but the dogs had already seized him, and were holding him fast. "Ah,
Mr. Fox," cried the cat. "You with your hundred arts are left in the
lurch! Had you been able to climb like me, you would not have lost
your life."
76 The Pink
There was once on a time a Queen to whom God had given no children. Every
morning she went into the garden and prayed to God in heaven to bestow on
her a son or a daughter. Then an angel from heaven came to her and said,
"Be at rest, thou shalt have a son with the power of wishing, so that
whatsoever in the world he wishes for, that shall he have." Then she went
to the King, and told him the joyful tidings, and when the time was come
she gave birth to a son, and the King was filled with gladness. Every
morning she went with the child to the garden where the wild beasts were
kept, and washed herself there in a clear stream. It happened once when
the child was a little older, that it was lying in her arms and she fell
asleep. Then came the old cook, who knew that the child had the power
of wishing, and stole it away, and he took a hen, and cut it in pieces,
and dropped some of its blood on the Queen's apron and on her dress. Then
he carried the child away to a secret place, where a nurse was obliged to
suckle it, and he ran to the King and accused the Queen of having allowed
her child to be taken from her by the wild beasts. When the King saw the
blood on her apron, he believed this, fell into such a passion that he
ordered a high tower to be built, in which neither sun nor moon could
be seen, and had his wife put into it, and walled up. Here she was to
stay for seven years without meat or drink, and die of hunger. But God
sent two angels from heaven in the shape of white doves, which flew to
her twice a day, and carried her food until the seven years were over.
The cook, however, thought to himself, "If the child has the power of
wishing, and I am here, he might very easily get me into trouble." So he
left the palace and went to the boy, who was already big enough to speak,
and said to him, "Wish for a beautiful palace for thyself with a garden,
and all else that pertains to it." Scarcely were the words out of the
boy's mouth, when everything was there that he had wished for. After
a while the cook said to him, "It is not well for thee to be so alone,
wish for a pretty girl as a companion." Then the King's son wished for
one, and she immediately stood before him, and was more beautiful than
any painter could have painted her. The two played together, and loved
each other with all their hearts, and the old cook went out hunting like
a nobleman. The thought, however, occurred to him that the King's son
might some day wish to be with his father, and thus bring him into great
peril. So he went out and took the maiden aside, and said, "To-night
when the boy is asleep, go to his bed and plunge this knife into his
heart, and bring me his heart and tongue, and if thou dost not do it,
thou shalt lose thy life." Thereupon he went away, and when he returned
next day she had not done it, and said, "Why should I shed the blood of
an innocent boy who has never harmed any one?" The cook once more said,
"If thou dost not do it, it shall cost thee thy own life." When he had
gone away, she had a little hind brought to her, and ordered her to be
killed, and took her heart and tongue, and laid them on a plate, and when
she saw the old man coming, she said to the boy, "Lie down in thy bed,
and draw the clothes over thee." Then the wicked wretch came in and said,
"Where are the boy's heart and tongue?" The girl reached the plate to
him, but the King's son threw off the quilt, and said, "Thou old sinner,
why didst thou want to kill me? Now will I pronounce thy sentence. Thou
shalt become a black poodle and have a gold collar round thy neck, and
shalt eat burning coals, till the flames burst forth from thy throat." And
when he had spoken these words, the old man was changed into a poodle dog,
and had a gold collar round his neck, and the cooks were ordered to bring
up some live coals, and these he ate, until the flames broke forth from
his throat. The King's son remained there a short while longer, and he
thought of his mother, and wondered if she were still alive. At length
he said to the maiden, "I will go home to my own country; if thou wilt
go with me, I will provide for thee." "Ah," she replied, "the way is
so long, and what shall I do in a strange land where I am unknown?" As
she did not seem quite willing, and as they could not be parted from
each other, he wished that she might be changed into a beautiful pink,
and took her with him. Then he went away to his own country, and the
poodle had to run after him. He went to the tower in which his mother
was confined, and as it was so high, he wished for a ladder which would
reach up to the very top. Then he mounted up and looked inside, and cried,
"Beloved mother, Lady Queen, are you still alive, or are you dead?" She
answered, "I have just eaten, and am still satisfied," for she thought
the angels were there. Said he, "I am your dear son, whom the wild beasts
were said to have torn from your arms; but I am alive still, and will
speedily deliver you." Then he descended again, and went to his father,
and caused himself to be announced as a strange huntsman, and asked if
he could give him a place. The King said yes, if he was skilful and could
get game for him, he should come to him, but that deer had never taken up
their quarters in any part of the district or country. Then the huntsman
promised to procure as much game for him as he could possibly use at the
royal table. So he summoned all the huntsmen together, and bade them go
out into the forest with him. And he went with them and made them form
a great circle, open at one end where he stationed himself, and began to
wish. Two hundred deer and more came running inside the circle at once,
and the huntsmen shot them. Then they were all placed on sixty country
carts, and driven home to the King, and for once he was able to deck
his table with game, after having had none at all for years.
Now the King felt great joy at this, and commanded that his entire
household should eat with him next day, and made a great feast. When they
were all assembled together, he said to the huntsmen, "As thou art so
clever, thou shalt sit by me." He replied, "Lord King, your majesty must
excuse me, I am a poor huntsman." But the King insisted on it, and said,
"Thou shalt sit by me," until he did it. Whilst he was sitting there,
he thought of his dearest mother, and wished that one of the King's
principal servants would begin to speak of her, and would ask how it was
faring with the Queen in the tower, and if she were alive still, or had
perished. Hardly had he formed the wish than the marshal began, and said,
"Your majesty, we live joyously here, but how is the Queen living in
the tower? Is she still alive, or has she died?" But the King replied,
"She let my dear son be torn to pieces by wild beasts; I will not have
her named." Then the huntsman arose and said, "Gracious lord father,
she is alive still, and I am her son, and I was not carried away by
wild beasts, but by that wretch the old cook, who tore me from her
arms when she was asleep, and sprinkled her apron with the blood of a
chicken." Thereupon he took the dog with the golden collar, and said,
"That is the wretch!" and caused live coals to be brought, and these
the dog was compelled to devour before the sight of all, until flames
burst forth from its throat. On this the huntsman asked the King if he
would like to see the dog in his true shape, and wished him back into
the form of the cook, in the which he stood immediately, with his white
apron, and his knife by his side. When the King saw him he fell into a
passion, and ordered him to be cast into the deepest dungeon. Then the
huntsman spoke further and said, "Father, will you see the maiden who
brought me up so tenderly and who was afterwards to murder me, but did
not do it, though her own life depended on it?" The King replied, "Yes,
I would like to see her." The son said, "Most gracious father, I will
show her to you in the form of a beautiful flower," and he thrust his
hand into his pocket and brought forth the pink, and placed it on the
royal table, and it was so beautiful that the King had never seen one
to equal it. Then the son said, "Now will I show her to you in her own
form," and wished that she might become a maiden, and she stood there
looking so beautiful that no painter could have made her look more so.
And the King sent two waiting-maids and two attendants into the tower,
to fetch the Queen and bring her to the royal table. But when she was
led in she ate nothing, and said, "The gracious and merciful God who
has supported me in the tower, will speedily deliver me." She lived
three days more, and then died happily, and when she was buried, the two
white doves which had brought her food to the tower, and were angels of
heaven, followed her body and seated themselves on her grave. The aged
King ordered the cook to be torn in four pieces, but grief consumed the
King's own heart, and he soon died. His son married the beautiful maiden
whom he had brought with him as a flower in his pocket, and whether they
are still alive or not, is known to God.
77 Clever Grethel
There was once a cook named Grethel, who wore shoes with red rosettes, and
when she walked out with them on, she turned herself this way and that,
and thought, "You certainly are a pretty girl!" And when she came home she
drank, in her gladness of heart, a draught of wine, and as wine excites
a desire to eat, she tasted the best of whatever she was cooking until
she was satisfied, and said, "The cook must know what the food is like."
It came to pass that the master one day said to her, "Grethel, there is
a guest coming this evening; prepare me two fowls very daintily." "I
will see to it, master," answered Grethel. She killed two fowls,
scalded them, plucked them, put them on the spit, and towards evening
set them before the fire, that they might roast. The fowls began to turn
brown, and were nearly ready, but the guest had not yet arrived. Then
Grethel called out to her master, "If the guest does not come, I must
take the fowls away from the fire, but it will be a sin and a shame if
they are not eaten directly, when they are juiciest." The master said,
"I will run myself, and fetch the guest." When the master had turned his
back, Grethel laid the spit with the fowls on one side, and thought,
"Standing so long by the fire there, makes one hot and thirsty; who
knows when they will come? Meanwhile, I will run into the cellar, and
take a drink." She ran down, set a jug, said, "God bless it to thy use,
Grethel," and took a good drink, and took yet another hearty draught.
Then she went and put the fowls down again to the fire, basted them, and
drove the spit merrily round. But as the roast meat smelt so good, Grethel
thought, "Something might be wrong, it ought to be tasted!" She touched
it with her finger, and said, "Ah! how good fowls are! It certainly is a
sin and a shame that they are not eaten directly!" She ran to the window,
to see if the master was not coming with his guest, but she saw no one,
and went back to the fowls and thought, "One of the wings is burning! I
had better take it off and eat it." So she cut it off, ate it, and enjoyed
it, and when she had done, she thought, "the other must go down too,
or else master will observe that something is missing." When the two
wings were eaten, she went and looked for her master, and did not see
him. It suddenly occurred to her, "Who knows? They are perhaps not coming
at all, and have turned in somewhere." Then she said, "Hallo, Grethel,
enjoy yourself, one fowl has been cut into, take another drink, and eat
it up entirely; when it is eaten you will have some peace, why should
God's good gifts be spoilt?" So she ran into the cellar again, took an
enormous drink and ate up the one chicken in great glee. When one of the
chickens was swallowed down, and still her master did not come, Grethel
looked at the other and said, "Where one is, the other should be likewise,
the two go together; what's right for the one is right for the other;
I think if I were to take another draught it would do me no harm." So she
took another hearty drink, and let the second chicken rejoin the first.
While she was just in the best of the eating, her master came and
cried, hurry up, "Haste thee, Grethel, the guest is coming directly
after me!" "Yes, sir, I will soon serve up," answered Grethel. Meantime
the master looked to see that the table was properly laid, and took the
great knife, wherewith he was going to carve the chickens, and sharpened
it on the steps. Presently the guest came, and knocked politely and
courteously at the house-door. Grethel ran, and looked to see who was
there, and when she saw the guest, she put her finger to her lips and
said, "Hush! hush! get away as quickly as you can, if my master catches
you it will be the worse for you; he certainly did ask you to supper,
but his intention is to cut off your two ears. Just listen how he is
sharpening the knife for it!" The guest heard the sharpening, and hurried
down the steps again as fast as he could. Grethel was not idle; she ran
screaming to her master, and cried, "You have invited a fine guest!" "Eh,
why, Grethel? What do you mean by that?" "Yes," said she, "he has taken
the chickens which I was just going to serve up, off the dish, and has
run away with them!" "That's a nice trick!" said her master, and lamented
the fine chickens. "If he had but left me one, so that something remained
for me to eat." He called to him to stop, but the guest pretended not to
hear. Then he ran after him with the knife still in his hand, crying,
"Just one, just one," meaning that the guest should leave him just one
chicken, and not take both. The guest, however, thought no otherwise
than that he was to give up one of his ears, and ran as if fire were
burning under him, in order to take them both home with him.
78 The Old Man and His Grandson
There was once a very old man, whose eyes had become dim, his ears
dull of hearing, his knees trembled, and when he sat at table he could
hardly hold the spoon, and spilt the broth upon the table-cloth or let
it run out of his mouth. His son and his son's wife were disgusted at
this, so the old grandfather at last had to sit in the corner behind
the stove, and they gave him his food in an earthenware bowl, and not
even enough of it. And he used to look towards the table with his eyes
full of tears. Once, too, his trembling hands could not hold the bowl,
and it fell to the ground and broke. The young wife scolded him, but he
said nothing and only sighed. Then they bought him a wooden bowl for a
few half-pence, out of which he had to eat.
They were once sitting thus when the little grandson of four years
old began to gather together some bits of wood upon the ground. "What
are you doing there?" asked the father. "I am making a little trough,"
answered the child, "for father and mother to eat out of when I am big."
The man and his wife looked at each other for a while, and presently began
to cry. Then they took the old grandfather to the table, and henceforth
always let him eat with them, and likewise said nothing if he did spill
a little of anything.
79 The Water-Nix
A little brother and sister were once playing by a well, and while they
were thus playing, they both fell in. A water-nix lived down below, who
said, "Now I have got you, now you shall work hard for me!" and carried
them off with her. She gave the girl dirty tangled flax to spin, and she
had to fetch water in a bucket with a hole in it, and the boy had to hew
down a tree with a blunt axe, and they got nothing to eat but dumplings
as hard as stones. Then at last the children became so impatient,
that they waited until one Sunday, when the nix was at church, and ran
away. But when church was over, the nix saw that the birds were flown,
and followed them with great strides. The children saw her from afar,
and the girl threw a brush behind her which formed an immense hill of
bristles, with thousands and thousands of spikes, over which the nix
was forced to scramble with great difficulty; at last, however, she
got over. When the children saw this, the boy threw behind him a comb
which made a great hill of combs with a thousand times a thousand teeth,
but the nix managed to keep herself steady on them, and at last crossed
over that. Then the girl threw behind her a looking-glass which formed a
hill of mirrors, and was so slippery that it was impossible for the nix
to cross it. Then she thought, "I will go home quickly and fetch my axe,
and cut the hill of glass in half." Long before she returned, however, and
had hewn through the glass, the children had escaped to a great distance,
and the water-nix was obliged to betake herself to her well again.
80 The Death of the Little Hen
Once upon a time the little hen went with the little cock to the nut-hill,
and they agreed together that whichsoever of them found a kernel of a nut
should share it with the other. Then the hen found a large, large nut,
but said nothing about it, intending to eat the kernel herself. The
kernel, however, was so large that she could not swallow it, and it
remained sticking in her throat, so that she was alarmed lest she should
be choked. Then she cried, "Cock, I entreat thee to run as fast thou
canst, and fetch me some water, or I shall choke." The little cock did
run as fast as he could to the spring, and said, "Stream, thou art to
give me some water; the little hen is lying on the nut-hill, and she
has swallowed a large nut, and is choking." The well answered, "First
run to the bride, and get her to give thee some red silk." The little
cock ran to the bride and said, "Bride, you are to give me some red silk;
I want to give red silk to the well, the well is to give me some water,
I am to take the water to the little hen who is lying on the nut-hill
and has swallowed a great nut-kernel, and is choking with it." The bride
answered, "First run and bring me my little wreath which is hanging to
a willow." So the little cock ran to the willow, and drew the wreath
from the branch and took it to the bride, and the bride gave him some
water for it. Then the little cock took the water to the hen, but when
he got there the hen had choked in the meantime, and lay there dead and
motionless. Then the cock was so distressed that he cried aloud, and
every animal came to lament the little hen, and six mice built a little
carriage to carry her to her grave, and when the carriage was ready they
harnessed themselves to it, and the cock drove. On the way, however,
they met the fox, who said, "Where art thou going, little cock?" "I am
going to bury my little hen." "May I drive with thee?" "Yes, but seat
thyself at the back of the carriage, for in the front my little horses
could not drag thee." Then the fox seated himself at the back, and after
that the wolf, the bear, the stag, the lion, and all the beasts of the
forest did the same. Then the procession went onwards, and they reached
the stream. "How are we to get over?" said the little cock. A straw was
lying by the stream, and it said, "I will lay myself across, and you
shall drive over me." But when the six mice came to the bridge, the straw
slipped and fell into the water, and the six mice all fell in and were
drowned. Then they were again in difficulty, and a coal came and said,
"I am large enough, I will lay myself across and you shall drive over
me." So the coal also laid itself across the water, but unhappily just
touched it, on which the coal hissed, was extinguished and died. When a
stone saw that, it took pity on the little cock, wished to help him,
and laid itself over the water. Then the cock drew the carriage himself,
but when he got it over and reached the other shore with the dead hen,
and was about to draw over the others who were sitting behind as well,
there were too many of them, the carriage ran back, and they all fell
into the water together, and were drowned. Then the little cock was left
alone with the dead hen, and dug a grave for her and laid her in it,
and made a mound above it, on which he sat down and fretted until he
died too, and then every one was dead.
81 Brother Lustig
There was one on a time a great war, and when it came to an end,
many soldiers were discharged. Then Brother Lustig also received his
dismissal, and besides that, nothing but a small loaf of contract-bread,
and four kreuzers in money, with which he departed. St. Peter had,
however, placed himself in his way in the shape of a poor beggar,
and when Brother Lustig came up, he begged alms of him. Brother Lustig
replied, "Dear beggar-man, what am I to give you? I have been a soldier,
and have received my dismissal, and have nothing but this little loaf
of contract-bread, and four kreuzers of money; when that is gone,
I shall have to beg as well as you. Still I will give you something."
Thereupon he divided the loaf into four parts, and gave the apostle one
of them, and a kreuzer likewise. St. Peter thanked him, went onwards,
and threw himself again in the soldier's way as a beggar, but in another
shape; and when he came up begged a gift of him as before. Brother
Lustig spoke as he had done before, and again gave him a quarter of
the loaf and one kreuzer. St. Peter thanked him, and went onwards,
but for the third time placed himself in another shape as a beggar on
the road, and spoke to Brother Lustig. Brother Lustig gave him also the
third quarter of bread and the third kreuzer. St. Peter thanked him,
and Brother Lustig went onwards, and had but a quarter of the loaf, and
one kreuzer. With that he went into an inn, ate the bread, and ordered
one kreuzer's worth of beer. When he had had it, he journeyed onwards,
and then St. Peter, who had assumed the appearance of a discharged
soldier, met and spoke to him thus: "Good day, comrade, canst thou not
give me a bit of bread, and a kreuzer to get a drink?" "Where am I to
procure it?" answered Brother Lustig; "I have been discharged, and I
got nothing but a loaf of ammunition-bread and four kreuzers in money. I
met three beggars on the road, and I gave each of them a quarter of my
bread, and one kreuzer. The last quarter I ate in the inn, and had a
drink with the last kreuzer. Now my pockets are empty, and if thou also
hast nothing we can go a-begging together." "No," answered St. Peter,
"we need not quite do that. I know a little about medicine, and I will
soon earn as much as I require by that." "Indeed," said Brother Lustig,
"I know nothing of that, so I must go and beg alone." "Just come with
me," said St. Peter, "and if I earn anything, thou shalt have half of
it." "All right," said Brother Lustig, so they went away together.
Then they came to a peasant's house inside which they heard loud
lamentations and cries; so they went in, and there the husband was lying
sick unto death, and very near his end, and his wife was crying and
weeping quite loudly. "Stop that howling and crying," said St. Peter,
"I will make the man well again," and he took a salve out of his
pocket, and healed the sick man in a moment, so that he could get up,
and was in perfect health. In great delight the man and his wife said,
"How can we reward you? What shall we give you?" But St. Peter would take
nothing, and the more the peasant folks offered him, the more he refused.
Brother Lustig, however, nudged St. Peter, and said, "Take something;
sure enough we are in need of it." At length the woman brought a lamb and
said to St. Peter that he really must take that, but he would not. Then
Brother Lustig gave him a poke in the side, and said, "Do take it, you
stupid fool; we are in great want of it!" Then St. Peter said at last,
"Well, I will take the lamb, but I won't carry it; if thou wilt insist
on having it, thou must carry it." "That is nothing," said Brother
Lustig. "I will easily carry it," and took it on his shoulder. Then they
departed and came to a wood, but Brother Lustig had begun to feel the
lamb heavy, and he was hungry, so he said to St. Peter, "Look, that's
a good place, we might cook the lamb there, and eat it." "As you like,"
answered St. Peter, "but I can't have anything to do with the cooking;
if thou wilt cook, there is a kettle for thee, and in the meantime I will
walk about a little until it is ready. Thou must, however, not begin to
eat until I have come back, I will come at the right time." "Well, go,