The Complete Grimm's Fairy Tales

by Jacob Grimm

  On the third day, he received from Iron Hans a suit of black armor and a black horse, and again he caught the apple. But when he was riding off with it, the King’s attendants pursued him, and one of them got so near him that he wounded the youth’s leg with the point of his sword. The youth nevertheless escaped from them, but his horse leapt so violently that the helmet fell from the youth’s head, and they could see that he had golden hair. They rode back and announced this to the King.

  The following day the King’s daughter asked the gardener about his boy. “He is at work in the garden; the queer creature has been at the festival too, and only came home yesterday evening; he has likewise shown my children three golden apples which he has won.”

  The King had him summoned into his presence, and he came and again had his little cap on his head. But the King’s daughter went up to him and took it off, and then his golden hair fell down over his shoulders, and he was so handsome that all were amazed. “Are you the knight who came every day to the festival, always in different colors, and who caught the three golden apples?” asked the King. “Yes,” answered he, “and here the apples are,” and he took them out of his pocket, and returned them to the King. “If you desire further proof, you may see the wound which your people gave me when they followed me. But I am likewise the knight who helped you to your victory over your enemies.” “If you can perform such deeds as that, you are no gardener’s boy; tell me, who is your father?” “My father is a mighty King, and gold have I in plenty as great as I require.” “I well see,” said the King, “that I owe thanks to you; can I do anything to please you?” “Yes,” answered he, “that indeed you can. Give me your daughter to wife.” The maiden laughed, and said: “He does not stand much on ceremony, but I have already seen by his golden hair that he was no gardener’s boy,” and then she went and kissed him. His father and mother came to the wedding, and were in great delight, for they had given up all hope of ever seeing their dear son again. And as they were sitting at the marriage-feast, the music suddenly stopped, the doors opened, and a stately King came in with a great retinue. He went up to the youth, embraced him and said: “I am Iron Hans, and was by enchantment a wild man, but you have set me free; all the treasures which I possess, shall be your property.”

  The Three Black Princesses

  EAST INDIA was besieged by an enemy who would not retire until he had received six hundred dollars. Then the townsfolk caused it to be proclaimed by beat of drum that whosoever was able to procure the money should be burgomaster. Now there was a poor fisherman who fished on the sea with his son, and the enemy came and took the son prisoner, and gave the father six hundred dollars for him. So the father went and gave them to the great men of the town, and the enemy departed, and the fisherman became burgomaster. Then it was proclaimed that whosoever did not say “Mr. Burgomaster,” should be put to death on the gallows.

  The son got away again from the enemy, and came to a great forest on a high mountain. The mountain opened, and he went into a great enchanted castle, wherein chairs, tables, and benches were all hung with black. Then came three young princesses who were dressed entirely in black, but had a little white on their faces; they told him he was not to be afraid, they would not hurt him, and that he could rescue them. He said he would gladly do that, if he did but know how. At this, they told him he must for a whole year not speak to them and also not look at them, and what he wanted to have he was just to ask for, and if they dared give him an answer they would do so. When he had been there for a long while he said he should like to go to his father, and they told him he might go. He was to take with him this purse with money, put on this coat, and in a week he must be back there again.

  Then he was lifted up, and was instantly in East India. He could no longer find his father in the fisherman’s hut, and asked the people where the poor fisherman could be, and they told him he must not say that, or he would come to the gallows. Then he went to his father and said: “Fisherman, how have you got here?” Then the father said: “You must not say that, if the great men of the town knew of that, you would come to the gallows.” He, however, would not give in, and was brought to the gallows. When he was there, he said: “O, my masters, just give me leave to go to the old fisherman’s hut.” Then he put on his old smock, and came back to the great men, and said: “Do you not now see? Am I not the son of the poor fisherman? Did I not earn bread for my father and mother in this dress?” Hereupon his father knew him again, and begged his pardon, and took him home with him, and then he related all that had happened to him, and how he had got into a forest on a high mountain, and the mountain had opened and he had gone into an enchanted castle, where all was black, and three young princesses had come to him who were black except a little white on their faces. And they had told him not to fear, and that he could rescue them. Then his mother said that might very likely not be a good thing to do, and that he ought to take a blessed candle with him, and drop some boiling wax on their faces.

  He went back again, and he was in great fear, and he dropped the wax on their faces as they were sleeping, and they all turned half-white. Then all the three princesses sprang up, and said: “You accursed dog, our blood shall cry for vengeance on you! Now there is no man born in the world, nor will any ever be born who can set us free! We have still three brothers who are bound by seven chains—they shall tear you to pieces.” Then there was a loud shrieking all over the castle, and he sprang out of the window, and broke his leg, and the castle sank into the earth again, the mountain closed again, and no one knew where the castle had stood.

  Knoist and His Three Sons

  BETWEEN WERREL and Soist there lived a man whose name was Knoist, and he had three sons. One was blind, the other lame, and the third stark-naked. Once on a time they went into a field, and there they saw a hare. The blind one shot it, the lame one caught it, the naked one put it in his pocket. Then they came to a mighty big lake, on which there were three boats, one sailed, one sank, the third had no bottom to it. They all three got into the one with no bottom to it. Then they came to a mighty big forest in which there was a mighty big tree; in the tree was a mighty big chapel—in the chapel was a sexton made of beech-wood and a box-wood parson, who dealt out holy water with cudgels.

  “How truly happy is that one

  Who can from holy water run!”

  The Maid of Brakel

  A GIRL FROM Brakel once went to St. Anne’s Chapel at the foot of the Hinnenberg, and as she wanted to have a husband, and thought there was no one else in the chapel, she sang:

  “Oh, holy Saint Anne!

  Help me soon to a man.

  Thou know’st him right well,

  By Suttmer gate does he dwell,

  His hair it is yellow,

  Thou know’st him right well.”

  The clerk, however, was standing behind the altar and heard that, so he cried in a very gruff voice:

  “You shall not have him! You shall not have him!”

  The maiden thought that the child Mary who stood by her mother Anne had called out that to her, and was angry, and cried:

  “Fiddle de dee, conceited thing, hold your tongue, and let your mother speak!”

  My Household

  WHITHER DO you go?” “To Walpe.” “I to Walpe, you to Walpe, so, so, together well go.”

  “Have you a man? What is his name?” “Cham.” “My man Cham, your man Cham; I to Walpe, you to Walpe; so, so, together we’ll go.”

  “Have you a child; how is he styled?” “Wild.” “My child Wild, your child Wild; my man Cham, your man Cham; I to Walpe, you to Walpe, so, so, together we’ll go.”

  “Have you a cradle? How do you call your cradle?” “Hippodadle.” “My cradle Hippodadle, your cradle Hippodadle, my child Wild, your child Wild, my man Cham, your man Cham; I to Walpe, you to Walpe, so, so, together we’ll go.”

  “Have you also a drudge? What name has your drudge?” “From-work-do-not-budge.” “My drudge From-work-do-not-budge, your drudge Fr
om-work-do-not-budge; my cradle Hippodadle, your cradle Hippodadle; my child Wild, your child Wild; my man Cham, your man Cham; I to Walpe, you to Walpe, so, so, together we’ll go,”

  The Lambkin and the Little Fish

  THERE WERE once a little brother and a little sister, who loved each other with all their hearts. Their own mother, however, was dead, and they had a step-mother who was not kind to them, and secretly did everything she could to hurt them. It so happened that the two were playing with other children in a meadow before the house, and there was a pond in the meadow which came up to one side of the house. The children ran about it, and caught each other, and played at counting out.

  “Eneke Beneke, let me live,

  And I to you my bird will give.

  The little bird, it straw shall seek,

  The straw I’ll give to the cow to eat.

  The pretty cow shall give me milk,

  The milk I’ll to the baker take.

  The baker he shall bake a cake,

  The cake I’ll give unto the cat.

  The cat shall catch some mice for that,

  The mice I’ll hang up in the smoke,

  And then you’ll see the snow.”

  They stood in a circle while they played this, and the one to whom the word “snow” fell, had to run away and all the others ran after him and caught him. As they were running about so merrily the step-mother watched them from the window, and grew angry. And as she understood arts of witchcraft she bewitched them both, and changed the little brother into a fish, and the little sister into a lamb. Then the fish swam here and there about the pond and was very sad, and the lambkin walked up and down the meadow, and was miserable, and could not eat or touch one blade of grass. Thus passed a long time, and then strangers came as visitors to the castle. The false step-mother thought: “This is a good opportunity,” and called the cook and said to him: “Go and fetch the lamb from the meadow and kill it, we have nothing else for the visitors.” Then the cook went away and got the lamb, and took it into the kitchen and tied its feet, and all this it bore patiently. When he had drawn out his knife and was whetting it on the door-step to kill the lamb, he noticed a little fish swimming backwards and forwards in the water, in front of the gutter-stone and looking up at him. This, however, was the brother, for when the fish saw the cook take the lamb away, it followed them and swam along the pond to the house; then the lamb cried down to it:

  “Ah, brother, in the pond so deep,

  How sad is my poor heart!

  The cook he whets his knife

  To take away my life.”

  The little fish answered:

  “Ah, little sister, up on high

  How sad is my poor heart

  While in this pond I lie.”

  When the cook heard that the lambkin could speak and said such sad words to the fish down below, he was terrified and thought this could be no common lamb, but must be bewitched by the wicked woman in the house. Then said he: “Be easy, I will not kill you,” and took another sheep and made it ready for the guests, and conveyed the lambkin to a good peasant woman, to whom he related all that he had seen and heard.

  The peasant, however, was the very woman who had been foster-mother to the little sister, and she suspected at once who the lamb was, and went with it to a wise woman. Then the wise woman pronounced a blessing over the lambkin and the little fish, by means of which they regained their human forms, and after this she took them both into a little hut in a great forest, where they lived alone, but were contented and happy.

  Simeli Mountain

  THERE WERE once two brothers, the one rich, the other poor. The rich one, however, gave nothing to the poor one, and he gained a scanty living by trading in corn, and often did so badly that he had no bread for his wife and children. Once when he was wheeling a barrow through the forest he saw, on one side of him, a great, bare, naked-looking mountain, and as he had never seen it before, he stood still and stared at it with amazement.

  While he was thus standing he saw twelve great, wild men coming towards him, and as he believed they were robbers he pushed his barrow into the thicket, climbed up a tree, and waited to see what would happen. The twelve men, however, went to the mountain and cried: “Semsi mountain, Semsi mountain, open up,” and immediately the barren mountain opened down the middle, and the twelve went into it, and as soon as they were within, it shut. After a short time, it opened again, and the men came forth carrying heavy sacks on their shoulders, and when they were all once more in the daylight they said: “Semsi mountain, Semsi mountain, shut yourself;” then the mountain closed together, and there was no longer any entrance to be seen to it, and the twelve went away.

  When they were quite out of sight the poor man got down from the tree, and was curious to know what was secretly hidden in the mountain. So he went up to it and said: “Semsi mountain, Semsi mountain, open up,” and the mountain opened to him also. Then he went inside, and the whole mountain was a cavern full of silver and gold, and behind lay great piles of pearls and sparkling jewels, heaped up like corn. The poor man hardly knew what to do, and whether he might take any of these treasures for himself or not; at last he filled his pockets with gold, but he left the pearls and precious stones where they were. When he came out again he also said: “Semsi mountain, Semsi mountain, shut yourself;” and the mountain closed itself, and he went home with his barrow.

  And now he had no more cause for anxiety, but could buy bread for his wife and children with his gold, and wine into the bargain. He lived joyously and honorably, gave help to the poor, and did good to every one. When the money came to an end, however, he went to his brother, borrowed a measure that held a bushel, and brought himself some more, but did not touch any of the most valuable things. When for the third time he wanted to fetch something, he again borrowed the measure of his brother. But the rich man had long been envious of his brother’s possessions, and of the handsome household which he kept up, and could not understand from whence the riches came, and what his brother wanted with the measure. Then he thought of a cunning trick, and covered the bottom of the measure with pitch, and when he got the measure back a piece of gold was sticking to it. He at once went to his brother and asked him: “What have you been measuring in the bushel measure?” “Corn and barley,” said the other. Then he showed him the piece of gold and threatened that if he did not tell the truth he would accuse him before a court of justice. The poor man then told him everything, just as it had happened. So the rich man ordered his carriage to be made ready, and drove away, resolved to use the opportunity better than his brother had done, and to bring back with him quite different treasures.

  When he came to the mountain he cried: “Semsi mountain, Semsi mountain, open up.” The mountain opened, and he went inside it. There lay the treasures all before him, and for a long time he did not know which to grab first. At length he loaded himself with as many precious stones as he could carry. He wished to carry his burden outside, but as his heart and soul were entirely full of the treasures, he had forgotten the name of the mountain, and cried: “Simeli mountain, Simeli mountain, open up.” That, however, was not the right name, and the mountain never stirred, but remained shut. Then he was alarmed, and the longer he thought about it the more his thoughts confused themselves, and all his treasures were of no help to him. In the evening the mountain opened, and the twelve robbers came in, and when they saw him they laughed, and cried out: “Bird, have we caught you at last! Did you think we had never noticed that you had been in here twice? We could not catch you then; this third time you shall not get out again!” Then he cried: “It was not I, it was my brother,” but let him beg for his life and say what he would, they cut off his head.

  Going a Traveling

  THERE WAS once a poor woman who had a son, who much wished to travel, but his mother said: “How can you travel? We have no money at all for you to take away with you.” Then said the son: “I will manage very well for myself; I will always say: ‘Not much, not mu
ch, not much.’ ”

  So he walked for a long time and always said: “Not much, not much, not much.” Then he passed by a company of fishermen and said: “God speed you! not much, not much, not much.” “What do you say, churl, ‘not much?’ ” And when the net was drawn out they had not caught much fish. So one of them fell on the youth with a stick and said: “Have you never seen me threshing?” “What ought I to say, then?” asked the youth. “You must say: ‘Get it full, get it full.’ ” After this he again walked a long time, and said: “Get it full, get it full,” until he came to the gallows, where they had got a poor sinner whom they were about to hang. Then said he: “Good morning; get it full, get it full.” “What do you say, knave, ‘get it full?’ Do you want to make out that there are still more wicked people in the world—is not this enough?” And he again got some blows on his back. “What am I to say, then?” said he. “You must say: ‘May God have pity on the poor soul.’ ”

  Again the youth walked on for a long while and said: “May God have pity on the poor soul!” Then he came to a pit by which stood a knacker who was cutting up a horse. The youth said: “Good morning; God have pity on the poor soul!” “What do you say, you ill-tempered knave?” and the knacker gave him such a box on the ear, that he could not see out of his eyes. “What am I to say, then?” “You must say: ‘Let the carrion lie in the pit!’ ”

  So he walked on, and always said: “Let the carrion lie in the pit, let the carrion lie in the pit.” And he came to a cart full of people, so he said: “Good morning, let the carrion lie in the pit!” Then the cart fell into a pit, and the driver took his whip and cracked it upon the youth, till he was forced to crawl back to his mother, and as long as he lived he never went out a traveling again.