The Original Folk and Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm (45 page)

And off she went and wandered a long, long way until she came to the castle where the two were living together. Then she heard that their wedding celebration was soon to take place. “God will come to my aid,” she remarked as she opened the little casket that the sun had given her. There she found a dress as radiant as the sun itself. She took it out, put it on, and went up to the castle. Everyone at the court and the bride herself stared at
her. The bride liked the dress so much she thought it would be nice to have it for her wedding and asked if she could buy it.

“Not for money or property,” she answered, “but for flesh and blood.” The bride asked her what she meant by that, and she responded, “Let me sleep one night in the prince's room.”

The bride didn't want to let her, but she also wanted the dress very badly. Finally, she agreed, but the bridegroom's servant was ordered to give him a sleeping potion. That night when the prince was asleep, the maiden was led into his room, where she sat down on his bed and said, “I've followed you for seven years. I went to the sun, the moon, and the four winds to find out where you were. I helped you conquer the dragon. Are you going to forget me forever?”

But the prince slept so soundly that it seemed to him as if the wind were merely whispering in the firs. When morning came, she was led out of the castle again and had to give up her golden dress.

Since her ploy had not been of much use, she was quite sad and went out to a meadow, where she sat down and wept. But as she was sitting there, she remembered the egg that the moon had given her. She cracked it open, and a hen with twelve chicks jumped out, all in gold. The peeping chicks scampered about and then crawled under the mother hen's wings. There was not a lovelier sight to see in the world. Shortly after that she stood up and drove them ahead of her over the meadow until they came within sight of the bride, who saw them from her window. She liked the little chicks so much that she came right down and asked if she could buy them.

“Not for money or possessions, but for flesh and blood. Let me sleep another night in the prince's room.”

The bride agreed and wanted to trick her as she had done the night before. But when the prince went to bed, he asked the servant what had caused all the murmuring and rustling during the night, and the servant told him everything: that he had been compelled to give him a sleeping potion because a poor girl had secretly slept in his room, and that he was supposed to give him another one that night.

“Dump the drink by the side of my bed,” said the prince.

That night the maiden was led into the room again, and when she began to talk about her sad plight, he immediately recognized his dear wife by her voice, jumped up, and exclaimed, “Now I'm really free from the spell! It was like a dream. The princess had cast a spell over me and made me forget you, but God has helped me just in time.”

That night they left the castle in secret, for they were afraid of the princess's father, who was a sorcerer. They got on the griffin, who carried them over the Red Sea, and when they were in the middle, she let the nut drop. Immediately a big nut tree sprouted, and the griffin was able to rest there. Then he carried them home, where they found their child, who had grown tall and handsome. From then on they lived happily until their death.

3

THE GOOSE GIRL

There once was an old queen whose husband had been dead for many years, and she had a beautiful daughter. When the daughter grew up, she was betrothed to a prince who lived far away. When the time came for her to be married, and the princess had to get ready to depart for the distant kingdom, the old queen packed up a great many precious items and ornaments: gold and silver, goblets and jewels. In short, everything that suited a royal dowry, for she loved her child with all her heart. She also gave her a chambermaid, who was to accompany her and deliver her safely into the hands of her bridegroom. Each received a horse for the journey, but the princess's horse was named Falada and could speak. When the hour of departure arrived, the old mother went into her bedroom, took a small knife, and cut her finger to make it bleed. Then she placed a white handkerchief underneath her finger, let three drops of blood fall on it, and gave it to her daughter.

“My dear child,” she said, “take good care of these three drops, for they will help you on your journey when you're in need.”

After they had bid each other a sad farewell, the princess stuck the handkerchief into her bosom, mounted her horse, and began her journey to her bridegroom. After riding an hour, she felt very thirsty and called to
her chambermaid, “Get down and fetch some water from the brook with my goblet that you brought along for me. I'd like to have something to drink.”

“Hey, if you're thirsty,” said the chambermaid, “get down yourself. Just lie down by the water and drink. I don't like being your servant.”

Since the princess was very thirsty, she dismounted, bent over the brook, and drank some water, but she was not allowed to drink out of the golden goblet.

“Oh, God!” she said.

Then the three drops of blood responded, “Ah, if your mother knew, her heart would break in two!”

But the princess was quite humble. She said nothing and got back on her horse. They continued riding a few miles further. The day was warm and the sun so sticky and hot that she soon she got thirsty again. When they came to a stream, she called to her chambermaid once more. “Get down and bring me something to drink from my golden cup,” for she had long since forgotten the servant's nasty words.

“If you want to drink,” the chambermaid said even more haughtily than before, “drink by yourself. I don't like being your servant.”

Since she was very thirsty, the princess dismounted, lay down next to the running water, and wept.

“Oh, God!” she said.

Once again the drops of blood responded, “Ah, if your mother knew, her heart would break in two!”

As she was leaning over the bank and drinking the water, her handkerchief with the three drops of blood fell out of her bosom and floated downstream without her ever noticing it, so great was her fear. But the chambermaid had seen it and was delighted because she knew that now she could have power over the princess. Without the three drops of blood, the princess had become weak. So, as she was about to get back on the horse named Falada, the chambermaid said, “Falada belongs to me. Yours is the nag!”

The princess had to put up with all that. Moreover, the chambermaid ordered her to take off her royal garments and to put on the maid's shabby clothes. Finally, she had to swear under open skies that she would never
tell a soul at the royal court what the chambermaid had done. If the princess hadn't given her word, she would have been killed on the spot. But Falada saw all this and took good note of it.

Now the chambermaid mounted Falada, and the true bride had to get on the wretched nag. Thus they continued their journey until they finally arrived at the royal castle. There was great rejoicing when they entered the courtyard, and the prince ran to meet them. He lifted the chambermaid from her horse, thinking that she was his bride. Then he led her up the stairs, while the true princess was left standing below. Meanwhile, the old king peered out a window, and when he saw her standing in the courtyard, he was struck by her fine, delicate, and beautiful features. He went straight to the royal suite and asked the bride about the girl she had brought with her, the one standing below in the courtyard, and who she was.

“Oh, I picked her up along the way to keep me company. Just give her something to keep her busy.”

But the old king had no work for her and could only respond, “I have a little boy who tends the geese. Perhaps she could help him.”

The boy's name was Little Conrad, and the true bride had to help him tend the geese.

Shortly after, the false bride said to the young king, “Dearest husband, I'd like you to do me a favor.”

“I'd be glad to,” he answered.

“Well then, let me summon the knacker. I want him to cut off the head of the horse that carried me here because it gave me nothing but trouble along the way.”

However, she actually was afraid the horse would reveal what she had done to the princess. When all the preparations had been made and faithful Falada was about to die, word reached the ears of the true princess, and she secretly promised the knacker a gold coin if he would render her a small service. There was a big dark gateway through which she had to pass every morning and evening with the geese, and she wanted him to nail Falada's head on the wall under the dark gateway, where she could always see it. The knacker promised to do it, and when he cut off the horse's head, he nailed it firmly onto the wall under the dark gateway.

Early the next morning, when she and Conrad drove the geese out through the gateway, she said in passing:

“Oh, poor Falada, I see you hanging there.”

Then the head answered:

“Dear princess, is that you really there?

Oh, if your mother knew,

her heart would break in two!”

She walked out of the city in silence, and they drove the geese into the fields. When she reached the meadow, she sat down and undid her hair, which was as pure as gold. Little Conrad liked the way her hair glistened so much that he tried to pull out a few strands. Then she said:

“Blow, wind, oh, blow with all your might!

Blow Little Conrad's cap out of sight,

make him chase it everywhere

till I've braided all my hair

and fixed it so that it's all right.”

Then a gust of wind came and blew off Little Conrad's cap into the fields, and he had to run after it. By the time he returned with it, she had finished combing and putting her hair up, and he couldn't get a single strand of it. Little Conrad became so angry that he wouldn't speak to her after that. Thus they tended the geese until evening, when they set out on their way home.

The next morning, when they drove the geese through the dark gateway, the maiden said:

“Oh, poor Falada, I see you hanging there.”

Then Falada responded:

“Dear princess, is that you really there?

Oh, if your mother knew,

her heart would break in two!”

Once she was in the field again, she sat down in the meadow and began to comb out her hair. Little Conrad ran up and tried to grab it, but she quickly said:

“Blow, wind, oh, blow with all your might!

Blow Little Conrad's cap out of sight,

and make him chase it everywhere

till I've braided all my hair

and fixed it so that it's all right.”

The wind blew and whisked the cap off his head and drove it far off so that Conrad had to run after it. When he came back, she had long since put up her hair, and he couldn't get a single strand. Thus they tended the geese until evening. However, upon returning that evening, Little Conrad went to the old king and said, “I don't want to tend the geese with that girl anymore.”

“Why not?” asked the old king.

“Well, she torments me the whole day long.”

Immediately the old king ordered him to tell him what she did, and Conrad said, “In the morning, when we pass through the dark gateway, there's a horse's head on the wall, and she always says:

‘Oh, poor Falada, I see you hanging there.'

And the head answers:

‘Dear princess, is that you really there?

Oh, if your mother knew,

her heart would break in two!' ”

And thus Little Conrad went on to tell the king what happened out on the meadow, and how he had had to run after his cap.

The old king ordered him to drive the geese out again the next day, and when morning came, the old king hid himself behind the dark gateway and heard her speak to Falada's head. Then he followed her into the fields and hid behind some bushes in the meadow. Soon he saw with his own eyes how the goose girl and the goose boy led the geese to the meadow, and
how she sat down after a while and undid her hair that glistened radiantly. Before long, she said:

“Blow, wind, oh, blow with all your might!

Blow Little Conrad's cap out of sight,

and make him chase it everywhere

until I've braided all my hair

and fixed it so that it's all right.”

Then a gust of wind came and carried Little Conrad's cap away, so that he had to run far, and the maiden calmly combed and braided her hair. All this was observed by the old king. He then went home unnoticed, and when the goose girl came back that evening, he called her aside and asked her why she did all those things.

“I'm not allowed to tell you, nor am I allowed to bemoan my plight to anyone. Such is the oath I swore under the open skies. Otherwise, I would have been killed.”

Although he kept on insisting and would give her no peace, she wouldn't talk. Then he said, “If you don't want to tell me anything, then you certainly may let the iron stove over there listen to your sorrows.”

“All right,” said the maiden, “I'll do that.”

Upon saying that, she crawled into the iron stove and poured her heart out and told it what had happened to her and how she had been betrayed by the wicked chambermaid.

Now the oven had a hole on top, and the old king overheard what she said and listened to every word she uttered about her fate. He immediately intended to make everything good and had her dressed in royal garments, and it was like a miracle to see how beautiful she really was. The old king called his son and revealed to him that he had the wrong bride, who was nothing but a chambermaid. The true bride, however, was standing there before him, the former goose girl. The young king was delighted and ecstatic when he saw how beautiful and virtuous she was. Now a great feast was prepared, and all their friends and the entire court were invited to attend. At the head of the table sat the bridegroom, with the princess at one side and the chambermaid at the other, but the chambermaid was so
distracted that she could no longer recognize the princess, who was dressed in a dazzling manner. After they finished eating and drinking and were all in high spirits, the old king gave the chambermaid a riddle to solve: what punishment did a woman deserve who deceived her lord in such and such a way? Whereupon he told her the whole story and concluded by asking, “How would you sentence her?”