The Original Folk and Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm (61 page)

The guests confirmed this and said, “It couldn't have been anyone else.”

The innkeeper summoned the journeymen and said to them, “Did you kill the merchant?”

“All three of us,” said the first one.

“For money,” said the second.

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

“You've all heard it now,” said the innkeeper. “They themselves have confessed.”

The journeymen were taken to the prison and were to be put on trial. When they saw that things were getting serious, they became afraid, but
the devil came that night and said, “Just hold out one more day and don't throw away your good luck. Not a hair on your heads will be touched.”

The next morning they were brought before the court, and the judge asked, “Are you the murderers?”

“All three of us.”

“Why did you kill him?”

“For money.”

“You villains!” said the judge. “Didn't you dread committing such a sin?”

“That's all right.”

“They've confessed and are still unrepentant as well,” said the judge. “Execute them right away.”

So they were conducted outside, and the innkeeper was obliged to join the group of witnesses. The executioner's assistants took hold of the journeymen and led them up onto the scaffold, where the executioner was waiting for them with a bare sword. Just then a coach drawn by four blood-red foxes appeared, and it was moving so rapidly that sparks flew from the pavement. Someone was waving a white cloth from the window, and the executioner said, “Pardon is coming.”

“Pardon! Pardon!” was also the cry from the coach. Then the devil, dressed in splendid fashion as a distinguished gentleman, stepped out of the coach and said, “You three are innocent, and you may now tell us what you saw and heard.”

Then the oldest said, “We didn't kill the merchant. The murderer is standing among us,” and he pointed to the innkeeper. “If you want proof, go into his cellar, where you'll find other bodies hanging. He's killed those people as well.”

So the judge sent the executioner's assistants to the cellar, and they found everything exactly as the journeyman had said. When they reported this to the judge, he ordered the executioner to cut off the innkeeper's head on the scaffold. Then the devil said to the three journeymen, “Now I have the soul that I wanted. You're all free and shall have money for the rest of your lives.”

35

THE HEAVENLY WEDDING

Once there was a peasant boy who heard a priest talking in church. “Whoever desires to enter the kingdom of heaven must always walk a straight path.”

So the boy set upon his way and went straight along, always straight ahead without turning, over hill and valley. Finally, his way led into a large city and then into the middle of a church, where a holy service was being performed. When he saw all the magnificent pomp, he thought that he had now reached heaven. So he sat down and rejoiced with all his heart. When the holy service was over, and the sexton told him to leave, he answered, “No, I'm never going to leave. I'm happy now that I've finally made it to heaven.”

The sexton then went to the priest and told him that there was a boy who didn't want to leave the church because he thought he was in heaven.

“If this is what he believes,” the priest said, “then let him stay.”

Later he went to the boy and asked him if he would like to do some work.

“Yes,” the little fellow answered. He was used to working, but he never wanted to leave heaven again. So he remained in the church, and when he observed how the people went up the image of the Virgin Mary with the blessed child Jesus carved in wood and how they knelt down and prayed, he thought, “That's our dear Lord,” and he said, “Listen, dear Lord, you're much too thin! The people are certainly letting you starve. I'll bring you half my food every day.”

From then on he brought the image of mother and child half of his food every day, and the image began to enjoy the meals. After a few weeks the people noticed that the mother and child in the image had put on weight and that they had become fat and strong, and they were quite surprised. The priest couldn't understand it either. So he remained in the church and followed the little boy and saw how he shared his meal with the Virgin Mary and how she also accepted it.

After some time the boy became sick and couldn't leave his bed for a week. But when he could get out of bed again, the first thing he did was to bring his food to the Blessed Virgin. The priest followed him and heard him say, “Dear God, please don't think wrong of me for not having brought you anything for such a long time, but I was sick and couldn't get up.”

Then the image answered him by saying, “I've seen your good intentions, and that's enough for me. Next Sunday I want you to come with me to the wedding.”

The boy was glad about this and told the priest, who asked him to go to the image and inquire whether the priest could also come along.

“No,” replied the image. “You alone.”

The priest wanted to prepare the boy first by giving him holy communion. The boy was happy to do this, and on the next Sunday, when he partook of the holy communion, he fell down dead, and thus he went to the eternal wedding.

36

THE LONG NOSE

Once there were three old discharged soldiers who were so old that they could no longer eat even milk pudding. The king sent them away and didn't give them a pension. Consequently, they had nothing to live on and had to go begging. One day they began walking through a large forest and were unable to reach the end. When night arrived, two of them lay down to sleep, and the third kept watch so that the wild animals wouldn't tear them to pieces. After the two soldiers had fallen asleep and while the third was standing guard, a little dwarf in a red outfit appeared and cried out, “Who's there?”

“Good friends,” said the soldier.

“What kind of good friends?”

“Three old discharged soldiers who have nothing to live on.”

The dwarf then called him over, saying that he wanted to give him something. If the soldier took care of it, the dwarf explained, he would
have enough to live on for the rest of his life. So the soldier went over to him, and the dwarf gave him an old cloak that would grant every wish made by the person wearing it. But the soldier was not to tell his comrades about it until daylight. When day finally came and they woke up, he told them what had happened. They continued to walk deeper into the forest until the second night. When they lay down to sleep, the second soldier had to keep watch and stood guard over the others. Then the red dwarf came and cried out, “Who's there?”

“Good friends.”

“What kind of good friends?”

“Three old discharged soldiers.”

Then the dwarf gave him an old little pouch that would always remain full of money no matter how much he took from it. However, he was not to tell his comrades about it until daylight. Once again they continued their walk through the forest for a third day, and that night the third soldier had to keep watch. The red dwarf came to him too and cried out, “Who's there?”

“Good friends.”

“What kind of good friends?”

“Three old discharged soldiers.”

The red dwarf gave him a horn, and whenever anyone blew it, all the soldiers from all over would gather together. The next morning, when each one now had a gift, the first soldier put on the cloak and wished that they were out of the forest. Immediately they were outside. They then went into an inn and ordered food and drink, the best that the innkeeper could provide. When they had finished, the soldier with the little pouch paid everything and was very generous to the innkeeper.

Soon they became tired from traveling, and the soldier with the pouch said to the one with the cloak, “I'd like you to wish for a castle for us. We've got money enough. Now we can live like kings.”

So the soldier with the cloak wished for a castle, and quick as a wink it was standing there with everything that went with a castle. After they had lived there for some time, he wished for a coach with three white horses. They wanted to travel from one kingdom to the next and pass themselves
off as three princes. So they drove off with a great retinue of servants, who looked quite regal, and went to a king who had only one daughter. When they arrived, they had themselves announced. Immediately, they were asked to dinner and to spend the night there. They had a merry old time, and after they had eaten and drunk, they began to play cards, which was the princess's favorite game. She played with the soldier who had the pouch, and she saw that no matter how much she won, his pouch never became empty, and she realized that it must be some sort of a magical thing. So she said to him then that since he had become so warm from playing, he should have something to drink. She gave him a glass but put a sleeping potion into the wine. No sooner had he drunk the wine than he fell asleep, and she took his pouch. Then she went into her chamber and sewed another pouch that looked just like the old one. Finally, she stuck some money inside it and put it back in place of the old one.

The next morning the three soldiers resumed their journey, and when the one with the pouch spent the little money that was left and reached inside the pouch for some more, he found it was empty and remained empty. Then he exclaimed, “That deceitful princess has switched my pouch. Now we're poor people!”

But the soldier with the cloak said, “Don't get gray hairs over this. I'll have it back in no time.”

He put on the cloak and wished himself to be transported to the princess's chamber. Within seconds he was there, and she was sitting and counting money, which she continually took from the pouch. When she saw him, she screamed that a robber was there. And she screamed so loudly that the entire court came running and tried to catch him. Hastily he jumped through a window and left the cloak hanging there, so that this, too, was lost.

When the three soldiers came together again, they had nothing left but the horn. The soldier with the horn said, “I'll get help now. Let's start a war!”

And he blew together so many hussar and cavalry regiments that they were impossible to count. Next he sent a messenger to the king to let him know that if the king didn't return the pouch and the cloak, not a single stone from his castle would be left standing. The king tried to persuade his daughter to return the cloak and pouch before they suffered a great misfortune. But she wouldn't listen to him and said that she wanted to try something first. So she disguised herself as a poor maiden, carried a basket on her arm, and went out to the soldiers' camp to sell all kinds of drinks. Her chambermaid had to go along with her. When the princess reached the middle of the camp, she began to sing, and her voice was so beautiful that all the soldiers ran out of their tents, and the one with the horn ran out too and listened. When the princess saw him, she gave her chambermaid a signal to crawl into his tent, where the chambermaid took the horn and ran back with it to the castle. Then the princess also went home and now had everything. Once again the three comrades had to go begging. So they moved on, and the one who had possessed the pouch said, “You know, we can't stay together anymore. You two go in that direction, and I'll take this path.”

He set out alone and entered a forest, and since he was tired, he lay down beneath a tree to sleep awhile. When he awoke and looked up, he became aware that he had been sleeping under a beautiful apple tree with splendid apples hanging from the branches. Out of hunger he took one, ate it, and then another. Suddenly his nose began to grow and grow and became so long that he could no longer stand up. His nose grew through the forest and sixty miles beyond. Meanwhile, his comrades were traveling about in the world and looking for him because they felt it was better to be together. However, they had been unable to find him. Suddenly, one of them tripped over something and stepped on it. He thought, “My, what was that?” Then it moved, and he saw that it was a nose. The two soldiers decided to follow the nose, and eventually they reached their comrade in the forest. He was lying there and couldn't stir nor budge. So they took a pole and wrapped the nose around it. They wanted to lift it in the air and carry him away, but the nose was too heavy. Then they looked in the forest for a donkey, and they set their friend and the long nose on two poles and had the donkey carry him away in this manner. They dragged him a short distance, but they found him so heavy that they had to rest. While they were resting, they saw a tree nearby with beautiful pears hanging from the branches. Then the little red dwarf came out from behind the tree and
said to the soldier with the long nose that, if he ate one of the beautiful pears, the nose would fall off. So he ate a pear, and right away the long nose fell off, and his nose was exactly the size it had been before. Thereupon the dwarf said, “Break off some apples and pears and make some powder out of them. Whenever you give someone the apple powder, the nose will grow, and whenever you give someone the pear powder, the nose will fall off again. Now, go as a doctor and give the princess some of the apples and also the powder. Then her nose will grow even twenty times longer than yours. But brace yourself for anything that might happen!”