Grimm's Fairy Tales (Barnes & Noble Classics Series)

by Brothers Grimm

  Then the Hunter rose up, and, opening the seven jaws of the Dragon, asked where were the seven tongues. This frightened the Marshal, and he turned pale as death, but at last, not knowing what else to say, he stammered out, “Dragons have no tongues!”

  The Hunter replied, “Liars should have none, but the Dragon’s tongues are the trophies of the Dragon-slayer;” and so saying he unwrapped the handkerchief, and there lay all seven, and he put one into each mouth of the monster, and they fitted exactly. Then he took the handkerchief upon which her name was marked and showed it to the maiden, and asked her to whom she had given it, and she replied, “To him who slew the Dragon.” Then he called his beasts, and taking from each the necklace, and from the Lion the golden snap, he put them together, and, showing them to the Princess too, asked her to whom they belonged. The Princess said, “The necklace and the snap were mine, and I shared it among the animals who helped to conquer the Dragon.” Then the Huntsman said, “When I was weary and rested after the fight, the Marshal came and cut off my head, and then took away the Princess, and gave out that it was he who had conquered the Dragon. Now that he has lied, I show these tongues, this necklace and this handkerchief for proofs.” And then he related how the beasts had cured him with a wonderful root, and that for a year he had wandered and at last had come hither again, where he had discovered the deceit of the Marshal through the innkeeper’s tale. Then the King asked his daughter, “Is it true that this man killed the Dragon?”

  “Yes,” she replied, “it is true, for I dared not disclose the treachery of the Marshal, because he threatened me with instant death. But now it is known without my mention, and for this reason have I delayed the wedding a year and a day.”

  After these words the King ordered twelve councillors to be summoned who should judge the Marshal, and they condemned him to be torn in pieces by four oxen. So the Marshal was executed, and the King gave his daughter to the Huntsman, and named him Stadtholder over all his kingdoms. The wedding was celebrated with great joy and the young King caused his father and foster-father to be brought to him, and loaded them with presents. He did not forget either the Landlord, but bade him welcome, and said to him, “See you here, my host: I have married the daughter of the King, and thy house and garden are mine.” The Landlord said that was according to right; but the young King said, “It shall be according to mercy;” and he gave him back not only his house and garden, but also presented him with the thousand gold pieces he had wagered.

  Now the young King and Queen were very happy, and lived together in contentment. He often went out hunting, because he delighted in it; and the faithful animals always accompanied him.

  In the neighbourhood there was a forest which it was said was haunted, and that if one entered it he did not easily get out again. The young King, however, took a great fancy to hunt in it, and he let the old King have no peace till he consented to let him. Away then he rode with a great company; and as he approached the forest, he saw a snow-white hindn going into it; so, telling his companions to wait his return, he rode off among the trees, and only his faithful beasts accompanied him. The courtiers waited and waited till evening, but he did not return; so they rode home, and told the young Queen that her husband had ridden into the forest after a white doe, and had not again come out. The news made her very anxious about him. He, however, had ridden farther and farther into the wood after the beautiful animal without catching it; and when he thought it was within range of his gun, with one spring it got away, till at last it disappeared altogether. Then he remarked for the first how deeply he had plunged into the thickets; and, taking his horn, he gave a blast, but there was no answer, for his people could not hear it. Presently night began to close in; and, perceiving that he could not get home that day, he dismounted, and, making a fire, prepared to pass the night. While he sat by the fire, with his beasts lying near all around him, he thought he heard a human voice, but, on looking round, he could see nobody. Soon after he heard again a groan, as if from a box; and, looking up, he saw an old Woman sitting upon the tree, who was groaning and crying, “Oh, oh, oh, how I do freeze!” He called out, “Come down and warm yourself if you freeze.” But she said, “No; your beasts will bite me.” He replied, “They will not harm you, my good old lady, if you like to come down.” But she was a Witch, and said, “I will throw you down a twig, which if you beat on their backs they will then do nothing to me.” He did as he was requested; and immediately they laid down quietly enough, for they were changed into stones. Now, when the old Woman was safe from the animals, she sprang down, and, touching the King too with a twig, converted him also into a stone. Thereupon she laughed to herself, and buried him and his beasts in a grave where already were many more stones.

  Meantime the young Queen was becoming more and more anxious and sad when her husband did not return; and just then it happened that the other brother, who had traveled towards the east when they separated, came into the territory. He had been seeking and had found no service to enter, and was, therefore, travelling through the country, and making his animals dance for a living. Once he thought he would go and look at the knife which they had stuck in the tree at their separation, in order to see how his brother fared. When he looked at it, lo! his brother’s side was half rusty and half bright! At this he was frightened, and thought his brother had fallen into some great misfortune; but he hoped yet to save him, for one half of the knife was bright. He therefore went with his beasts towards the west; and, as he came to the capital city, the watch went out to him, and asked if he should mention his arrival to his bride, for the young Queen had for two days been in great sorrow and distress at his absence, and feared he had been killed in the enchanted wood. The watchman thought certainly he was no one else than the young King, for he was so much like him, and had also the same wild beasts returning after him. The Huntsman perceived he was speaking of his brother, and thought it was all for the best that he should give himself out as his brother, for so, perhaps, he might more easily save him. So he let himself be conducted by the watchman into the castle, and was there received with great joy, for the young Queen took him for her husband also, and asked him where he had stopped so long. He told her he had lost his way in a wood, and could not find his way out earlier.

  For a couple of days he rested at home, but was always asking about the enchanted wood: and at last he said, “I must hunt there once more.” The King and the young Queen tried to dissuade him, but he was resolved, and went out with a great number of attendants. As soon as he got into the wood it happened to him as to his brother: he saw a white hind, and told his people to wait his return where they were, while he hunted the wild animal, and immediately rode off, his beasts following his footsteps. But he could not catch the hind any more than his brother; and he went so deep into the wood that he was forced to pass the night there. As soon as he had made a fire he heard some one groaning above him, and saying, “Oh, oh, oh, how I do freeze!” Then he looked up, and there sat the same old Witch in the tree, and he said to her, “If you freeze, old Woman, why don’t you come down and warm yourself?” She replied, “No, your beasts would bite me; but if you will beat them with a twig which I will throw down to you they can do me no harm.” When the Hunter heard this he doubted the old Woman, and said to her, “I do not beat my beasts; so come down, or I will fetch you.” But she called out, “What are you thinking of, you can do nothing to me!” He answered, “Come down, or I will shoot you.” The old Woman laughed, and said, “Shoot away! I am not afraid of your bullets!”

  He knelt down and shot, but she was bullet-proof; and, laughing till she yelled, called out, “You cannot catch me!” However, the Hunter knew a trick or two, and, tearing three silver buttons from his coat, he loaded his gun with them; and while he was ramming them down the old Witch threw herself from the tree with a loud shriek, for she was not proof against such shot. He placed his foot upon her neck, and said, “Old Witch, if you do not quickly tell me where my brother is, I will tie your hands
together, and throw you into the fire.”

  She was in great anguish, begged for mercy, and said, “He lies with his beasts in a grave turned into stone.” Then he forced her to go with him, threatening her, and saying, “You old cat! now turn my brother and all the creatures which lie here into their proper forms, or I will throw you into the fire!”

  The old Witch took a twig, and changed the stone back to what it was, and immediately his brother and the beasts stood before the Huntsman, as well as many merchants, work-people, and shepherds, who, delighted with their freedom, returned home. But the twin brothers, when they saw each other again, kissed and embraced, and were very glad. They seized the old Witch, bound her, and laid her on the fire; and, when she was consumed, the forest itself disappeared, and all was clear and free from trees, so that one could see the royal palace, three miles off.

  Now the two brothers went together home; and on the way told each other their adventures. And, when the younger one said he was lord over the whole land in place of the King, the other one said, “All that I was well aware of; for when I went into the city I was taken for you. And all kingly honour was paid to me, the young Queen even mistaking me for her true husband, and making me sit at her table, and sleep in her room.” When the first one heard this he became very angry, and so jealous and passionate, that, drawing his sword, he cut off the head of his brother. But as soon as he had done so, and saw the red blood flowing from the dead body, he repented sorely, and said, “My brother has saved me, and I have killed him for so doing;” and he groaned pitifully. Just then the Hare came up, and offered to fetch the healing root, and then, running off, brought it just at the right time, so that the dead man was restored to life again, and not even the mark of his wound was to be seen.

  After this adventure they went on, and the younger brother said, “You see that we have both got on royal robes, and have both the same beasts following us; we will, therefore, enter the city at opposite gates, and arrive from the two quarters the same time, before the King.”

  So they separated; and at the same moment the watchman from each gate came to the King, and informed him that the young Prince with the beasts had returned from the hunt. The King said, “It is not possible, for your two gates are a mile asunder!” But in the mean time the two brothers had arrived in the castle-yard, and began to mount the stairs. When they entered the King said to his daughter, “Tell me which is your husband, for one appears to me the same as the other, and I cannot tell.” The Princess was in great trouble, and could not tell which was which; but at last she bethought herself of the necklace which she had given to the beasts, and she looked and found on one of the Lions her golden snap, and then she cried exultingly, “He to whom this Lion belongs is my rightful husband.” Then the young King laughed and said, “That is right;” and they sat down together at table, and ate, and drank, and were merry. At night when the young King went to bed his wife asked him why he had placed on the two previous nights a sword in the bed, for she thought it was to kill her. Then the young King knew how faithful his brother had been.

  How Six Traveled Through the World

  There was once a man who understood a variety of arts; he had served in the army, where he had behaved very bravely, but when the war came to an end he received his discharge, and three dollars’ salary for his services. “Wait a bit! this does not please me,” said he; “if I find the right people, I will make the King give me the treasures of the whole kingdom.” Thereupon, inflamed with anger, he went into a forest, where he found a man who had just uprooted six trees, as if they were straw, and he asked him whether he would be his servant, and travel with him. “Yes,” replied the man; “but I will first take home to my mother this bundle of firewood;” and, taking up one of the trees, he wound it round the other five, and, raising the bundle upon his shoulder, bore it away. Soon he returned, and said to his master, “We two shall travel well through the world!” They had not gone far before they came upon a hunter who was kneeling upon one knee, and preparing to take aim with his gun. The master asked him what he was going to shoot, and he replied, “Two miles from hence sits a fly upon the branch of an oak-tree, whose left eye I wish to shoot out.”

  “Oh, go with me!” said the man, “for if we three are together, we must pass easily through the world.”

  The huntsman consented, and went with him, and soon they arrived at seven windmills, whose sails were going round at a rattling pace, although right or left there was no wind and not a leaf stirring. At this sight the man said, “I wonder what drives these mills, for there is no breeze!” and they went on; but they had not proceeded more than two miles when they saw a man sitting upon a tree who held one nostril while he blew out of the other. “My good fellow,” said our hero, “what are you driving up there?”

  “Did you not see,” replied the man, “two miles from hence, seven windmills? it is those which I am blowing, that the sails may go round.”

  “Oh, then, come with me,” said our hero, “for, if four people like us travel together, we shall soon get through the world.”

  So the blower got up and accompanied him, and in a short while they met with another man standing upon one leg, with the other leg unbuckled and lying by his side. The leader of the others said, “You have done this, no doubt, to rest yourself?” “Yes,” replied the man, “I am a runner, and in order that I may not spring along too quickly I have unbuckled one of my legs, for when I wear both I go as fast as a bird can fly.”

  “Well, then, come with me,” said our hero; “five such fellows as we are will soon get through the world.”

  The five heroes went on together, and soon met a sixth man who had a hat which he wore quite over one ear. The captain of the others said to him, “Manners! manners! don’t hang your hat on one side like that; you look like a simpleton!”

  “I dare not do so,” replied the other; “for, if I set my hat straight, there will come so sharp a frost that the birds in the sky will freeze and fall dead upon the ground.”

  “Then come with me,” said our hero, “for it is odd if six fellows like us cannot travel quickly through the world.”

  These six new companions went into a city where the King had proclaimed that whoever should run a race with his daughter, and bear away the prize, should become her husband; but if he lost the race he should also lose his head. This was mentioned to our hero, who said that he would have his servant run for him; but the King told him that in that case he must agree that his servant’s life, as well as his own, should be sacrificed if the wager were lost. To this he agreed and swore, and then he bade his runner buckle on his other leg, and told him to be careful and to make sure of winning. The wager was, that whoever first brought back water from a distant spring should be victor. Accordingly the runner and the princess both received a cup, and they both began to run at the same moment. But the princess had not proceeded many steps before the runner was quite out of sight, and it seemed as if but a puff of wind had passed. In a short time he came to the spring, and, filling his cup, he turned back again, but had not gone very far, before, feeling tired, he set his cup down again, and laid down to take a nap. He made his pillow of a horse’s skull which lay upon the ground; thinking, from its being hard, that he would soon awake. Meantime the princess, who was a better runner than many of the men at court, had arrived at the spring, and was returning with her cup of water, when she perceived her opponent lying asleep. In great joy she exclaimed, “My enemy is given into my own hands!” and, emptying his cup, she ran on faster still. All would now have been lost, if, by good luck, the huntsman had not been standing on the castle, looking on with his sharp eyes. When he saw the princess was gaining the advantage, he loaded his gun and shot so cleverly that he carried away the horse’s skull under the runner’s head, without doing the man any injury. This awoke him, and, jumping up, he found his cup empty and the princess far in advance. However, he did not lose courage, but ran back again to the spring, and, filling his cup, returned home t
en minutes earlier than his opponent. “See you,” said he, “now I have used my legs, the former was not worth calling running.” The King was disgusted, and his daughter not less, that a common soldier should carry off the prize, and they consulted together how they should get rid of him and his companions. At last the King said, “Do not distress yourself, my dear: I have found a way to prevent their return.” Then he called to the six travellers, and, saying to them, “You must now eat and drink and be merry,” he led them into a room with a floor of iron, doors of iron, and the windows guarded with iron bars. In the room was a table set out with choice delicacies, and the King invited them to enter and refresh themselves, and as soon as they were inside he locked and bolted all the doors. That done, he summoned the cook, and commanded him to keep a fire lighted beneath till the iron was red hot. The cook obeyed, and the six companions, sitting at table, soon began to feel warm, and at first thought it arose from eating; but, as it kept getting warmer and warmer, they rose to leave the room, and found the doors and windows all fast. Then they perceived that the King had some wicked design in hand, and wished to suffocate them. “But he shall not succeed!” cried the man with the hat; “I will summon such a frost as shall put to shame and crush this fire;” and, so saying, he put his hat on straight, and immediately such a frost fell that all the heat disappeared, and even the meats upon the dishes began to freeze. When two hours had passed, the King thought they would be stifled, and he caused the door to be opened, and went in himself to see after them. But, as soon as the door was opened, there stood all six fresh and lively, and requested to come out to warm themselves, for the cold in the room had been so intense that all the dishes were frozen! In a great passion the King went down to the Cook and scolded him, and asked why he had not obeyed his instructions. The Cook, however, pointing to the fire, said, “There is heat enough there, I should think!” and the King was obliged to own there was, and he saw clearly that he should not be able to get rid of his visitors in that way.