The Grimm Reader

by Maria Tatar

  The two walked all day long across meadows and fields and over rocks. When it began to rain, Little Sister said: “God is weeping right along with our hearts!” When night fell, they reached the edge of a forest, and they were so worn down by their hunger, their misery, and by the long journey that they just managed to crawl into the hollow of a tree, where they fell fast asleep.

  When they awoke the next morning, the sun was already high in the sky and shining directly into the hollow tree. Little Brother said: “Sister, I’m really thirsty. If I could just find a brook around here, I’d go get a drink. I think that I heard one somewhere around here.”

  Brother got up, took Sister’s hand, and they started looking for a brook.

  Now the evil stepmother, as it turns out, was really a witch and, when she saw that the children had decided to leave home, she followed them in secret, sneaking along behind them the way that witches do. And then she cast a spell on all the streams in the forest.

  When the two children found a little brook, with water that sparkled as it leaped over the stones, Brother wanted to kneel down and get a drink. But Sister heard the words spoken by the brook: “He who drinks from me will turn into a tiger. He who drinks from me will turn into a tiger.”

  Sister cried out: “Brother, I’m begging you, don’t take a drink. If you do, you’ll turn into a ferocious animal, and then you’ll tear me to pieces.”

  Brother was really thirsty, but he didn’t take a drink. He said to her: “All right, I’ll wait until we get to the next brook.”

  When they came to the next stream, Sister could hear the words it was chanting: “He who drinks from me will turn into a wolf. He who drinks from me will turn into a wolf.”

  Sister cried out: “Brother, I’m begging you, don’t take a drink, because if you do, you’ll turn into a wolf and eat me up.”

  Little Brother promised not to take a drink and said: “I’ll just wait until we get to the next brook. But then I’m going to have a drink no matter what you say. I’m really thirsty, and I just can’t wait any longer.”

  When they reached the next brook, Sister heard the stream babbling as it flowed: “He who drinks from me will become a deer. He who drinks from me will become a deer.”

  Sister said: “Oh, dear Brother, I’m begging you, don’t drink or you’ll turn into a deer and run away from me.”

  But Brother had already knelt down, bent over, and taken a drink from the stream. As soon as a few drops touched his lips, he was lying on the ground in the form of a fawn.

  Sister started crying when she saw that poor Brother had been bewitched, and the fawn at her side wept as well. Finally the girl said: “Stop crying, dear fawn. Don’t worry: I won’t ever leave you.” She undid her golden garter and tied it around the fawn’s neck and then gathered reeds and braided them into a soft rope. The rope was fastened to the garter, and with it, she led the fawn deeper and deeper into the forest.

  When they had traveled for a long, long time, they finally reached a little hut and the girl peered inside. Since it looked empty, she thought: “We can stop here and set up housekeeping.” She gathered leaves and moss to make up a soft bed for the fawn. Every morning she got up and went into the woods to collect roots, berries, and nuts. For the fawn she found tender grass, which he ate right out of her hand. He was always in high spirits and frolicked merrily around.

  In the evening, when Sister grew tired and after she had said her prayers, she would rest her head on the fawn’s back. That became her pillow, and she fell into a peaceful sleep. If Brother had only had his human shape, they would have had a glorious life out there.

  The two had been living in the woods on their own for quite some time when it happened that the king in that land decided to hold a great hunt. The forest rang out with the sound of horns, the barking of dogs, and the hearty cries of the hunters. The fawn heard the sounds and longed to be part of the chase. He said to Sister: “Please, let me go out and join the hunt. I just can’t contain myself any longer.” He pleaded with her until she finally gave in. “But you have to come back by nightfall,” she said. “I must keep the door locked against those violent hunters. Knock on the door and say: ‘Dear Little Sister, let me in.’ That way I’ll know who it is. I can’t open up unless I hear those words.”

  The fawn darted out into the woods and was so glad to be out in the open that he leaped for joy. The king and his huntsmen saw the beautiful beast and gave chase, but they couldn’t catch him, and whenever they thought they were about to capture him, he bounded into a thicket and disappeared. When it started getting dark, he ran back to the little house, knocked at the door, and said: “Dear Little Sister, let me in.” When the door opened, he raced inside and then slept soundly on his bed all night long.

  The next morning the hunt began anew, and when the fawn heard the horns and the halloos of the hunters, he couldn’t sit still and said: “Open the door, Sister, I just have to go out there.”

  Sister opened the door for him, but she reminded him: “You have to return by nightfall. And don’t forget the words I told you to say.”

  When the king and his huntsmen caught sight of the fawn with the golden collar again, they chased after him, but he was far too nimble and speedy for them. He outran them all day long, but at last the huntsmen managed to surround him. One of them wounded him slightly on the foot so that he started limping and had to run more slowly. One of the hunters followed him back to the house and heard him saying: “Dear Little Sister, let me in.” He watched as the door opened for him and then closed. The huntsman took note of everything that happened and went to the king to tell him what he had heard and seen. The king said: “We shall hunt again tomorrow.”

  Sister was deeply distressed when she saw that her fawn had been wounded. She washed the blood off, sprinkled the wound with soothing herbs, and said: “Go get some sleep, dear little fawn, so that your leg will heal.”

  The wound was so slight that the fawn was completely restored by morning. When he heard the sounds of the hunt outdoors once again, he said: “I can’t restrain myself. I have to get back out there. They’ll never catch me.” Sister began weeping and said: “This time they’ll kill you, and then I’ll be all by myself in the woods, alone and forsaken. No, I can’t let you go.”

  “If I don’t go, I’ll die of grief,” the fawn answered. “Whenever I hear the sound of the hunting horns, I feel as if I just have to take off.” Sister had no choice but to let him go, and she opened the door with a heavy heart. The fawn, back to his old self, bounded out happily into the woods.

  When the king set eyes on the fawn, he said to the huntsmen: “I want you to hunt him all day long, even into the night. But don’t let him come to any harm.” As soon as the sun began setting, the king said to the huntsman: “Show me the little house in the forest that you found.” When the king got to the hut, he knocked on the door and said: “Dear Little Sister, let me in.” The door opened, and the king walked in and discovered the most beautiful girl he had ever seen. She was frightened when she saw that it was not her fawn, but a man wearing a golden crown, who had entered. The king looked at her tenderly, took her hand, and said: “Will you come to my palace and become my wife?”

  “Oh, yes,” she said, “but the fawn must come with me. I won’t ever leave him.” The king said: “He can stay with you as long as you live, and he will get whatever he needs.” Just then the fawn leaped into the house, and Sister tied the rope to his collar, took the rope in her hand, and led him out of the house in the forest.

  The king rode with the beautiful woman to his castle, where the wedding was celebrated with a magnificent feast. They ruled as king and queen and lived together happily for many years. The fawn received the best treatment and had plenty of room to frolic around in the gardens of the palace.

  Now the wicked stepmother, the woman who had driven the children out of their home i
nto the world, was sure that Sister had been torn to bits by ferocious beasts in the forest and that Brother, after turning into a fawn, had been shot by huntsmen. When she discovered that they were both living in peace and prospering, envy and jealousy began to stir in her heart and gave her no peace. She was constantly trying to figure out how to turn the tide on the two, bringing misfortune on them. Her own daughter, who was ugly as sin and who had only one eye, kept grumbling: “She has all the luck, when I’m really the one who deserves to be queen!”

  “Never mind,” the old woman said, calming her down. “When the right time comes, I’ll figure out how to make things different.”

  The right time did come, and it was when the queen gave birth to a beautiful little boy, and the king was still out hunting when it happened. The old witch disguised herself as a chambermaid and walked into the room where the queen was resting and said to her: “Your bath is ready. Come quickly before the water gets cold. It will do you a world of good and give you the strength you need.”

  The old witch’s daughter was there too, and she and her mother carried the frail queen into the bathroom, put her in the tub, locked the door, and ran away. In the room where she was bathing, they had left a fire smoldering so that the beautiful young queen would suffocate before long.

  When that was done, the old woman took the queen’s nightcap and put it on her own daughter and had her take the queen’s place in bed. She then gave the girl the face and appearance of the queen, but she couldn’t do anything about the missing eye. She just had to lie on the side where the eye was missing so that the king wouldn’t notice that anything was wrong.

  In the evening, when the king returned home and learned that his wife had given birth to a son, he was overjoyed and was about to go to his dear wife’s bedside to see how she was faring when the old woman cried out suddenly: “Watch out! Don’t open the curtains! It’s still way too early to let light in, and the queen needs her rest.” The king withdrew, and he had no idea that a false queen was lying in the bed.

  At midnight, everyone was asleep but the nurse, who was keeping watch beside the cradle in the nursery. Suddenly the door opened, and the real queen walked in. She took the baby out of the cradle, put it to her breast, and gave it milk. Then she plumped up the pillow, put the baby back in the crib, and tucked the little quilt in the corners. She didn’t forget the fawn and went right to the corner where it was sleeping and stroked its back. Then she tiptoed her way out through the door. The next morning the nurse asked the guards if anybody had come into the castle at night, but they said: “No, we haven’t seen a soul.”

  Night after night the queen came, but she never said a word. The nurse saw her, but she didn’t dare mention it to anyone.

  After some time had passed, the queen started talking when she came to visit, saying:

  “Where’s my child? Where’s my fawn?

  Two more times, and then I’m gone.”

  The nurse didn’t answer her, but after she had vanished, she went to the king and told him about what had happened. The king said: “Dear God! What can be happening? Tonight I’ll stay by my child’s side and keep watch.”

  In the evening he went to the nursery, and at midnight the queen appeared and said:

  “Where’s my child? Where’s my fawn?

  One more time, and then I’m gone.”

  The queen took care of the baby as before, and then she disappeared. The king did not dare to address her, but he kept watch again the following night. She spoke once again:

  “Where’s my child? Where’s my fawn?

  After this, I’m really gone.”

  The king could not restrain himself. He jumped to his feet and said: “You really are my dear wife.” She replied: “It’s true, I am your wife,” and with one stroke, by the grace of God, she came back to life, flush with good health. She told the king about the terrible things that the wicked witch and her daughter had done to her. The king had the two brought to trial, and their sentences were read. The daughter was taken into the woods where she was torn to bits by wild animals. The witch burned miserably at the stake. After she had burned to ashes, the spell was broken, and Brother returned to his human shape. Little Sister and Little Brother lived happily together until the end of their days.

  RAPUNZEL

  nce upon a time there lived a man and a woman who, for many years, had been wishing for a child, but to no avail. One day the woman began to feel that God was going to grant their wish. In the back of the house where they lived, there was a little window that looked out onto a splendid garden, full of beautiful flowers and vegetables. A high wall surrounded the garden, and no one dared enter it, because it belonged to a powerful enchantress, who was feared by everyone around. One day the woman was looking out her window into the garden. Her eye lit on one patch in particular, which was planted with the finest rapunzel, a kind of lettuce. It looked so fresh and green that she was seized with a craving for it and just had to get some for her next meal. From day to day, her appetite grew, and she began to waste away because she was afraid she would never get any of it. When her husband saw how pale and wretched she had become, he asked: “What is the matter, dear wife?”

  “If I don’t get some of that rapunzel from the garden behind our house, I’m going to die,” she replied.

  Her husband loved her dearly and thought: “Rather than let my wife perish, I’ll go get some of that rapunzel, no matter what the price.”

  As night was falling, he climbed over the wall into the garden of the enchantress, hastily pulled up a handful of rapunzel, and brought it back to his wife. She made a salad out of it right away and devoured it with a ravenous appetite. The rapunzel tasted so good, so very good, that the next day her craving for it increased threefold. The only way the man could settle his wife down was to go back to the garden for more.

  As night was falling, he returned, but after he climbed over the wall, he had an awful fright, for there was the enchantress, standing right in front of him. “How dare you sneak into my garden and take my rapunzel like a common thief?” she said with an angry look. “This is going to turn out badly for you.”

  “Oh, please,” he replied, “show some mercy for my deed, for I did it only because I had to. My wife got a look at your rapunzel from our window. Her craving for it was so great that she said she would die if I couldn’t get it for her.”

  The enchantress relented in her anger and said to the man: “If what you say is true, then I’m going to let you take as much rapunzel as you want back with you. But on one condition: You must hand over the child after your wife gives birth. I will take care of it like a mother, and it will not want for anything.”

  In his fright, the man agreed to everything. When it came time for the delivery, the enchantress appeared right away, gave the child the name Rapunzel, and whisked her away.

  Rapunzel was the most beautiful child on earth. When she was twelve years old, the enchantress took her into the forest and locked her up in a tower that had neither stairs nor a door. At the very top of the tower was a tiny little window. Whenever the enchantress wanted to get in, she stood at the foot of the tower and called out:

  “Rapunzel, Rapunzel,

  Let your hair down.”

  Rapunzel had long hair, as fine and as beautiful as spun gold. Whenever she heard the voice of the enchantress, she would undo her braids, fasten them to a window latch, and let them fall twenty ells down, right to the ground. The enchantress would then climb up on them to get inside.

  A few years later, it so happened that the son of a king was riding through the forest. He passed right by the tower and heard a voice so lovely that he stopped to listen. It was Rapunzel, who, all alone in the tower, was passing the time of day by singing sweet melodies to herself. The prince was hoping to go up to see her, and he searched around for a door to the tower, yet there was none. He rode home
, but Rapunzel’s voice had stirred his heart so powerfully that he went out into the forest every day to listen to her. Once when he was hiding behind a tree, he saw the enchantress come to the tower and heard her call up:

  “Rapunzel, Rapunzel,

  Let your hair down.”

  Rapunzel let down her braids, and the enchantress climbed up to her.

  “If that is the ladder by which you climb up to the top of the tower, then I’d like to try my luck at it too,” and the next day, when it was just starting to get dark, the prince went up to the tower and called out:

  “Rapunzel, Rapunzel,

  Let your hair down.”

  The braids fell right down, and the prince climbed up on them.

  At first Rapunzel was terrified when she saw a man coming in through the window, especially since she had never seen one before. But the prince started talking with her in a kind way and told her that he had been so moved by her voice that he could not rest easy until he had set eyes on her. Soon, Rapunzel was no longer afraid, and when the prince, who was young and handsome, asked her if she wanted to marry him, she thought to herself: “He will be more loving than old Mother Gothel.” And so she agreed, put her hand in his, and said: “I want to get away from here with you, but I can’t figure out how to get out of this tower. Every time you come to visit, bring a skein of silk with you, and I will braid a ladder from the silk. When it’s finished, I’ll climb down and you can take me with you on horseback.”

  The two agreed that he would visit her every evening, for the old woman was there in the daytime. The enchantress didn’t notice a thing until one day Rapunzel said to her: “Tell me, Mother Gothel, why are you so much harder to pull up than the young prince. He gets up here in a twinkling.”