forest, and had quite forgotten the little tailor, when all at once he
walked up to them quite merrily and boldly. The giants were terrified,
they were afraid that he would strike them all dead, and ran away in a
great hurry.
The little tailor went onwards, always following his own pointed
nose. After he had walked for a long time, he came to the courtyard of
a royal palace, and as he felt weary, he lay down on the grass and fell
asleep. Whilst he lay there, the people came and inspected him on all
sides, and read on his girdle, "Seven at one stroke." "Ah," said they,
"What does the great warrior here in the midst of peace? He must be a
mighty lord." They went and announced him to the King, and gave it as
their opinion that if war should break out, this would be a weighty and
useful man who ought on no account to be allowed to depart. The counsel
pleased the King, and he sent one of his courtiers to the little tailor to
offer him military service when he awoke. The ambassador remained standing
by the sleeper, waited until he stretched his limbs and opened his eyes,
and then conveyed to him this proposal. "For this very reason have I come
here," the tailor replied, "I am ready to enter the King's service." He
was therefore honorably received and a special dwelling was assigned him.
The soldiers, however, were set against the little tailor, and wished
him a thousand miles away. "What is to be the end of this?" they said
amongst themselves. "If we quarrel with him, and he strikes about him,
seven of us will fall at every blow; not one of us can stand against
him." They came therefore to a decision, betook themselves in a body to
the King, and begged for their dismissal. "We are not prepared," said
they, "to stay with a man who kills seven at one stroke." The King was
sorry that for the sake of one he should lose all his faithful servants,
wished that he had never set eyes on the tailor, and would willingly have
been rid of him again. But he did not venture to give him his dismissal,
for he dreaded lest he should strike him and all his people dead, and
place himself on the royal throne. He thought about it for a long time,
and at last found good counsel. He sent to the little tailor and caused
him to be informed that as he was such a great warrior, he had one request
to make to him. In a forest of his country lived two giants who caused
great mischief with their robbing, murdering, ravaging, and burning, and
no one could approach them without putting himself in danger of death. If
the tailor conquered and killed these two giants, he would give him his
only daughter to wife, and half of his kingdom as a dowry, likewise
one hundred horsemen should go with him to assist him. "That would
indeed be a fine thing for a man like me!" thought the little tailor.
"One is not offered a beautiful princess and half a kingdom every day
of one's life!" "Oh, yes," he replied, "I will soon subdue the giants,
and do not require the help of the hundred horsemen to do it; he who
can hit seven with one blow has no need to be afraid of two."
The little tailor went forth, and the hundred horsemen followed him. When
he came to the outskirts of the forest, he said to his followers, "Just
stay waiting here, I alone will soon finish off the giants." Then he
bounded into the forest and looked about right and left. After a while he
perceived both giants. They lay sleeping under a tree, and snored so that
the branches waved up and down. The little tailor, not idle, gathered
two pocketsful of stones, and with these climbed up the tree. When he
was half-way up, he slipped down by a branch, until he sat just above the
sleepers, and then let one stone after another fall on the breast of one
of the giants. For a long time the giant felt nothing, but at last he
awoke, pushed his comrade, and said, "Why art thou knocking me?" "Thou
must be dreaming," said the other, "I am not knocking thee." They laid
themselves down to sleep again, and then the tailor threw a stone down on
the second. "What is the meaning of this?" cried the other. "Why art thou
pelting me?" "I am not pelting thee," answered the first, growling. They
disputed about it for a time, but as they were weary they let the matter
rest, and their eyes closed once more. The little tailor began his game
again, picked out the biggest stone, and threw it with all his might on
the breast of the first giant. "That is too bad!" cried he, and sprang
up like a madman, and pushed his companion against the tree until it
shook. The other paid him back in the same coin, and they got into such
a rage that they tore up trees and belabored each other so long, that at
last they both fell down dead on the ground at the same time. Then the
little tailor leapt down. "It is a lucky thing," said he, "that they
did not tear up the tree on which I was sitting, or I should have had
to spring on to another like a squirrel; but we tailors are nimble."
He drew out his sword and gave each of them a couple of thrusts in the
breast, and then went out to the horsemen and said, "The work is done;
I have given both of them their finishing stroke, but it was hard
work! They tore up trees in their sore need, and defended themselves
with them, but all that is to no purpose when a man like myself comes,
who can kill seven at one blow." "But are you not wounded?" asked the
horsemen. "You need not concern yourself about that," answered the tailor,
"They have not bent one hair of mine." The horsemen would not believe
him, and rode into the forest; there they found the giants swimming in
their blood, and all round about lay the torn-up trees.
The little tailor demanded of the King the promised reward; he, however,
repented of his promise, and again bethought himself how he could get
rid of the hero. "Before thou receivest my daughter, and the half of my
kingdom," said he to him, "thou must perform one more heroic deed. In
the forest roams a unicorn which does great harm, and thou must catch
it first." "I fear one unicorn still less than two giants. Seven at one
blow, is my kind of affair." He took a rope and an axe with him, went
forth into the forest, and again bade those who were sent with him to
wait outside. He had to seek long. The unicorn soon came towards him,
and rushed directly on the tailor, as if it would spit him on his horn
without more ceremony. "Softly, softly; it can't be done as quickly as
that," said he, and stood still and waited until the animal was quite
close, and then sprang nimbly behind the tree. The unicorn ran against
the tree with all its strength, and struck its horn so fast in the trunk
that it had not strength enough to draw it out again, and thus it was
caught. "Now, I have got the bird," said the tailor, and came out from
behind the tree and put the rope round its neck, and then with his axe
he hewed the horn out of the tree, and when all was ready he led the
beast away and took it to the King.
The King still would not give him the promised reward, and made a third
demand. Before the wedding the tailor was to catch him a wild boar that
made great havoc in the forest, and the huntsmen should give him their
help. "Willingly," said the tailor, "that is child's play!" He did not
take the huntsmen with him into the forest, and they were well pleased
that he did not, for the wild boar had several times received them in
such a manner that they had no inclination to lie in wait for him. When
the boar perceived the tailor, it ran on him with foaming mouth and
whetted tusks, and was about to throw him to the ground, but the active
hero sprang into a chapel which was near, and up to the window at once,
and in one bound out again. The boar ran in after him, but the tailor ran
round outside and shut the door behind it, and then the raging beast,
which was much too heavy and awkward to leap out of the window, was
caught. The little tailor called the huntsmen thither that they might see
the prisoner with their own eyes. The hero, however went to the King,
who was now, whether he liked it or not, obliged to keep his promise,
and gave him his daughter and the half of his kingdom. Had he known that
it was no warlike hero, but a little tailor who was standing before him,
it would have gone to his heart still more than it did. The wedding was
held with great magnificence and small joy, and out of a tailor a king
was made.
After some time the young Queen heard her husband say in his dreams at
night, "Boy, make me the doublet, and patch the pantaloons, or else I
will rap the yard-measure over thine ears." Then she discovered in what
state of life the young lord had been born, and next morning complained
of her wrongs to her father, and begged him to help her to get rid of
her husband, who was nothing else but a tailor. The King comforted her
and said, "Leave thy bed-room door open this night, and my servants
shall stand outside, and when he has fallen asleep shall go in, bind
him, and take him on board a ship which shall carry him into the wide
world." The woman was satisfied with this; but the King's armour-bearer,
who had heard all, was friendly with the young lord, and informed him of
the whole plot. "I'll put a screw into that business," said the little
tailor. At night he went to bed with his wife at the usual time, and
when she thought that he had fallen asleep, she got up, opened the door,
and then lay down again. The little tailor, who was only pretending to be
asleep, began to cry out in a clear voice, "Boy, make me the doublet and
patch me the pantaloons, or I will rap the yard-measure over thine ears. I
smote seven at one blow. I killed two giants, I brought away one unicorn
and caught a wild boar, and am I to fear those who are standing outside
the room." When these men heard the tailor speaking thus, they were
overcome by a great dread, and ran as if the wild huntsman were behind
them, and none of them would venture anything further against him. So
the little tailor was a king and remained one, to the end of his life.
21 Cinderella
The wife of a rich man fell sick, and as she felt that her end was drawing
near, she called her only daughter to her bedside and said, "Dear child,
be good and pious, and then the good God will always protect thee,
and I will look down on thee from heaven and be near thee." Thereupon
she closed her eyes and departed. Every day the maiden went out to her
mother's grave, and wept, and she remained pious and good. When winter
came the snow spread a white sheet over the grave, and when the spring
sun had drawn it off again, the man had taken another wife.
The woman had brought two daughters into the house with her, who were
beautiful and fair of face, but vile and black of heart. Now began a bad
time for the poor step-child. "Is the stupid goose to sit in the parlour
with us?" said they. "He who wants to eat bread must earn it; out with
the kitchen-wench." They took her pretty clothes away from her, put an old
grey bedgown on her, and gave her wooden shoes. "Just look at the proud
princess, how decked out she is!" they cried, and laughed, and led her
into the kitchen. There she had to do hard work from morning till night,
get up before daybreak, carry water, light fires, cook and wash. Besides
this, the sisters did her every imaginable injury - they mocked her
and emptied her peas and lentils into the ashes, so that she was forced
to sit and pick them out again. In the evening when she had worked till
she was weary she had no bed to go to, but had to sleep by the fireside
in the ashes. And as on that account she always looked dusty and dirty,
they called her Cinderella. It happened that the father was once going to
the fair, and he asked his two step-daughters what he should bring back
for them. "Beautiful dresses," said one, "Pearls and jewels," said the
second. "And thou, Cinderella," said he, "what wilt thou have?" "Father,
break off for me the first branch which knocks against your hat on
your way home." So he bought beautiful dresses, pearls and jewels for
his two step-daughters, and on his way home, as he was riding through
a green thicket, a hazel twig brushed against him and knocked off his
hat. Then he broke off the branch and took it with him. When he reached
home he gave his step-daughters the things which they had wished for,
and to Cinderella he gave the branch from the hazel-bush. Cinderella
thanked him, went to her mother's grave and planted the branch on it,
and wept so much that the tears fell down on it and watered it. And it
grew, however, and became a handsome tree. Thrice a day Cinderella went
and sat beneath it, and wept and prayed, and a little white bird always
came on the tree, and if Cinderella expressed a wish, the bird threw
down to her what she had wished for.
It happened, however, that the King appointed a festival which was to last
three days, and to which all the beautiful young girls in the country
were invited, in order that his son might choose himself a bride. When
the two step-sisters heard that they too were to appear among the number,
they were delighted, called Cinderella and said, "Comb our hair for us,
brush our shoes and fasten our buckles, for we are going to the festival
at the King's palace." Cinderella obeyed, but wept, because she too would
have liked to go with them to the dance, and begged her step-mother to
allow her to do so. "Thou go, Cinderella!" said she; "Thou art dusty
and dirty and wouldst go to the festival? Thou hast no clothes and
shoes, and yet wouldst dance!" As, however, Cinderella went on asking,
the step-mother at last said, "I have emptied a dish of lentils into
the ashes for thee, if thou hast picked them out again in two hours,
thou shalt go with us." The maiden went through the back-door into the
garden, and called, "You tame pigeons, you turtle-doves, and all you
birds beneath the sky, come and help me to pick
"The good into the pot,
The bad into the crop."
Then two white pigeons came in by the kitchen-window, and afterwards the
turtle-doves, and at last all the birds beneath the sky, came whirring
and crowding in, and alighted amongst the ashes. And the pigeons nodded
with their heads and began pick, pick, pick, pick, and the rest began
also pick, pick, pick, pick, and gathered all the good grains into the
dish. Hardly had one hour passed before they had finished, and all
flew out again. Then the girl took the dish to her step-mother, and
was glad, and believed that now she would be allowed to go with them to
the festival. But the step-mother said, "No, Cinderella, thou hast no
clothes and thou canst not dance; thou wouldst only be laughed at." And
as Cinderella wept at this, the step-mother said, "If thou canst pick
two dishes of lentils out of the ashes for me in one hour, thou shalt
go with us." And she thought to herself, "That she most certainly cannot
do." When the step-mother had emptied the two dishes of lentils amongst
the ashes, the maiden went through the back-door into the garden and
cried, You tame pigeons, you turtle-doves, and all you birds under heaven,
come and help me to pick
"The good into the pot,
The bad into the crop."
Then two white pigeons came in by the kitchen-window, and afterwards the
turtle-doves, and at length all the birds beneath the sky, came whirring
and crowding in, and alighted amongst the ashes. And the doves nodded with
their heads and began pick, pick, pick, pick, and the others began also
pick, pick, pick, pick, and gathered all the good seeds into the dishes,
and before half an hour was over they had already finished, and all
flew out again. Then the maiden carried the dishes to the step-mother
and was delighted, and believed that she might now go with them to
the festival. But the step-mother said, "All this will not help thee;
thou goest not with us, for thou hast no clothes and canst not dance;
we should be ashamed of thee!" On this she turned her back on Cinderella,
and hurried away with her two proud daughters.
As no one was now at home, Cinderella went to her mother's grave beneath
the hazel-tree, and cried,
"Shiver and quiver, little tree,
Silver and gold throw down over me."
Then the bird threw a gold and silver dress down to her, and slippers
embroidered with silk and silver. She put on the dress with all speed,
and went to the festival. Her step-sisters and the step-mother however did
not know her, and thought she must be a foreign princess, for she looked
so beautiful in the golden dress. They never once thought of Cinderella,
and believed that she was sitting at home in the dirt, picking lentils
out of the ashes. The prince went to meet her, took her by the hand and
danced with her. He would dance with no other maiden, and never left
loose of her hand, and if any one else came to invite her, he said,
"This is my partner."
She danced till it was evening, and then she wanted to go home. But
the King's son said, "I will go with thee and bear thee company," for he
wished to see to whom the beautiful maiden belonged. She escaped from him,
however, and sprang into the pigeon-house. The King's son waited until her
father came, and then he told him that the stranger maiden had leapt into
the pigeon-house. The old man thought, "Can it be Cinderella?" and they
had to bring him an axe and a pickaxe that he might hew the pigeon-house
to pieces, but no one was inside it. And when they got home Cinderella
lay in her dirty clothes among the ashes, and a dim little oil-lamp
was burning on the mantle-piece, for Cinderella had jumped quickly down
from the back of the pigeon-house and had run to the little hazel-tree,
and there she had taken off her beautiful clothes and laid them on the
grave, and the bird had taken them away again, and then she had placed
herself in the kitchen amongst the ashes in her grey gown.
Next day when the festival began afresh, and her parents and the
step-sisters had gone once more, Cinderella went to the hazel-tree
and said - -
"Shiver and quiver, my little tree,
Silver and gold throw down over me."
Then the bird threw down a much more beautiful dress than on the preceding
day. And when Cinderella appeared at the festival in this dress, every
one was astonished at her beauty. The King's son had waited until she
came, and instantly took her by the hand and danced with no one but
her. When others came and invited her, he said, "She is my partner." When
evening came she wished to leave, and the King's son followed her and
wanted to see into which house she went. But she sprang away from him,
and into the garden behind the house. Therein stood a beautiful tall
tree on which hung the most magnificent pears. She clambered so nimbly
between the branches like a squirrel that the King's son did not know
where she was gone. He waited until her father came, and said to him,
"The stranger-maiden has escaped from me, and I believe she has climbed
up the pear-tree." The father thought, "Can it be Cinderella?" and had an
axe brought and cut the tree down, but no one was on it. And when they got
into the kitchen, Cinderella lay there amongst the ashes, as usual, for
she had jumped down on the other side of the tree, had taken the beautiful
dress to the bird on the little hazel-tree, and put on her grey gown.
On the third day, when the parents and sisters had gone away, Cinderella
went once more to her mother's grave and said to the little tree - -
"Shiver and quiver, my little tree,
Silver and gold throw down over me."
And now the bird threw down to her a dress which was more splendid and
magnificent than any she had yet had, and the slippers were golden. And
when she went to the festival in the dress, no one knew how to speak
for astonishment. The King's son danced with her only, and if any one
invited her to dance, he said, "She is my partner."
When evening came, Cinderella wished to leave, and the King's son was
anxious to go with her, but she escaped from him so quickly that he could
not follow her. The King's son had, however, used a strategem, and had
caused the whole staircase to be smeared with pitch, and there, when she
ran down, had the maiden's left slipper remained sticking. The King's son
picked it up, and it was small and dainty, and all golden. Next morning,
he went with it to the father, and said to him, "No one shall be my wife
but she whose foot this golden slipper fits." Then were the two sisters
glad, for they had pretty feet. The eldest went with the shoe into her
room and wanted to try it on, and her mother stood by. But she could
not get her big toe into it, and the shoe was too small for her. Then
her mother gave her a knife and said, "Cut the toe off; when thou art
Queen thou wilt have no more need to go on foot." The maiden cut the
toe off, forced the foot into the shoe, swallowed the pain, and went
out to the King's son. Then he took her on his his horse as his bride
and rode away with her. They were, however, obliged to pass the grave,
and there, on the hazel-tree, sat the two pigeons and cried,
"Turn and peep, turn and peep,
There's blood within the shoe,
The shoe it is too small for her,
The true bride waits for you."
Then he looked at her foot and saw how the blood was streaming from it. He
turned his horse round and took the false bride home again, and said
she was not the true one, and that the other sister was to put the shoe
on. Then this one went into her chamber and got her toes safely into the
shoe, but her heel was too large. So her mother gave her a knife and said,
"Cut a bit off thy heel; when thou art Queen thou wilt have no more need
to go on foot." The maiden cut a bit off her heel, forced her foot into
the shoe, swallowed the pain, and went out to the King's son. He took
her on his horse as his bride, and rode away with her, but when they
passed by the hazel-tree, two little pigeons sat on it and cried,
"Turn and peep, turn and peep,
There's blood within the shoe
The shoe it is too small for her,
The true bride waits for you."
He looked down at her foot and saw how the blood was running out of
her shoe, and how it had stained her white stocking. Then he turned
his horse and took the false bride home again. "This also is not the
right one," said he, "have you no other daughter?" "No," said the man,
"There is still a little stunted kitchen-wench which my late wife left
behind her, but she cannot possibly be the bride." The King's son said
he was to send her up to him; but the mother answered, "Oh, no, she is
much too dirty, she cannot show herself!" He absolutely insisted on it,
and Cinderella had to be called. She first washed her hands and face
clean, and then went and bowed down before the King's son, who gave
her the golden shoe. Then she seated herself on a stool, drew her foot
out of the heavy wooden shoe, and put it into the slipper, which fitted
like a glove. And when she rose up and the King's son looked at her face
he recognized the beautiful maiden who had danced with him and cried,
"That is the true bride!" The step-mother and the two sisters were
terrified and became pale with rage; he, however, took Cinderella on
his horse and rode away with her. As they passed by the hazel-tree,
the two white doves cried - -
"Turn and peep, turn and peep,
No blood is in the shoe,
The shoe is not too small for her,
The true bride rides with you,"
and when they had cried that, the two came flying down and placed
themselves on Cinderella's shoulders, one on the right, the other on
the left, and remained sitting there.
When the wedding with the King's son had to be celebrated, the two false
sisters came and wanted to get into favour with Cinderella and share her
good fortune. When the betrothed couple went to church, the elder was at
the right side and the younger at the left, and the pigeons pecked out
one eye of each of them. Afterwards as they came back, the elder was
at the left, and the younger at the right, and then the pigeons pecked
out the other eye of each. And thus, for their wickedness and falsehood,
they were punished with blindness as long as they lived.
22 The Riddle
There was once a King's son who was seized with a desire to travel
about the world, and took no one with him but a faithful servant. One
day he came to a great forest, and when darkness overtook him he could
find no shelter, and knew not where to pass the night. Then he saw a
girl who was going towards a small house, and when he came nearer, he
saw that the maiden was young and beautiful. He spoke to her, and said,
"Dear child, can I and my servant find shelter for the night in the little