in the inn an honest girl, who had a bright face and behaved very
prettily. She fell in love with Ferdinand the Faithful because he was
a handsome man, and she asked him whither he was going. "Oh, I am just
travelling round about," said he. Then she said he ought to stay there,
for the King of that country wanted an attendant or an outrider, and he
ought to enter his service. He answered he could not very well go to any
one like that and offer himself. Then said the maiden, "Oh, but I will
soon do that for you." And so she went straight to the King, and told
him that she knew of an excellent servant for him. He was well pleased
with that, and had Ferdinand the Faithful brought to him, and wanted
to make him his servant. He, however, liked better to be an outrider,
for where his horse was, there he also wanted to be, so the King made
him an outrider. When Ferdinand the Unfaithful learnt that, he said to
the girl, "What! Dost thou help him and not me?" "Oh," said the girl,
"I will help thee too." She thought, "I must keep friends with that man,
for he is not to be trusted." She went to the King, and offered him as
a servant, and the King was willing.

Now when the King met his lords in the morning, he always lamented and
said, "Oh, if I had but my love with me." Ferdinand the Unfaithful was,
however, always hostile to Ferdinand the Faithful. So once, when the King
was complaining thus, he said, "You have the outrider, send him away to
get her, and if he does not do it, his head must be struck off." Then
the King sent for Ferdinand the Faithful, and told him that there was,
in this place or in that place, a girl he loved, and that he was to
bring her to him, and if he did not do it he should die.

Ferdinand the Faithful went into the stable to his white horse, and
complained and lamented, "Oh, what an unhappy man I am!" Then someone
behind him cried, "Ferdinand the Faithful, why weepest thou?" He looked
round but saw no one, and went on lamenting; "Oh, my dear little white
horse, now must I leave thee; now must I die." Then some one cried once
more, "Ferdinand the Faithful, why weepest thou?" Then for the first
time he was aware that it was his little white horse who was putting
that question. "Dost thou speak, my little white horse; canst thou do
that?" And again, he said, "I am to go to this place and to that, and
am to bring the bride; canst thou tell me how I am to set about it?"
Then answered the little white horse, "Go thou to the King, and say if
he will give thou what thou must have, thou wilt get her for him. If he
will give thee a ship full of meat, and a ship full of bread, it will
succeed. Great giants dwell on the lake, and if thou takest no meat with
thee for them, they will tear thee to pieces, and there are the large
birds which would pick the eyes out of thy head if thou hadst no bread
for them." Then the King made all the butchers in the land kill, and all
the bakers bake, that the ships might be filled. When they were full,
the little white horse said to Ferdinand the Faithful, "Now mount me,
and go with me into the ship, and then when the giants come, say,


"Peace, peace, my dear little giants,
I have had thought of ye,

Something I have brought for ye;"

and when the birds come, thou shalt again say,


"Peace, peace, my dear little birds,
I have had thought of ye,

Something I have brought for ye;"

then they will do nothing to thee, and when thou comest to the castle,
the giants will help thee. Then go up to the castle, and take a couple of
giants with thee. There the princess lies sleeping; thou must, however,
not awaken her, but the giants must lift her up, and carry her in her
bed to the ship." And now everything took place as the little white horse
had said, and Ferdinand the Faithful gave the giants and the birds what
he had brought with him for them, and that made the giants willing, and
they carried the princess in her bed to the King. And when she came to
the King, she said she could not live, she must have her writings, they
had been left in her castle. Then by the instigation of Ferdinand the
Unfaithful, Ferdinand the Faithful was called, and the King told him he
must fetch the writings from the castle, or he should die. Then he went
once more into the stable, and bemoaned himself and said, "Oh, my dear
little white horse, now I am to go away again, how am I to do it?" Then
the little white horse said he was just to load the ships full again. So
it happened again as it had happened before, and the giants and the birds
were satisfied, and made gentle by the meat. When they came to the castle,
the white horse told Ferdinand the Faithful that he must go in, and that
on the table in the princess's bed-room lay the writings. And Ferdinand
the Faithful went in, and fetched them. When they were on the lake, he
let his pen fall into the water; then said the white horse, "Now I cannot
help thee at all." But he remembered his flute, and began to play on it,
and the fish came with the pen in its mouth, and gave it to him. So he
took the writings to the castle, where the wedding was celebrated.

The Queen, however, did not love the King because he had no nose, but she
would have much liked to love Ferdinand the Faithful. Once, therefore,
when all the lords of the court were together, the Queen said she could
do feats of magic, that she could cut off any one's head and put it
on again, and that one of them ought just to try it. But none of them
would be the first, so Ferdinand the Faithful, again at the instigation
of Ferdinand the Unfaithful, undertook it and she hewed off his head,
and put it on again for him, and it healed together directly, so that
it looked as if he had a red thread round his throat. Then the King
said to her, "My child, and where hast thou learnt that?" "Yes," she
said, "I understand the art; shall I just try it on thee also?" "Oh,
yes," said he. But she cut off his head, and did not put it on again;
but pretended that she could not get it on, and that it would not keep
fixed. Then the King was buried, but she married Ferdinand the Faithful.

He, however, always rode on his white horse, and once when he was seated
on it, it told him that he was to go on to the heath which he knew,
and gallop three times round it. And when he had done that, the white
horse stood up on its hind legs, and was changed into a King's son.


127 The Iron Stove

In the days when wishing was still of some use, a King's son was bewitched
by an old witch, and shut up in an iron stove in a forest. There he passed
many years, and no one could deliver him. Then a King's daughter came
into the forest, who had lost herself, and could not find her father's
kingdom again. After she had wandered about for nine days, she at length
came to the iron stove. Then a voice came forth from it, and asked her,
"Whence comest thou, and whither goest, thou?" She answered, "I have lost
my father's kingdom, and cannot get home again." Then a voice inside the
iron stove said, "I will help thee to get home again, and that indeed
most swiftly, if thou wilt promise to do what I desire of thee. I am
the son of a far greater King than thy father, and I will marry thee."

Then was she afraid, and thought, "Good heavens! What can I do with
an iron stove?" But as she much wished to get home to her father, she
promised to do as he desired. But he said, "Thou shalt return here,
and bring a knife with thee, and scrape a hole in the iron." Then he
gave her a companion who walked near her, but did not speak, but in
two hours he took her home; there was great joy in the castle when the
King's daughter came home, and the old King fell on her neck and kissed
her. She, however, was sorely troubled, and said, "Dear father, what
I have suffered! I should never have got home again from the great wild
forest, if I had not come to an iron stove, but I have been forced to give
my word that I will go back to it, set it free, and marry it." Then the
old King was so terrified that he all but fainted, for he had but this
one daughter. They therefore resolved they would send, in her place,
the miller's daughter, who was very beautiful. They took her there,
gave her a knife, and said she was to scrape at the iron stove. So
she scraped at it for four-and-twenty hours, but could not bring off
the least morsel of it. When day dawned, a voice in the stove said,
"It seems to me it is day outside." Then she answered, "It seems so to
me too; I fancy I hear the noise of my father's mill."

"So thou art a miller's daughter! Then go thy way at once, and let
the King's daughter come here." Then she went away at once, and told
the old King that the man outside there, would have none of her he
wanted the King's daughter. They, however, still had a swine-herd's
daughter, who was even prettier than the miller's daughter, and they
determined to give her a piece of gold to go to the iron stove instead
of the King's daughter. So she was taken thither, and she also had to
scrape for four-and-twenty hours. She, however, made nothing of it.
When day broke, a voice inside the stove cried, "It seems to me it is
day outside!" Then answered she, "So it seems to me also; I fancy I hear
my father's horn blowing."

"Then thou art a swine-herd's daughter! Go away at once, and tell the
King's daughter to come, and tell her all must be done as promised,
and if she does not come, everything in the kingdom shall be ruined and
destroyed, and not one stone be left standing on another." When the King's
daughter heard that she began to weep, but now there was nothing for it
but to keep her promise. So she took leave of her father, put a knife in
her pocket, and went forth to the iron stove in the forest. When she got
there, she began to scrape, and the iron gave way, and when two hours were
over, she had already scraped a small hole. Then she peeped in, and saw
a youth so handsome, and so brilliant with gold and with precious jewels,
that her very soul was delighted. Now, therefore, she went on scraping,
and made the hole so large that he was able to get out. Then said he,
"Thou art mine, and I am thine; thou art my bride, and hast released me."
He wanted to take her away with him to his kingdom, but she entreated him
to let her go once again to her father, and the King's son allowed her
to do so, but she was not to say more to her father than three words,
and then she was to come back again. So she went home, but she spoke
more than three words, and instantly the iron stove disappeared, and
was taken far away over glass mountains and piercing swords; but the
King's son was set free, and no longer shut up in it. After this she
bade good-bye to her father, took some money with her, but not much,
and went back to the great forest, and looked for the iron stove, but
it was nowhere to be found. For nine days she sought it, and then her
hunger grew so great that she did not know what to do, for she could no
longer live. When it was evening, she seated herself in a small tree,
and made up her mind to spend the night there, as she was afraid of wild
beasts. When midnight drew near she saw in the distance a small light,
and thought, "Ah, there I should be saved!" She got down from the tree,
and went towards the light, but on the way she prayed. Then she came to
a little old house, and much grass had grown all about it, and a small
heap of wood lay in front of it. She thought, "Ah, whither have I come,"
and peeped in through the window, but she saw nothing inside but toads,
big and little, except a table well covered with wine and roast meat,
and the plates and glasses were of silver. Then she took courage, and
knocked at the door. The fat toad cried,


"Little green waiting-maid,
Waiting-maid with the limping leg,
Little dog of the limping leg,
Hop hither and thither,

And quickly see who is without:"

and a small toad came walking by and opened the door to her. When she
entered, they all bade her welcome, and she was forced to sit down. They
asked, "Where hast thou come from, and whither art thou going?" Then she
related all that had befallen her, and how because she had transgressed
the order which had been given her not to say more than three words,
the stove, and the King's son also, had disappeared, and now she was
about to seek him over hill and dale until she found him. Then the old
fat one said,


"Little green waiting-maid,
Waiting-maid with the limping leg,
Little dog of the limping leg,
Hop hither and thither,

And bring me the great box."

Then the little one went and brought the box. After this they gave her
meat and drink, and took her to a well-made bed, which felt like silk
and velvet, and she laid herself therein, in God's name, and slept. When
morning came she arose, and the old toad gave her three needles out
of the great box which she was to take with her; they would be needed
by her, for she had to cross a high glass mountain, and go over three
piercing swords and a great lake. If she did all this she would get her
lover back again. Then she gave her three things, which she was to take
the greatest care of, namely, three large needles, a plough-wheel, and
three nuts. With these she travelled onwards, and when she came to the
glass mountain which was so slippery, she stuck the three needles first
behind her feet and then before them, and so got over it, and when she
was over it, she hid them in a place which she marked carefully. After
this she came to the three piercing swords, and then she seated herself
on her plough-wheel, and rolled over them. At last she arrived in front
of a great lake, and when she had crossed it, she came to a large and
beautiful castle. She went and asked for a place; she was a poor girl,
she said, and would like to be hired. She knew, however, that the King's
son whom she had released from the iron stove in the great forest was
in the castle. Then she was taken as a scullery-maid at low wages. But,
already the King's son had another maiden by his side whom he wanted to
marry, for he thought that she had long been dead.

In the evening, when she had washed up and was done, she felt in her
pocket and found the three nuts which the old toad had given her. She
cracked one with her teeth, and was going to eat the kernel when lo and
behold there was a stately royal garment in it! But when the bride heard
of this she came and asked for the dress, and wanted to buy it, and said,
"It is not a dress for a servant-girl." But she said no, she would not
sell it, but if the bride would grant her one thing she should have it,
and that was, leave to sleep one night in her bridegroom's chamber. The
bride gave her permission because the dress was so pretty, and she had
never had one like it. When it was evening she said to her bridegroom,
"That silly girl will sleep in thy room." "If thou art willing so am I,"
said he. She, however, gave him a glass of wine in which she had poured
a sleeping-draught. So the bridegroom and the scullery-maid went to
sleep in the room, and he slept so soundly that she could not waken him.

She wept the whole night and cried, "I set thee free when thou wert in
an iron stove in the wild forest, I sought thee, and walked over a glass
mountain, and three sharp swords, and a great lake before I found thee,
and yet thou wilt not hear me!"

The servants sat by the chamber-door, and heard how she thus wept the
whole night through, and in the morning they told it to their lord. And
the next evening when she had washed up, she opened the second nut, and
a far more beautiful dress was within it, and when the bride beheld it,
she wished to buy that also. But the girl would not take money, and
begged that she might once again sleep in the bridegroom's chamber. The
bride, however, gave him a sleeping-drink, and he slept so soundly that
he could hear nothing. But the scullery-maid wept the whole night long,
and cried, "I set thee free when thou wert in an iron stove in the wild
forest, I sought thee, and walked over a glass mountain, and over three
sharp swords and a great lake before I found thee, and yet thou wilt not
hear me!" The servants sat by the chamber-door and heard her weeping the
whole night through, and in the morning informed their lord of it. And
on the third evening, when she had washed up, she opened the third nut,
and within it was a still more beautiful dress which was stiff with pure
gold. When the bride saw that she wanted to have it, but the maiden only
gave it up on condition that she might for the third time sleep in the
bridegroom's apartment. The King's son was, however, on his guard, and
threw the sleeping-draught away. Now, therefore, when she began to weep
and to cry, "Dearest love, I set thee free when thou wert in the iron
stove in the terrible wild forest," the King's son leapt up and said,
"Thou art the true one, thou art mine, and I am thine." Thereupon, while
it was still night, he got into a carriage with her, and they took away
the false bride's clothes so that she could not get up. When they came
to the great lake, they sailed across it, and when they reached the
three sharp-cutting swords they seated themselves on the plough-wheel,
and when they got to the glass mountain they thrust the three needles in
it, and so at length they got to the little old house; but when they went
inside that, it was a great castle, and the toads were all disenchanted,
and were King's children, and full of happiness. Then the wedding was
celebrated, and the King's son and the princess remained in the castle,
which was much larger than the castles of their fathers. As, however,
the old King grieved at being left alone, they fetched him away, and
brought him to live with them, and they had two kingdoms, and lived in
happy wedlock.


A mouse did run,
This story is done.


128 The Lazy Spinner

In a certain village there once lived a man and his wife, and the wife
was so idle that she would never work at anything; whatever her husband
gave her to spin, she did not get done, and what she did spin she did not
wind, but let it all remain entangled in a heap. If the man scolded her,
she was always ready with her tongue, and said, "Well, how should I wind
it, when I have no reel? Just you go into the forest and get me one." "If
that is all," said the man, "then I will go into the forest, and get some
wood for making reels." Then the woman was afraid that if he had the wood
he would make her a reel of it, and she would have to wind her yarn off,
and then begin to spin again. She bethought herself a little, and then
a lucky idea occurred to her, and she secretly followed the man into the
forest, and when he had climbed into a tree to choose and cut the wood,
she crept into the thicket below where he could not see her, and cried,


"He who cuts wood for reels shall die,
And he who winds, shall perish."

The man listened, laid down his axe for a moment, and began to consider
what that could mean. "Hollo," he said at last, "what can that have been;
my ears must have been singing, I won't alarm myself for nothing." So
he again seized the axe, and began to hew, then again there came a cry
from below:


"He who cuts wood for reels shall die,
And he who winds, shall perish."

He stopped, and felt afraid and alarmed, and pondered over the
circumstance. But when a few moments had passed, he took heart again,
and a third time he stretched out his hand for the axe, and began to
cut. But some one called out a third time, and said loudly,


"He who cuts wood for reels shall die,
And he who winds, shall perish."

That was enough for him, and all inclination had departed from him, so he
hastily descended the tree, and set out on his way home. The woman ran as
fast as she could by by-ways so as to get home first. So when he entered
the parlour, she put on an innocent look as if nothing had happened,
and said, "Well, have you brought a nice piece of wood for reels?" "No,"
said he, "I see very well that winding won't do," and told her what had
happened to him in the forest, and from that time forth left her in peace
about it. Neverthless after some time, the man again began to complain of
the disorder in the house. "Wife," said he, "it is really a shame that
the spun yarn should lie there all entangled!" "I'll tell you what,"
said she, "as we still don't come by any reel, go you up into the loft,
and I will stand down below, and will throw the yarn up to you, and you
will throw it down to me, and so we shall get a skein after all." "Yes,
that will do," said the man. So they did that, and when it was done,
he said, "The yarn is in skeins, now it must be boiled." The woman was
again distressed; She certainly said, "Yes, we will boil it next morning
early." but she was secretly contriving another trick.

Early in the morning she got up, lighted a fire, and put the kettle on,
only instead of the yarn, she put in a lump of tow, and let it boil. After
that she went to the man who was still lying in bed, and said to him,
"I must just go out, you must get up and look after the yarn which is
in the kettle on the fire, but you must be at hand at once; mind that,
for if the cock should happen to crow, and you are not attending to the
yarn, it will become tow." The man was willing and took good care not
to loiter. He got up as quickly as he could, and went into the kitchen.
But when he reached the kettle and peeped in, he saw, to his horror,
nothing but a lump of tow. Then the poor man was as still as a mouse,
thinking he had neglected it, and was to blame, and in future said
no more about yarn and spinning. But you yourself must own she was an
odious woman!


129 The Four Skilful Brothers

There was once a poor man who had four sons, and when they were grown up,
he said to them, "My dear children, you must now go out into the world,
for I have nothing to give you, so set out, and go to some distance and
learn a trade, and see how you can make your way." So the four brothers
took their sticks, bade their father farewell, and went through the
town-gate together. When they had travelled about for some time, they
came to a cross-way which branched off in four different directions. Then
said the eldest, "Here we must separate, but on this day four years,
we will meet each other again at this spot, and in the meantime we will
seek our fortunes."

Then each of them went his way, and the eldest met a man who asked
him where he was going, and what he was intending to do? "I want to
learn a trade," he replied. Then the other said, "Come with me, and be
a thief." "No," he answered, "that is no longer regarded as a reputable
trade, and the end of it is that one has to swing on the gallows." "Oh,"
said the man, "you need not be afraid of the gallows; I will only teach
you to get such things as no other man could ever lay hold of, and no
one will ever detect you." So he allowed himself to be talked into it,
and while with the man became an accomplished thief, and so dexterous
that nothing was safe from him, if he once desired to have it. The second
brother met a man who put the same question to him what he wanted to
learn in the world. "I don't know yet," he replied. "Then come with me,
and be an astronomer; there is nothing better than that, for nothing is
hid from you." He liked the idea, and became such a skillful astronomer
that when he had learnt everything, and was about to travel onwards,
his master gave him a telescope and said to him, "With that you canst
thou see whatsoever takes place either on earth or in heaven, and nothing
can remain concealed from thee." A huntsman took the third brother into
training, and gave him such excellent instruction in everything which
related to huntsmanship, that he became an experienced hunter. When he
went away, his master gave him a gun and said, "It will never fail you;
whatsoever you aim at, you are certain to hit." The youngest brother also
met a man who spoke to him, and inquired what his intentions were. "Would
you not like to be a tailor?" said he. "Not that I know of," said the
youth; "sitting doubled up from morning till night, driving the needle
and the goose backwards and forwards, is not to my taste." "Oh, but you
are speaking in ignorance," answered the man; "with me you would learn
a very different kind of tailoring, which is respectable and proper,
and for the most part very honorable." So he let himself be persuaded,
and went with the man, and learnt his art from the very beginning.
When they parted, the man gave the youth a needle, and said, "With this
you can sew together whatever is given you, whether it is as soft as