The Original Folk and Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm (60 page)

So his comrade went there and brought back the blue light and the pipe in exchange for the gold coin. The prisoner lit his pipe right away and summoned the little black man who said to him: “Have no fear. Go wherever they take you, and let them do what they want. Just remember to take the blue light with you.”

The next day the soldier was interrogated and sentenced to hang on the gallows. As he was being led out to be executed, he asked the king to grant him one last favor.

“What kind of a favor?” asked the king.

“I'd like to smoke my pipe along the way.”

“You can smoke three pipes if you like,” answered the king.

Then the soldier took out his pipe and lit it with the blue light. All at once the little black man was there.

“Beat everyone here to death,” the soldier said, “and tear the king into three pieces.”

Well the little man began and beat all the people around him to death. The king kneeled and pleaded for mercy, and to save his life he gave the soldier the kingdom and his daughter for his wife.

31

THE STUBBORN CHILD

Once upon a time there was a stubborn child who never did what his mother told him to do. Therefore, the dear Lord did not look kindly upon him, and he became sick. No doctor could cure him, and in a short time he lay on his deathbed. When he was being lowered into his grave and was covered over with dirt, one of his little arms suddenly emerged and reached up into the air. They pushed it back down and covered the dirt with fresh dirt, but that didn't help. The little arm kept popping out. So the child's mother had to go to the grave herself and smack the little arm with a switch. After she did that, the arm withdrew, and then, for the first time, the child had peace beneath the earth.

32

THE THREE ARMY SURGEONS

Three army surgeons who were traveling around the world thought that they had learned all there was to know about their profession. One day they came to an inn, where they wanted to spend the night, and the innkeeper asked them where they were coming from and where they were heading.

“We're traveling about the world and practicing our profession.”

“Well, show me what you can do,” said the innkeeper.

Then the first surgeon said he would cut off his own hand and put it back on again in the morning. The second said he would tear out his heart and put it back in place in the morning. The third said he would poke out his eyes and put them back in their sockets in the morning. Indeed, they had a salve that immediately healed any wound when they rubbed it on, and they carried the salve in a little flask that they kept with them
all the time. So each one cut a different organ from his body: the hand, the heart, and the eyes. Then they put them on a plate and gave them to the innkeeper, who handed the plate to the maid, who was to put it in the cupboard for safekeeping.

Unknown to everyone, however, the maid had a sweetheart, who was a soldier, and when the innkeeper, the three surgeons, and everyone in the house were asleep, the soldier came and wanted something to eat. The maid opened the cupboard and brought him some food, but she was so enraptured that she forgot to shut the cupboard door. She sat down at the table next to her sweetheart and began chatting away. In her bliss she couldn't imagine anything going wrong, but the cat came creeping inside, found the cupboard open, and carried off the hand, heart, and eyes of the three surgeons. After the soldier had eaten and the maid was about to clear away the dishes and shut the cupboard, she noticed that the plate given to her by the innkeeper was empty. Filled with dread, she said to her sweetheart, “Oh, poor me! What am I to do! The hand's gone. The heart and eyes are also gone. They'll make me pay for this tomorrow!”

“Calm down,” he said. “I'll help you out of this mess. Just give me a sharp knife. There's a thief hanging on the gallows outside. I'll go and cut off his hand. Which hand was it?”

“The right one.”

The maid gave him a sharp knife, and he went to the gallows, cut off the right hand from the poor sinner, and brought it to the maid. Then he grabbed a cat and poked its eyes out. Now only the heart was missing.

“Haven't you just slaughtered a pig? Isn't the meat in the cellar?”

“Yes,” said the maid.

“Well, that's perfect,” said the soldier, who went and brought back the pig's heart.

The maid put everything together on the plate and placed it back in the cupboard. After her lover departed, she calmly went to bed. In the morning, when the surgeons got up, they told the maid to fetch the plate with the hand, heart, and eyes. She brought it to them from the cupboard, and the first surgeon took the thief's hand and rubbed salve on it. Immediately the hand grew back on him. The second took the cat's eyes and put
them into his sockets. The third put the pig's heart back into place. As the innkeeper stood and watched all this, he marveled at their skill and said that he had never seen anything like it before. Indeed, he was going to praise and recommend them to everyone he met. Then they paid the bill and continued on their journey.

As they walked along, the surgeon with the pig's heart kept leaving the other two to sniff around in corners the way pigs do. The others tried to hold him back by his coattails, but that didn't help. He broke loose and ran to all those spots that were most infested with garbage. The second surgeon also began acting in a strange way. He kept rubbing his eyes and said to the third one, “My friend, what's going on? These aren't my eyes. I can't see a thing. Please lead me; otherwise, I'll fall.”

So they proceeded with difficulty till evening, when they came to another inn. They entered the main room, where a rich man was sitting at a table and counting his money. The surgeon with the thief's hand walked around him, and his hand began twitching. Finally, when the gentleman turned his head, the surgeon reached into the pile and took a handful of money. One of his companions saw him do this and said, “Friend, what are you doing? You know it's not proper to steal. Shame on you!”

“Oh, no!” he exclaimed. “I can't stop myself. My hand keeps twitching, and I've got to grab things whether I like it or not.”

Afterward they went to bed, and their room was so dark that it was impossible to see one's hand before one's face. Suddenly the surgeon with the cat's eyes woke up, then roused the others, and said, “Brothers, look! Do you see the little white mice running around?”

The other two sat up in their beds, but they couldn't see a thing. So he said, “Something's wrong with us. We didn't get our own organs back. The innkeeper cheated us, and we've got to return.”

The next morning the three surgeons made their way back to the inn and told the innkeeper that they weren't given their right organs. One had got a thief's hand; the second, cat's eyes; and the third, a pig's heart. The innkeeper said that it must have been the maid's fault and went to call her. However, she had seen the three surgeons coming and had run out the back door and never returned. The three surgeons told the innkeeper then
that he had better give them lots of money; otherwise, they would burn his house down. So he gave them what he had on hand and whatever else he could raise, and the three departed. The money lasted them the rest of their lives, but they would have preferred to have had their own organs restored to them.

33

THE LAZY ONE AND THE INDUSTRIOUS ONE

Once upon a time there were two journeymen who traveled together, and they swore they would always stick together. However, when they reached a large city, one of them began living loosely and forgot his promise. He left the other, went off by himself, and wandered here and there. Most of all he loved to be at the places where he could find the most excitement. The other journeyman remained committed to his job in the city, worked industriously, and then continued his travels.

One night he passed by the gallows without realizing it, but he saw a man lying asleep on the ground. He was shabby and destitute, and since the stars were so bright, the journeyman recognized him as his former companion. So he laid himself down next to him, covered him with his coat, and fell asleep. However, he was soon wakened by two voices. They were ravens sitting on top of the gallows.

One said, “God provides!”

The other, “Act according to the situation!”

After those words were spoken, one of the ravens fell exhausted to the ground. The other went and sat next to him until it was day. Then he fetched some worms and water, revived him with that, and woke him from the dead.

When the two journeymen saw all this, they were astounded and asked the one raven why the other was so miserable and sick. Then the sick raven said, “It was because I didn't want to do anything, for I believe that all my food will be provided for by heaven.”

The two journeymen took the ravens with them to the next village. One of the birds was cheerful and searched for his food. He bathed himself
every morning and cleansed himself with his beak. However, the other stayed around the house, was bad-tempered, and always looked shaggy. After a while the landlord's daughter, who was a beautiful maiden, became very fond of the industrious raven. She picked him up from the floor and petted him with her hand, and then one day she pressed him to her face and gave him a kiss out of sheer delight. The bird fell to the ground, rolled over, fluttered, and turned into a handsome man. Then he revealed that the other raven was his brother and that they had both insulted their father, who had put a curse on them by saying, “Fly around as ravens until a beautiful maiden kisses you of her own free will.”

So one of the brothers was released from the spell, but nobody wanted to kiss the one who was idle, and he died as a raven.

The journeyman who had been living loosely took a lesson from this, and he became industrious and proper and took good care of his companion.

34

THE THREE JOURNEYMEN

There were once three journeymen who had agreed to stay together during their travels and to always work in the same city. Yet, after a while their masters couldn't pay them, and eventually they had nothing to live on and were reduced to rags.

“What shall we do?” one of them said. “We can't stay here any longer. Let's set out on our travels again. Then, if we don't find any work in the next city we come to, we'll part ways. But, before we do that, let's arrange with the innkeeper that we write to him about our whereabouts so that each of us can get news of the others through him. Then we can separate.”

His companions thought that this was the best solution. While they were still conversing with one another, a richly clad gentleman came upon them and asked them who they were.

“We're journeymen and are looking for work. We've been together until now, but since we can't find any work, we're going to part ways.”

“There's no need for that,” said the man. “If you'll do what I tell you, you'll have more than enough money and work. In fact, you'll become respected gentlemen and will be able to drive around in carriages.”

“Just as long as we won't be endangering our souls and salvation, we'll do whatever you want,” said one of them.

“No,” responded the man. “I won't make any claims on your souls.”

However, one of the other journeymen had been looking at the man's feet, and when he caught sight of a horse's hoof and a human foot, he didn't want to have anything to do with him.

But the devil said, “You have nothing to fear. I'm not interested in your souls but in someone else's, and he's already half mine and his time is about to run out.”

Since they now felt safe, they agreed to the devil's proposal, and he told them what he wanted them to do. The first journeyman was to answer every question with “
All three of us
.” The second, with “
For money
.” The third, with “
That's all right
.” These answers were to be given one after the other, but the men were not allowed to say anything else. If they didn't follow the devil's instructions, then all their money would disappear immediately, but as long as they followed them, their pockets would always be full.

At the outset the devil gave them as much money as they could carry and told them to stop at such and such an inn in the next city. When they got there, the innkeeper went over to them and asked, “What do you want to eat?”

The first one answered, “All three of us.”

“Yes,” said the innkeeper. “That's what I assume.”

“For money,” said the second.

“Obviously,” said the innkeeper.

“And that's all right,” said the third.

“Of course it's all right,” said the innkeeper.

They received something good to eat and drink, and the service was good. After the meal they had to pay, and the innkeeper brought the bill to one of them.

“All three of us,” said the first.

“For money,” said the second.

“And that's all right,” said the third.

“Of course it's all right,” said the innkeeper. “All three of you must pay. I can't serve anyone without money.”

Then they paid him but gave him much more money than he had charged. The other guests at the inn observed this and said, “Those fellows must be crazy.”

“That's exactly what they are,” said the innkeeper. “They're not particularly smart in the head.”

The journeymen stayed at the inn for some time, and they said nothing but “All three of us,” “For money,” and “That's all right.” However, they watched and knew everything that happened there.

One day a great merchant happened to enter the inn. He was carrying a lot of money with him and said, “Innkeeper, I want you to keep my money for me. Those three crazy journeymen are here, and they might steal it from me.”

The innkeeper took the money bag, and as he carried it up to the room, he felt it was heavy with gold. So he gave the three journeymen a room downstairs, while the merchant was to have a special room upstairs. At midnight, when the innkeeper thought they were all sleeping, he and his wife took an axe and went and beat the merchant to death. After the murder they went back to bed. The next morning there was a great commotion: the merchant lay dead in bed, swimming in blood. All the guests gathered together quickly, and the innkeeper said, “The three crazy journeymen did this.”