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

by Brothers Grimm

  The Tailor’s courage was up now, and he walked to the spot indicated, and presently the stone gave way beneath him, and sank slowly deeper and deeper. When it stopped, and the Tailor looked about him, he saw another large chamber like the first in extent, but there was much more to attract his attention and wonder. In the walls were cut recesses, in which stood vessels of clear glass, some filled with coloured fluids, and others with a bluish smoke. On the ground of the hall stood, opposite each other, two great glass chests, which at once excited his wonder. He stepped up to them, and found that one contained a handsome building similar to a castle, with farm buildings, stables, and outhouses attached, and surrounded by all other necessaries. Everything was diminutive, but made so carefully and delicately that it must have been executed with the greatest ingenuity by a cunning workman. The Tailor could scarcely take his eyes away from this curiosity, but the voice warned him to desist, and to look instead at what was contained in the other glass chest. To what a pitch was his wonder raised when he perceived in it a beautiful Maiden lying fast asleep, and enveloped from head to foot with her own yellow hair. Her eyes were fast closed, but the fresh colour of her cheeks, and the motion of a riband to and fro, which swayed with her breath, left no doubts as to her being alive. The Tailor looked at her with a beating heart, and all at once she opened her eyes and closed them again with a joyful cry. When she saw him, “Just heaven!” she exclaimed, “my liberty approaches! Quick, quick, help me out of my prison; push back the bolt of my glass cage, and I am free!”

  The Tailor obeyed without trembling, and as soon as he raised the glass lid, the Maiden stepped out and hastened to one corner of the hall, where she wrapped herself in a large cloak. Then she sat down upon a stone, and, calling the young Tailor to her, gave him a friendly kiss, and then said, “My long-desired deliverer! a gracious heaven has led you hither to put an end to my sorrows. On the same day that they end, your good fortune shall begin. You are my husband, chosen by heaven, and you shall spend your life in undisturbed peace, beloved by me, and endowed with all my earthly riches. Sit down, now, and hear the history of my misfortunes.

  “I am the daughter of a rich Count. My parents died when I was yet in tender childhood, and delivered me as their last request to the care of my elder Brother, by whom I was to be educated. We loved each other dearly, and we were so of one mind in our ways of thinking and acting, that we both resolved to remain single, and live together to the end of our lives. In our house there was never any lack of company; neighbours and friends visited us constantly, and we exercised towards all the greatest possible hospitality. Thus it happened that one evening a Stranger rode into our castle yard under the pretext of not being able to reach the next town, and requested shelter. We treated his request with our usual courtesy, and he entertained us for the rest of that evening with his conversations and relations of his various adventures. My Brother even took such a fancy to him that he pressed him to stay for a couple of days, to which he consented after some hesitation. Late at night we arose from table, and after the Stranger had been shown to his apartment, I hastened, weary as I was, to lay myself down on the soft feathers of my bed. I had scarcely dropped asleep when I heard the tones of a delicious strain of music. I could not conceive from whence it proceeded, and I resolved to summon my chambermaid, who slept in the adjoining room. To my astonishment it seemed as if a mountain were laid upon my breast, and all power of speech was so taken away from me by some invisible means, that I was unable to utter a single word. Meanwhile, I saw, by the shining of the lamp, the Stranger step into my room through two doors which I supposed were fast closed. He approached me, and said that by the aid of enchantments which were at his service he had caused the notes of the music which had awakened me, and that now he was come at all risks to offer me his heart and hand. My indignation, however, at his enchantments was so great that I deigned no answer to him; and for a long time he remained immovable before me, apparently waiting my favourable decision. As I continued silent, however, he declared passionately that he would revenge himself, and find some means to punish my haughtiness; and so saying he quitted my room. I passed the rest of the night in the greatest anxiety and did not sleep till morning, and then as soon as I awoke I hastened to my Brother to tell him of what had happened to me, but I found him not in his room, and the servants told me that he had ridden out to hunt with the Stranger at daybreak.

  “This foreboded no good to me. I dressed myself quickly, caused my palfrey to be saddled, and rode, attended only by one servant, at full gallop into the forest. On our way the servant let his horse fall and broke his knees, so that he was unable to follow me; but I continued without a stoppage to hurry on, and in a few minutes I saw the Stranger leading a Goat by a string coming towards me. I asked him where he had left my Brother, and how he had come by the Goat, from whose large eyes tears were streaming. Instead of answering me he began to laugh loudly; and thereupon I became very angry, and, drawing a pistol, fired it at the monster; but the ball rebounded from his breast and pierced the head of my horse. I was thrown to the ground, and the stranger murmured some words which deprived me of sensibility.

  “When I recovered again the use of my faculties, I found myself enclosed in a glass coffin, in this subterranean chamber. The black Magician appeared once more, and told me he had changed my Brother into a Goat, enclosed my castle with all its surrounding buildings in another glass case, and shut up my people in the form of smoke in glass bottles. If I were willing, he said, to fulfill his wishes now, nothing was easier for him than to put things in their previous position; he need only to open the cases and everything would return to its natural shape. I answered him, however, as little as before, and he disappeared, leaving me lying in my glass prison-house, where I presently fell into a deep sleep. Among the visions which then came across my dreams was the consoling one that a youth came and delivered me; and when I opened my eyes today, I saw you, and knew my dream was fulfilled. Help me now to complete what I then dreamed. The first thing is to raise this glass chest which contains my castle, and place it on that wide stone.”

  As soon as the stone was thus laden it began to rise, carrying with it the Maiden and the Tailor; and at length it passed through the floor of the upper room, and from thence they quickly came into the open air. Here the Maiden raised the lid of the case, and it was wonderful to see how, immediately, castle, farm, buildings, stables, &c., unfolded themselves, and grew with marvellous rapidity to their natural size. Thereupon the Maiden and the Tailor turned back into the subterraneous cave, and caused the stone to raise with them the bottles filled with smoke. Scarcely were they opened, when the blue smoke pressed out and assumed the form of men, whom the Maiden recognised as her servants and attendants. Their joy at this recognition was still further increased when the Brother, whom the Enchanter had changed into a Goat, appeared, coming out of the wood, in his natural form; and the Maiden, in the excess of her joy, gave her hand to the lucky Tailor on the very same day.

  Lazy Harry

  Harry was a lazy fellow, and, although he had nothing further to do than to drive his goat daily to the meadow, he sighed continually when he reached home, after his day’s work, and would say: “In truth it is a weary life this, and a troublesome job, year after year, to drive a goat into the field every day till the autumn comes. It were better if one could lie down and sleep; but no! one must always be watching lest the goat should injure the young trees, or creep through the hedge into some garden, and so get away. Now how can I obtain quiet and enjoy life?” Once he sat down to collect his thoughts and consider how he should free his shoulders from their burden. For a long time nothing came of his reflections, till all at once it flashed upon him as if a scale had fallen from his eyes. “I know what I will do,” he cried; “I will marry fat Kate; she also has a goat, and she can drive out mine with hers, and so save me the trouble.”

  So thinking, Harry got up and set his weary legs in motion to cross over the road (for the distance was
no further to the parents of fat Kate) to offer himself as a husband for their industrious and virtuous daughter. The parents did not consider long; “Like and like agree together,” thought they, and so consented. Thereupon fat Kate became Harry’s wife, and drove out the two goats while her husband passed his time easily, troubling himself about no other labour than his own laziness! Only now and then he went out, because, as he said, he relished the quiet the better afterwards; and if he did not go out he lost all feeling for the rest.

  Soon, however, fat Kate became no less lazy. “Dear Harry,” said she one day, “why should we sour our lives without necessity, and harass the best part of our young days? Would it not be better if we gave our two goats, which now disturb us every morning in our best sleep, to our neighbour, and let him give us in return a bee-hive which we can place behind the house in a sunny place, and afterwards need trouble no more about it? The bees need no looking after, and have not to be driven every day into the meadow, for they will fly out and return home of themselves and collect their honey without any interference on our part.”

  “You have spoken like a wise woman,” replied lazy Harry; “let us pursue your plan without delay: besides, honey both tastes and nourishes better than goat’s milk, and can be kept much longer!”

  The neighbour willingly gave a bee-hive in exchange for the two goats, and certainly the bees did fly unceasingly from early morning till late in the evening in and out of their hive, and filled it too with a store of the choicest honey, so that Harry was able to take out a large jar-full in the autumn.

  This jar they placed on a board which was nailed to the wall in their sleeping-room; and as they feared it might be stolen from them, or that the mice might manage to get at it, fat Kate fetched a stout hazel-stick and laid it by her bed, so that she could reach it without troubling herself to get up, and drive away by these means the uninvited guests.

  Lazy Harry, however, would not leave his bed till noonday; “He who rises early wastes his possessions,” he said. One morning when the bright daylight found him still in his bed, and he had just awakened from a long sleep, he said to his wife, “You women like sweets, and you have been stealing some of the honey; it were better, before you eat it all out, that we barter it away with some one for a goose.” “But not before we have a boy to take care of it,” replied the fat Kate. “Shall I distress myself about the young geese and waste my strength unnecessarily on their account?”

  “Do you think,” said Harry, “that a boy will take care of them? Now-a-days the children don’t mind anybody, but act just as they think proper, because they fancy themselves wiser than their elders; just like that boy who instead of looking after the cow hunted three blackbirds.”

  “Oh,” replied Kate, “he shall catch it if he does not do what I tell him. I will take a stick and give him no end of blows across the shoulders. See here, Harry,” she cried, and caught up the stick which was laid to keep away the mice. “See here, I will lay on him like this.” But unluckily, in raising the stick she hit the honey jar, and threw it down on the bed. The jar was shivered to atoms, and the beautiful honey flowed all over the ground. “There lies our goose and goose boy,” exclaimed Harry; “they will not want to be tended now. But still it is a lucky thing that the jar did not fall upon my head, so we have good reason to be contented with our fate.” So saying, he looked among the broken fragments and discovered one in which some honey was still left. “This we will eat,” said he to his wife, “and then rest awhile longer after our fright, for what does it signify if we do lie a little later than usual in bed? the day is long enough!”

  “Yes, yes,” replied fat Kate, “the affair has happened at a very good time. Do you know, the snail was once invited to a wedding, but he tarried so long on the road, that he arrived at the christening instead. In front of the house he fell over the step, but all he said was Hurrying is no good.”

  Strong Hans

  There was once upon a time a man and his wife, who had but one child, and they lived in a solitary valley all alone. Once it happened that the woman went into the forest to collect firewood, and took with her the little Hans, who was just turned two years of age. It was the beginning of spring, and the child took great delight in the various flowers which were then blooming; and running from one to another, they strayed far into the forest. Suddenly two robbers jumped up out of a thicket, and seizing the mother and child, carried them deep into the black wood, where from year to year nobody ever penetrated. The poor woman begged the robbers earnestly to let her and her child go home, but their hearts were of stone, and they paid no attention to her weeping and prayers, but only used force to drive her on further. After they had thus travelled over two miles, through thorns and bushes, they came to a rock in which was a door, whereat the robbers knocked and immediately it opened of itself. Then they had to pass through a long gloomy passage, and came at length to a great cave lighted by a fire which was burning on the hearth. On the wall were hanging swords, sabres, and other weapons, which shone in the light; and in the middle of the cave was a black table, at which the four robbers sat down to play, and at the head sat the Captain. The latter, as soon as he saw the woman enter, came up to her and said that, if she were quiet and not passionate, they would do her no harm, but she would have to take care of their household; and if she kept everything in good order, she would be well treated. So saying he gave her something to eat, and showed her the bed where she was to sleep with her child.

  The woman remained many years with these robbers, and Hans grew big and strong. His mother told him tales and taught him to read from an old book of chivalry, which she found in the cave. When Hans was nine years old, he made himself a staff out of the branch of a fir-tree, and hiding it behind the bed, he went and said to his mother, “Dear mother, do tell me who my father is; I must and will know.” But his mother was silent, and would not tell him lest he should become home-sick; besides she knew the wicked robbers would not have allowed Hans to escape; nevertheless, it would have broken her heart had she thought Hans would never see his father again. That night, when the robbers returned from their day’s plundering, Hans fetched out his cudgel, and placing himself before the Captain said to him, “I must know who is my father, and if you will not tell me I will knock you down!” But the Captain only laughed at him, and gave him a box on the ears, so that he rolled under the table. Hans soon got up, but held his tongue, thinking, “I will wait a year longer, and then try; perhaps I shall manage better.”

  So when the year was up, he fetched his cudgel again, sharpened its point and congratulated himself, that it was a trusty and strong weapon. At night the robbers returned, and began to drink wine, one bottle after another, till their heads dropped on the table. Then Hans took his cudgel and stationing himself before the Captain, asked him again, “Who is my father?” The Captain dealt him a box on the ear by way of answer, which knocked him under the table; but Hans was soon up again, and beat the Captain and his comrades so forcibly about the legs and arms, that they could not stir. The mother meanwhile remained in a corner, astonished at her son’s bravery and strength: but as soon as he had finished his work, he came to her and said, “You see now that I am in earnest, so tell me who is my father.” “Dear Hans,” she replied, “let us go and seek till we find him.”

  So saying she robbed the Captain of the key of the outer door, and Hans, fetching a large meal-sack, crammed it full of gold, silver, and all the valuables he could find, and then threw it over his back. They left the cave, but imagine what was the astonishment of Hans, when he emerged from darkness into the light of day and saw the green trees, the flowers, the birds, and the morning sun shining over all in the clear sky! He stood still and gazed all around him quite bewildered, till his mother began to look for the road to her home, where they happily arrived, after two hours walking, and found it still in the solitary valley.

  At the door sat the father, who wept for joy when he recognised his wife, and heard that Hans was his son, whom h
e had long ago believed to be dead. But Hans, although only twelve years of age, was already a head taller than his father; and they all went together into the house, where Hans put down his sack upon the chimney corner. As soon as he did so, the house began to crack; and presently the chimney-seat gave way, and then the floor, so that the heavy sack fell quite down into the cellar. “Heaven protect us!” exclaimed the father. “What is that? Why, you have broken our house down!”

  “Pray don’t let your grey hairs grow on that account, my dear father,” replied Hans; “there is in that sack much more than will build a house!”

  So, soon after, the father and son began to erect a new cottage, and to buy cattle and land, and go to market. Hans ploughed their fields; and when he went behind the plough and pushed it through the soil, the oxen had no need to draw at all. The following spring, Hans said, “Father, bestow some money on me, and let me make an exceedingly heavy walking-stick, that I may go into strange lands.” When this staff was ready, Hans left his father’s house, and walked off, till he came to a large dense forest. There he heard something crackling and crashing, and, looking around, saw a fir-tree, which was coiled round from top to bottom like a rope. And, as he lifted his eyes, he perceived a great fellow who had caught hold of the tree, and was twisting it round like a reed. “Hilloa,” cried Hans, “what are you doing there?” “I have plucked up two fir-stems,” replied the fellow, “and am about to make a rope of them for my own use.” “He has got some strength,” thought Hans to himself; “I might find him useful.” And then he called out, “Let them be and come with me.” Thereupon the fellow descended the tree, and walked with Hans, than whom he was a head taller, though Hans was by no means little. “You shall be called ‘Fir-Twister,’” said Hans to him. As they walked on they heard somebody knocking and hammering so hard, that at every blow the ground shook; and presently they came to a great rock, before which a giant was standing, knocking off great pieces with his fist. When Hans asked him what he was about, he replied, “When I want to go to sleep at night, there come bears, and wolves, and all creatures of that kind, who snuff and prowl around me and prevent me from sleeping, so now I want to build myself a house to rest in.”