by Jacob Grimm
“Oh, my son, those court servants are bad boys! If you have been at court and mixed with the lords and left no feathers behind, you have learned quite a bit and will know how to get by in the world. However, keep your eyes open all around you and above you, for often even the smartest dogs have felt the bite of wolves.”
The father now took his third son to account.
“Where did you try your luck?”
“I cast my lot on the highways and country roads, and sometimes I managed to find a grain of wheat or barley.”
“Indeed, this is a fine meal,” said the father, “but keep on the alert for signs of danger and look around carefully, especially when someone bends over and is about to pick up a stone. Then make sure you take off quickly.”
“That’s true,” said the son. “But what should I do when someone may already be carrying a rock, or a stone from a walk, under his shirt or in his pocket?”
“Where have you seen this?”
“Among the miners, dear father. When they return from work, they generally carry stones with them.”
“Miners are workers and resourceful people! If you’ve been around mining boys, you’ve seen and learned something.
Fly there if you will, but this you must know:
Mining boys have killed many a sparrow.”
Finally, the father came to the youngest son.
“You, my dear little chatterbox, you were always the silliest and weakest. Stay with me. The world is filled with crass and wicked birds that have crooked beaks and long claws. Stick to your own kind and pick up little spiders and caterpillars from the trees or cottages. This way you’ll live long and be content.”
“My dear Father, he who feeds himself without causing harm to other people will go far, and no sparrow hawk, falcon, eagle, or kite will do him harm if, each morning and evening, he faithfully commends himself and his honestly earned food to merciful God, who is the creator and preserver of all the birds of the forest and village. Likewise, it is He who hears the cries and prayers of the young ravens, for no sparrow or wren shall ever fall to the ground against His will.”
“Where have you learned this?”
The son answered: “When the gust of wind tore me from you, I landed in a church. There I picked the flies and spiders from the windows and heard those words during a sermon. Then the Father of all sparrows fed me during the summer and protected me from misfortune and fierce birds.”
“Faith, my dear son! If you take refuge in the churches and help clean out the spiders and the buzzing flies, and if you chirp to God like the young ravens and commend yourself to the eternal Creator, you will stay well, even if the entire world be full of wild and malicious birds.
For he who worships God in every way,
who suffers, waits, is meek, and prays,
who keeps his faith and conscience pure,
God will keep him, safe and sure.”
36
THE LITTLE MAGIC TABLE, THE GOLDEN DONKEY, AND THE CLUB IN THE SACK
I
Once upon a time there was a shoemaker who had three sons and a goat. The sons had to help him in his trade, and the goat had to nourish them with her milk. In order for the goat to get good, delicious food every day, the sons took turns and led her out to graze in a meadow. The eldest took her to the churchyard, where the goat jumped about and ate the grass. In the evening, when he led her home, he asked, “Goat, have you had enough?”
The goat answered:
“Oh, my, I’m stuffed!
Enough’s enough.
Meh! Meh!”
“Then let’s head for home,” the son said and led it back to the stable and tied it up. The old shoemaker asked his son whether the goat had received enough to eat. The son answered: “It’s really stuffed. It’s had enough.”
However, the shoemaker wanted to see for himself whether that was true. So he went to the stall in the stable and asked: “Goat, have you had enough?”
The goat replied:
“How can I have eaten enough?
I just jumped over mounds real rough.
Didn’t find one blade of grass ’cause the ground was tough.
Meh! Meh!”
When the shoemaker heard this, he was convinced that his son had lied to him. He became furious, jumped up, took his cane from the wall, gave his son a good beating, and sent him away. The next day the second son had to take the goat to a meadow and led it to the very best grass, which the goat completely devoured. In the evening, he asked the goat: “Goat, have you had enough?”
“Oh, my, I’m stuffed!
Enough’s enough.
Meh! Meh!”
“Then let’s head home,” and he took the goat to the stable and told the old man that the goat was full. Once again the father went to the stable and asked, “Goat, have you had enough?”
“How can I have eaten enough?
I just jumped over mounds real rough.
Didn’t find one blade of grass ’cause the ground was tough.
Meh! Meh!”
The shoemaker became angry and also gave a good beating to his second son and chased him from the house. Finally, the third son had to take the goat into the meadow. He was on his guard and looked for the very best grass. Indeed, there was nothing left when the goat had finished eating. In the evening the son asked: “Goat, have you had enough?”
“Oh, my, I’m stuffed.
Enough’s, enough.
Meh! Meh!”
“Then let’s head home,” he said and took the goat to the stable and assured his father that the goat was full. But the old man went to the stable again and asked: “Goat, are you full?”
“How can I have eaten enough?
I just jumped over mounds real rough.
Didn’t find one blade of grass ’cause the ground was tough.
Meh! Meh!”
So after the father gave his third son a good beating, he chased him from the house.
Now the shoemaker wanted to take the goat out by himself. So he tied it with a rope and led it to the middle of the best grass on the meadow, where the goat ate grass the entire day. In the evening, the shoemaker asked: “Goat, have you had enough?”
“Oh, my, I’m stuffed.
Enough’s enough.
Meh! Meh!”
“Well, let’s head for home,” and he led the goat to the stable. When he tied her up in the stall, he asked once again, “Goat, have you had enough?”
Now the goat answered him as usual:
“How can I have eaten enough?
I just jumped over mounds real rough.
Didn’t find one blade of grass ’cause the ground was tough.
Meh! Meh!”
When the shoemaker heard this, he realized that he had driven his three sons away even though they had been innocent. Consequently, he became so angry with the nasty goat that he fetched his razor and shaved the goat’s head until it was bald and gave it a good whipping.
In the meantime the eldest son had apprenticed himself to a carpenter, and when he had finished his apprenticeship and wanted to begin his travels, the carpenter gave him a little magic table and told him that he only had to say, “Little table, be covered,” and it would be covered by a white tablecloth, and on it would be a silver plate with a silver knife and fork, a crystal glass filled with red wine, and all over, the most beautiful dishes of food. Upon receiving this gift, he set out into the world, and wherever he was, in a field, in the forest, or in a tavern, and whenever he set his table down and said, “Little table be covered,” he would then have the most splendid meal.
One day he entered an inn where many guests had already gathered. They asked him whether he wanted to eat with them. He answered, “No, but you should all eat with me.”
Upon saying this, he set down his little table in the room and said: “Little table, be covered!” And suddenly it stood there covered with the most sumptuous food, and when a dish became empty, a new one appeared immediately in its place, and all
the guests were marvelously treated. The innkeeper, however, thought, “If you had such a table, you’d be a rich man,” and that evening, as the carpenter was fast asleep and had put his little table in a corner, the innkeeper fetched another one that looked just like it and replaced the genuine one with it. Early the next morning the good fellow got up, lifted the little table onto his back, and didn’t notice that it was the wrong one. He went home and said to his father: “Don’t worry about anything anymore or concern yourself. I have a little magic table, and we can now live in luxury for the rest of our days.”
His father was delighted to hear this and invited all their relatives to their home, and when they had all gathered together, the son set the table in the middle of the room and said: “Little table, be covered!”
But the little table remained as empty as it had been, and the son realized that he had been duped and was ashamed of himself while the relatives left without drinking and eating. Father and son had to resume their usual work.
The second son had gone to a miller, and when he had finished his apprenticeship, the miller gave him the donkey Bricklebrit as a gift. Whenever one said “Bricklebrit” to this donkey. it would begin to spew gold coins from the front and the behind. After he departed, the young man reached the same tavern where his brother’s little table had been stolen from him. He let himself be treated like a prince, and when he was given the bill, he went to the donkey in the stable and said: “Bricklebrit!” All at once he had more gold coins than he needed. However, the innkeeper had observed this, and during the night he got up, untied the golden donkey, and replaced it with his animal. So, in the morning the miller’s apprentice left with the wrong donkey and didn’t realize that he had been deceived. When he returned home to his father, he also declared: “Enjoy life! I have the donkey Bricklebrit, and you can have as much gold as you wish.”
So once again his father invited all their relatives, and a large white cloth was spread out in the middle of the room. Then the donkey was brought from the stable and set onto the cloth. The miller said: “Bricklebrit!” but it was in vain. Not a single gold coin appeared. Immediately the son realized that he had been duped. He was ashamed of himself and began to practice his trade to support himself.
The third son had gone to a turner, who gave him a sack with a club in it as a gift when the young man was ready to go off on his travels. Whenever he said, “Club, come out of the sack!” the club would jump out and dance on people’s backs and beat them mercilessly. Now the young turner had heard that his brothers had lost their treasures at an inn. Therefore, he went to the same inn and said that his brothers had brought with them a little magic table and the donkey Bricklebrit, but what he was carrying in his sack was much more precious and worth much more. The innkeeper was curious and thought that all good things come in threes, and wanted to steal this treasure during the night. But the turner had placed the sack under his pillow, and when the innkeeper came and tried to pull it out, the young man said: “Club, come out of the sack!”
All at once the club jumped out of the sack, and danced with the innkeeper and beat him so mercilessly that he readily promised to return the little magic table and the donkey Bricklebrit. Once he received them, the youngest son set out for home and brought everything to his father and lived with him and his brothers in happiness and joy.
As for the goat, she had run off to a foxhole. And when the fox came home and looked into his cave, he saw a pair of large fiery eyes glaring at him. He became so frightened that he ran away and encountered the bear, who said: “Brother fox, why are you making such a face?”
“A gruesome beast is sitting in my cave with terrifying fiery eyes.”
“Well, then I’ll drive it out for you,” the bear said and went to the cave. However, when he arrived at the cave and saw the fiery eyes, he, too, was struck by fear and ran off. Now a bee came flying by and asked: “Why are you looking so pale, bear?”
“A gruesome beast is sitting in the fox’s cave, and we can’t chase it away.”
Then the bee said: “I’m nothing but a tiny creature and you don’t give me the attention that I deserve, but perhaps I can help you.”
So the bee flew into the foxhole and stung the goat on its smooth shaven head so that she jumped up screaming “Meh! Meh!” and ran away. And to this day nobody knows whatever happened to the goat.
II
A tailor had three sons whom he wanted to send off into the world one after the other. They were supposed to learn an honest living. Since he didn’t want them to leave empty-handed, each was to receive a pancake and a penny.
The eldest set out and encountered a little man who lived in a nutshell. However, he was enormously rich and said to the tailor’s son, “If you look after my herd on the mountain and will protect it, you’ll receive a good gift from me. However, you must beware of the house at the foot of the mountain. There are a lot of merry things going on there. You can always hear music and shouting and dancing. If you enter that house, then you can forget about working for me.”
The tailor’s son agreed, drove the herd up the mountain, looked after it diligently, and always kept far away from the house. However, one time on a Sunday, he heard how much fun people were having inside, and he thought, “One time won’t hurt.” So he went inside, danced, and was delighted. But when he went outside again, it was night, and the entire herd had disappeared. So he went to his master with a heavy heart and confessed to him what he had done. The man in the nutshell was immensely angry. However, since the young man had served him so diligently, and since he had confessed his mistake openly, he gave him a magic table as a gift.
The tailor’s son was deeply grateful and set out on the way home to his father. Along the way he stopped at an inn and asked the innkeeper to give him a special room. He told him that he didn’t need any food and locked himself in the room. The innkeeper wondered what the strange guest was going to do in the room. So he sneaked upstairs and looked through the keyhole. All at once he saw how the stranger set a small table down in front of him and said, “Little table, cover yourself!” and as soon as he said that, the best food and drink appeared before him. The innkeeper thought that the little table would be better in his hands. So, in the night, when the stranger was fast asleep, he fetched the magic table and replaced it with another that looked the same.
In the morning the tailor’s son departed and didn’t notice that he had been deceived. When he returned home, he told his father about his good fortune, and the old man was happy and wanted to test the miraculous table right away. But even when his son spoke the words “Little table, cover yourself” a few times, it was to no avail. The table remained empty, and the young man realized that he had been robbed.
Now the second son received his pancake and a penny and went into the world to do better things. He, too, came upon the man in the nutshell and served him faithfully a long time, but he let himself be led astray. He went into the house, had fun, danced, and lost the herd. So he had to take his leave, but the man gave him a donkey. Whenever he said to the animal, “Rattle and shake yourself, spew gold from behind and from the front,” gold rained from all sides. The second son set out for home with great pleasure, but he stopped at the inn, and the innkeeper replaced the donkey with a common one, and when the young man returned home and wanted to make his father rich, it was all over, and his good fortune was ruined.
Finally, the third son was equipped with the pancake and penny and went into the world. And he promised to do better. He served the man in the nutshell faithfully, and in order to prevent himself from entering the dangerous house, he stuffed his ears with cotton, and when the year of service had been completed, he delivered the entire herd to the man, and not one animal was missing. Then the little man said: “I must give you a special reward. Here is a satchel. There’s a club in it, and as soon as you say, ‘Club, get out of the satchel,’ it will jump out and cause people a great deal of pain.”
The third son set out for
home and stopped by the inn and saw the innkeeper who had taken his brothers’ gifts. He threw his satchel on the table and spoke about his brothers: “One of them had a little magic table, and the other, a golden donkey. All that’s quite good, but it’s nothing compared to what I have in this satchel. It’s the most valuable thing in the world.”
The innkeeper became curious and hoped to get this treasure as well. When night came, the the third son laid himself down in the straw, and he placed the satchel beneath his head. The innkeeper stayed awake and waited until he thought that the third son was fast asleep. Then he went and fetched another satchel and wanted to pull out the satchel from under the young man’s head. However, the third son had stayed awake, and when he noticed the innkeeper’s hand, he cried out: “Club, get out of the satchel!”
All at once the club jumped out and fell upon the innkeeper and beat him so badly that he fell upon his knees and screamed for mercy. However, the third son refused to let the club stop until the thief returned the little table and the golden donkey. Then he set out for home with the three magic gifts to join his brothers, and from then on they lived with their wealth and in happiness, and the father always said: “I didn’t provide them with my pancake and my penny for nothing.”
37
THE TABLECLOTH, THE KNAPSACK, THE CANNON HAT, AND THE HORN
Once there were three brothers from the region of the Black Mountains. Originally, they were very poor and traveled to Spain, where they came to a mountain completely surrounded by silver. The oldest brother took advantage of the situation by gathering as much silver as he could carry and went back home with his booty. The other two continued traveling and came to a mountain where nothing could be seen but gold. One brother said to the other, “What should we do?”
The second took as much gold as he could carry, as his older brother had done, and went home. However, the third wanted to see if he could have even better luck and continued on his way. He walked for three days and then entered an enormous forest. After wandering about for some time, he became tired, hungry, and thirsty and couldn’t find his way out of the forest. So he climbed a tall tree to see if he could catch a glimpse of the end of the forest. However, he saw nothing but the tops of trees. His only wish now was to fill his body once more, and he began climbing down the tree. When he got to the bottom, he noticed a table covered with many different dishes underneath the tree. He was delighted by this and ate until he was full. After he had finished eating, he took the tablecloth with him and moved on. Whenever he got hungry or thirsty again, he opened the tablecloth, and whatever he wished for would appear on it.
