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

by Brothers Grimm

  Now, the Prince had to plant and sow, to dig and chop, in spite of all weathers, for he must bear the wind and rain. One day in summer, as he was working alone in the garden, he took off his cap to cool his head in the breeze, and the sun shone so upon his hair that the golden locks glittered, and their brightness became reflected in the mirror in the chamber of the King’s daughter. She jumped up to see what it was, and, perceiving the Gardener’s Boy, called him, to bring her a nosegay of flowers. In a great hurry he put on his cap and plucked some wild flowers, which he arranged together. But, as he was going up the steps with them to the Princess, the Gardener met him, and said, “How can you take the Princess such a nosegay of bad flowers? go back and fetch the rarest and most beautiful.” “Oh, no!” said the Boy, “the wild flowers bloom the longest and will please the best.” So he went up to the chamber, and there the Princess said to him, “Take off your cap; it is not becoming of you to wear it here!”

  The Boy, however, replied he dared not remove it, because his head was too ugly to look at, but she seized his cap and pulled it off, and his golden hair fell down over his shoulders, most beautiful to see. The Boy would have run away, but the Princess detained him and gave him a handful of ducats. Then he left her and took her money to the Gardener, whom he told to give it to his children to play with, for he despised money. The following day the Princess called him again to give her a bouquet of wild flowers, and when he entered with them she snatched again at his cap, but this time he held it fast with both hands, and would not let it go. She gave him still another handful of ducats, but he would not keep them, but gave them to the Gardener’s children for playthings. The third day it was just the same: the Princess could not get his cap and he would not keep her ducats.

  Not long after these events the country was drawn into a war, and the King collected all his people, for he knew not whether he should be able to make a stand against the enemy, who was very powerful, and led an immense army. Amongst others, the Gardener’s Boy asked for a horse, saying he was grown up and ready to take his part in the fight. The others, however, laughed at him, and said, “When we are gone we will leave behind a horse for you, but take care of yourself!” So, as soon as the rest had set out, the young Prince went into the stable, and found there a horse which was lame, and clicked its feet together. Nevertheless, he mounted it, and rode away to the gloomy forest; and as soon as he arrived there he called, “Iron Man, Iron Man!” in such a loud voice that the trees re-echoed it. Soon the wild man appeared, and asked, “What do you desire?” “I desire a strong horse, for I am going to battle,” said the Youth. “That you shall have, and more than you desire,” said the Iron Man; and, diving in among the trees, a page suddenly made his appearance, holding a horse so fiery and mettlesome that he was scarcely to be touched. Behind the steed followed a troop of warriors, all clad in iron, with swords which glittered in the sun. The Youth, thereupon, delivered up his three-legged horse to the page, and, mounting the other, rode off at the head of his troop. Just as he reached the field of battle he found the greater part of the King’s army already slain, and the rest were on the point of yielding. The Youth, therefore, charged at once with his iron troop, like a storm of hail, against the enemy, and they cut down all who opposed them. The enemy turned and fled, but the young Prince pursued and cut to pieces all the fugitives, so that not one man was left. Then, instead of leading his troop before the King, he rode back with them to the forest, and summoned the Iron Man. “What do you desire now?” he inquired.

  “Take back all these soldiers and your steed, and restore me my three-legged horse.” All this was done as he desired, and he rode home on his limping animal. When the King arrived afterwards, his Daughter greeted him, and congratulated him on his victory. “I do not deserve it,” he said; “the victory was owing to a strange knight who came to our aid with his troop.” His Daughter inquired then who he was; but the King told her he did not know, for he had pursued the enemy and had not returned again. The Princess afterwards inquired of the Gardener respecting his boy, and he laughed, and said he had just returned home on his three-legged steed; while the others had laughed at him, saying, “Here comes our Hop-a-da-hop!” They asked also behind what hedge he had hid himself, and he replied, “I have done the best I could, and without me you would have fared badly.” And for this speech the poor boy was still more mocked.

  Some time after this the King said to his Daughter, “I will cause a great festival to be held, which shall last three days, and you shall throw a golden apple, for which perhaps the unknown knight will contend.”

  As soon as the proclamation was made, the young Prince went to the forest, and called for the Iron Man.

  “What do you desire?” he asked. “That I may catch the golden apple!”

  “It is all the same as if you had it now,” said the Iron Man; “but you shall have a red suit of armour for the occasion, and ride there upon a proud fox-coloured horse.”

  When the appointed day came, the youth ranged himself along with the other knights, and was not recognised by any one. Presently the Princess stepped forward and threw up the golden apple, which nobody could catch but the Red Knight, who coursed away as soon as he obtained it. The second day the Iron Man dressed the youth as a White Knight, and gave him a grey horse; and again he caught the apple, and he alone. The King was angry when the Knight ran away with the prize, and said, “That is not right; he must appear before me and declare his name.” Then he ordered, if the Knight who had caught the apple did not return the next day, some one should pursue him; and, if he would not return willingly, cut him to pieces. The third day the Prince received from the Iron Man a black coat of armour and a black steed, and caught again the apple when it was thrown. When he rode away the King’s people pursued him, and one came so near him that he wounded the Black Knight with the point of his sword. Still he escaped them; but his horse jumped so violently that the helmet fell off the Knight’s head, and his golden hair was seen. The knights there upon rode back and told the King.

  The day following these sports the Princess inquired of the Gardener after his boy. “He is working in the garden,” he replied; “the wonderful fellow has also been to the festival, and yesterday evening he returned home and gave my children three golden apples which he won there.” When the King knew of this, he caused the Youth to be brought before him, and he appeared as usual with his cap on his head. But the Princess went up to him and took it off; and then his golden hair fell down over his shoulders, and he appeared so handsome that every one was astonished. “Are you the knight who appeared each day at the festival, and always in a different colour, and won the three golden apples?” asked the King. “Yes!” he replied, “and these are the apples;” and, so saying, he took them out of his pocket and handed them to the King. “If you desire any other proof,” he continued, “I will show you the wound which your people gave me as I rode away; but I am also the knight who won the victory for you over your enemy.”

  “If you can do such deeds,” said the King, “you are no gardener’s boy; tell me, who is your father?”

  “My father is a mighty King, and of gold I have not only my desire, but more even than can be imagined,” said the young Prince.

  “I own,” said the King, “that I am indebted to you; can I do anything to show it?”

  “Yes, if you give me your daughter to wife!” replied the Youth. The Princess thereupon laughed, and said, “He makes no roundabout tale; but I saw long ago that he was no gardener’s boy from his golden hair;” and with these words she went and kissed him.

  By-and-by the wedding was celebrated, and to it came the Prince’s father and mother, who had long ago given up their son for dead, and lost all hope of seeing him again.

  While they sat at the bridal feast, all at once music was heard, and, the doors opening, a proud King entered, attended by a long train. He went up to the young Prince, and embraced him, and said, “I am the Iron Man, whom you saved from his wild nature; all the
treasures which belong to me are henceforth your property!”

  The Iron Stove

  In the days when wishing was having, a certain King’s Son was enchanted by an old Witch, and obliged to sit in a great iron stove which stood in a wood! There he passed many years, for nobody could release him; till one day a Princess who had lost herself, and could not find her way back to her father’s kingdom, came at last, after nine days’ wandering, to the spot where the iron stove stood. As she approached it, she heard a voice say, “Whence comest thou, and whither goest thou?” “I have lost the road to my father’s kingdom, and am unable to find my home!” she replied. “I will help you, and that in a short time,” said the voice from the iron stove, “if you will consent to what I desire; I am the child of a far greater King than your father, and am willing to marry you.”

  The Princess was frightened at this proposal, and exclaimed, “What can I do with an iron stove?” but nevertheless, as she was anxious to get home, she consented to what he should wish. Then the Prince told her that she must return after she had been home, and bring with her a knife to cut a hole in the stove; and then he gave her such minute directions as to her road, that in two hours she reached her father’s palace. There was great joy there when the Princess returned, and the old King fell on her neck and kissed her; but she was sore troubled, and said, “Alas! my dear father, how things have happened! I should never have reached home out of the great wild wood, had it not been for an iron stove, to which I have therefore promised to return to save it and marry it.”

  The King was so frightened when he heard this, that he fell into a swoon; for she was his only daughter. When he recovered, they resolved that the miller’s daughter, a very pretty girl should take her place; and so she was led to the spot, furnished with a knife, and told to scrape a hole in the iron stove. For four-and-twenty hours she scraped and scraped; but without making the least bit of a hole; and when day broke, the voice out of the stove, exclaimed, “It seems to me like daylight.” “Yes,” replied the girl, “it seems so to me too, and methinks I hear the clapping of my father’s mill.” “Oh then, you are the miller’s daughter,” said the voice again; “well, you may go home, and send the Princess to me.”

  The girl, therefore returned, and told the King the stove would not have her, but his daughter, which frightened the King again, and made the Princess weep. But the King had also in his service, a swine-herd’s daughter, prettier still than the miller’s, to whom he offered a piece of gold if she would go instead of the princess to the iron stove. Thereupon, this girl went away, and scraped for four-and-twenty hours on the iron without producing any impression; and when day broke, a voice out of the stove, exclaimed, “It seems to me like daylight.” “Yes it is so,” said the girl; “for I hear my father’s horn.”

  “You are then the swine-herd’s daughter,” said the voice, “go straight back, and tell the Princess who sent you, that it must be as I said; and therefore, if she does not come to me, everything in the old kingdom shall fall to pieces, and not one stone be left upon another anywhere.”

  As soon as the Princess heard this, she began to cry; but it was of no use, for her promise must be kept. So she took leave of her father; and carrying a knife with her, set out towards the iron stove in the wood. As soon as she reached it she began to scrape the iron; and before two hours had passed, she had already made a small hole. Through this she peeped, and beheld inside the stove a handsome Prince, whose dress all glittered with gold and precious stones; and she immediately fell in love with him. So she scraped away faster than before, and soon had made a hole so large that the Prince could get out. “You are mine, and I am thine,” he said, as soon as he stood on the earth; “you are my bride, because you have saved me.” Then he wanted to take her at once to his father’s kingdom; but she begged that she might once more go back to her father, to take leave of him. The Prince consented to this; but said she must not speak more than three words, and immediately return. Thereupon the Princess went home; but alas! she said many more than three words; and the iron stove consequently disappeared, and was carried far away over many icy mountains and snowy valleys; but without the Prince, who was saved, and no longer shut up in his former prison. By-and-by the Princess took leave of her father; and taking some gold with her, but not much, she went back into the wood, and sought for the iron stove, but could find it nowhere. For nine days she searched; and then her hunger became so great, that she knew not how to help herself, and thought she must perish. When evening came she climbed up a little tree, for she feared the wild beasts, which night would bring forth; and just as midnight approached she saw a little light at a distance, “Ah, there I may find help,” thought she; and getting down, she went towards the light, saying a prayer as she walked along. Soon she came to a little hut, around which much grass grew; and before the door stood a heap of wood, “Ah, how came you here,” thought she to herself, as she peeped through the window and saw nothing but fat little toads; and a table already covered with meat and wine, and plates and dishes made of silver. She took courage and knocked; and immediately a Toad exclaimed:—

  “Little Toad, with crooked leg;

  Open quick the door, I beg,

  And see who stands without!”

  As soon as these words were spoken, a little Toad came running up, and opened the door; and the princess walked in. They all bade her welcome, and told her to sit down; and then asked her whence she came, and whither she was going. She told the Toads all that had happened, and how, because she had overstepped the mark in speaking more than three words, the stove had disappeared as well as the Prince: and now she was about to search over hill and valley till she found him. When she had told her tale, the old toad cried out:—

  “Little Toad, with crooked leg;

  Quickly fetch for me, I beg,

  The basket hanging on the peg.”

  So the little Toad went and brought the basket to the old one, who laid it down, and caused meat and drink to be given to the Princess; and after that showed her a beautiful neat bed, made of silk and velvet, in which, under God’s protection, she slept soundly. As soon as day broke the Princess arose; and the old Toad gave her three needles out of the bag, to take with her, for they would be of use, since she would have to pass over a mountain of glass, three sharp swords, and a big lake before she would regain her lover. The old Toad gave her besides the three needles, a ploughwheel and three nuts; and with these the Princess set out on her way; and by-and-by approached the glass mountain which was so smooth that she placed the three needles in the heel of her shoe, and so passed over. When she came to the other side, she placed the three needles in a secure place; and soon coming to the three swords, she rolled over them by means of her ploughwheel. At last she came to the great lake; and when she passed that, she found herself near a fine large castle. Into this she entered; and offered herself as a servant, saying she was a poor girl: but had a little while back, rescued a King’s son out of an iron stove, which stood in the forest. After some delay she was hired as a kitchen-maid, at a very small wage; and soon found out that the Prince had an intention to marry another lady, because he supposed his former favourite was long since dead. One evening when she had washed and made herself neat, she felt in her pocket, and found the three nuts which the old Toad had given her. One of them she cracked, and instead of a kernel found a royal dress, which, when the Bride heard of, she said she must have, for it was no dress for a servant-maid. But the Princess said she would not sell it, but on one condition, which was, that she should be allowed to pass a night by the chamber of the Prince. This request was granted, because the Bride was so anxious to have the dress, since she had none like it; and when evening came she told her lover that the silly girl wanted to pass the night near his room. “If you are contented, so am I,” he replied; but she gave him a glass of wine, in which she put a sleeping-draught. In consequence, he slept so soundly, that the poor Princess could not awake him, although she cried the whole night, an
d kept repeating, “I saved you in the wild forest, and rescued you out of the iron stove; I have sought you, and travelled over a mountain of glass, and over three sharp swords, and across a wide lake, before I found you; and still you will not hear me!” The servants, however, who slept in the anteroom, heard the complaint, and told the King of it the following morning. That evening after the Princess had washed and cleaned herself, she cracked open the second nut and found in it a still more beautiful dress than the former; so that the Bride declared she must have it. But it was not to be purchased except on the same condition as the first; and the Prince allowed her to sleep where she had before. The Bride, however, gave the Prince, another sleeping-draught; and he slept too soundly to hear the poor Princess complaining and crying as before: “I saved you in the wild forest, and rescued you out of the iron stove; I have sought you, and travelled over a mountain of glass, and over three sharp swords, and across a wide lake, before I found you; and still you will not hear me!” The servants, however, in the ante room, heard the crying again; and told the Prince of it the next morning.

  On the same evening, the poor scullery-maid, broke her third nut; and produced a dress starred with gold, which the Bride declared she must have at any price; and the maid petitioned for the same privilege as before. But the Prince poured out this time the sleeping-draught; and therefore, when the Princess began to cry, “Alas! my dear treasure, have you forgotten how I saved you in the great wild wood, and rescued you out of the iron stove?” the Prince heard her, and jumping up, exclaimed, “You are right, I am thine, and you are mine.” Thereupon while the night lasted, he got into a carriage with the Princess; first taking away the clothes of the false Bride, that she might not follow them. When they came to the lake, they rowed over very quickly, and passed the three sharp swords again by means of the ploughwheel. Soon they crossed the glass mountain by the aid of the three needles; and arrived at last at the little old house, which as as soon they entered, was changed into a noble castle. At the same moment all the Toads were disenchanted and returned to their natural positions; for they were the sons of the King of the country. So the wedding was performed, and the Prince and Princess remained in the castle; for it was much larger than that of her father. However, because the old King grieved at his daughter’s continual absence, they went and lived with him and joined the government of the two kingdoms in one; and so for many years they reigned in happiness and prosperity.