The Original Folk and Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm (62 page)

So the soldier took some of the apples and went to the king's court, where he at first pretended to be a gardener's helper. He said he had special apples that couldn't be found anywhere in the region, and when the princess heard about this, she asked her father if she could buy some of the apples. The king replied, “Buy as many as you wish.”

So she bought the apples and ate one. It tasted so good that she was convinced that she had never tasted an apple like it in her entire life. Then she ate another one, and once she did this, the gardener's helper departed, and her nose began to grow. It grew so tremendously that she couldn't get up out of her chair and fell over. Her nose grew sixty yards around the table, sixty around the closet, and a hundred yards through the window and around the castle and another twenty miles out toward the city. There she lay. She couldn't stir nor budge, and none of the doctors could help her. The old king issued a proclamation that any man who could help his daughter would receive a great deal of money.

The old soldier had waited for this moment and announced himself as a doctor. He promised to save her with God's help. Thereupon he gave her powder from the apples, and her nose began to grow once more and became even longer. That evening he gave her powder from the pears, and the nose became somewhat smaller, but not much. The next day he gave her powder from the apples again in order to scare her soundly and punish her. The nose grew again, but not more than had fallen off the day before. Finally, he said to her, “Your Royal Highness, you must have stolen something at one time. If you don't give it up, there'll be no help for you.”

“I don't know what you're talking about,” she said.

“You must,” he responded. “Otherwise, my powder won't help, and if you don't give up what you've stolen, you'll die from the long nose.”

Then the old king said, “Give up the pouch, the cloak, and the horn that you've stolen. Otherwise, your nose will never become small again.”

So the chambermaid had to fetch all three things and put them down. Now the doctor gave the princess powder from the pears. Her nose fell off, and two hundred and fifty men had to come and chop the nose into pieces. Meanwhile, the soldier went away with the pouch, the cloak, and the horn and returned to his comrades. Then they wished to be back in their castle, where they are probably still sitting and keeping house.

37

THE OLD WOMAN IN THE FOREST

There was once a poor servant girl who went traveling with her masters through a large forest, and as they were passing through the middle of it, some robbers came and murdered all the people they could find. Everyone was killed except the maiden, who had jumped from the carriage in her fright and hidden behind a tree. After the robbers departed with their booty, she came out of her hiding place and burst into bitter tears. “What am I to do?” she said. “Oh, poor me, I'll never find my way out of the forest. I don't see a single house. I'm bound to starve to death.”

She walked about searching for a way out of the forest but couldn't find one. When evening came, she sat down beneath a tree, commended herself to God, and planned to remain there no matter what might happen. But after she had been sitting there awhile, a white dove came flying to her with a little golden key in its beak. It put the key in her hand and said, “Do you see that large tree over there? You'll find a little lock on it, and if you open it with this key, you'll find plenty of food inside and won't have to suffer from hunger anymore.”

So the maiden went to the tree, opened it, and found milk in a small bowl and white bread to dip into it, so she could eat to her heart's content. When she was full, she said, “Now's the time when the chickens at home usually go to roost. I'm so tired I wish I could also lie down in my bed!”

Then the dove flew by again, carrying another little golden key in its beak, and said, “Open the tree over there, and you'll find a bed.”

She opened it and found a lovely soft bed. Then she prayed to the dear Lord to protect her during the night, lay down, and fell asleep. In the morning the dove came a third time with another little key and said, “Open that tree over there, and you'll find some clothes.”

When she opened it, she found clothes lined with jewels and gold, more splendid than those of a princess. Thus she lived for some time, and the dove came every day and took care of everything she needed, and it was a good, quiet life.

However, one day the dove came and said, “Would you do a favor for me?”

“Gladly, with all my heart,” said the maiden.

“I'm going to lead you to a small cottage,” said the dove. “You are to go inside, where you'll find an old woman seated right next to the hearth. She'll say good day to you, but you're not to answer her, no matter what she does. Go past her to the right, where you'll come upon a door. Open it, and you'll find a room where there will be a lot of different kinds of rings lying on a table. You'll see magnificent ones with glistening stones, but you're to leave them alone. Pick out a simple one that will be lying among them and bring it to me as fast as you can.”

The maiden went to the cottage and through the door. There sat the old woman who glared at her and said, “Good day, my child.”

But the maiden didn't answer her and proceeded toward the door.

“Where are you going?” cried the old woman, who grabbed her skirt and tried to hold on to her. “This is my house. Nobody's allowed to go in there if I don't want them to.”

But the maiden kept quiet, broke away from the woman, and went straight into the room. There she saw a large number of rings lying on a table, glistening and glimmering before her eyes. She tossed them about and looked for the simple one but couldn't find it. While she was looking for the ring, she noticed the old woman slinking by with a birdcage in her hand. The woman was about to make off with it, but the maiden went up to her and took the cage out of her hand. When she lifted it up
and looked inside, she saw a bird with a simple ring in its beak. She was glad and ran out of the house with it. She thought the white dove would come and fetch the ring now, but it didn't appear. So she leaned against a tree, intending to wait for the dove. As she was standing there the tree seemed to become soft and flexible, and it lowered its branches. Suddenly the branches wrapped themselves around her and were two arms. When she looked around her, she saw that the tree had turned into a handsome man, who embraced her and kissed her affectionately.

“You've saved me and set me free from the power of the old woman,” he said. “She's a wicked witch, and she had turned me into a tree. For a few hours every day I was a white dove. As long as she possessed the ring, I couldn't regain my human form.”

His servants and horses had also been released from the magic spell that had also caused them to be changed into trees, and they were now standing beside him. Then they all traveled to his kingdom, for he was a prince, and the couple got married and lived a happy life.

38

THE THREE BROTHERS

There was once a man who had three sons, and he owned nothing but the house in which he lived. Now each of his sons hoped very much to inherit the house after his death. Since the father cared for them equally, he didn't want to hurt their feelings, nor did he want to sell the house because it had belonged to generations of his ancestors. Otherwise, he would have divided the money from a sale and shared it among his sons. Finally, he had an idea and said to his sons, “Go out into the world, and see what you can make of yourselves. Learn a skill, and when you return, whichever one of you puts on the best performance of his talents shall get the house.”

The sons were satisfied with this proposal. The oldest decided he wanted to become a blacksmith; the second, a barber; and the third, a fencing master. Then they agreed on a time when they would all return home, and finally they set upon their way. It so happened that each of them found a good master, and each learned something decent and useful.
The blacksmith had to shoe the king's horses and thought, “Now you'll certainly get the house.” The barber shaved only distinguished gentlemen and believed that the house was already his. The fencing master received many cuts but gritted his teeth and didn't let himself become discouraged, for he thought to himself, “If you're afraid of a cut, you'll never get the house.”

When the appointed time arrived, they went back home, but they didn't know how to show off their talents in the best way. So they sat down together and discussed the matter, and while they were sitting there, a hare came running across the field in their direction. “Oh,” said the barber, “that's just what I needed.”

He took a bowl and soap and worked up a lather until the hare was close by. Then he lathered it on the run and shaved a little beard for the hare, also on the run. In the process he neither cut the hare nor hurt it in any way.

“I like that,” said the father. “Unless your brothers do something extraordinary, the house is yours.”

Before long a man came riding by in a carriage at full speed.

“Now you'll see what I can do, father,” said the blacksmith, who rushed after the carriage, ripped the four shoes from the horse, which continued to gallop, and put on four new ones, also at full speed.

“You're a remarkable fellow!”said the father. “You do your things just as well as your brother. Now I don't know who should get the house.”

Then the third son said, “Father, let me show you what I can do.”

And since it had begun to rain, he took his sword, swung it over his head, and made crosscuts, so that not a drop of rain fell on him. When it began to rain harder and then finally so hard that it was pouring cats and dogs, he swung the sword faster and faster and remained as dry as if he were sitting safely under cover. When the father saw that, he was astonished and said, “That's truly the best performance. The house is yours.”

The other two brothers accepted the decision, as they had promised to do, and since they cared for each other so much, all three of them stayed in the house together and practiced their crafts. Indeed, they had learned their skills so well and were so talented that they earned a great deal of
money. They lived happily together in this way until their old age, and when one of them fell sick and died, the other two grieved so much that they too soon fell sick and died. Since they had all been so skillful and had cared so much for each other, they were all buried in the same grave.

39

THE DEVIL AND HIS GRANDMOTHER

There once was a great war, and the king, who had many soldiers, paid his men so poorly that they couldn't live off their wages. Three of his soldiers got together, therefore, and planned to desert. Two began talking, and one said to the other, “If we're caught, they'll hang us on the gallows. So what do you think we should do?”

“There's a large wheat field over there,” the other said. “If we hide in it, nobody will ever find us. The army won't enter the field.”

So they crept into the wheat field and sat there for two nights and two days and almost died from hunger because they couldn't go out into the open. Finally, they said, “What's the sense of deserting if we have to die a miserable death?”

Just then a fiery dragon came flying above the wheat field and asked: “What are you three doing there in the wheat field?”

“We're three soldiers,” they said, “and we've deserted the army because we couldn't live off our pay anymore. Now we'll die of hunger because the army is all around us, and we can't find a way to escape.”

“Well, if you'll serve me for seven years,” said the dragon, “I'll take you right through the middle of the army in a way that nobody will catch you.”

“We don't have a choice,” they replied. “So we'll accept your offer.”

Then the dragon grabbed them with his claws, took them under his wings, and carried them through the sky to safety. Afterward he set them down on the ground again. The dragon, however, was none other than the devil, and he gave them a little whip, and all they had to do was to crack it, and they'd have as much money as they wanted.

“With this whip you'll be able to live like great lords, keep horses, and drive around in carriages. But at the end of seven years, you'll be mine.”

Upon saying this, he took out a book, and they all had to sign their names to the agreement.

“But,” he added, “before you're finally mine, I'll give you a riddle, and if you solve it, you'll be free, and I'll have no power over you.”

Then the dragon flew away, and the three soldiers began their journey with their little whip. They always had plenty of money, ordered the finest clothes to be made for them, and traveled about the world. Wherever they were, they lived joyous and splendid lives. They drove around with horses and a carriage and ate and drank well. The time went by quickly, and as the seven years were drawing to an end, two of them became extremely anxious, but the third took it lightly and said, “Brothers, don't be afraid. Perhaps we can solve the riddle.”

When they were all together, an old woman came along and asked them why they were so sad.

“Oh, what's it to you? You can't help us.”

“Who knows,” she answered. “Just tell me your troubles.”

So they told her that they had been the devil's servants for almost seven years, and he had supplied them with money as though it were water. However, they had signed their lives over to him and would become his if they couldn't solve a riddle after the seven years were up.

“If you want some help,” the old woman said, “then one of you must go into the forest, where he'll find a cliff that's caved in and looks like a little house.”

“That won't save us,” thought the two sad ones, and they remained outside the forest, while the cheerful one set out on his way and found everything just as the old woman had said. Inside he found an ancient woman sitting there. She was the devil's grandmother and asked him where he had come from and what he wanted. He told her everything that had happened, and since she found him very appealing, she took pity on him and lifted a large stone.