by Jacob Grimm
Before the fish could even finish speaking, Fix-It-Up had exclaimed, “Stop! Stop! Cook, put the fish in your apron. Coachman, drive it to a running river.”
Fix-It-Up himself got out and threw the fish into the water, and the fish flapped its tail in joy.
“Now, get the horses going,” said Fix-It-Up. “We must arrive at the designated spot by evening.”
When he reached the royal residence, he drove straight to the best inn, where the innkeeper and all his people came out and welcomed him in their best manners, thinking that a foreign king had arrived, though it was only a servant. Fix-It-Up had himself announced at the royal court, where he endeavored to make a good impression and court the princess.
“My son,” said the king, “many such suitors have already been turned away because they couldn’t perform the tasks I assigned them to win my daughter.”
“All right,” said Fix-It-Up, “set any kind of hard task that you want me to do.”
“I’ve ordered a quarter of a liter of poppy seeds to be sown in a field. If you can gather them so that not one kernel is missing, you shall have the princess for your wife.”
“Hoho!” Fix-It-Up thought, “that’s not much for me.” He then took a measuring cup, a sack, and snow-white sheets, went out to the field, and spread the sheets next to the field where the seeds had been sown. Soon after, those birds whose singing he had left undisturbed in the forest arrived, and they picked up the seeds, kernel after kernel, and carried them to the white sheets. When the birds had picked up all of them, Fix-It-Up poured them into the sack, took the measuring cup under his arm, went to the king, and measured out the poppy seeds for him. Now he thought the princess was already his—but he was wrong.
“One thing more, my son,” said the king. “My daughter has recently lost her golden ring. You must return it to me before you can have her.”
Fix-It-Up did not get upset. “Let Your Majesty show me the river and bridge where the ring was lost, then I shall soon return it to you.”
When Fix-It-Up was brought there, he looked down, and there he saw the fish that he had thrown into the river. It stuck its head out into the air and said, “Wait a moment. I’ll dive below. A whale has the ring underneath its fins, and I’ll fetch it.”
Indeed, the fish soon returned and tossed the ring onto the shore. Fix-It-Up brought it to the king, but the latter replied, “Now, just one more thing. There’s a unicorn in the forest, and it’s been causing a great deal of damage. If you can kill it, there’s nothing more you’ll have to do.”
Fix-It-Up did not get very upset here either. Instead, he went straight into the forest, where he came across the ravens whom he had once fed.
“Just have a little more patience,” they said. “The unicorn is lying down and sleeping, but it’s not on the side where you can see its eye. When it turns over, we’ll peck out its good eye. Then it’ll be blind and run furiously against trees and get itself stuck with its horn. That’s when you’ll be able to kill it easily.”
Soon the beast tossed itself around a few times and lay on its other side. All at once the ravens swooped down and pecked out its good eye. When it felt the pain, it jumped up and ran wildly around the forest. After it got its horn stuck in a thick oak tree, Fix-It-Up jumped out, cut off its head, and brought it to the king, who could no longer deny him his daughter. She was delivered to Fix-It-Up, who took a seat next to her in the coach. He was in full dress, just as he had come, and immediately drove off and brought the lovely princess to his lord. Fix-It-Up was given a fine reception, and the lord’s wedding with the princess was celebrated in great splendor. Then Fix-It-Up was appointed prime minister.
Everyone in the company to whom this tale was told wished to be at the celebration. One person wanted to be chambermaid; the other, wardrobe attendant. Someone wanted to be a chamber servant; another, the cook, and so on.
17
THE WHITE SNAKE
Every day at noon a covered dish was placed on the king’s table. Then, after everyone left, the king would eat alone from this dish, and nobody in the entire realm knew what kind of food was in it. One of the servants became curious and wanted to know what the dish contained. On one occasion, after the king had ordered him to take the dish away, he could no longer restrain himself. So he took the dish to his room and uncovered it. As he lifted the cover, he found a white snake lying inside, and once he laid his eyes on it, he felt a great desire to taste some of it. So he cut off a piece and began eating it. No sooner did his tongue touch the flesh of the snake than he understood the language of animals and heard what the birds on the window sill were saying to each other.
On this very same day the queen lost one of her most beautiful rings, and the suspicion fell on him. The king also said that if he was not able to find the thief by morning, he himself would be punished as if he had been the guilty person. The servant became sad and went down into the courtyard, where some ducks were resting in the water. As he was watching them, he heard one of them say, “There’s something heavy in my stomach. I ate a ring that the queen has lost.”
The servant took the duck and carried it to the cook, “Kill this one. It’s fat enough.”
So the cook cut off the duck’s neck, and when he began cleaning it, the queen’s ring was lying in its stomach. The servant brought it to the king, who was astonished and happy. Since he was sorry that he had treated the servant unjustly, he said, “Demand whatever you would like and whatever position of royal honor you would like.”
However, the servant declined every offer even though he was young and handsome. His heart was sad, and he didn’t want to remain at the court any longer. So he asked only for a horse and for money to travel and see the world. Well, he was provided with everything in the very best way.
The next morning he rode off and came to a pond where three fish were trapped in the reeds and were wailing that they’d have to die if they couldn’t get back into the water. So he dismounted, took them out of the reeds, and put them back into the water. Then the fish cried out: “We’ll remember you, and one day we’ll repay you.”
He rode on, and a while later he heard an ant king crying out: “Get away from us! Your enormous beast is trampling us with his large hooves!”
The young man looked down to the ground and saw that his horse had stepped on an ant hill. So he turned his horse away, and the ant king called out: “We’ll remember you, and one day we’ll repay you.”
Soon the servant entered a forest where two ravens were throwing their young ones out of their nests. They said that their tiny ones were now big enough and could feed themselves.
The young birds lay on the ground and screamed that they would die from starvation because their wings were still too small, and they couldn’t fly yet and search for food. So the young man dismounted, killed his horse with his sword, and threw the horse to the young ravens. They hopped over to the horse, ate their fill, and said, “We’ll remember this, and one day we’ll repay you.”
The young man moved on and came to a large city, where he heard a proclamation that whoever wanted to marry the king’s daughter would have to perform a task given by her, and if he didn’t complete it successfully, he would forfeit his life. Many princes had already been there and had lost their lives, so there was nobody any more who dared to try. This is why the princess had the proclamation issued again. The servant thought about it and decided to declare himself as a suitor. So he was led out to the sea, where a ring was thrown into it. He was to fetch it, and if he came out of the water without it, he’d be pushed back into the sea and would have to die in the water. As he was standing on the shore, the three fish that he had taken from the reeds and thrown into the water came swimming toward him. One of the fish held a shell in its mouth, and the ring was in the shell. The fish set it down on the beach at the feet of the young man, who was full of joy. So he brought the ring to the king and demanded the princess. However, when the princess heard that he wasn’t a prince, she refused to
accept him. Instead, she scattered ten sacks full of millet seeds in the grass. He was to pick them all up before sunrise the next day, and every single grain was to be gathered or else he’d lose his life. All at once the ant king came with all his ants whom the young man had protected, and they picked up the millet seeds during the night and poured them back into the sacks. By morning they had finished the task. When the princess saw that the sacks had been filled, she was astonished, and the young man was brought before her. Since he was handsome, she liked him but demanded that he perform a third task: he was to fetch an apple from the Tree of Life. As he stood there and thought about how he might get it, one of the ravens whom he had fed with his horse came and brought the apple in its beak. This is how he became the princess’s husband, and, when her father died, he became king of the entire country.
18
THE JOURNEY OF THE STRAW, THE COAL, AND THE BEAN
A straw, a coal, and a bean came together and wanted to take a great journey. They had already gone through many countries when they reached a brook without a bridge and couldn’t cross. Finally, straw came up with a good idea. He laid himself across the brook, and the others were to cross over him, first coal, then bean. Coal took wide steps and slowly crossed the straw, while bean toddled after. When coal got to the middle of straw, however, straw began to burn and burned through and through. Coal fell fizzling into the water and died. Straw broke into two pieces and flowed away. Bean, who was somewhat behind, slipped and fell into the water but managed to help herself a little by swimming. Finally, bean had to drink so much water that she burst and was driven to shore in this condition. Fortunately, a tailor was sitting there. He was resting while taking a hike in the woods. Since he had a needle and thread in his sack, he sewed bean together. Ever since this time all the beans have a seam.
According to another story bean was the first to make it across the straw. She reached the other side safely and looked back at coal on the other side and how he was crossing. In the middle of the way coal burned through straw, fell into the water, and fizzled. When bean saw this, she laughed so hard that she burst. The tailor, who was sitting on the shore, sewed her up but only had black thread. This is why all the beans have a black seam.
19
THE FISHERMAN AND HIS WIFE
Once upon a time there was a fisherman who lived with his wife in a piss pot near the sea. Every day the fisherman went out to fish, and all he did was fish and fish. One day he was sitting with his line and gazing into the clear water. And all he did was sit and sit. Suddenly his line sank deep down to the bottom, and when he pulled it up, he had a large flounder on the line, and the flounder said to him, “Listen here, fisherman, I beg of you, let me live. I’m not a real flounder but an enchanted prince. So what good would it do you to kill me? I certainly wouldn’t taste very good. Put me back into the water, and let me go.”
“Hold on,” said the man. “You don’t have to waste your words on me. I would have thrown a talking fish back into the water anyway.”
He then put the fish back into the clear water, and the flounder swam to the bottom, leaving behind a long streak of blood. Then the fisherman stood up and returned to the piss pot to be with his wife and told her that he had caught a flounder but since it had been an enchanted prince, he had let him go.
“Didn’t you wish for anything?” asked the wife.
“No,” said the husband. “What should I have wished for?”
“Ah,” said the wife. “Don’t you think it’s awful that we’ve got to live in this piss pot? It stinks, and it’s disgusting. You should have wished for a little hut. Go back and call him. Tell him we want a little hut. I’m sure he’ll give us one.”
The husband didn’t think that this was the right thing to do, but he went back to the sea anyway, and when he arrived, the sea was green and yellow, and he stood on the shore and said:
“Flounder, flounder, in the sea,
if you’re a man, then speak to me.
Though I don’t agree with my wife’s request,
I’ve come to ask it nonetheless.”
The flounder came swimming up to him and said, “Well, what does she want?”
“Oh,” said the man, “my wife, Isabel, thinks I should have wished for something because I caught you. Since she doesn’t want to live in a piss pot, she’d like to have a hut.”
“Just go home,” said the flounder. “She’s already got it.”
The fisherman went home, and his wife was standing in the doorway of a hut and said to him: “Come inside, husband. Look! Now, isn’t this much better?”
There was a stove and a parlor, also a kitchen. Behind the hut was a little yard and garden with all kinds of vegetables and chickens and ducks.
“Oh,” said the fisherman, “now we can enjoy ourselves.”
“Yes,” said the wife, “we’re going to enjoy it.”
Everything went well for about a week or two, and then the wife said, “Listen, husband, the hut is much too cramped, and the yard and garden are too little. I want a large stone castle. Go back to the flounder and tell him to give us a castle.”
“Ah, wife,” said the husband. “The flounder has just given us a hut, and I don’t want to go back again so soon. The flounder might be unwilling to do anything.”
“What do you mean?” said the wife. “He can easily do it, and he’ll be glad to do it. Just go back to him!”
So the fisherman left, and his heart grew heavy. When he got to the sea, the water was purple, dark blue, gray, and dense but still calm. Then he stood there and said:
“Flounder, flounder, in the sea,
if you’re a man, then speak to me.
Though I don’t agree with my wife’s request,
I’ve come to ask it nonetheless.”
“What now! What does she want?” the flounder asked.
“Oh,” said the fisherman, somewhat distressed. “My wife wants to live in a large stone castle.”
“Go home. She’s standing in front of the door,” the flounder said.
The fisherman went home, and his wife was standing in front of a large palace.
“So, husband,” she said, “isn’t this beautiful?”
He went inside with her, and there were many servants, and the walls were all bright. The chairs and tables were made of gold. Behind the palace was a huge yard and a park half a mile long with deer and does and rabbits. There was also a stable for cows and horses.
“Oh,” said the husband, “now let’s live in the beautiful castle and be content.”
“We’ll have to think about that,” said the wife, “and sleep on it.”
Then they went to bed.
The next morning the wife woke up. It was just daybreak, and he poked her husband in his side with her elbow and said, “Husband, get up. We must be king and rule this entire country.”
“Ah, wife!” said the husband. “Why should we be king? I don’t want to be king.”
“Well,” said the wife, “then I’ll be king.”
“Oh, wife,” said the husband, “where can you be king? The flounder won’t want to make you king.”
“Husband,” said the wife, “go straight to him and tell him I must be king!”
The fisherman went but was very distressed that his wife wanted to be king.
When he got to the sea, it was completely gray and black, and the water was fermenting from below. The fisherman stood there and said:
“Flounder, flounder, in the sea,
if you’re a man, then speak to me.
Though I don’t agree with my wife’s request,
I’ve come to ask it nonetheless.”
“Well, what does she want?” asked the flounder.
“Oh,” said the man, “she wants to be king.”
“Go back home,” said the flounder. “She’s already king.”
Then the man went home, and as he approached the palace, he saw that there were many soldiers, drums, and trumpets. His wife was sitting on
a high throne of gold and diamonds, and she wore a large golden crown. Two rows of ladies-in-waiting were standing on either side of her, each lady a head shorter than the next.
“Oh,” said the fisherman, “now you’re king, aren’t you?”
“Yes,” said his wife, “I am king.”
After he gazed at her for some time, he said, “Oh, wife, it’s wonderful that you’re king! Now let’s not wish for anything more.”
“No, husband,” the wife said as she became very restless. “I have too much time on my hands, and I can’t stand it anymore. I’m king, but now I also want to be emperor.”
“Oh, wife,” said the fisherman, “why do you want to be emperor?”
“Husband,” she said, “go to the flounder. I want to be emperor!’
“Oh, wife,” the husband said. “He can’t make you emperor. I don’t want to tell that to the flounder.”
“I’m king,” she said, “and you’re just my husband. Go there at once!”
The fisherman went away, but as he was walking, he thought, “This won’t turn out well at all. It’s outrageous for her to be emperor. The flounder’s going to become sick and tired of this in the end.” When he got to the sea, it was all black and dense, and a strong wind whipped across the surface and made the water curdle. Then the fisherman stepped forward and said:
“Flounder, flounder, in the sea,
if you’re a man, then speak to me.
Though I don’t agree with my wife’s request,
I’ve come to ask it nonetheless.”
“Well, what does she want?” asked the flounder.
“Oh, flounder,” he said. “My wife wants to be emperor.”
“Go back home,” said the flounder. “She’s already emperor.”
Then the man went home, and when he arrived, he saw his wife sitting on a very high throne made from a single piece of gold. She was wearing a large crown three yards tall and covered with diamonds and garnets. She was flanked on either side by two rows of bodyguards, each man shorter than the next, beginning with a tremendous giant two miles tall and ending with the tiniest dwarf, who was no bigger than my pinky. There were also many princes and dukes standing before her, and her husband stepped up and said, “Wife, now you’re emperor, aren’t you?”