back, and the baskets from his arm, looked at him quite kindly, and
said, “Now seat yourself on the bench before the door, and rest. You
have fairly earned your wages, and they shall not be wanting.”
Then she said to the goose-girl, “Go into the house, my little
Daughter, it is not becoming for you to be alone with a young
gentleman. One must not pour oil on to the fire, he might fall in love
with you.”
The Count knew not whether to laugh or to cry. “Such a sweetheart as
that,” thought he, “could not touch my heart, even if she were thirty
years younger.”
In the meantime, the Old Woman stroked and fondled her geese as if they
were children, and then went into the house with her daughter. The
youth lay down on the bench, under a wild apple-tree. The air was warm
and mild. On all sides stretched a green meadow, which was set with
cowslips, wild thyme, and a thousand other flowers. Through the midst
of it rippled a clear brook on which the sun sparkled, and the white
geese went walking backward and forward, or paddled in the water.
“It is quite delightful here,” said he, “but I am so tired that I
cannot keep my eyes open. I will sleep a little. If only a gust of wind
does not come and blow my legs off my body, for they are as brittle as
tinder.”
When he had slept a little while, the Old Woman came and shook him till
he awoke. “Sit up,” said she, “you cannot stay here. I have certainly
treated you badly, still it has not cost you your life. Of money and
land you have no need, here is something else for you.”
Thereupon she thrust a little book into his hand, which was cut out of
a single emerald. “Take great care of it,” said she, “it will bring you
good fortune.”
The Count sprang up, and as he felt that he was quite fresh, and had
recovered his vigor, he thanked the Old Woman for her present, and set
off without even once looking back at the beautiful daughter. When he
was already some way off, he still heard in the distance the noisy cry
of the geese.
For three days, the Count had to wander in the wilderness before he
could find his way out. He then reached a large town. As no one knew
him, he was led into the royal palace, where the King and Queen were
sitting on their throne. The Count fell on one knee, drew the emerald
book out of his pocket, and laid it at the Queen’s feet. She bade him
rise and hand her the little book.
Hardly, however, had she opened it, and looked therein, than she fell
as if dead to the ground. The Count was seized by the King’s servants,
and was being led to prison, when the Queen opened her eyes, and
ordered them to release him, and every one was to go out, as she wished
to speak with him in private.
When the Queen was alone, she began to weep bitterly, and said, “Of
what use to me are the splendors and honors with which I am surrounded!
Every morning I awake in pain and sorrow. I had three daughters, the
youngest of whom was so beautiful, that the whole world looked on her
as a wonder. She was as white as snow, as rosy as apple-blossoms, and
her hair as radiant as sunbeams. When she cried, not tears fell from
her eyes, but pearls and jewels only.
“When she was fifteen years old, the King summoned all three sisters
to come before his throne. You should have seen how all the people
gazed when the youngest entered. It was just as if the sun were rising!
Then the King spoke, ‘My Daughters, I know not when my last hour may
arrive. I will to-day decide what each shall receive at my death. You
all love me, but the one of you who loves me best, shall fare the best.’
“Each of them said she loved him best. ‘Can you not express to me,’
said the King, ‘how much you do love me, and thus I shall see what you
mean?’
“The eldest spoke. ‘I love my Father as dearly as the sweetest sugar.’
The second, ‘I love my Father as dearly as my prettiest dress.’ But the
youngest was silent.
“Then the father said, ‘And you, my dearest Child, how much do you love
me?’ ‘I do not know, and can compare my love with nothing.’ But her
father insisted that she should name something. So she said at last,
‘The best food does not please me without salt, therefore I love my
Father like salt.’
“When the King heard that, he fell into a passion and said, ‘If you
love me like salt, your love shall also be repaid with salt.’
“Then he divided the kingdom between the two elder, but caused a sack
of salt to be bound on the back of the youngest, and two servants had
to lead her forth into the wild forest.
“We all begged and prayed for her,” said the Queen, “but the King’s
anger was not to be appeased. How she cried when she had to leave us!
The whole road was strewn with the pearls which flowed from her eyes.
“The King soon afterward repented of his great severity, and had the
whole forest searched for the poor child, but no one could find her.
When I think that the wild beasts have devoured her, I know not how to
contain myself for sorrow. Many a time I console myself with the hope
that she is still alive, and may have hidden herself in a cave, or has
found shelter with compassionate people.
“But picture to yourself, when I opened your little emerald book, a
pearl lay therein, of exactly the same kind as those which used to fall
from my daughter’s eyes. And then you can also imagine how the sight of
it stirred my heart! You must tell me how you came by that pearl.”
The Count told her that he had received it from the Old Woman in the
forest, who had appeared very strange to him, and must be a Witch.
But he had neither seen nor heard anything of the Queen’s child. The
King and the Queen resolved to seek out the Old Woman. They thought
that there where the pearl had been, they would obtain news of their
daughter.
_The Gray Mask_
The Old Woman was sitting in that lonely place at her spinning-wheel,
spinning. It was already dusk, and a log which was burning on the
hearth gave a scanty light. All at once, there was a noise outside,
the geese were coming home from the pasture, and uttering their hoarse
cries. Soon afterward the daughter entered. But the Old Woman scarcely
thanked her, and only shook her head a little. The daughter sat down
beside her, took her spinning-wheel, and twisted the threads as nimbly
as a young girl. Thus they both sat for two hours, and exchanged never
a word.
[Illustration: WHEN THE GRAY MASK FELL OFF, HER GOLDEN HAIR BROKE
FORTH]
At last, something rustled at the window, and two fiery eyes peered in.
It was an old night-owl, which cried, “_Uhu!_” three times.
The Old Woman looked up just a little, then she said, “Now, my little
Daughter, it is time for you to go out and do your work.”
She rose and went out, and where did she go? Over the meadows ever
onward into the valley. At last, she came to a well, with three old
oak-trees standing beside it. Meanwhile the moon had risen large and
round over the mountain, and it was so light that one could have found
a needle.
She removed a skin which covered her face, then bent down to the well,
and began to wash herself. When she had finished, she dipped the skin
also in the water, and laid it on the meadow, so that it should bleach
in the moonlight, and dry again.
But how the maiden was changed! Such a change as that was never seen
before! When the gray mask fell off, her golden hair broke forth like
sunbeams, and spread about like a mantle over her whole form. Her eyes
shone out as brightly as the stars in heaven, and her cheeks bloomed a
soft red like apple-blossoms.
But the fair maiden was sad. She sat down and wept bitterly. One tear
after another forced itself out of her eyes, and rolled through her
long hair to the ground. There she sat, and would have remained sitting
a long time, if there had not been a rustling and cracking in the
boughs of the neighboring tree. She sprang up like a roe which has been
overtaken by the shot of the hunter.
Just then the moon was obscured by a dark cloud, and in an instant the
maiden had slipped on the old skin and vanished, as does a light blown
out by the wind.
She ran back home, trembling like an aspen-leaf. The Old Woman was
standing on the threshold, and the maiden was about to relate what had
befallen her, but the Old Woman laughed kindly, and said, “I already
know it.”
She led her into the room and lighted a new log. She did not, however,
sit down to her spinning again, but fetched a broom and began to sweep
and scour. “All must be clean and sweet,” she said to the maiden.
“But, Mother,” said the maiden, “why do you begin work at so late an
hour? What do you expect?”
“Do you know then what time it is?” asked the Old Woman.
“Not yet midnight,” answered the maiden, “but already past eleven
o’clock.”
“Do you not remember,” continued the Old Woman, “that it is three years
to-day since you came to me? Your time is up, we can no longer remain
together.”
The maiden was terrified, and said, “Alas! dear Mother, will you cast
me off? Where shall I go? I have no friends, and no home to which I
can go. I have always done as you bade me, and you have always been
satisfied with me. Do not send me away.”
The Old Woman would not tell the maiden what lay before her. “My stay
here is over,” she said to her, “but when I depart, house and parlor
must be clean: therefore do not hinder me in my work. Have no care for
yourself. You shall find a roof to shelter you, and the wages which I
will give you shall also content you.”
“But tell me what is about to happen,” the maiden continued to entreat.
“I tell you again, do not hinder me in my work. Do not say a word
more, go to your chamber, take the skin off your face, and put on the
silken gown which you had on when you came to me, and then wait in your
chamber until I call you.”
_The Goose-Girl_
But I must once more tell of the King and Queen, who had journeyed
forth with the Count in order to seek out the Old Woman in the
wilderness. The Count had strayed away from them in the wood by night,
and had to walk onward alone.
Next day, it seemed to him that he was on the right track. He still
went forward, until darkness came on, then he climbed a tree, intending
to pass the night there, for he feared that he might lose his way. When
the moon illumined the surrounding country he perceived a figure coming
down the mountain. She had no stick in her hand, yet he could see that
it was the goose-girl, whom he had seen before in the house of the Old
Woman.
“Oho,” cried he, “there she comes, and if I once get hold of one of the
Witches, the other shall not escape me!”
But how astonished he was, when she went to the well, took off the
skin and washed herself. Her golden hair fell down all about her,
and she was more beautiful than any one whom he had ever seen in the
whole world. He hardly dared to breathe, but stretched his head as far
forward through the leaves as he dared, and stared at her. Either he
bent over too far, or whatever the cause might be, the bough suddenly
cracked, and that very moment the maiden slipped into the skin, sprang
away like a roe, and as the moon was suddenly covered, disappeared from
his eyes.
Hardly had she disappeared, before the Count descended from the tree,
and hastened after her with nimble steps. He had not gone far before he
saw, in the twilight, two figures coming over the meadow. It was the
King and Queen, who had perceived from a distance the light shining in
the Old Woman’s little house, and were going to it.
The Count told them what wonderful thing he had seen by the well, and
they did not doubt but that she was their lost daughter. They walked
onward full of joy, and soon came to the little house. The geese were
sitting all round it, and had thrust their heads under their wings and
were sleeping, and not one of them moved.
The King and Queen looked in at the window. The Old Woman was sitting
there quietly spinning, nodding her head and never looking round. The
room was perfectly clean, as if the little Mist Men, who carry no dust
on their feet, lived there. Their daughter, however, they did not see.
They gazed at all this for a long time. At last they took heart, and
knocked softly at the window.
The Old Woman appeared to have been expecting them. She rose, and
called out quite kindly, “Come in,--I know you already.”
When they had entered the room, the Old Woman said, “You might have
spared yourself the long walk, if you had not three years ago unjustly
driven away your child, who is so good and lovable. No harm has come
to her. For three years she has had to tend the geese. With them
she has learnt no evil, but has preserved her purity of heart. You,
however, have been sufficiently punished by the misery in which you
have lived.”
Then she went to the chamber and called, “Come out, my little Daughter.”
Thereupon the door opened, and the Princess stepped out in her silken
garments, with her golden hair and her shining eyes, and it was as if
an Angel from Heaven had entered.
She went up to her father and mother, fell on their necks and kissed
them. There was no help for it, they all had to weep for joy. The young
Count stood near them; and when she perceived him, she became as red in
the face as a moss-rose, she herself did not know why.
The King said, “My dear Child, I have given away my kingdom, what shall
I give thee?”
“She needs nothing,” said the Old Woman. “I give her the tears that she
has wept on your account. They are precious pearls, finer than those
that are found in the sea, and worth more than your whole kingdom, and
I give her my little house as payment for her services.”
When the Old Woman had said that, she disappeared from their sight. The
walls rattled a little, and when the King and Queen looked round, the
little house had changed into a splendid palace, a royal table had been
spread, and the servants were running hither and thither.
[Illustration]
THE SHOES THAT WERE DANCED TO PIECES
There was once upon a time, a King who had twelve daughters, each one
more beautiful than the other. They all slept together in one chamber,
in which their beds stood side by side.
Every night, when they were in them, the King locked the door, and
bolted it. But in the morning, when he unlocked the door, he saw that
their shoes were worn out with dancing, and no one could find out how
that had happened.
Then the King caused it to be proclaimed that whosoever could discover
where they danced at night, should choose one of them for his wife and
be King after his death. But that whosoever came forward and had not
discovered it within three days and nights, should forfeit his life.
It was not long before a King’s Son presented himself, and offered to
undertake the enterprise. He was well received, and in the evening was
led into a room adjoining the Princesses’ sleeping-chamber. His bed
was placed there, and he was to watch where they went and danced. And
in order that they might do nothing secretly or go away to some other
place, the door of their room was left open.
But the eyelids of the Prince grew heavy as lead, and he fell asleep.
When he awoke in the morning, all twelve had been to the dance, for
their shoes were standing there with holes in the soles.
On the second and third nights it fell out just the same, and then his
head was struck off without mercy. Many others came after this and
undertook the enterprise, but all forfeited their lives.
Now, it came to pass that a poor soldier, who had a wound, and could
serve no longer, found himself on the road to the town where the King
lived. There he met an Old Woman, who asked him where he was going.
“I hardly know myself,” answered he, and added in jest, “I had half a
mind to discover where the Princesses danced their shoes into holes,
and thus become King.”
“That is not so difficult,” said the Old Woman, “you must not drink the
wine which will be brought to you at night.”
With that she gave him a little cloak, and said, “If you put on that,
you will be invisible, and then you can steal after the twelve.”
When the soldier had received this good advice, he took heart, went to
the King, and announced himself as a suitor. He was as well received as
the others, and royal garments were put upon him.
He was conducted that evening, at bedtime, into the outer-chamber, and
as he was about to go to bed, the eldest came and brought him a cup of
wine.
He lay down, but did not drink the wine.
The Twelve Princesses, in their chamber, laughed, and the eldest said,
“He, too, might as well have saved his life.”
With that they got up, opened wardrobes, presses, cupboards, and
brought out pretty dresses; dressed themselves before the mirrors,
sprang about, and rejoiced at the prospect of the dance.
Only the youngest said, “I know not how it is. You are very happy, but
I feel strange. Some misfortune is certainly about to befall us.”
“You are a goose, who are always frightened,” said the eldest. “Have
you forgotten how many King’s Sons have already come here in vain? I
had hardly any need to give the soldier a sleeping-draught. In any
case, the clown would not have awakened.”
When they were all ready, the eldest then went to her bed and tapped it.
It immediately sank into the earth; and one after the other they
descended through the opening, the eldest going first.
The soldier, who had watched everything, tarried no longer, put on his
little cloak, and went down last with the youngest. Half-way down the
steps, he just trod a little on her dress.
She was terrified at that, and cried out, “What is that? who is pulling
at my dress?”
“Don’t be so silly!” said the eldest, “you have caught it on a nail.”
Then they went all the way down, and when they were at the bottom, they
were standing in a wonderfully pretty avenue of trees, all the leaves
of which were of silver, and shone and glistened. The soldier thought,
“I must carry a token away with me,” and broke off a twig from one of
them, on which the tree cracked with a loud report.
The youngest cried out again, “Something is wrong, did you hear the
crack?”
But the eldest said, “It is a gun fired for joy, because we have got
rid of our Prince so quickly.”
After that they came into an avenue where all the leaves were of gold,
and lastly into a third where they were of bright diamonds. He broke
off a twig from each, which made such a crack each time that the
youngest started back in terror, but the eldest still declared that
they were salutes.
They went on and came to a great lake whereon stood twelve little
boats, and in every boat sat a handsome Prince, all of whom were
waiting for the Twelve Princesses. Each took one of them with him, but
the soldier seated himself by the youngest.
Then her Prince said, “I can’t tell why the boat is so much heavier
to-day. I shall have to row with all my strength, if I am to get it
across.”
“What should cause that,” said the youngest, “but the warm weather? I
feel very warm too.”
On the opposite side of the lake stood a splendid, brightly-lit castle,
from whence resounded the joyous music of trumpets and kettle-drums.
They rowed thither, entered, and each Prince danced with the maiden he
loved, but the soldier danced with them unseen. And when one of them
had a cup of wine in her hand he drank it up, so that the cup was empty
when she carried it to her mouth. The youngest was alarmed at this, but
the eldest always made her be silent.
They danced there till three o’clock in the morning, when all the shoes
were danced into holes, and they were forced to leave off. The Princes
rowed them back again over the lake, and this time the soldier seated
himself by the eldest. On the shore they took leave of their Princes,
and promised to return the following night.
When they reached the stairs, the soldier ran on in front and lay down
in his bed, and when the Twelve Princesses had come up slowly and
wearily, he was already snoring so loudly that they could all hear him,
and they said, “So far as he is concerned, we are safe.”
They took off their beautiful dresses, laid them away, put the worn-out
shoes under the bed, and lay down. Next morning, the soldier was
resolved not to speak, but to watch the wonderful goings on, and that
night again went with them. Then everything was done just as it had
been done the first time, and they danced until their shoes were worn
to pieces. But the third time, he took a cup away with him as a token.
When the hour had arrived for him to give his answer, he took the three
twigs and the cup, and went to the King, but the Twelve Princesses
stood behind the door, and listened for what he was going to say.
When the King put the question, “Where have my Twelve Daughters danced
their shoes to pieces in the night?” he answered, “In an underground
castle with Twelve Princes,” and related how it had come to pass, and
brought out the tokens.
The King then summoned his daughters, and asked them if the soldier had
told the truth, and when they saw that they were betrayed, and that
falsehood would be of no avail, they were obliged to confess all.
Thereupon the King asked which of them he would have for his wife?
He answered, “I am no longer young, so give me the eldest.”
Then the wedding was celebrated on the self-same day, and the kingdom
was promised him after the King’s death. But the Princes were bewitched
for as many days more as they had danced nights with the Twelve.
[Illustration]
THE NIX OF THE MILL-POND
There was once upon a time, a miller who lived with his wife in great
contentment. They had money and land, and their prosperity increased
year by year more and more. But ill-luck comes like a thief in the
night, as their wealth had increased so did it again decrease, year by
year.
At last the miller could hardly call the mill in which he lived his
own. He was in great distress, and when he lay down after his day’s
work, found no rest, but full of care, tossed about in his bed.
One morning, he rose before daybreak and went out into the open air,
thinking that perhaps there his heart might become lighter. As he
was stepping over the mill-dam, the first sunbeam was just breaking
forth, and he heard a rippling sound in the pond. He turned round and
perceived a beautiful woman, rising slowly out of the water. Her long
hair, which she was holding off her shoulders with her soft hands, fell
down on both sides, and covered her white body.
He saw that she was the Nix of the Mill-pond, and in his fright did not
know whether he should run away or stay where he was.
But the Nix made her sweet voice heard, called him by his name, and
asked him why he was so sad? The miller was at first struck dumb, but
when he heard her speak so kindly, he took heart, and told her how he
had formerly lived in wealth and happiness, but that now he was so poor
that he did not know what to do.
“Be easy,” answered the Nix, “I will make you richer and happier than
you have ever been before, only you must promise to give me the young
thing which has just been born in your house.”
“What else can that be,” thought the miller, “but a young puppy or
kitten?” and he promised her what she desired.
The Nix descended into the water again, and he hurried back to his
mill, consoled and in good spirits. He had not yet reached it, when the
maid-servant came out of the house, and cried to him to rejoice, for
his wife had a little boy. The miller stood as if struck by lightning.
He saw very well that the cunning Nix had been aware of it, and had
cheated him.
Hanging his head, he went up to his wife’s bedside and when she said,
“Why do you not rejoice over the fine boy?” he told her what had
befallen him, and what kind of a promise he had given to the Nix. “Of
what use to me are riches and prosperity?” he added, “if I am to lose
my child; but what can I do?”
Even the relations, who had come thither to wish them joy, did not
know what to say. In the meantime prosperity again returned to the
miller’s house. All that he undertook succeeded; it was as if presses
and coffers filled themselves of their own accord, and as if money
multiplied nightly in the cupboards. It was not long before his wealth
was greater than it had ever been before. But he could not rejoice over
it untroubled, the bargain which he had made with the Nix tormented his
soul.
Whenever he passed the mill-pond, he feared she might ascend and remind
him of his debt. He never let the boy himself go near the water.
“Beware,” he said to him, “if you do but touch the water, a hand will
rise, seize you, and draw you down.”