The Original Folk and Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm

by Jacob Grimm

  The maiden took the yarn, and the swan climbed into the sky. The maiden unraveled the yarn easily, and she unraveled and unraveled the entire day so that the end of the yarn could already be seen. However, just then it unfortunately became caught on a thorn bush and broke in two. The maiden was very distressed and wept. Since it was turning night, and the wind was blowing so loudly in the forest, she became afraid and began to run as fast as she could. And as she was running, she saw a small light and rushed toward it. There she found a house and knocked on the door. A little old woman came out and was astounded to see a maiden standing before her door.

  “Oh, my child,” she said. “Where are you coming from so late in the night?”

  “Please, may I have a place to sleep for the night and also some food?” she asked. “I’ve lost my way in the forest.”

  “This is a difficult situation,” the old woman replied. “I’d gladly give you what you want, but my husband is a cannibal. If he finds you, he’ll eat you. There’s no mercy. But if you remain outside, the wild animals will eat you. So I’ll see if I can help you get through this.”

  The old woman let her enter, gave her some food to eat, and then hid her beneath the bed. The cannibal always came home before midnight right after the sun had fully set and left right before sunrise. So it wasn’t long before he entered and said: “I smell, I smell human flesh!” And he searched around the room until he reached under the bed and dragged the maiden out. “Now this will make for a good snack!”

  But the old woman pleaded and pleaded for the maiden’s life until he promised to let her live overnight and to eat her for his breakfast. However, the old woman woke the maiden before sunrise.

  “Hurry, and get away before my husband awakes. Here’s a golden spinning wheel for you as a gift you’re to cherish. My name is Sun.”

  The maiden went away and in the evening she came to another house, and the same thing happened there that happened the previous night. At her departure the second old woman gave her a golden spindle and said: “My name is Moon.”

  On the third evening she came to a third house, where the old woman gave her a golden reel and said: “My name is Star.”

  And she also informed her that even though the yarn hadn’t been completely unraveled, enough had been unraveled so that Prince Swan had been able to reach his kingdom where he was the king. In fact, he was already married and lived in great splendor on the glass mountain. Then she said: “You’ll reach the mountain this evening, but a dragon and a lion are lying in front and are protecting it. That’s why you must take this bread and bacon to pacify them.”

  And everything happened just as she said. The maiden threw the bread and bacon into the jaws of the monsters, and they let her pass. When she came to the castle gate, however, the guards wouldn’t let her enter. So she sat down in front of the gate and began to spin on her little golden wheel. The queen peered down from above and was pleased by the beautiful little wheel. So she went down and asked if she could have it. The maiden told her that she could have it if she could spend the night next to the king’s bedroom. The queen agreed, and the maiden was led upstairs to a room. Now everything that was spoken in this room could be heard in the king’s bedroom. So when it was night and the king was in his bed, the maiden sang:

  “Doesn’t King Swan still think of me?

  His faithful Julianne, his bride to be?

  She’s come from afar where she’s seen all three,

  Sun, moon, and star, and faced two beasts.

  Won’t King Swan now wake up at least?”

  But the king didn’t hear her because the cunning queen had been afraid of the maiden and had given the king a sleeping potion. So he slept soundly and didn’t hear the maiden and all that she had revealed. In the morning, all her efforts had been lost, and the maiden had to return to the gate and sit down and spin with her second spindle, which also pleased the queen. So the maiden gave it to her with the same condition that she would be allowed to spend the night next to the king’s bedroom, where she once again sang:

  “Doesn’t King Swan still think of me?

  His faithful Julianne, his bride to be?

  She’s come from afar where she’s seen all three,

  Sun, moon, and star, and faced two beasts.

  Won’t King Swan now wake up at least?”

  But the king slept soundly due to the sleeping potion, and so the maiden lost her spindle. On the third morning she sat down with her golden reel and kept winding it. The queen wanted this precious object as well and promised the maiden that she could spend another night next to the king’s bedroom. However, the maiden had discovered the queen’s deception and asked the king’s servant to give the king something else to drink that evening. Then she began to sing again:

  “Doesn’t King Swan still think of me?

  His faithful Julianne, his bride to be?

  She’s come from afar where she’s seen all three,

  Sun, moon, and star, and faced two beasts.

  Won’t King Swan now wake up at least?”

  Well, the king awoke when he heard her voice, and he recognized her and asked the queen: “If someone loses a key and then finds it again, which key does one keep, the old or the new?”

  The queen replied: “Certainly, the old one.”

  “Well then,” he said, “you can no longer be my wife. I’ve found my first bride again.”

  The next morning the queen had to return to her father’s realm, and the king married his true bride, and they lived happily together until they died.

  60

  THE GOLDEN EGG

  Once upon a time there were a couple of poor broom-makers, and they had a little sister to support. They had just barely enough to lead a miserable life. Every day they had to go into the forest to search for brushwood, and later after they had bound the brooms, the little sister sold them.

  One time they went into the forest, and the youngest brother climbed a birch tree and wanted to chop off the branches. All of a sudden he found a nest, and a dark-colored little bird was sitting in it. He could see something glittering between its feathers, and since the little bird didn’t fly away and was also not shy, he lifted the bird’s wing and found a golden egg. So he took it and climbed down the tree. They were delighted by their discovery and brought it to the goldsmith, who told them that it was genuine gold and gave them money for it.

  The next morning they went into the forest again and found another golden egg. The little bird was patient and let them take it just like the first time. All this continued for a long time. Every morning they fetched a golden egg and were soon rich. However, one morning the bird said: “From now on I’m not going to lay any more eggs, but bring me to the goldsmith, and you’ll all be fortunate.”

  The broom-makers did what she said and brought the bird to the goldsmith. When it was alone with him, the bird sang:

  “Whoever eats my heart

  will soon be king and very smart.

  Whoever eats my liver, whether young or old.

  Will find each morning a bag full of gold.”

  When the goldsmith heard that, he called for the two young broom-makers and said: “Let me have the bird, and I’ll marry your little sister.”

  The two young men said yes, and the wedding was soon held. Then the goldsmith said: “For my wedding day I want to eat the bird. So you two roast the bird on a stake and be careful that you don’t ruin it. Then bring it to me when it’s done.”

  The goldsmith intended to take out the heart and liver and eat them. The two brothers stood at the fire and turned the spit, and when they kept turning it and the bird was almost done roasting, a little piece fell out.

  “Hey,” said one of the brothers, “I’ve got to try that!” and he ate it up.

  Soon thereafter another little piece fell out.

  “That’s for me,” said the other brother, and he tasted it. They had eaten the little heart and the little liver, and they had no idea how blessed they were b
y all this.

  When the bird had been completely roasted, they carried it to the wedding table. The goldsmith sliced it open and wanted to eat the heart and liver as quickly as possible, but they had both vanished. All at once he became dreadfully angry and screamed: “Who ate the bird’s heart and liver?”

  The two broom-makers replied: “That must have been us. Two small pieces fell out as we were turning the spit. So we ate them.”

  “Well, if you’ve eaten the heart and liver, then you can keep your sister!”

  And in his rage he chased them all away.—[Fragment.]

  61

  THE TAILOR WHO SOON BECAME RICH

  Once, during the winter, a poor tailor crossed over the field to visit his brother. Along the way he found a frozen thrush. “Whatever’s bigger than a louse,” the tailor said to himself, “that’s what the tailor carries into his house!” So he picked up the thrush and stuck it into his coat. When he reached his brother’s house, he decided to look first through the window to see if they were home. All at once he saw a fat parson sitting near his sister-in-law at the table. There was a roast and a bottle of wine sitting on the table. Meanwhile, the tailor’s brother was about to return home. He knocked at the door and wanted to enter. From the outside the tailor saw how the woman quickly hid the parson in a crate, stuck the roast into the oven, and shoved the wine into the bed. Now since his brother had entered, the tailor didn’t wait any longer. He went into the house and greeted his sister-in-law and his brother. Then he sat down on the crate in which the parson was hiding.

  “Wife, I’m hungry. Do you have anything to eat?” the husband asked.

  “No, I’m sorry. There’s nothing at all in the house today.”

  But the tailor pulled out his frozen thrush, and the brother cried out, “My! What are you doing with that frozen thrush?”

  “Hey! Don’t you know that this thrush is worth a lot of money! It can tell your future and your fortune!”

  “Well, then let it tell our future and our fortune.”

  The tailor placed it next to his ear and said: “The thrush told me that there’s a dish full of roast meat in the oven.”

  The husband went to the oven and found the roast meat.

  “What else did the thrush say to you?”

  “There’s a bottle of wine in the bed.”

  “My! I’d like to have this thrush. Sell it to me.”

  “You can have it if you give me this crate that I’m sitting on.”

  The brother wanted to give it to him right away, but his wife said, “No, I’m against it. I’m much too fond of this crate. I’m not going to give it away.”

  However, her husband said: “What? Are you, dumb or something? What use is this old crate to you?”

  So the husband gave his brother the crate for the bird, and the tailor took the crate on a wheelbarrow and began walking on the road. Along the way he said: “I’m going to take the crate and throw it into the water! I’m going to take the crate and throw it into the water!” Finally, the parson began moving inside and said: “You know what’s in the crate. Let me out, and I’ll give you 50 gold coins.”

  “All right, I’ll do it for that amount.”

  So he let him out and went home with the money. The people were puzzled as to where he had earned so much money, and he said, “Let me tell you. The skins of animals have become very expensive. So I slaughtered my old cow and received a good deal of money in return.”

  Since the villagers also wanted to profit from this, they went out and cut the throats of all their oxen, cows, and sheep and carried their fur and skins to the city, where, however, they received precious little money for them because there had suddenly been so many skins and fur for sale. Well, the farmers became infuriated about their loss and threw dirt and some other rubbish at the tailor’s door. However, he put everything into his crate, went to a tavern in the city, and asked the tavern keeper whether he might store the crate at his place for a while because it contained many valuable things and the crate wasn’t safe at his home. The tavern keeper said he’d gladly do it and let the tailor store the crate at the tavern.

  Some time later the tailor returned and asked for his crate, and when he opened it to see whether everything was in it, he saw that it was full of dirt. So he threw a violent fit, cursed the tavern keeper, and threatened to take him to court. In response the tavern keeper, who was concerned about his reputation and was afraid about his credit rating, willingly gave him 100 gold coins. The farmers were once again furious that everything that caused problems for the tailor he managed to turn into profit. So they took the crate and forced him inside. Then they threw the crate into the river and let it float off. The tailor kept quiet for a while until he came to an edge of land that stuck out in the river. Then he cried out very loudly: “No, I’m not going to do it! I won’t do it! Even if the whole world wants it to be done!”

  A shepherd heard his shouting and asked: “What is it that you don’t want to do?”

  “Oh,” responded the tailor, “there’s a king who has a foolish whim and insists that whoever’s able to swim down the river in this crate is to marry his only daughter, but I’ve made up my mind not to do it even if the entire world wants it.”

  “Listen, is it possible that someone else can replace you in the crate and can get the princess?”

  “Oh, yes, that’s also possible.”

  “Then I’ll replace you.”

  So the tailor stepped out of the crate, and the shepherd got in. The tailor closed the crate, and soon after the shepherd went down under in the crate. Meanwhile, the tailor took the shepherd’s entire herd of sheep and drove them home.

  The farmers wondered how he happened to return. Moreover, they were puzzled that he now had so many sheep. So the tailor explained to them: “I had sunk into the water, deep, deep down! When I got to the bottom, I found this entire herd and took the sheep back up with me.”

  The farmers wanted to fetch some sheep as well, and they all went together to the river. The sky was completely blue on this day with small white clouds, and consequently, when they looked into the water, they cried out: “We already see the lambs at the bottom!”

  “I want to be the first one under,” the mayor said. “I’ll look around, and if everything’s all right, I’ll call you.”

  As he dove into the river, the water rustled and murmured—plump! The others thought that he was calling out to them to “Jump!” So they all jumped in one after another. In the end the entire village belonged to the tailor.

  62

  BLUEBEARD

  There was once a man who lived in a forest with his three sons and beautiful daughter. One day a golden coach drawn by six horses and attended by several servants came driving up to his house. After the coach stopped a king stepped out and asked him if he could have his daughter for his wife. The man was happy that his daughter would benefit from such a stroke of good fortune and immediately said yes. There was nothing objectionable about the suitor except for his beard, which was totally blue and made one shudder somewhat whenever one looked at it. At first the maiden also felt frightened by it and resisted marrying him. But her father kept urging her, and finally she consented. However, her fear was so great that she first went to her brothers, took them aside, and said, “Dear brothers, if you hear me scream, leave everything standing or lying wherever you are, and come to my aid.”

  The brothers kissed her and promised to do this. “Farewell, dear sister. If we hear your voice, we’ll jump on our horses and soon be at your side.”

  Then she got into the coach, sat down next to Bluebeard, and drove away with him. When she reached his castle, she found everything splendid, and whatever the queen desired was fulfilled. They would have been very happy together if she had only been able to have accustomed herself to the king’s blue beard. However, whenever she saw it, she felt frightened.

  After some time had passed, he said to her, “I must go on a long journey. Here are the keys to the en
tire castle. You can open all the rooms and look at everything. But I forbid you to open one particular room, which this little golden key can unlock. If you open it, you will pay for it with your life.”

  She took the key and promised to obey him. Once he had departed, she opened one door after another and saw so many treasures and magnificent things that she thought they must have been gathered from all over the world. Soon nothing was left but the forbidden room. Since the key was made of gold, she believed that the most precious things were probably kept there. Her curiosity began to gnaw at her, and she certainly would have passed over all the other rooms if she could have only seen what was in this one. At last her desire became so great that she took the key and went to the room. “Who can possibly see when I open it?” she said to herself. “I’ll just glance inside.” Then she unlocked the room, and when the door opened, a stream of blood flowed toward her, and she saw dead women hanging along all the walls, some only skeletons. Her horror was so tremendous that she immediately slammed the door, but the key popped out of the lock and fell into the blood. Swiftly she picked it up and tried to wipe away the blood, but to no avail. When she wiped the blood away on one side, it appeared on the other. She sat down, rubbed the key throughout the day, and tried everything possible, but nothing helped: the bloodstains could not be erased. Finally, in the evening she stuck it into some hay, which was supposed to be able to absorb blood.

  The following day Bluebeard came back, and the first thing he requested was the bunch of keys. Her heart pounded as she brought the keys, and she hoped that he wouldn’t notice that the golden one was missing. However, he counted all of them, and when he was finished, he said, “Where’s the key to the secret room?”

  As he said this, he looked straight into her eyes, causing her to blush red as blood.

  “It’s upstairs,” she answered. “I misplaced it. Tomorrow I’ll go and look for it.”

  “You’d better go now, dear wife. I need it today.”