(7) Grimm.
Once upon a time when wishes came true there was a king’s son who was
enchanted by an old witch, so that he was obliged to sit in a large iron
stove in a wood. There he lived for many years, and no one could free
him. At last a king’s daughter came into the wood; she had lost her way,
and could not find her father’s kingdom again. She had been wandering
round and round for nine days, and she came at last to the iron case. A
voice came from within and asked her, ‘Where do you come from, and where
do you want to go?’ She answered, ‘I have lost my way to my father’s
kingdom, and I shall never get home again.’ Then the voice from the iron
stove said, ‘I will help you to find your home again, and that in a very
short time, if you will promise to do what I ask you. I am a greater
prince than you are a princess, and I will marry you.’ Then she grew
frightened, and thought, ‘What can a young lassie do with an iron
stove?’ But as she wanted very much to go home to her father, she
promised to do what he wished.
He said, ‘You must come again, and bring a knife with you to scrape a
hole in the iron.’
Then he gave her someone for a guide, who walked near her and said
nothing, but he brought her in two hours to her house. There was great
joy in the castle when the Princess came back, and the old King fell on
her neck and kissed her. But she was very much troubled, and said, ‘Dear
father, listen to what has befallen me! I should never have come home
again out of the great wild wood if I had not come to an iron stove,
to whom I have had to promise that I will go back to free him and marry
him!’ The old King was so frightened that he nearly fainted, for she was
his only daughter. So they consulted together, and determined that the
miller’s daughter, who was very beautiful, should take her place. They
took her there, gave her a knife, and said she must scrape at the iron
stove. She scraped for twenty-four hours, but did not make the least
impression. When the day broke, a voice called from the iron stove, ‘It
seems to me that it is day outside.’ Then she answered, ‘It seems so to
me; I think I hear my father’s mill rattling.’
‘So you are a miller’s daughter! Then go away at once, and tell the
King’s daughter to come.’
Then she went away, and told the old King that the thing inside the
iron stove would not have her, but wanted the Princess. The old King was
frightened, and his daughter wept. But they had a swineherd’s daughter
who was even more beautiful than the miller’s daughter, and they gave
her a piece of gold to go to the iron stove instead of the Princess.
Then she was taken out, and had to scrape for four-and-twenty hours, but
she could make no impression. As soon as the day broke the voice from
the stove called out, ‘It seems to be daylight outside.’ Then she
answered, ‘It seems so to me too; I think I hear my father blowing his
horn.’ ‘So you are a swineherd’s daughter! Go away at once, and let the
King’s daughter come. And say to her that what I foretell shall come to
pass, and if she does not come everything in the kingdom shall fall into
ruin, and not one stone shall be left upon another.’ When the Princess
heard this she began to cry, but it was no good; she had to keep her
word. She took leave of her father, put a knife in her belt, and went
to the iron stove in the wood. As soon as she reached it she began to
scrape, and the iron gave way and before two hours had passed she had
made a little hole. Then she peeped in and saw such a beautiful youth
all shining with gold and precious stones that she fell in love with him
on the spot. So she scraped away harder than ever, and made the hole
so large that he could get out. Then he said, ‘You are mine, and I am
thine; you are my bride and have set me free!’ He wanted to take her
with him to his kingdom, but she begged him just to let her go once more
to her father; and the Prince let her go, but told her not to say more
than three words to her father, then to come back again. So she went
home, but alas! she said MORE THAN THREE WORDS; and immediately the iron
stove vanished and went away over a mountain of glass and sharp swords.
But the Prince was free, and was no longer shut up in it. Then she said
good-bye to her father, and took a little money with her, and went again
into the great wood to look for the iron stove; but she could not find
it. She sought it for nine days, and then her hunger became so great
that she did not know how she could live any longer. And when it was
evening she climbed a little tree and wished that the night would not
come, because she was afraid of the wild beasts. When midnight came she
saw afar off a little light, and thought, ‘Ah! if only I could reach
that!’ Then she got down from the tree and went towards the light. She
came to a little old house with a great deal of grass growing round, and
stood in front of a little heap of wood. She thought, ‘Alas! what am I
coming to?’ and peeped through the window; but she saw nothing inside
except big and little toads, and a table beautifully spread with roast
meats and wine, and all the dishes and drinking-cups were of silver.
Then she took heart and knocked. Then a fat toad called out:
‘Little green toad with leg like crook,
Open wide the door, and look
Who it was the latch that shook.’
And a little toad came forward and let her in. When she entered they
all bid her welcome, and made her sit down. They asked her how she came
there and what she wanted. Then she told everything that had happened
to her, and how, because she had exceeded her permission only to speak
three words, the stove had disappeared with the Prince; and how she had
searched a very long time, and must wander over mountain and valley till
she found him.
Then the old toad said:
‘Little green toad whose leg doth twist,
Go to the corner of which you wist,
And bring to me the large old kist.’
And the little toad went and brought out a great chest. Then they gave
her food and drink, and led her to a beautifully made bed of silk and
samite, on which she lay down and slept soundly. When the day dawned she
arose, and the old toad gave her three things out of the huge chest to
take with her. She would have need of them, for she had to cross a high
glass mountain, three cutting swords, and a great lake. When she had
passed these she would find her lover again. So she was given three
large needles, a plough-wheel, and three nuts, which she was to take
great care of. She set out with these things, and when she came to the
glass mountain which was so slippery she stuck the three needles behind
her feet and then in front, and so got over it, and when she was on the
other side put them carefully away.
Then she reached the three cutting swords, and got on her plough-wheel
and rolled over them. At last she came to a great lake, and, when she
had crossed that, arrived at a beautiful castle. She went in and gave
herself out as a servant, a poor maid who would gladly be engaged. But
she knew that the Prince whom she had freed from the iron stove in the
great wood was in the castle. So she was taken on as a kitchen-maid for
very small wages. Now the Prince was about to marry another princess,
for he thought she was dead long ago.
In the evening, when she had washed up and was ready, she felt in her
pocket and found the three nuts which the old toad had given her. She
cracked one and was going to eat the kernel, when behold! there was a
beautiful royal dress inside it! When the bride heard of this, she came
and begged for the dress, and wanted to buy it, saying that it was not a
dress for a serving-maid. Then she said she would not sell it unless she
was granted one favour--namely, to sleep by the Prince’s door. The bride
granted her this, because the dress was so beautiful and she had so few
like it. When it was evening she said to her bridegroom, ‘That stupid
maid wants to sleep by your door.’
‘If you are contented, I am,’ he said. But she gave him a glass of wine
in which she had poured a sleeping-draught. Then they both went to his
room, but he slept so soundly that she could not wake him. The maid wept
all night long, and said, ‘I freed you in the wild wood out of the iron
stove; I have sought you, and have crossed a glassy mountain, three
sharp swords, and a great lake before I found you, and will you not hear
me now?’ The servants outside heard how she cried the whole night, and
they told their master in the morning.
When she had washed up the next evening she bit the second nut, and
there was a still more beautiful dress inside. When the bride saw it she
wanted to buy it also. But the maid did not want money, and asked that
she should sleep again by the Prince’s door. The bride, however, gave
him a sleeping-draught, and he slept so soundly that he heard nothing.
But the kitchen-maid wept the whole night long, and said, ‘I have freed
you in a wood and from an iron stove; I sought you and have crossed a
glassy mountain, three sharp swords, and a great lake to find you, and
now you will not hear me!’ The servants outside heard how she cried the
whole night, and in the morning they told their master.
And when she had washed up on the third night she bit the third nut,
and there was a still more beautiful dress inside that was made of pure
gold. When the bride saw it she wanted to have it, but the maid would
only give it her on condition that she should sleep for the third
time by the Prince’s door. But the Prince took care not to drink
the sleeping-draught. When she began to weep and to say, ‘Dearest
sweetheart, I freed you in the horrible wild wood, and from an iron
stove,’ he jumped up and said, ‘You are right. You are mine, and I am
thine.’ Though it was still night, he got into a carriage with her, and
they took the false bride’s clothes away, so that she could not follow
them. When they came to the great lake they rowed across, and when they
reached the three sharp swords they sat on the plough-wheel, and on the
glassy mountain they stuck the three needles in. So they arrived at last
at the little old house, but when they stepped inside it turned into
a large castle. The toads were all freed, and were beautiful King’s
children, running about for joy. There they were married, and they
remained in the castle, which was much larger than that of the
Princess’s father’s. But because the old man did not like being left
alone, they went and fetched him. So they had two kingdoms and lived in
great wealth.
A mouse has run,
My story’s done.