Andrew Lang_Fairy Book 01 (36 page)

"Snow-white and Rose-red,
Don't beat your lover dead."

When it was time to retire for the night, and the others
went to bed, the mother said to the bear: "You can lie
there on the hearth, in heaven's name; it will be shelter
for you from the cold and wet." As soon as day dawned
the children led him out, and he trotted over the snow
into the wood. From this time on the bear came every
evening at the same hour, and lay down by the hearth and
let the children play what pranks they liked with him;
and they got so accustomed to him that the door was
never shut till their black friend had made his appearance.

When spring came, and all outside was green, the bear
said one morning to Snow-white: "Now I must go away,
and not return again the whole summer." "Where are you
going to, dear bear?" asked Snow-white. "I must go to
the wood and protect my treasure from the wicked dwarfs.
In winter, when the earth is frozen hard, they are obliged
to remain underground, for they can't work their way
through; but now, when the sun has thawed and warmed
the ground, they break through and come up above to spy
the land and steal what they can; what once falls into
their hands and into their caves is not easily brought back
to light." Snow-white was quite sad over their friend's
departure, and when she unbarred the door for him, the
bear, stepping out, caught a piece of his fur in the
door-knocker, and Snow-white thought she caught sight of
glittering gold beneath it, but she couldn't be certain of
it; and the bear ran hastily away, and soon disappeared
behind the trees.

A short time after this the mother sent the children into
the wood to collect fagots. They came in their wanderings
upon a big tree which lay felled on the ground, and
on the trunk among the long grass they noticed something
jumping up and down, but what it was they couldn't
distinguish. When they approached nearer they perceived
a dwarf with a wizened face and a beard a yard long. The
end of the beard was jammed into a cleft of the tree, and
the little man sprang about like a dog on a chain, and
didn't seem to know what he was to do. He glared at the
girls with his fiery red eyes, and screamed out: "What are
you standing there for? Can't you come and help me?"
"What were you doing, little man?" asked Rose-red.
"You stupid, inquisitive goose!" replied the dwarf; "I
wanted to split the tree, in order to get little chips of wood
for our kitchen fire; those thick logs that serve to make
fires for coarse, greedy people like yourselves quite burn
up all the little food we need. I had successfully driven
in the wedge, and all was going well, but the cursed wood
was so slippery that it suddenly sprang out, and the tree
closed up so rapidly that I had no time to take my
beautiful white beard out, so here I am stuck fast, and I
can't get away; and you silly, smooth-faced, milk-and-water
girls just stand and laugh! Ugh! what wretches you are!"

The children did all in their power, but they couldn't
get the beard out; it was wedged in far too firmly. "I
will run and fetch somebody," said Rose-red. "Crazy
blockheads!" snapped the dwarf; "what's the good of calling
anyone else? You're already two too many for me.
Does nothing better occur to you than that?" "Don't be
so impatient," said Snow-white, "I'll see you get help,"
and taking her scissors out of her pocket she cut off the
end of his beard. As soon as the dwarf felt himself free he
seized a bag full of gold which was hidden among the
roots of the tree, lifted it up, and muttered aloud: "Curse
these rude wretches, cutting off a piece of my splendid
beard!" With these words he swung the bag over his
back, and disappeared without as much as looking at the
children again.

Shortly after this Snow-white and Rose-red went out
to get a dish of fish. As they approached the stream they
saw something which looked like an enormous grasshopper
springing toward the water as if it were going to jump in.
They ran forward and recognized their old friend the
dwarf. "Where are you going to?" asked Rose-red; "you're
surely not going to jump into the water?" "I'm not such
a fool," screamed the dwarf. "Don't you see that cursed
fish is trying to drag me in?" The little man had been
sitting on the bank fishing, when unfortunately the wind
had entangled his beard in the line; and when immediately
afterward a big fish bit, the feeble little creature had no
strength to pull it out; the fish had the upper fin, and
dragged the dwarf toward him. He clung on with all his
might to every rush and blade of grass, but it didn't help
him much; he had to follow every movement of the fish,
and was in great danger of being drawn into the water.
The girls came up just at the right moment, held him
firm, and did all they could to disentangle his beard from
the line; but in vain, beard and line were in a hopeless
muddle. Nothing remained but to produce the scissors
and cut the beard, by which a small part of it was sacrificed.

When the dwarf perceived what they were about he
yelled to them: "Do you call that manners, you toad-stools!
to disfigure a fellow's face? It wasn't enough that
you shortened my beard before, but you must now needs
cut off the best bit of it. I can't appear like this before
my own people. I wish you'd been in Jericho first." Then
he fetched a sack of pearls that lay among the rushes, and
without saying another word he dragged it away and
disappeared behind a stone.

It happened that soon after this the mother sent the
two girls to the town to buy needles, thread, laces, and
ribbons. Their road led over a heath where huge boulders
of rock lay scattered here and there. While trudging
along they saw a big bird hovering in the air, circling
slowly above them, but always descending lower, till at
last it settled on a rock not far from them. Immediately
afterward they heard a sharp, piercing cry. They ran
forward, and saw with horror that the eagle had pounced
on their old friend the dwarf, and was about to carry him
off. The tender-hearted children seized hold of the little
man, and struggled so long with the bird that at last he
let go his prey. When the dwarf had recovered from the
first shock he screamed in his screeching voice: "Couldn't
you have treated me more carefully? You have torn my
thin little coat all to shreds, useless, awkward hussies that
you are!" Then he took a bag of precious stones and
vanished under the rocks into his cave. The girls were
accustomed to his ingratitude, and went on their way and
did their business in town. On their way home, as they
were again passing the heath, they surprised the dwarf
pouring out his precious stones on an open space, for he
had thought no one would pass by at so late an hour. The
evening sun shone on the glittering stones, and they
glanced and gleamed so beautifully that the children stood
still and gazed on them. "What are you standing there
gaping for?" screamed the dwarf, and his ashen-gray face
became scarlet with rage. He was about to go off with
these angry words when a sudden growl was heard, and
a black bear trotted out of the wood. The dwarf jumped
up in great fright, but he hadn't time to reach his place of
retreat, for the bear was already close to him. Then he
cried in terror: "Dear Mr. Bear, spare me! I'll give you
all my treasure. Look at those beautiful precious stones
lying there. Spare my life! what pleasure would you get
from a poor feeble little fellow like me? You won't feel
me between your teeth. There, lay hold of these two
wicked girls, they will be a tender morsel for you, as fat
as young quails; eat them up, for heaven's sake." But the
bear, paying no attention to his words, gave the evil little
creature one blow with his paw, and he never moved
again.

The girls had run away, but the bear called after them:
"Snow-white and Rose-red, don't be afraid; wait, and
I'll come with you." Then they recognized his voice and
stood still, and when the bear was quite close to them his
skin suddenly fell off, and a beautiful man stood beside
them, all dressed in gold. "I am a king's son," he said,
"and have been doomed by that unholy little dwarf, who
had stolen my treasure, to roam about the woods as a
wild bear till his death should set me free. Now he has
got his well-merited punishment."

Snow-white married him, and Rose-red his brother, and
they divided the great treasure the dwarf had collected
in his cave between them. The old mother lived for many
years peacefully with her children; and she carried the
two rose trees with her, and they stood in front of her
window, and every year they bore the finest red and white
roses.
[22]

Once upon a time an old queen, whose husband had
been dead for many years, had a beautiful daughter.
When she grew up she was betrothed to a prince who lived
a great way off. Now, when the time drew near for her
to be married and to depart into a foreign kingdom, her
old mother gave her much costly baggage, and many
ornaments, gold and silver, trinkets and knicknacks, and,
in fact, everything that belonged to a royal trousseau,
for she loved her daughter very dearly. She gave her a
waiting-maid also, who was to ride with her and hand her
over to the bridegroom, and she provided each of them
with a horse for the journey. Now the Princess's horse was
called Falada, and could speak.

When the hour for departure drew near the old mother
went to her bedroom, and taking a small knife she cut her
fingers till they bled; then she held a white rag under
them, and letting three drops of blood fall into it, she
gave it to her daughter, and said: "Dear child, take great
care of this rag: it may be of use to you on the journey."

So they took a sad farewell of each other, and the
Princess stuck the rag in front of her dress, mounted her
horse, and set forth on the journey to her bridegroom's
kingdom. After they had ridden for about an hour the
Princess began to feel very thirsty, and said to her
waiting-maid: "Pray get down and fetch me some water in
my golden cup out of yonder stream: I would like a
drink." "If you're thirsty," said the maid, "dismount
yourself, and lie down by the water and drink; I don't mean
to be your servant any longer." The Princess was so
thirsty that she got down, bent over the stream, and
drank, for she wasn't allowed to drink out of the golden
goblet. As she drank she murmured: "Oh! heaven, what
am I to do?" and the three drops of blood replied:

"If your mother only knew,
Her heart would surely break in two."

But the Princess was meek, and said nothing about her
maid's rude behavior, and quietly mounted her horse
again. They rode on their way for several miles, but the
day was hot, and the sun's rays smote fiercely on them,
so that the Princess was soon overcome by thirst again.
And as they passed a brook she called once more to her
waiting-maid: "Pray get down and give me a drink from
my golden cup," for she had long ago forgotten her maid's
rude words. But the waiting-maid replied, more haughtily
even than before: "If you want a drink, you can dismount
and get it; I don't mean to be your servant." Then the
Princess was compelled by her thirst to get down, and
bending over the flowing water she cried and said: "Oh!
heaven, what am I to do?" and the three drops of blood
replied:

"If your mother only knew,
Her heart would surely break in two."

And as she drank thus, and leaned right over the water,
the rag containing the three drops of blood fell from her
bosom and floated down the stream, and she in her anxiety
never even noticed her loss. But the waiting-maid
had observed it with delight, as she knew it gave her
power over the bride, for in losing the drops of blood the
Princess had become weak and powerless. When she
wished to get on her horse Falada again, the waiting-maid
called out: "I mean to ride Falada: you must mount
my beast"; and this too she had to submit to. Then the
waiting-maid commanded her harshly to take off her
royal robes, and to put on her common ones, and finally
she made her swear by heaven not to say a word about
the matter when they reached the palace; and if she
hadn't taken this oath she would have been killed on the
spot. But Falada observed everything, and laid it all to
heart.

The waiting-maid now mounted Falada, and the real
bride the worse horse, and so they continued their journey
till at length they arrived at the palace yard. There was
great rejoicing over the arrival, and the Prince sprang
forward to meet them, and taking the waiting-maid for
his bride, he lifted her down from her horse and led her
upstairs to the royal chamber. In the meantime the real
Princess was left standing below in the courtyard. The
old King, who was looking out of his window, beheld her
in this plight, and it struck him how sweet and gentle,
even beautiful, she looked. He went at once to the royal
chamber, and asked the bride who it was she had brought
with her and had left thus standing in the court below.
"Oh!" replied the bride, "I brought her with me to keep
me company on the journey; give the girl something to do,
that she may not be idle." But the old King had no work
for her, and couldn't think of anything; so he said, "I've
a small boy who looks after the geese, she'd better help
him." The youth's name was Curdken, and the real bride
was made to assist him in herding geese.

Soon after this the false bride said to the Prince:
"Dearest husband, I pray you grant me a favor." He
answered: "That I will." "Then let the slaughterer cut
off the head of the horse I rode here upon, because it
behaved very badly on the journey." But the truth was she
was afraid lest the horse should speak and tell how she
had treated the Princess. She carried her point, and the
faithful Falada was doomed to die. When the news came
to the ears of the real Princess she went to the slaughterer,
and secretly promised him a piece of gold if he would do
something for her. There was in the town a large dark
gate, through which she had to pass night and morning
with the geese; would he "kindly hang up Falada's head
there, that she might see it once again?" The slaughterer
said he would do as she desired, chopped off the head, and
nailed it firmly over the gateway.