more beautiful than the other. They all slept together in one chamber,
in which their beds stood side by side, and every night when they were
in them the King locked the door, and bolted it. But in the morning
when he unlocked the door, he saw that their shoes were worn out with
dancing, and no one could find out how that had come to pass. Then the
King caused it to be proclaimed that whosoever could discover where
they danced at night, should choose one of them for his wife and be King
after his death, but that whosoever came forward and had not discovered
it within three days and nights, should have forfeited his life. It was
not long before a King's son presented himself, and offered to undertake
the enterprise. He was well received, and in the evening was led into
a room adjoining the princesses' sleeping-chamber. His bed was placed
there, and he was to observe where they went and danced, and in order
that they might do nothing secretly or go away to some other place,
the door of their room was left open.

But the eyelids of the prince grew heavy as lead, and he fell asleep,
and when he awoke in the morning, all twelve had been to the dance, for
their shoes were standing there with holes in the soles. On the second and
third nights it fell out just the same, and then his head was struck off
without mercy. Many others came after this and undertook the enterprise,
but all forfeited their lives. Now it came to pass that a poor soldier,
who had a wound, and could serve no longer, found himself on the road to
the town where the King lived. There he met an old woman, who asked him
where he was going. "I hardly know myself," answered he, and added in
jest, "I had half a mind to discover where the princesses danced their
shoes into holes, and thus become King." "That is not so difficult,"
said the old woman, "you must not drink the wine which will be brought
to you at night, and must pretend to be sound asleep." With that she gave
him a little cloak, and said, "If you put on that, you will be invisible,
and then you can steal after the twelve." When the soldier had received
this good advice, he went into the thing in earnest, took heart, went to
the King, and announced himself as a suitor. He was as well received as
the others, and royal garments were put upon him. He was conducted that
evening at bed-time into the ante-chamber, and as he was about to go to
bed, the eldest came and brought him a cup of wine, but he had tied a
sponge under his chin, and let the wine run down into it, without drinking
a drop. Then he lay down and when he had lain a while, he began to snore,
as if in the deepest sleep. The twelve princesses heard that, and laughed,
and the eldest said, "He, too, might as well have saved his life." With
that they got up, opened wardrobes, presses, cupboards, and brought out
pretty dresses; dressed themselves before the mirrors, sprang about,
and rejoiced at the prospect of the dance. Only the youngest said,
"I know not how it is; you are very happy, but I feel very strange;
some misfortune is certainly about to befall us." "Thou art a goose,
who art always frightened," said the eldest. "Hast thou forgotten how
many Kings' sons have already come here in vain? I had hardly any need
to give the soldier a sleeping-draught, in any case the clown would
not have awakened." When they were all ready they looked carefully at
the soldier, but he had closed his eyes and did not move or stir, so
they felt themselves quite secure. The eldest then went to her bed and
tapped it; it immediately sank into the earth, and one after the other
they descended through the opening, the eldest going first. The soldier,
who had watched everything, tarried no longer, put on his little cloak,
and went down last with the youngest. Half-way down the steps, he just
trod a little on her dress; she was terrified at that, and cried out,
"What is that? who is pulling my dress?" "Don't be so silly!" said the
eldest, "you have caught it on a nail." Then they went all the way down,
and when they were at the bottom, they were standing in a wonderfully
pretty avenue of trees, all the leaves of which were of silver, and shone
and glistened. The soldier thought, "I must carry a token away with me,"
and broke off a twig from one of them, on which the tree cracked with
a loud report. The youngest cried out again. "Something is wrong, did
you hear the crack?" But the eldest said, "It is a gun fired for joy,
because we have got rid of our prince so quickly." After that they
came into an avenue where all the leaves were of gold, and lastly into
a third where they were of bright diamonds; he broke off a twig from
each, which made such a crack each time that the youngest started back
in terror, but the eldest still maintained that they were salutes. They
went on and came to a great lake whereon stood twelve little boats,
and in every boat sat a handsome prince, all of whom were waiting for
the twelve, and each took one of them with him, but the soldier seated
himself by the youngest. Then her prince said, "I can't tell why the boat
is so much heavier to-day; I shall have to row with all my strength,
if I am to get it across." "What should cause that," said the youngest,
"but the warm weather? I feel very warm too." On the opposite side of
the lake stood a splendid, brightly-lit castle, from whence resounded
the joyous music of trumpets and kettle-drums. They rowed over there,
entered, and each prince danced with the girl he loved, but the soldier
danced with them unseen, and when one of them had a cup of wine in her
hand he drank it up, so that the cup was empty when she carried it to her
mouth; the youngest was alarmed at this, but the eldest always made her
be silent. They danced there till three o'clock in the morning when all
the shoes were danced into holes, and they were forced to leave off;
the princes rowed them back again over the lake, and this time the
soldier seated himself by the eldest. On the shore they took leave
of their princes, and promised to return the following night. When
they reached the stairs the soldier ran on in front and lay down in
his bed, and when the twelve had come up slowly and wearily, he was
already snoring so loudly that they could all hear him, and they said,
"So far as he is concerned, we are safe." They took off their beautiful
dresses, laid them away, put the worn-out shoes under the bed, and lay
down. Next morning the soldier was resolved not to speak, but to watch
the wonderful goings on, and again went with them. Then everything was
done just as it had been done the first time, and each time they danced
until their shoes were worn to pieces. But the third time he took a
cup away with him as a token. When the hour had arrived for him to
give his answer, he took the three twigs and the cup, and went to the
King, but the twelve stood behind the door, and listened for what he
was going to say. When the King put the question, "Where have my twelve
daughters danced their shoes to pieces in the night?" he answered, "In an
underground castle with twelve princes," and related how it had come to
pass, and brought out the tokens. The King then summoned his daughters,
and asked them if the soldier had told the truth, and when they saw
that they were betrayed, and that falsehood would be of no avail, they
were obliged to confess all. Thereupon the King asked which of them he
would have to wife? He answered, "I am no longer young, so give me the
eldest." Then the wedding was celebrated on the self-same day, and the
kingdom was promised him after the King's death. But the princes were
bewitched for as many days as they had danced nights with the twelve.


134 The Six Servants

IN former times there lived an aged Queen who was a sorceress, and her
daughter was the most beautiful maiden under the sun. The old woman,
however, had no other thought than how to lure mankind to destruction,
and when a wooer appeared, she said that whosoever wished to have her
daughter, must first perform a task, or die. Many had been dazzled by
the daughter's beauty, and had actually risked this, but they never could
accomplish what the old woman enjoined them to do, and then no mercy was
shown; they had to kneel down, and their heads were struck off. A certain
King's son who had also heard of the maiden's beauty, said to his father,
"Let me go there, I want to demand her in marriage." "Never," answered the
King; "if you were to go, it would be going to your death." On this the
son lay down and was sick unto death, and for seven years he lay there,
and no physician could heal him. When the father perceived that all hope
was over, with a heavy heart he said to him, "Go thither, and try your
luck, for I know no other means of curing you." When the son heard that,
he rose from his bed and was well again, and joyfully set out on his way.

And it came to pass that as he was riding across a heath, he saw from
afar something like a great heap of hay lying on the ground, and when he
drew nearer, he could see that it was the stomach of a man, who had laid
himself down there, but the stomach looked like a small mountain. When
the fat man saw the traveller, he stood up and said, "If you are in
need of any one, take me into your service." The prince answered,
"What can I do with such a great big man?" "Oh," said the Stout One,
"this is nothing, when I stretch myself out well, I am three thousand
times fatter." "If that's the case," said the prince, "I can make use
of thee, come with me." So the Stout One followed the prince, and after
a while they found another man who was lying on the ground with his
ear laid to the turf. "What art thou doing there?" asked the King's
son. "I am listening," replied the man. "What art thou listening to so
attentively?" "I am listening to what is just going on in the world,
for nothing escapes my ears; I even hear the grass growing." "Tell me,"
said the prince, "what thou hearest at the court of the old Queen who
has the beautiful daughter." Then he answered, "I hear the whizzing of
the sword that is striking off a wooer's head." The King's son said,
"I can make use of thee, come with me." They went onwards, and then saw
a pair of feet lying and part of a pair of legs, but could not see the
rest of the body. When they had walked on for a great distance, they came
to the body, and at last to the head also. "Why," said the prince, "what
a tall rascal thou art!" "Oh," replied the Tall One, "that is nothing at
all yet; when I really stretch out my limbs, I am three thousand times as
tall, and taller than the highest mountain on earth. I will gladly enter
your service, if you will take me." "Come with me," said the prince,
"I can make use of thee." They went onwards and found a man sitting by
the road who had bound up his eyes. The prince said to him, "Hast thou
weak eyes, that thou canst not look at the light?" "No," replied the man,
"but I must not remove the bandage, for whatsoever I look at with my
eyes, splits to pieces, my glance is so powerful. If you can use that,
I shall be glad to serve you." "Come with me," replied the King's son,
"I can make use of thee." They journeyed onwards and found a man who
was lying in the hot sunshine, trembling and shivering all over his
body, so that not a limb was still. "How canst thou shiver when the
sun is shining so warm?" said the King's son. "Alack," replied the man,
"I am of quite a different nature. The hotter it is, the colder I am,
and the frost pierces through all my bones; and the colder it is, the
hotter I am. In the midst of ice, I cannot endure the heat, nor in the
midst of fire, the cold." "Thou art a strange fellow," said the prince,
"but if thou wilt enter my service, follow me." They travelled onwards,
and saw a man standing who made a long neck and looked about him,
and could see over all the mountains. "What art thou looking at so
eagerly?" said the King's son. The man replied, "I have such sharp
eyes that I can see into every forest and field, and hill and valley,
all over the world." The prince said, "Come with me if thou wilt, for
I am still in want of such an one."

And now the King's son and his six servants came to the town where the
aged Queen dwelt. He did not tell her who he was, but said, "If you will
give me your beautiful daughter, I will perform any task you set me." The
sorceress was delighted to get such a handsome youth as this into her net,
and said, "I will set thee three tasks, and if thou art able to perform
them all, thou shalt be husband and master of my daughter." "What is the
first to be?" "Thou shalt fetch me my ring which I have dropped into the
Red Sea." So the King's son went home to his servants and said, "The
first task is not easy. A ring is to be got out of the Red Sea. Come,
find some way of doing it." Then the man with the sharp sight said, "I
will see where it is lying," and looked down into the water and said, "It
is sticking there, on a pointed stone." The Tall One carried them thither,
and said, "I would soon get it out, if I could only see it." "Oh, is that
all!" cried the Stout One, and lay down and put his mouth to the water,
on which all the waves fell into it just as if it had been a whirlpool,
and he drank up the whole sea till it was as dry as a meadow. The Tall
One stooped down a little, and brought out the ring with his hand. Then
the King's son rejoiced when he had the ring, and took it to the old
Queen. She was astonished, and said, "Yes, it is the right ring. Thou
hast safely performed the first task, but now comes the second. Dost thou
see the meadow in front of my palace? Three hundred fat oxen are feeding
there, and these must thou eat, skin, hair, bones, horns and all, and
down below in my cellar lie three hundred casks of wine, and these thou
must drink up as well, and if one hair of the oxen, or one little drop
of the wine is left, thy life will be forfeited to me." "May I invite
no guests to this repast?" inquired the prince, "no dinner is good
without some company." The old woman laughed maliciously, and replied,
"Thou mayst invite one for the sake of companionship, but no more."

The King's son went to his servants and said to the Stout One, "Thou
shalt be my guest to-day, and shalt eat thy fill." Hereupon the Stout
One stretched himself out and ate the three hundred oxen without leaving
one single hair, and then he asked if he was to have nothing but his
breakfast. He drank the wine straight from the casks without feeling any
need of a glass, and he licked the last drop from his finger-nails. When
the meal was over, the prince went to the old woman, and told her that
the second task also was performed. She wondered at this and said,
"No one has ever done so much before, but one task still remains," and
she thought to herself, "Thou shalt not escape me, and wilt not keep thy
head on thy shoulders! This night," said she, "I will bring my daughter
to thee in thy chamber, and thou shalt put thine arms round her, but when
you are sitting there together, beware of falling asleep. When twelve
o'clock is striking, I will come, and if she is then no longer in thine
arms, thou art lost." The prince thought, "The task is easy, I will most
certainly keep my eyes open." Nevertheless he called his servants, told
them what the old woman had said, and remarked, "Who knows what treachery
lurks behind this? Foresight is a good thing keep watch, and take care
that the maiden does not go out of my room again." When night fell, the
old woman came with her daughter, and gave her into the princes's arms,
and then the Tall One wound himself round the two in a circle, and the
Stout One placed himself by the door, so that no living creature could
enter. There the two sat, and the maiden spake never a word, but the moon
shone through the window on her face, and the prince could behold her
wondrous beauty. He did nothing but gaze at her, and was filled with love
and happiness, and his eyes never felt weary. This lasted until eleven
o'clock, when the old woman cast such a spell over all of them that they
fell asleep, and at the self-same moment the maiden was carried away.

Then they all slept soundly until a quarter to twelve, when the magic
lost its power, and all awoke again. "Oh, misery and misfortune!" cried
the prince, "now I am lost!" The faithful servants also began to lament,
but the Listener said, "Be quiet, I want to listen." Then he listened for
an instant and said, "She is on a rock, three hundred leagues from hence,
bewailing her fate. Thou alone, Tall One, canst help her; if thou wilt
stand up, thou wilt be there in a couple of steps."

"Yes," answered the Tall One, "but the one with the sharp eyes must go
with me, that we may destroy the rock." Then the Tall One took the one
with bandaged eyes on his back, and in the twinkling of an eye they were
on the enchanted rock. The Tall One immediately took the bandage from
the other's eyes, and he did but look round, and the rock shivered into
a thousand pieces. Then the Tall One took the maiden in his arms, carried
her back in a second, then fetched his companion with the same rapidity,
and before it struck twelve they were all sitting as they had sat before,
quite merrily and happily. When twelve struck, the aged sorceress came
stealing in with a malicious face, which seemed to say, "Now he is
mine!" for she believed that her daughter was on the rock three hundred
leagues off. But when she saw her in the prince's arms, she was alarmed,
and said, "Here is one who knows more than I do!" She dared not make any
opposition, and was forced to give him her daughter. But she whispered
in her ear, "It is a disgrace to thee to have to obey common people,
and that thou art not allowed to choose a husband to thine own liking."

On this the proud heart of the maiden was filled with anger, and she
meditated revenge. Next morning she caused three hundred great bundles
of wood to be got together, and said to the prince that though the three
tasks were performed, she would still not be his wife until some one was
ready to seat himself in the midst of the wood, and bear the fire. She
thought that none of his servants would let themselves be burnt for him,
and that out of love for her, he himself would place himself upon it,
and then she would be free. But the servants said, "Every one of us has
done something except the Frosty One, he must set to work," and they
put him in the middle of the pile, and set fire to it. Then the fire
began to burn, and burnt for three days until all the wood was consumed,
and when the flames had burnt out, the Frosty One was standing amid the
ashes, trembling like an aspen leaf, and saying, "I never felt such a
frost during the whole course of my life; if it had lasted much longer,
I should have been benumbed!"

As no other pretext was to be found, the beautiful maiden was now forced
to take the unknown youth as a husband. But when they drove away to
church, the old woman said, "I cannot endure the disgrace," and sent
her warriors after them with orders to cut down all who opposed them,
and bring back her daughter. But the Listener had sharpened his ears,
and heard the secret discourse of the old woman. "What shall we do?" said
he to the Stout One. But he knew what to do, and spat out once or twice
behind the carriage some of the sea-water which he had drunk, and a
great sea arose in which the warriors were caught and drowned. When the
sorceress perceived that, she sent her mailed knights; but the Listener
heard the rattling of their armour, and undid the bandage from one eye
of Sharp-eyes, who looked for a while rather fixedly at the enemy's
troops, on which they all sprang to pieces like glass. Then the youth
and the maiden went on their way undisturbed, and when the two had been
blessed in church, the six servants took leave, and said to their master,
"Your wishes are now satisfied, you need us no longer, we will go our
way and seek our fortunes."

Half a league from the palace of the prince's father was a village
near which a swineherd tended his herd, and when they came thither the
prince said to his wife, "Do you know who I really am? I am no prince,
but a herder of swine, and the man who is there with that herd, is my
father. We two shall have to set to work also, and help him." Then he
alighted with her at the inn, and secretly told the innkeepers to take
away her royal apparel during the night. So when she awoke in the morning,
she had nothing to put on, and the innkeeper's wife gave her an old gown
and a pair of worsted stockings, and at the same time seemed to consider
it a great present, and said, "If it were not for the sake of your husband
I should have given you nothing at all!" Then the princess believed that
he really was a swineherd, and tended the herd with him, and thought to
herself, "I have deserved this for my haughtiness and pride." This lasted
for a week, and then she could endure it no longer, for she had sores on
her feet. And now came a couple of people who asked if she knew who her
husband was. "Yes," she answered, "he is a swineherd, and has just gone
out with cords and ropes to try to drive a little bargain." But they said,
"Just come with us, and we will take you to him," and they took her up
to the palace, and when she entered the hall, there stood her husband in
kingly raiment. But she did not recognize him until he took her in his
arms, kissed her, and said, "I suffered much for thee and now thou, too,
hast had to suffer for me." And then the wedding was celebrated, and he
who has told you all this, wishes that he, too, had been present at it.


135 The White Bride and the Black One

A WOMAN was going about the unenclosed land with her daughter and
her step-daughter cutting fodder, when the Lord came walking towards
them in the form of a poor man, and asked, "Which is the way into the
village?" "If you want to know," said the mother, "seek it for yourself,"
and the daughter added, "If you are afraid you will not find it, take a
guide with you." But the step-daughter said, "Poor man, I will take you
there, come with me." Then God was angry with the mother and daughter,
and turned his back on them, and wished that they should become as
black as night and as ugly as sin. To the poor step-daughter, however,
God was gracious, and went with her, and when they were near the village,
he said a blessing over her, and spake, "Choose three things for thyself,
and I will grant them to thee." Then said the maiden, "I should like to
be as beautiful and fair as the sun," and instantly she was white and
fair as day. "Then I should like to have a purse of money which would
never grow empty." That the Lord gave her also, but he said, "Do not
forget what is best of all." Said she, "For my third wish, I desire,
after my death, to inhabit the eternal kingdom of Heaven." That also
was granted unto her, and then the Lord left her. When the step-mother
came home with her daughter, and they saw that they were both as black
as coal and ugly, but that the step-daughter was white and beautiful,
wickedness increased still more in their hearts, and they thought of
nothing else but how they could do her an injury. The step-daughter,
however, had a brother called Reginer, whom she loved much, and she
told him all that had happened. Once on a time Reginer said to her,
"Dear sister, I will take thy likeness, that I may continually see thee
before mine eyes, for my love for thee is so great that I should like
always to look at thee." Then she answered, "But, I pray thee, let no
one see the picture." So he painted his sister and hung up the picture
in his room; he, however, dwelt in the King's palace, for he was his
coachman. Every day he went and stood before the picture, and thanked God
for the happiness of having such a dear sister. Now it happened that the
King whom he served, had just lost his wife, who had been so beautiful
that no one could be found to compare with her, and on this account
the King was in deep grief. The attendants about the court, however,
remarked that the coachman stood daily before this beautiful picture,
and they were jealous of him, so they informed the King. Then the latter
ordered the picture to be brought to him, and when he saw that it was like
his lost wife in every respect, except that it was still more beautiful,
he fell mortally in love with it. He caused the coachman to be brought
before him, and asked whom the portrait represented? The coachman said it
was his sister, so the King resolved to take no one but her as his wife,
and gave him a carriage and horses and splendid garments of cloth of gold,