in blood, and he was once again king of the Golden Mountain.

7

THE RAVEN

Once upon a time there was a queen who had a daughter, and she was so little that she had to be carried in her mother's arms. One day the child became restless, and no matter what the mother said, she wouldn't keep quiet. The mother became impatient, and as she looked at the ravens flying around outside the castle, she opened the window and said, “I wish you were a raven and would fly away! Then I'd have my peace and quiet.”

No sooner had she said those words than the child was changed into a raven and flew from her arm out through the window. The bird flew far away, and nobody could follow her. She headed for a dark forest, where she stayed for a long time.

Some time later, a man was making his way through this forest when he heard the raven calling. He went toward the voice, and as he came closer, the raven said, “I am a king's daughter by birth and have been cursed by a spell. However, you can set me free.”

“How can I do this?” he asked.

“Go into the house over there,” she said. “There's an old woman sitting inside. She'll offer you something to eat and drink and tell you to enjoy the meal, but you're not to touch a thing. You're not to drink, because if you drink anything, you'll fall asleep and won't be able to release me from the
spell. In the garden behind the house there's a big pile of tanbark. You're to stand on it and wait for me. I shall come three days in a row at two o'clock in the afternoon with a carriage. But if you aren't awake, I won't be set free.”

The man said he'd do everything, but the raven said, “Oh, I can already tell you won't set me free. You'll take something from the old woman.”

Again the man promised her he wouldn't touch the food or the drink. However, once he was inside the house, the old woman went over to him and said, “How worn-out you are! Come and refresh yourself. Have something to eat and drink.”

“No,” said the man. “I don't want to eat or drink.”

But she wouldn't leave him in peace and kept saying, “Well, if you don't want to eat, just take a sip from the glass. One little sip won't hurt.”

Finally, he let himself be persuaded and drank. Toward two in the afternoon he went outside into the garden and climbed onto the pile of tanbark to wait for the raven. As he stood there, he suddenly felt so tired that he couldn't help himself and had to lie down and rest a little. He didn't want to fall asleep, but no sooner had he stretched himself out than his eyes closed by themselves, and he fell asleep. He slept so soundly that nothing in the world could have wakened him. At two o'clock the raven came driving up in a carriage with four white horses, but she was already in full mourning and said, “I already know he's asleep.”

When she drove into the garden, he was indeed fast asleep. She climbed out of the carriage, went over to him, and shook him and called him, but he didn't wake up. She continued to cry out until he finally awoke from his sleep, and she said: “I see that you can't set me free, but I shall come again tomorrow. I'll be driving in a carriage drawn by four brown horses. You are not to take anything at all from the old woman, neither food nor drink.”

He replied, “I won't. Certainly not.”

However, she said: “I know already that you'll take something.”

At noon the next day the old woman came to him again and asked him why he wasn't eating and drinking, and he replied: “I don't want anything to eat or drink.”