The Original Folk and Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm (53 page)

“Sit down,” said the devil. “I'm going to wash and comb your hair, trim your beard, cut your hair and nails, and wash out your eyes.”

When he was finished with the soldier, he gave him a knapsack full of dirt again and said, “Go there and tell the innkeeper to give you back your gold; otherwise, I'll come and fetch him, and he'll have to tend the fires in your place.”

Hans went back up and said to the innkeeper. “You stole my money, and if you don't give it back, you'll go to hell in my place and you'll look just as awful as I did.”

The innkeeper gave him back the money and even more besides. Then he begged him to be quiet about what had happened.

Now Hans was a rich man and set out on his way home to his father. He bought himself a pair of rough linen overalls and wandered here and there playing music, for he had learned that from the devil in hell. Once he happened to play before an old king in a certain country, and the king was so pleased that he promised Hans his oldest daughter in marriage. However, when she heard that she was supposed to wed a commoner in white overalls, she said, “Before I do something like this, I'll drown myself in the deepest lake.”

So the king gave Hans his youngest daughter, who was willing to marry him out of love for her father. So the devil's sooty brother got the king's daughter, and when the old king died, he got the whole kingdom as well.

15

THE DEVIL IN THE GREEN COAT

There were once three brothers, and the two eldest used to push the youngest around, and when they decided to go out into the world, they said to him: “We don't need you. You can go off wandering by yourself.”

Then they left him, and he had to set off all alone. When he came to a large meadow, he was very hungry and sat down beneath a ring of trees and began to weep. All of a sudden he heard a roar, and when he looked up, the devil came toward him. He was dressed in a green coat and had a cloven foot.

“What's the matter?” he spoke. “Why are you weeping?”

Then the young man told him his troubles and said: “My brothers have driven me away from them.”

“Well, I'm willing to help you,” replied the devil. “If you put this green coat on, you'll see that it has pockets that are always full of money. You just have to dig into the pockets whenever you like. But in exchange for the coat I demand that you don't wash yourself for seven years, that you don't comb your hair, and that you don't pray. If you die during the seven years, then you are mine. If, however, you live, then you'll be free. In addition, you'll be rich for the rest of your life.”

The young man's troubles were so great that they drove him to accept the devil's bargain. So the devil took off the green coat, and the young man put it on. As soon as he stuck his hand in a pocket, he had a handful of money.

Now he set out into the world with the green coat, and the first year was good. He could pay for anything he liked with his money, and he was still regarded as a human being for the most part. Things became worse in the second year. His hair had grown so long that nobody could recognize him and nobody would give him lodging for the night because he looked so atrocious. The more time passed, the worse it became. However, he gave poor people a lot of money so that they would pray for him and request that he wouldn't die during the seven years and fall in the devil's hands.

At a certain point in the fourth year he came to an inn, and the innkeeper wouldn't let him stay there. However, he took out a heap of money and was willing to pay in advance so that the innkeeper gave him a room. That evening he heard a loud moaning in the neighboring room, and so he went next door and saw an old man sitting there. He was crying and complaining about something and told the young man to go away because he wouldn't be able to help him. The young man asked him, however, what was troubling him. The old man told him that he didn't have any money and that he owed the innkeeper a great deal. And now he was being detained until he paid his debt. Then the young man in the green coat said: “If that's all it is, I've got plenty of money. I'll pay, and you'll be freed of your debts.”

Now the old man had three beautiful daughters and told him to come along with him, and he would give him one of the daughters for his reward. So the young man went with him, and when they arrived at the old man's home and the eldest daughter saw him, she screamed and cried that she would never marry such a hideous man who didn't have human traits and looked like a bear. The second daughter immediately ran off and preferred to set out into the wide world than marry the young man. However, the youngest said, “Dear father, since you've promised him and he's helped you get out of trouble, I shall obey you.”

So the young man in the green coat took a ring from his finger and broke it in two. Then he gave her one half and kept the other for himself. He wrote his name in her half and her name in his half and told her to keep her half in a safe place. Afterward he stayed a little while longer with her until he said, “Now I must take my leave. I shall be gone three years. Be true to me during this time. Then I'll return, and we'll celebrate our wedding. If I don't return in three years, you'll be free, and I shall be dead. However, pray for me and ask God to protect me.”

Now, during the three years, the two older sisters made a great deal of fun of the youngest and said that she couldn't get a real man and would have to marry a bear. However, the youngest daughter kept quiet and thought, “I must obey my father no matter what.”

In the meantime the young man in the green coat traveled about the world and often stuck his hand into a pocket to buy the most beautiful
things he saw for his bride. He didn't do anything evil. Indeed, he only did good deeds wherever he could and gave poor people money so that they would pray for him. So God showed him mercy, and the three years flew by and he was healthy and alive. Now that the time was over, he went back to the meadow and sat down under the ring of trees. Once again there was a tremendous roar, and the devil arrived. He grumbled and viciously threw the young man's old coat at him and demanded the green one in return. Well, the young man was glad to take off the green coat and handed it to the devil.

He was now free and rich for the rest of his life. So he went home, cleaned himself, and moved on to visit his bride. When he came to the door, the father met him. The young man greeted him and said he was the bridegroom, but the father didn't recognize him and wouldn't believe him. When the young man went over to the bride, she, too, wouldn't believe him. Finally, he asked whether she still had her half of the ring. She said, yes, and went to fetch it. Then he took out his half and held it next to hers, and they matched. Now they knew that he was definitely the bridegroom. And when she saw that he was a handsome man, she was very happy and fond of him, and they held the wedding. However, since the two sisters had passed up their chance for happiness, they became so furious that one of them drowned herself on the wedding day, and the other hanged herself.

That evening something knocked and banged on the door, and when the bridegroom went and opened it, the devil was standing there in his green coat and said, “You see! Now I've got two souls instead of just yours!”

16

THE WREN AND THE BEAR

Once, during summertime, as the bear and the wolf were walking through the forest, the bear heard a bird singing a beautiful song and said, “Brother wolf, what kind of bird can sing as beautifully as that?”

“That's the king of the birds,” said the wolf. “We must bow down before him.”

However, it was nothing but the wren, popularly known as the fence king.

“If that's the case,” said the bear, “I'd like very much to see his royal palace. Please take me there.”

“You can't go there just like that,” said the wolf. “You'll have to wait until the queen comes.”

Soon thereafter the queen arrived carrying some food in her bill, and the king as well, and they began feeding their young ones. The bear wanted to run in right after them, but the wolf held him by his sleeve and said, “No, you've got to wait until His Majesty and Her Highness have gone away again.”

So they took note of the place where the nest was and trotted off. However, the bear could not rest until he saw the royal palace, and after a short while, he went back to it. The king and queen had already flown away, and he looked inside and saw five or six young birds lying there.

“Is that the royal palace?” exclaimed the bear. “It's a miserable palace. And you're not royal children in the least. You're a disgrace!”

When the young wrens heard that, they were tremendously angry and cried out, “No, we're not! Our parents are honorable people. Bear, you're going to pay for your remarks!”

The bear and the wolf became frightened. They turned around, went back to their dens, and sat. But the young wrens kept crying and shrieking, and when their parents returned with food, they said, “We're not going to touch so much as a fly's leg until you establish whether we're a disgrace or not. The bear was just here, and he insulted us.”

“Calm down,” said the old king. “I'll settle this matter.”

He flew away with the queen to the bear's den and called inside, “Hey, you grumbly old bear, why did you insult my children? You'll pay for this. We'll have to settle this matter in a bloody war!”

So war was declared against the bear, who summoned all the four-legged animals: the ox, donkey, steer, stag, deer, and all those beasts that walk upon the earth. To counter this, the wren summoned everything that flies: not only the big and small birds, but also the gnats, hornets, bees, and flies had to come too.

When the time came for the war to begin, the wren sent out scouts to discover who the commanding general of the enemy forces was. The gnat was the wiliest of them all and roamed out into the forest, where the enemy had assembled. Then he hid under a leaf on the tree where the password was to be given out. The bear was standing right there, and he called the fox to him and said, “Fox, you're the most sly of all the animals. I want you to be our general and to lead us.”

“Fine,” said the fox. “But what shall we use as signals?”

Since nobody had any ideas, the fox said, “I've got a nice long bushy tail that looks almost like a red plume. If I lift up my tail, that will mean everything's all right, and you should charge. But, if I let it droop, then run for your lives.”

Once the gnat heard that, he flew back to the wren and reported everything down to the last detail. At daybreak, when the battle was to commence, the four-legged animals came thundering with such a clatter that the earth began to tremble. The wren and his army also came flying through the air. They buzzed, shrieked, and swarmed so much that everyone in the surrounding area was frightened to death. As both sides attacked, the wren sent the hornet out with instructions to dive under the fox's tail and to sting him with all his might. Now, when the fox felt the first sting, he twitched and lifted a leg, but he stood his ground and kept holding up his tail. With the second sting, he had to lower his tail momentarily. But by the third sting he could no longer stand the pain and had to howl and tuck his tail between his legs. When the other animals saw that, they thought all was lost and began to run, each to his own den. And so the birds won the battle.

The king and queen flew home to their children and called, “Children, rejoice! Eat and drink to your heart's content. We've won the war.”

But the young wrens said, “We're not going to eat a thing until the bear comes to our nest to beg our pardon and say that we're a credit to the family.”

Then the wren flew to the bear's den and cried out, “Hey, you grumbly bear, I want you to go to my nest and ask my children for pardon. You'd better tell them they're a credit to the family; otherwise, your ribs will be broken to pieces.”

On hearing this, the bear became extremely frightened, and he crawled to the nest, where he apologized. Now the young wrens were finally satisfied, so they sat down together and ate, drank, and made merry till late in the night.

17

THE SWEET PORRIDGE

Once upon a time there was a poor but pious girl who lived alone with her mother. When they had nothing left to eat, the girl went out into the forest, where she met an old woman who already knew about her troubles and gave her a small pot. She instructed the girl to say to it “Little pot, cook,” for it would then make a good, sweet millet porridge. And the girl was to say “Little pot, stop!” to make it stop cooking.

The girl brought the pot home to her mother, and it put an end to their poverty and hunger. From then on they ate sweet porridge as often as they liked. One day, when the girl had gone out, the mother said, “Little pot, cook,” and it began cooking. After she had eaten her fill, she wanted the pot to stop, but she had forgotten the right words. So the pot continued to cook, and the porridge ran over the rim and proceeded to fill the kitchen and the whole house, then the next house and the street, as if it wanted to feed the entire world. The situation was desperate, and nobody knew what to do. Finally, when only one house was left standing without any porridge in it, the girl returned home and merely said, “Little pot, stop!” It stopped cooking, and whoever sought to go back into the town had to eat his way through.