The Original Folk and Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm (68 page)

Now it happened that the king's wife had just died, and she had been so beautiful that the king was greatly distressed because her equal couldn't be found anywhere. The court servants had noticed, however, that the coachman stood in front of a beautiful portrait every day, and since they envied him, they reported it to the king, who ordered the portrait to be brought to him. When he saw how the portrait resembled his wife in each and every way and was even more beautiful, he fell desperately in love with it. Consequently, he summoned the coachman and asked him whose portrait it was. The coachman said that it was his sister, and the king decided to marry no other woman but her. So he gave the coachman a carriage and horses and magnificent golden clothes and sent him to fetch his chosen bride.

When Reginer arrived with the news, his sister rejoiced, but the black maiden was jealous of her good fortune and became terribly annoyed. “What's the good of all your clever and artful ways,” she said to her mother, “if you can't bring about such good luck for me?”

“Be quiet,” said the old woman. “I'll soon make things turn your way.”

And through her witchcraft she clouded the eyes of the coachman so that he became half blind, and she stopped up the ears of the white maiden so that she became half deaf. After this had been done, they climbed into the carriage, first the bride in her splendid royal garments, then the
stepmother with her daughter, while Reginer sat on the box to drive. When they had gone some distance, the coachman cried out:

“Cover yourself, my sister dear,

don't let the rain get you too wet.

Don't let the wind blow dust on you.

Take care, for you must look your very best

when you appear at your king's request.”

The bride asked, “What's my dear brother saying?”

“Ah,” replied the old woman. “He said you should take off your golden dress and give it to your sister.”

Then she took it off and put it on her sister, who gave her a shabby gray gown in return. They continued on their way, and after a while the brother called out again:

“Cover yourself, my sister dear,

don't let the rain get you too wet.

Don't let the wind blow dust on you.

Take care, for you must look your very best

when you appear at your king's request.”

The bride asked, “What's my dear brother saying?”

“Ah,” replied the old woman. “He said you should take off your golden bonnet and give it to your sister.”

Then she took off the bonnet, put it on the black maiden, and sat with her hair uncovered. They continued on their way, and after a while her brother called out once more:

“Cover yourself, my sister dear,

don't let the rain get you too wet.

Don't let the wind blow dust on you.

Take care, for you must look your very best

when you appear at your king's request.”

The bride asked, “What's my brother saying?”

“Ah,” replied the old woman. “He said you should take a look out of the carriage.”

Just then they happened to be crossing a bridge over a deep river. When the bride stood up and leaned out the window of the carriage, the other two pushed her out, and she fell into the middle of the water. At the very instant that she sank out of sight, a snow white duck arose out of the smooth glittering water and swam down the river. Since the brother hadn't noticed a thing, he kept driving until they reached the court. Then he brought the black maiden to the king as his sister and really thought it was her because his eyes were so clouded and he could only go by the glimmer of the golden clothes. When the king saw how abysmally ugly his intended bride was, he became furious and ordered the coachman to be thrown into a pit full of adders and snakes. Meanwhile, the old witch knew how to charm the king and deceive him through witchcraft so that he allowed her and her daughter to stay. Indeed, the daughter gradually appeared quite nice to him, and thus he actually married her.

One evening, while the black bride was sitting on the king's lap, a white duck swam up the drain to the kitchen and said to the kitchen boy:

“Light a fire, little boy, make it quick,

I need some warmth and can't get sick.”

The kitchen boy did as he was asked and lit a fire on the hearth. Then the duck came and sat down next to the fire, shook herself, and cleaned her feathers with her beak. While she sat there and made herself comfortable, she asked,

“What's my brother Reginer doing?'

The kitchen boy answered:

“With snakes and adders in a pit,

that's where he's been forced to sit.”

Then she asked,

“What's the black witch doing in the house?”

The kitchen boy answered:

“She's nice and warm, so very warm,

for the king has got her in his arms.”

The duck said, “God have mercy!” and swam back down the drain.

The next evening she came again and asked the same questions, and on the third evening as well. The kitchen boy's heart couldn't bear this any longer. So he went to the king and revealed everything to him. Then the king went to the kitchen on the following evening, and when the duck stuck her head out through the drain, he took his sword and cut her head off by the neck. All at once she turned into a most beautiful maiden and looked exactly like the portrait that her brother had made of her. The king rejoiced, and since she was standing there soaking wet, he had fine clothes brought to her, which she put on. Then she told him how she had been thrown into the river. Her first request was to have her brother taken out of the snake pit, and this was done immediately. Then the king went into the room where the old witch sat and asked, “What kind of punishment does a woman deserve if she does something like the following?”

As he recalled all the past events, the black woman was so distracted that she didn't realize what was going on and said, “She deserves to be stripped naked and put into a barrel studded with nails. Then a horse should be hitched to the barrel and sent running out into the world.”

This is what happened to her and her black daughter, while the king married the beautiful white bride and rewarded the faithful brother by making him a rich and respected man.

50

THE WILD MAN

Once upon a time there was a wild man who was under a spell, and he went into the gardens and wheat fields of the peasants and destroyed everything. The peasants complained to their lord and told him that they could no longer pay their rent. So the lord summoned all the huntsmen and announced that whoever caught the wild beast would receive a great reward. Then an old huntsman arrived and said he would catch the beast. He took a bottle of brandy, a bottle of wine, and a bottle of beer and set the bottles on the bank of a river, where the beast went every day. After doing that the huntsman hid behind a tree. Soon the beast came and drank up all the bottles. He licked his mouth and looked around to make sure
everything was all right. Since he was drunk, he lay down and fell asleep. The huntsman went over to him and tied his hands and feet. Then he woke the wild man and said, “You, wild man, come with me, and you'll get such things to drink every day.”

The huntsman took the wild man to the royal castle, and they put him into a cage. The lord then visited the other noblemen and invited them to see what kind of beast he had caught. Meanwhile, one of his sons was playing with a ball, and he let it fall into the cage.

“Wild man,” said the child, “throw the ball back out to me.”

“You've got to fetch the ball yourself,” said the wild man.

“All right,” said the child. “But I don't have the key.”

“Then see to it that you fetch it from your mother's pocket.”

The boy stole the key, opened the cage, and the wild man ran out.

“Oh, wild man!” the boy began to scream. “You've got to stay here, or else I'll get a beating!”

The wild man picked up the boy and carried him on his back into the wilderness. So the wild man disappeared, and the child was lost.

The wild man dressed the boy in a coarse jacket and sent him to the gardener at the emperor's court, where he was to ask whether they could use a gardener's helper. The gardener said yes, but the boy was so grimy and crusty that the others wouldn't sleep near him. The boy replied that he would sleep in the straw. Then early each morning he went into the garden, and the wild man came to him and said, “Now wash yourself, now comb your hair.”

And the wild man made the garden so beautiful that even the gardener himself couldn't do any better. The princess saw the handsome boy every morning, and she told the gardener to have his little assistant bring her a bunch of flowers. When the boy came, she asked him about his home and family, and he replied that he didn't know them. Then she gave him a roast chicken full of gold coins. When he got back to the gardener, he gave him the money and said, “What should I do with it? You can use it.”

Later he was ordered to bring the princess another bunch of flowers, and she gave him a duck full of gold coins, which he also gave to the gardener. On a third occasion she gave him a goose full of ducats, which the young man again passed on to the gardener. The princess thought that he had money, and yet he had nothing. They got married in secret, and her parents became angry and made her work in the brewery, and she also had to support herself by spinning. The young man would go into the kitchen and help the cook prepare the roast, and sometimes he stole a piece of meat and brought it to his wife.

Soon there was a mighty war in England, and the emperor and all the great armies had to travel there. The young man said he wanted to go there, too, and asked whether they had a horse in the stables for him. They told him that they had one that ran on three legs that would be good enough for him. So he mounted the horse, and the horse went off,
clippety-clop
. Then the wild man approached him, and he opened a large mountain in which there was a regiment of a thousand soldiers and officers. The young man put on some fine clothes and was given a magnificent horse. Then he set out for the war in England with all his men. The emperor welcomed him in a friendly way and asked him to lend his support. The young man defeated everyone and won the battle, whereupon the emperor extended his thanks to him and asked him where his army came from.

“Don't ask me that,” he replied. “I can't tell you.”

Then he rode off with his army and left England. The wild man approached him again and took all the men back into the mountain. The young man mounted his three-legged horse and went back home.

“Here comes our hobbley-hop again with his three-legged horse!” the people cried out, and they asked, “Were you lying behind the hedge and sleeping?”

“Well,” he said, “if I hadn't been in England, things wouldn't have gone well for the emperor!”

“Boy,” they said, “be quiet, or else the gardener will really let you have it!” The second time, everything happened as it had before, and the third time, the young man won the whole battle, but he was wounded in the arm. The emperor took his kerchief, wrapped the wound, and tried to make the boy stay with him.

“No, I'm not going to stay with you. It's of no concern to you who I am.”

Once again the wild man approached the young man and took all his men back into the mountain. The young man mounted his three-legged
horse once more and went back home. The people began laughing and said, “Here comes our hobbley-hop again. Where were you lying asleep this time?”

“Truthfully, I wasn't sleeping,” he said. “England is totally defeated, and there's finally peace.”

Now, the emperor talked about the handsome knight who provided support, and the young man said to the emperor, “If I hadn't been with you, it wouldn't have turned out so well.”

The emperor wanted to give him a beating, but the young man said, “Stop! If you don't believe me, let me show you my arm.”

When he revealed his arm and the emperor saw the wound, he was amazed and said, “Perhaps you are the Lord Himself or an angel whom God has sent to me,” and he asked his pardon for treating him so cruelly and gave him a whole kingdom.

Now, the wild man was released from the magic spell and stood there as a great king and told his entire story. The mountain turned into a royal castle, and the young man went there with his wife, and they lived in the castle happily until the end of their days.

51

THE THREE BLACK PRINCESSES

East India was besieged by an enemy that would not withdraw until it first received a ransom of six hundred gold coins. So it was announced in public that whoever could provide the money would become mayor. There was at that time a poor fisherman who was fishing at sea with his son. The enemy came, took the son prisoner, and gave the fisherman six hundred gold coins for him. The father then went and gave the money to the lords of the city. The enemy departed, and the fisherman became mayor. Thereafter it was proclaimed that whoever did not address him as “Lord Mayor” would be hanged on the gallows.