The Original Folk and Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm (63 page)

“You're to sit quietly down there. When the dragon comes, I'll ask him about the riddle.”

At midnight the dragon came flying home and wanted his dinner. The grandmother set the table and brought food and drink. This made him
happy, and they ate and drank together. During their conversation she asked him how his day had been and how many souls he had captured.

“I've still got three soldiers lined up. They'll soon be mine,” he said.

“Oh, three soldiers,” she said. “They're tough. They might still get away from you.”

“They're mine for sure,” responded the devil scornfully. “I'm going to ask them a riddle they'll never be able to solve.”

“What kind of a riddle?” she asked.

“Let me tell you: There's a dead monkey lying in the great North Sea. That will be their roast. A whale's rib will be their silver spoon, and an old horse's hoof will be their wine glass.”

When the devil had gone to bed, the old grandmother lifted up the stone and let the soldier out.

“Did you pay close attention to everything?”

“Yes,” he said and had to leave by a different way so that the devil wouldn't notice him. So he went quickly through a window and rushed back to his companions. Once there he told them what he had heard, and now they could solve what no living soul had ever solved. Indeed, they were all so cheerful and in such good spirits that they took the whip and snapped it so that they had plenty of money. When the seven years were completely up, the devil came with the book, showed them their signatures, and said, “Now I'm going to take you with me to hell, where you'll be given a meal. However, if you can guess what kind of a roast you're going to have, you'll be free and may keep the little whip.”

Then the first soldier began to talk. “In the great North Sea there's a dead monkey. That will probably be the roast.”

The devil was annoyed and went “
Hm! Hm! Hm!
” and asked the second soldier, “What will be your spoon?”

“The rib of a whale will be our silver spoon.”

The devil made a face, muttered “
Hm! Hm! Hm!
” again, and asked the third soldier, “Do you know what your wine glass will be?”

“An old horse's hoof will be our wine glass.”

At that the devil flew away and abandoned them. He no longer had power over them, but the three soldiers kept the little whip. Indeed, they
whipped up as much money they wanted whenever they wanted money and lived happily until the end of their days.

40

FAITHFUL FERDINAND AND UNFAITHFUL FERDINAND

Once upon a time there lived a man and a woman who didn't have any children while they were rich, but when they became poor, they had a little boy. Since nobody was willing to stand as godfather for their child, the father said that he would go to the next village to see if he could find one. Along the way he met a beggar, who asked him where he was going. The father told him that he was going to see if he could find a godfather for his son, since nobody was willing to act as godfather in his village because he was so poor.

“Oh,” said the beggar. “You're poor, and I'm poor. So I might as well be your godfather. But I'm so poor that I won't be able to give your child anything. Go home and tell the midwife to bring the child to the church.”

When they all arrived at the church, the beggar was already inside, and he named the child Faithful Ferdinand. As he was about to leave the church, the beggar said, “Go home now. I can't give you anything, and I don't want you to give me anything either.”

However, he gave the midwife a key and told her to give it to the father when she reached the house. He was to keep it until the boy became fourteen. At that time the boy was to go out to the heath, where he would find a castle. The key would fit the castle door, and everything inside would belong to him.

When the boy was seven and had grown nice and strong, he went to play with some other boys. Their godfathers had given them all presents, one more wonderful than the next, but Faithful Ferdinand had nothing to talk about. He burst into tears and ran home to his father.

“Didn't I get anything at all from my godfather?” he asked.

“Oh, yes,” said the father. “You received a key. If there's a castle on the heath, you're to go there and open it.”

So he went to the heath, but there was no sign of a castle. When seven more years passed and he was fourteen, he went to the heath again, and this time a castle was standing there. When he opened it, there was only a horse inside, a white horse, and the boy was so excited to have a horse that he mounted it and galloped home to his father. “Now that I've got a white horse,” he said, “I'm going to travel about.”

So he set out, and as he was riding along, he found a pen along the way. At first he wanted to pick it up, but then he thought to himself, “Oh, you'd better leave it there. You're bound to find a pen where you're going if you need one.” But just as he was about to ride away, a voice called out from behind him, “Faithful Ferdinand, take it with you.”

He looked around but couldn't see anyone. Then he went back and picked it up. After he rode on for a while, he came to a sea, where he discovered a fish lying on the shore and gasping for air.

“Wait, my little fish,” he said, “and I'll help you back into the water.”

He grabbed the fish by the tail and threw it back into the water. Then the fish stuck its head out of the sea and said, “Since you helped me out of the mud, I'm going to give you a flute. Whenever you're in trouble, just play it, and I'll come to your aid. And if you ever drop something into the water, just play it, and I'll get it out for you.”

Now Faithful Ferdinand continued on his way, and he came across a man, who asked him where he was going.

“Just to the next town.”

“What's your name?”

“Faithful Ferdinand.”

“What do you know about that? We have almost the same name. I'm called Unfaithful Ferdinand.”

The two of them traveled to the next town together, but there was trouble ahead: Unfaithful Ferdinand knew everything that anyone thought and wanted to do. He knew all this because he practiced all kinds of black magic. Now, at the inn where they decided to stay, there was a fine maiden who had an honest face and nice manners. She fell in love with Faithful Ferdinand, for he was very handsome, and she asked him where he was going. He told her that he was just traveling about, and she said that he
really should stay right there because the king of that country wanted to hire a servant or a forerunner, and he could work in the king's employ. He responded that he couldn't just go to someone out of the blue and offer his services. Then the maiden said, “Oh, I'll take care of that.”

She went straight to the king and told him that she knew of a fine servant for him. The king was glad to hear this and had Faithful Ferdinand summoned. When the king wanted to make him a servant Faithful Ferdinand asked to be a forerunner because he wanted to be with his horse. So the king made him a forerunner.

When Unfaithful Ferdinand learned about this, he said to the maiden, “What's going on? You can't just help him and forget about me!”

“Oh,” said the maiden. “I'll help you too,” and she thought, “I'd better keep on his good side, for he's not to be trusted.” So she went to the king again and said that she had a servant for him, and the king was pleased.

Now, whenever Unfaithful Ferdinand dressed the king in the morning, his Majesty would always complain, “Oh, if only my beloved could be here with me!” Since Unfaithful Ferdinand kept a grudge against Faithful Ferdinand, and since he also kept hearing the king lament, he finally said, “You have the forerunner, don't you? Well, why don't you send him to find her, and if he doesn't bring her back, have him beheaded.”

So the king summoned Faithful Ferdinand and told him that his beloved was in such and such a place, and Faithful Ferdinand was to bring her to him, and if he didn't succeed, he would have to die. Faithful Ferdinand went straight to his white horse, who was kept in the stable, and began to sigh and moan, “Oh, what an unlucky person I am!”

Then he heard a voice behind him. “Faithful Ferdinand, why are you crying?”

He turned around, and since he didn't see anyone near him, he continued to moan. “Oh, my dear little white horse, I must leave you now. I'm going to my doom.”

Then he heard the voice again. “Faithful Ferdinand, why are you crying?”

Suddenly he realized for the first time that it was his horse asking the question. “Is it you, my little white horse? Can you talk?” And he
continued, “I've got to go to such and such a place and fetch the king's bride. Can you tell me how to do it?”

“Go to the king,” the white horse replied, “and tell him that if he'll give you what you need, you'll get her, and you'll need a shipload of meat and a shipload of bread to succeed. There are huge giants in the sea, and if you don't bring them meat, they'll tear you to pieces, and there are huge birds who'll peck your eyes out if you don't bring them bread.”

So the king ordered all the butchers in the land to slaughter animals and all the bakers to bake bread until the ships were loaded. When they were full, the white horse said to Faithful Ferdinand, “Now, I want you to climb up on my back and go aboard the ship with me. When the giants come, you're to say:

‘Easy does it, my dear giants,

don't think that I've forgotten you,

for I've brought you meat to chew.'

And when the birds come, you're to say:

‘Easy does it, my nice dear birds,

don't think that I've forgotten you,

for I've brought you bread to chew.'

Then they won't do anything to you, and when you come to the castle, the giants will help you. Just take a few of them with you and go up into the castle, where you'll find the princess lying asleep, but you mustn't wake her. Have the giants pick her up with the bed and carry her to the ship.”

Then everything happened the way the little white horse said it would. Faithful Ferdinand gave the giants and birds the meat and bread he had brought with him. In return, the giants willingly carried the princess in her bed to the king. When she arrived at the king's palace, she told him that she couldn't live without her private papers that were still in her castle. So Faithful Ferdinand was summoned again, at the instigation of Unfaithful Ferdinand, and the king commanded him to fetch the papers from the castle; otherwise, he would have to die.

So Faithful Ferdinand went out into the stable, where he began moaning and said, “Oh, my dear little white horse, I must go away again. What shall we do?”

The white horse told him to have the ships fully loaded as before, and everything happened as it had the first time: the giants and birds ate their fill of the meat and bread and were appeased. When they reached the castle, the horse told Faithful Ferdinand to go into the princess's bedroom, where he would find the papers lying on the table. So he went in and got them. When they were on the sea again, he let his pen drop into the water, and at that the horse said, “Now I can't help you.”

But Faithful Ferdinand remembered the flute, and he began to play. Soon the fish came with the pen in its mouth and gave it to him. Afterward Faithful Ferdinand brought the papers to the palace, where the wedding was then held.

The queen, however, couldn't stand the king because he didn't have a nose. On the other hand, she loved Faithful Ferdinand very much. One day, when all the noblemen of the court were gathered together, the queen said she knew some tricks. She said, in fact, that she could cut off a head and put it back on, and she wanted a volunteer to demonstrate her skill. Nobody wanted to be first, but upon Unfaithful Ferdinand's prompting, Faithful Ferdinand felt obliged to volunteer. The queen cut off his head and put it back on again, and it healed immediately. Only a red thread appeared around his neck, where she had cut him.

“My child,” the king said to her, “where did you learn that?”

“Oh,” she replied, “Shall I try it out on you too?”

“Oh, yes,” he said.

Then the queen cut off his head, but she didn't put it back on again. Rather, she pretended she couldn't get it on because it wouldn't stick properly. So the king was buried, and she married Faithful Ferdinand.

Afterward Faithful Ferdinand continued to ride his white horse, and once when he got on it, the horse told him to head for another heath he knew and to gallop around it three times. When Faithful Ferdinand did this, the white horse stood up on its hind legs and turned into a prince.

41

THE IRON STOVE

In the days when wishing still helped, an old witch cast a spell over a prince so that he had to sit in a big iron stove in the forest. He spent many years there, and nobody was able to rescue him. One day a princess got lost in that forest and couldn't find the way back to her father's kingdom. She wandered about for nine days and finally came to the iron stove. As she stood in front of it, she heard a voice from inside that asked, “Where do you come from and where are you going?”

“I've lost the way to my father's kingdom,” she answered, “and I can't get back home.”

Then the voice from the iron stove said, “I'll help you get home again quickly if you'll promise to do what I ask. My father is a greater king than yours, and I want to marry you.”

She was frightened by this and thought, “Dear Lord, what shall I do with an iron stove!” But, she wanted so very much to return home to her father that she promised to do what he asked.

Then he said, “I want you to come back with a knife and scrape a hole in the iron,” and he gave her an escort who walked beside her without saying a word and brought her home in two hours.

Now, there was great rejoicing in the castle when the princess returned, and the old king embraced and kissed her. Yet, she was very sad and said, “Dear father, you can't imagine what happened to me! I'd never have been able to escape from the large, wild forest if I hadn't come across an iron stove, but I had to promise it that I'd return there to rescue and marry it.”