The Original Folk and Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm (52 page)

When the year was completely over, the third son prepared to ride out of the forest and hoped to forget his sorrows in the company of his beloved. As he set out he kept thinking about her and wishing he were already with her. When he arrived at the gold road, he didn't even notice it, and his horse rode right down the middle of it. Once he reached the gate, it opened, and the princess welcomed him with joy. She pronounced him her savior and lord of the realm, and they celebrated their wedding in great bliss. When it was over, she told him his father had sent for him, and had pardoned him. So he rode home and explained to his father how his brothers had deceived him and why he had kept quiet about it. The old king wanted to punish them, but they had fled on a ship and never returned as long as they lived.

12

DOCTOR KNOW-IT-ALL

Once upon a time there was a poor farmer named Crab, who drove a cord of wood into town with his two oxen and sold the wood to a doctor for two gold coins. When the farmer went inside to get his money, the doctor was just about to sit down to dinner, and the farmer admired the fine food and drink at the doctor's table. His heart yearned for something like that, and he thought how nice it would be if he were a doctor. He lingered there awhile and finally asked if it were possible for someone like him to become a doctor.

“Of course,” said the doctor. “There's not much to it. First, buy yourself an ABC book. The kind with the picture of a rooster in it. Second, you must get cash for your wagon and two oxen and purchase some clothes and other
things that doctors tend to need. Third, you must have a sign painted with the words
I am Doctor Know-It-All
and nail it above your front door.”

The farmer did everything he was told, and when he had doctored for some time but not very long, a rich and mighty nobleman was robbed of some money, and he heard about Doctor Know-It-All, who was living in such and such a village and would probably know what had become of the money. So the nobleman had his carriage prepared, drove out to the village, and inquired at the farmer's house whether he was Doctor Know-It-All.

Yes, that was he, the farmer responded. Then the nobleman requested that he return with him and help him get back his stolen money. The farmer agreed, but added that Greta, his wife, had to come along too. The nobleman gave his approval, offered them both a seat in his carriage, and they drove off together. When they came to the nobleman's mansion, the table was already set, and Doctor Know-It-All was to eat with the lord, but he wanted his wife, Greta, to eat with them, too. So they all sat down together at the table.

Now, when the first servant arrived with a dish of delicious food, the farmer nudged his wife and said, “Greta, that was the first,” and he meant that that was the man with the first course. But the servant thought he meant “That's the first thief,” and since he really was the thief, he got scared and went out to tell his accomplices, “The doctor knows everything. There's trouble ahead. He said I was the first.”

The second servant didn't even want to go in, but he had no choice. When he entered with his dish, the farmer nudged his wife and said, “Greta, that's the second.”

This servant too got scared and hurried out. The third fared no better. Again the farmer said, “Greta, that's the third.”

The fourth had to carry in a covered dish, and the nobleman asked the doctor to demonstrate his skill and guess what lay under the cover. Crabs were being served, and when the farmer looked at the covered dish, he had no idea what to say. Finally, he blurted out: “Poor me, poor
Crab
!”

When the nobleman heard that, he exclaimed, “There, he knows! I'm sure he must also know who has the money.”

The servant was frightened to death and winked at the doctor to step outside for a moment. When he got outside, all four servants confessed to him that they had stolen the money. They proposed that he take charge of it and offered a large sum in addition if he would not expose them. Otherwise, they would soon be dangling from the gallows. Then they led him to the place where they had hidden the money. The doctor was satisfied, went back inside, sat down at the table, and said, “Sir, now I intend to look in my book to see where the money's been hidden.”

In the meantime, the fifth servant had crawled into the stove to see if he could hear what else the doctor knew. As the doctor sat there at the table, he opened his ABC book and turned the pages back and forth looking for the rooster. Since he couldn't find it right away, he said, “I know you're there. I'm bound to find you.”

The servant in the stove thought that the doctor was talking about him, and he jumped out of the stove in fright and said, “That man knows everything!”

Then Doctor Know-It-All showed the nobleman where the money was, but he didn't reveal who had stolen it. As a reward he received money from both sides and became a famous man.

13

THE FROG PRINCE

Once upon a time there was a king who had three daughters, and in his courtyard there was a well with beautiful clear water. On a hot summer's day the eldest daughter went down to the well and scooped out a glass full of water. However, when she looked at it and held it up to the sun, she saw that the water was murky. She found this very unusual and wanted to scoop out another glass when a frog stirred in the water, stuck his head up high, and finally jumped on to the edge of the well, where he spoke:

“If you'll be my sweetheart, my dear,

I'll give you water clearer than clear.”

“Oh, who'd ever want to be a nasty frog's sweetheart?” she cried out and ran away.

Then she told her sisters that there was an odd frog down at the well that made the water murky. The second sister became curious, and so she went down to the well and scooped a glass of water for herself, but it was just as murky as her sister's glass so that she wasn't able to drink it. Once again, however, the frog was on the edge of the well and said:

“If you'll be my sweetheart, my dear,

I'll give you water clearer than clear.”

“Do you think that would suit me?” the princess replied and ran away.

Finally, the third sister went, and things were no better. But when the frog spoke,

“If you'll be my sweetheart, my dear,

I'll give you water clearer than clear,”

she replied, “Yes, why not? I'll be your sweetheart. Get me some clean water.”

However, she thought, “That won't do any harm. I can speak to him just as I please. A dumb frog can never become my sweetheart.”

Meanwhile the frog had jumped back into the water, and when she scooped up some water a second time, it was so clear that the sun neatly gleamed with joy in the glass. Then she drank and quenched her thirst and also brought her sisters some of the water.

“Why were you so simple-minded and afraid of the frog,” she said to them, and afterward the princess didn't think anything more about it and went happily to bed. However, after she had been lying there for a while and couldn't fall asleep, she suddenly heard some scratching on the door and then some singing:

“Open up! Open up!

Princess, youngest daughter,

don't you remember, what you said

when I sat on the well on the water's edge?

You wanted to be my sweetheart, my dear,

and I gave you water clearer than clear.”

“Oh, that's my sweetheart, the frog,” the princess said, “and since I gave him my word, I'll open the door.”

So she got out of bed, opened the door a little, and then lay back down in the bed. The frog hopped after her and jumped on the bed down by her feet and remained there. When the night was over and morning dawned, the frog sprang off the bed and went out through the door. The next evening, when the princess was once again lying in bed, there was some scratching and singing at the door once more. The princess opened the door, and the frog lay in the bed at her feet until it turned day. On the third evening the frog came just like he had done the previous evenings.

“This is the last time that I'll open the door to you,” the princess said to him. “In the future there will be no more of this.”

Then the frog jumped and crawled under her pillow, and the princess fell asleep. When she woke up the next morning, she thought the frog would hop off again. Instead, she saw a handsome young prince standing before her, and he told her that he had been the bewitched frog and that she had saved him because she had promised to be his sweetheart. Then the two of them went to the king, who gave them his blessing, and a wedding was held. Meanwhile, the two other sisters were angry with themselves because they had not taken the frog to be their sweetheart.

14

THE DEVIL'S SOOTY BROTHER

A discharged soldier had nothing to live on and no longer knew what to do with his life. So he went out into the forest, and after walking for a while, he met a little man who was actually the devil himself.

“What's the matter?” the little man said to him. You look so gloomy.”

“I'm hungry and have no money,” said the soldier.

“If you hire yourself out to me and will be my servant,” the devil said, “you'll have enough for the rest of your life. But you've got to serve me
seven years, and after that you'll be free. There's just one other thing I've got to tell you: you're not allowed to wash yourself, comb your hair, trim your beard, cut your nails or hair, or wipe your eyes.”

“If that's the way it must be, let's get on with it,” the soldier said, and he went away with the little man, who led him straight to hell and told him what his chores were: he was to tend the fires under the kettles in which the damned souls were sitting, sweep the house clean and carry the dirt out the door, and keep everything in order. However, he was never to peek into the kettles, or things would go badly for him.

“I understand,” said the soldier. “I'll take good care of everything.”

So the old devil set out again on his travels, and the soldier began carrying out his duties. He put fuel on the fires, swept the floor, and took the dirt outside. When the old devil returned, he was satisfied and went off again. Now, for the first time, the soldier took a good look around hell. There were kettles all about, and they were boiling and bubbling with tremendous fires under each one of them. He would have given his life to know what was in them if the devil had not strictly forbidden it. Finally, however, he could no longer restrain himself. He lifted the lid of the first kettle a little and looked inside, only to see his old sergeant sitting there.

“Aha, you crumb!” he said. “Fancy meeting you here! You used to step on me, but now I've got you under my foot.”

He let the lid drop quickly, stirred the fire, and added fresh wood. After that he moved to the second kettle, lifted the lid a little, and peeked inside. There sat his lieutenant.

“Aha, you crumb!” he said. “Fancy meeting you here! You used to step on me, but now I've got you under my foot.”

He shut the lid again and added a log to the fire to make it really good and hot for him. Now he wanted to see who was sitting in the third kettle, and it turned out to be his general.

“Aha, you crumb! Fancy meeting you here! You used to step on me, but now, I've got you under my foot.”

He took out a bellows and pumped it until the fire of hell was blazing hot under him. And so it was that he served out his seven years in
hell. He never washed, combed his hair, trimmed his beard, cut his nails, or wiped his eyes. The seven years passed so quickly that he was convinced that only six months had gone by. When his time was completely up, the devil came and said, “Well, Hans, what've you been doing all this time?”

“I've tended the fires under the kettles, and I've swept and carried the dirt out the door.”

“But you also peeked into the kettles. Well, you're just lucky that you added more wood to the fire; otherwise, you would have forfeited your life. Now your time is up. Do you want to go back home?”

“Yes,” said the soldier. “I'd like to see how my father's doing.”

“All right, if you want to get your proper reward, you must go and fill your knapsack with the dirt you've swept up and take it home with you. And you must also go unwashed and uncombed, with long hair on your head and a long beard, with uncut nails, and with bleary eyes. And if anyone asks you where you come from, you've got to say ‘From hell.' And if anyone asks you who you are, you're to say ‘I'm the devil's sooty brother, who's my king as well.' ”

The soldier said nothing. Indeed, he carried out the devil's instructions, but he was not at all satisfied with the reward

As soon as he returned to the world and was out in the forest again, he took the knapsack and wanted to shake it out. But when he opened it, he discovered that the dirt had turned into pure gold. When he saw that, he was delighted and went into the city. An innkeeper was standing in front of his inn as Hans approached, and when he caught sight of Hans, the innkeeper was terrified because the soldier looked so dreadful, even more frightening than a scarecrow. He called out to him and asked, “Where are you coming from?”

“From hell.”

“Who are you?”

“The devil's sooty brother, who's my king as well.”

The innkeeper did not want to let him inside, but when Hans showed him the gold, he went and unlatched the door himself. Then Hans ordered
the best room and insisted on the finest service. He ate and drank his fill but did not wash or comb his hair as the devil had instructed. Finally, he lay down to sleep, but the innkeeper could not get the knapsack of gold out of his mind. Just the thought of it left him no peace. So he crept into the room during the night and stole it.

When Hans got up the next morning and went to pay the innkeeper before leaving, his knapsack was gone. However, he wasted no words and thought, “It's not your fault that this happened,” and he turned around and went straight back to hell, where he complained about his misfortune to the devil and asked for help.