The Grimm Reader

by Maria Tatar

  “No,” he replied, “what is that all about? My dead cousin was here, and a bearded man stopped by and he showed me where there was a lot of money. But no one has taught me how to get the creeps.”

  The king said: “You have broken the spell on the castle, and now my daughter is yours.”

  “That’s all very well,” the boy said, “but I still have no idea how to get the creeps.”

  And so the gold was carried up from below, and the wedding was celebrated. The young king loved his wife dearly and was very happy, but he kept saying: “If I could just learn how to get the creeps! If I could just learn how to get the creeps!” The queen began to find that really annoying. Her chambermaid said: “I know how to fix that. He’ll learn how to get the creeps soon enough.” She went over to the brook that was running through the garden and fetched a bucket full of minnows. In the evening, when the young king was sleeping, his wife pulled back the covers and poured the bucket of cold water with minnows on him. The little fish wriggled all over him. He woke up with a start and shouted: “Oh, I’ve got the creeps, I’ve got the creeps, dear wife! Finally I’ve learned how to get the creeps.”

  THE WORN-OUT

  DANCING SHOES

  nce upon a time there lived a king who had twelve daughters, and one was more beautiful than the next. They all slept in one large room, and their beds stood side by side. When they would retire for the night, the king would shut the door to their bedroom and lock it tight. But when he returned to open the door in the morning, he found that the shoes of the princesses were worn out from dancing, and no one could figure out how this could keep happening. Finally, the king proclaimed that whoever found out where his daughters were dancing at night could choose one of them for his wife and would become king after his death. But if anyone came forward and failed to uncover anything within three days and nights, then he would lose his life.

  It wasn’t long before a prince came along who decided to try his luck. He was received with a warm welcome, and in the evening he was conducted to a room adjacent to the bedroom of the princesses. A bed was prepared for him, and he was told to keep watch and find out where the girls went dancing. Just to make sure that the princesses didn’t do anything in secret or go somewhere else, the door of the room that led to his was kept open. But the eyelids of the prince became heavy as lead, and before he knew it, he was fast asleep. When he awoke in the morning, all twelve princesses had spent the night dancing, for their shoes were right there with holes in the soles. On the second and third nights, the same thing happened, and then the king had no mercy and ordered the prince’s head chopped off. Many men followed him and wanted to try their luck too, but one after another, they lost their lives.

  Now it happened that an old soldier who was wounded and could no longer serve in the army was headed to the city where the king dwelt. Along the way, he met an old woman who asked him where he was going.

  “To tell you the truth, I don’t really know,” he said, and then he added in jest: “I wouldn’t mind finding out how the king’s daughters wear out their shoes. Then I could become king.”

  “It’s really not that hard,” the old woman said. “Just don’t have any of the wine that they bring you in the evening. Pretend that you’re fast asleep.”

  Then she gave him a little cloak and said: “If you put this on, you’ll be invisible and you’ll have no trouble following the princesses.”

  After receiving the good advice, the soldier began to think seriously about the venture, and he screwed up his courage to present himself to the king as a suitor. He was welcomed just as warmly as the others had been and was given royal garments to wear. In the evening, when it was time to go to sleep, he was conducted to the antechamber, and just as he was getting ready to go to bed, the oldest of the princesses came and brought him a beaker of wine. But the soldier tied a sponge under his chin, and he let the wine run down into it and didn’t drink a single drop. Then he lay down, and after a while he began to snore as if he were sound asleep. The twelve princesses heard him, and they burst out laughing. The oldest said: “There’s another one who could have done better things with his life.”

  Then they all got up, opened chests, cabinets, and closets, and took out all kinds of splendid clothes. They groomed themselves in front of the mirrors, rushed to and fro, and could hardly wait for the ball. But the youngest said: “You’re all so excited. I don’t know about you, but I have a strange feeling and am worried that something bad is going to happen to us.”

  “You silly goose,” the oldest said. “You’re always nervous. Have you already forgotten how many princes have been here before? I didn’t really need to give that soldier a sleeping potion. Even if I hadn’t given it to him, that oaf would never have woken up.”

  When they were all ready, they took a good look at the soldier before leaving. But his eyes were shut tight, and since he was neither moving nor stirring, they were sure that the coast was clear. Then the oldest went over to her bed and tapped on it. It sank right down into the ground, and they all climbed down the opening, one after another, with the oldest going first. The soldier, who was watching everything, lost no time in putting on the cloak and followed in the steps of the youngest. Halfway down the stairs, he stepped on her dress and she was so startled that she cried out: “What’s going on? Who’s holding my dress?”

  “Don’t act like a fool,” the oldest girl said. “You just caught it on a nail.”

  They went all the way down the stairs, and when they reached the bottom they were standing in a marvelous avenue of trees, where the leaves were all made of silver and glittered and sparkled. The soldier thought: “You’d better take a piece of evidence with you.” When he broke off a branch, the tree made a tremendous cracking sound.

  “Something’s wrong. Did you hear that noise?” the youngest girl shouted.

  “Those are just gun salutes, for we’ll soon be setting our princes free,” the oldest insisted.

  They soon reached another avenue of trees, where all the leaves were made of gold, and then a third, where they were made of pure diamonds. The soldier broke a branch off each one, and the cracking sound was so loud that each time the youngest princess was startled and felt afraid. But the oldest kept insisting that the sounds were nothing but gun salutes.

  The princesses walked on and reached a huge lake with twelve boats on it. In each of the boats there was a handsome prince. All of them had been waiting for the twelve princesses, and each one took a princess in his boat. The soldier went aboard with the youngest princess.

  “I’m not sure what’s going on, but the ship is much heavier than usual, and I have to row with all my might to get it moving.”

  “It must be the hot weather,” the youngest princess said. “I’m feeling a little warm too.”

  On the other side of the lake there was a beautiful, brightly lit castle, with drums and trumpets making merry music within. They rowed over to the palace, entered, and each of the princes danced with his sweetheart. The soldier was invisible, but he danced along as well, and whenever a princess picked up a glass of wine, he would drink it and drain it dry before it reached her lips. The youngest princess started worrying about this too, but the oldest told her to keep quiet.

  They all danced until three in the morning, when all the shoes were worn through, and they had to stop. The princes rowed them back across the lake, and this time the soldier sat in the first boat with the oldest princess. The princesses took leave of their partners on the banks of the lake, and they promised to return the following night. When they reached the stairs, the soldier ran ahead of them and got into bed. And when the twelve girls came dragging wearily in, he was snoring so loudly again that they all heard it and said: “We don’t have to worry about him.” Then they took off their beautiful dresses, put them away, placed the worn-out shoes under the bed, and went to sleep.

  The next morning
the soldier decided not to say anything but wanted to witness the strange events again, and he went with them for a second and then a third night. Everything happened as on the first night, and each time they danced until the shoes fell apart. The third time he took a glass as a piece of evidence.

  The hour came when he was to bear witness, and he took with him the three branches and the cup and went to the king. The twelve princesses were waiting behind the door and listening to what he would say. When the king asked: “Where did my twelve daughters wear out their shoes?” he replied: “In an underground palace with twelve princes.” And he reported what had happened and produced the evidence.

  The king called for his daughters and asked them if the soldier was telling the truth. They realized that they had been exposed and that trying to deny it would do no good. They had to admit everything.

  The king asked the soldier which of his daughters he wanted as wife. He replied: “I’m not so young any more. How about the oldest?” The wedding was celebrated on that very day, and the king promised that the soldier would inherit the kingdom after his death. As for the princes, they were compelled to remain under a spell for exactly the number of nights that they had danced with the princesses.

  THE STAR TALERS

  here was once a little girl who had lost her father and mother and who was so poor that she no longer had a room to live in, nor a bed to sleep in, and in the end there was nothing she could call her own but the clothes on her back and a crust of bread that some kind soul had given her. But she was both good and devout, and when she was abandoned by everyone, she put her faith in God and went out into the countryside.

  There she met a poor man who said to her: “Please give me something to eat. I’m so hungry.” She handed him the entire crust of bread, saying, “May the Lord bless it for you,” and she continued on her way.

  Then she met a child who complained to her: “My head is so cold. Can you give me something to cover it with?” The girl took off her cap and gave it to the child.

  She walked a little farther and met another child who didn’t have a jacket and was freezing, and so she gave her jacket to the child. Farther on, another child begged for her dress, and she gave that away too. At length she made her way into a forest. It was dark by then, and another child came and asked for her shift. The kindhearted girl thought: “It’s dark outside. Since no one can see you, you can give your shift away too,” and she took it off and gave it away.

  She was standing outside with nothing left whatsoever, when stars began to fall from the sky, and they were shiny new talers. Even though she had just given her shift away, she had a new one on, and it was made of the finest linen. She gathered the talers into her lap, and for the rest of her life she was rich.

  SNOW WHITE

  AND ROSE RED

  here once lived a poor widow, all alone in a little cottage, and in front of the cottage there was a garden with two rosebushes growing in it, one with white roses and the other with red. The widow had two children who resembled the rosebushes. One was called Snow White, the other Rose Red. No two children had ever been as kind and devout, and as helpful and cheerful, as they were. Snow White was more quiet and gentle than Rose Red. Rose Red liked to frolic in the fields and on the meadows, looking for flowers and catching butterflies. Snow White, on the other hand, liked to stay at home with her mother, helping out with the housework, or reading out loud to her mother when all the work was done.

  The two children liked each other so much that they would always clasp hands when they went out together. When Snow White would say: “We’ll never leave each other,” Rose Red would answer “Not as long as we live,” and their mother would chime in by saying “You must always share whatever you have.” They would often go into the woods to pick red berries, and they never had to worry about the animals, for they made friends with them right away. Rabbits nibbled at cabbage leaves from their hands; deer would graze beside them; stags bounded right by them; and birds would perch on branches near them and sing all the songs they knew. No harm ever came to the girls. If it got late while they were in the forest, they would lie down next to each other on the moss and sleep until dawn. Their mother knew what they were doing and never worried about them.

  Once when they spent the night in the woods and the rising sun woke them up, they saw right before them a beautiful child wearing a glittering, white dress. The child stood up and looked at them in a friendly way, but said nothing and went into the forest. When they looked around, they realized that they had been sleeping near a cliff and would surely have fallen off the edge if they had just gone a few steps farther in the darkness. Their mother told them that the child must have been the angel that watches over good children.

  Snow White and Rose Red kept the cottage so tidy that it was always a pleasure to look at. In the summertime Rose Red took care of the house, and every morning she would put a bouquet of flowers, with one rose from each of the bushes, at her mother’s bedside. In the wintertime Snow White lit the fire and hung the kettle over the hearth. The kettle was made of brass and had been scoured so clean that it glittered like gold. In the evening, when snowflakes were falling to the ground, the mother would say: “Snow White, go and bolt the door.” Then they would all sit around the hearth, and the mother would take out her spectacles and read to them from a big book. The two girls would listen while they were spinning. A little lamb lay on the floor beside them, and behind them a little white dove was on its perch with its head tucked under its wing.

  One evening, while they were sitting peacefully at home, someone started knocking at the door as if he wanted to be let in right away. The mother said: “Quick, Rose Red, go and open the door. It may be a wayfarer seeking shelter.” Rose Red went to the door and unbolted it. She was sure it was going to be some poor soul, but it wasn’t at all. It was a bear, and he thrust his big black head right through the doorway. Rose Red screamed and backed off. The little lamb bleated, the dove fluttered into the air, and Snow White hid behind her mother’s bed.

  The bear began to speak, and he said: “Don’t be afraid. I’m not going to hurt you. I’m half-frozen from the weather, and all I want to do is get warm.”

  “You poor fellow,” said the mother. “Lie down by the hearth, but just make sure that your fur doesn’t catch fire.” Then she called out: “Snow White, Rose Red, come back out. The bear isn’t going to hurt you, he means no harm.” And the two girls came out and little by little the lamb and the dove too, for they were no longer afraid. The bear said: “Children, would you mind beating my fur a little to get the snow off it.” And the girls fetched a broom and swept the snow off his coat. Then he stretched out in front of the hearth, and feeling completely content, he began to rumble blissfully.

  It didn’t take long for the girls to get used to their awkward guest, and he soon had to put up with all kinds of mischief from them. They would tug at his fur, walk on his back with their feet, and roll him back and forth, or else they would beat him with a hazel branch, and when he growled they would start laughing. The bear was a good sport about it all, but if they took things too far, he would shout: “Children, spare me!

  Snow White and Rose Red,

  You’ll beat your suitor till he’s dead.”

  When it was time to go to sleep and everyone was ready for bed, the mother said to the bear: “You are very welcome to spend the night at the hearth. Then you’ll be protected from the cold and the harsh weather.” At daybreak the two children let him go outside, and he ambled across the snow into the forest. From then on, the bear would arrive every evening at the exact same time. He would lie down at the hearth and let the children tease him as much as they wanted. They had become so accustomed to his arrival that the door was never bolted until their big black friend had returned.

  When spring arrived and everything outside was turning green, the bear announced one morning to Snow White: “I’m going to
have to leave and won’t return until the summer is over.”

  “Where are you going, dear bear?” Snow White asked.

  “I have to go back to the woods to guard my treasures against the evil dwarfs. In the winter, when the ground is frozen, they have to stay underground and can’t work their way up. But now that the sun has warmed up the ground and thawed everything out, they can break through, come above ground, look around, and steal. Whatever they get their hands on and carry off to their caves isn’t so easy to recover.”

  Snow White felt sad to see the bear go. When she unbolted the door for him and he was squeezing through it, his coat caught on the latch and some of his skin came off. Snow White could have sworn that she saw gold shimmering through, but she wasn’t completely sure. The bear hurried off, and soon he disappeared into the woods.

  After a while the mother sent the two children into the woods to gather brushwood. They discovered a huge tree that had been felled, and right next to it something was jumping up and down in the grass, but they couldn’t figure out what it was. When they got closer, they realized that it was a dwarf with a wizened old face and a very long beard that was white as snow. The end of his beard had gotten caught in the crack of a tree trunk, and the gnome was racing back and forth like a little dog on a chain and couldn’t figure out what to do. He stared at the two girls with his fiery red eyes and screamed: “What are you standing there for! Can’t you come over here and help me!”

  “What happened to you, my dear little man?” asked Rose Red.

  “You stupid nosey goose,” he replied. “I wanted to split this tree trunk to get some firewood for my kitchen. If we use big logs to heat our little dinners, they burn right up. We don’t have the huge portions that you uncouth, greedy folks all wolf down. I just drove the wedge in the exact right spot, and everything would have gone according to plan, but the stupid piece of wood was too smooth and it popped right out. The cleft closed right up with my beard in it. Now my beautiful white beard is caught in the tree trunk, and I can’t get out of here. And you silly baby-faced girls just sit there and laugh. How nasty you both are!”