In a certain mill lived an old miller who had neither wife nor child,
and three apprentices served under him. As they had been with him
several years, he one day said to them, “I am old, and want to sit in
the chimney-corner, go out, and whichsoever of you brings me the best
horse home, to him will I give the mill, and in return for it he shall
take care of me till my death.” The third of the boys was, however, the
drudge, who was looked on as foolish by the others; they begrudged the
mill to him, and afterwards he would not have it. Then all three went
out together, and when they came to the village, the two said to stupid
Hans, “Thou mayst just as well stay here, as long as thou livest thou
wilt never get a horse.” Hans, however, went with them, and when it was
night they came to a cave in which they lay down to sleep. The two
sharp ones waited until Hans had fallen asleep, then they got up, and
went away leaving him where he was. And they thought they had done a
very clever thing, but it was certain to turn out ill for them. When
the sun arose, and Hans woke up, he was lying in a deep cavern. He
looked around on every side and exclaimed, “Oh, heavens, where am I?”
Then he got up and clambered out of the cave, went into the forest, and
thought, “Here I am quite alone and deserted, how shall I obtain a
horse now?” Whilst he was thus walking full of thought, he met a small
tabby-cat which said quite kindly, “Hans, where are you going?” “Alas,
thou canst not help me.” “I well know your desire,” said the cat. “You
wish to have a beautiful horse. Come with me, and be my faithful
servant for seven years long, and then I will give you one more
beautiful than any you have ever seen in your whole life.” “Well, this
is a wonderful cat!” thought Hans, “but I am determined to see if she
is telling the truth.” So she took him with her into her enchanted
castle, where there were nothing but cats who were her servants. They
leapt nimbly upstairs and downstairs, and were merry and happy. In the
evening when they sat down to dinner, three of them had to make music.
One played the bassoon, the other the fiddle, and the third put the
trumpet to his lips, and blew out his cheeks as much as he possibly
could. When they had dined, the table was carried away, and the cat
said, “Now, Hans, come and dance with me.” “No,” said he, “I won’t
dance with a pussy cat. I have never done that yet.” “Then take him to
bed,” said she to the cats. So one of them lighted him to his bed-room,
one pulled his shoes off, one his stockings, and at last one of them
blew out the candle. Next morning they returned and helped him out of
bed, one put his stockings on for him, one tied his garters, one
brought his shoes, one washed him, and one dried his face with her
tail. “That feels very soft!” said Hans. He, however, had to serve the
cat, and chop some wood every day, and to do that, he had an axe of
silver, and the wedge and saw were of silver and the mallet of copper.
So he chopped the wood small; stayed there in the house and had good
meat and drink, but never saw anyone but the tabby-cat and her
servants. Once she said to him, “Go and mow my meadow, and dry the
grass,” and gave him a scythe of silver, and a whetstone of gold, but
bade him deliver them up again carefully. So Hans went thither, and did
what he was bidden, and when he had finished the work, he carried the
scythe, whetstone, and hay to the house, and asked if it was not yet
time for her to give him his reward. “No,” said the cat, “you must
first do something more for me of the same kind. There is timber of
silver, carpenter’s axe, square, and everything that is needful, all of
silver, with these build me a small house.” Then Hans built the small
house, and said that he had now done everything, and still he had no
horse. Nevertheless the seven years had gone by with him as if they
were six months. The cat asked him if he would like to see her horses?
“Yes,” said Hans. Then she opened the door of the small house, and when
she had opened it, there stood twelve horses, such horses, so bright
and shining, that his heart rejoiced at the sight of them. And now she
gave him to eat and drink, and said, “Go home, I will not give thee thy
horse away with thee; but in three days’ time I will follow thee and
bring it.” So Hans set out, and she showed him the way to the mill. She
had, however, never once given him a new coat, and he had been obliged
to keep on his dirty old smock-frock, which he had brought with him,
and which during the seven years had everywhere become too small for
him. When he reached home, the two other apprentices were there again
as well, and each of them certainly had brought a horse with him, but
one of them was a blind one, and the other lame. They asked Hans where
his horse was. “It will follow me in three days’ time.” Then they
laughed and said, “Indeed, stupid Hans, where wilt thou get a horse?”
“It will be a fine one!” Hans went into the parlour, but the miller
said he should not sit down to table, for he was so ragged and torn,
that they would all be ashamed of him if any one came in. So they gave
him a mouthful of food outside, and at night, when they went to rest,
the two others would not let him have a bed, and at last he was forced
to creep into the goose-house, and lie down on a little hard straw. In
the morning when he awoke, the three days had passed, and a coach came
with six horses and they shone so bright that it was delightful to see
them! and a servant brought a seventh as well, which was for the poor
miller’s boy. And a magnificent princess alighted from the coach and
went into the mill, and this princess was the little tabby-cat whom
poor Hans had served for seven years. She asked the miller where the
miller’s boy and drudge was? Then the miller said, “We cannot have him
here in the mill, for he is so ragged; he is lying in the goose-house.”
Then the King’s daughter said that they were to bring him immediately.
So they brought him out, and he had to hold his little smock-frock
together to cover himself. The servants unpacked splendid garments, and
washed him and dressed him, and when that was done, no King could have
looked more handsome. Then the maiden desired to see the horses which
the other apprentices had brought home with them, and one of them was
blind and the other lame. So she ordered the servant to bring the
seventh horse, and when the miller saw it, he said that such a horse as
that had never yet entered his yard. “And that is for the third
miller’s boy,” said she. “Then he must have the mill,” said the miller,
but the King’s daughter said that the horse was there, and that he was
to keep his mill as well, and took her faithful Hans and set him in the
coach, and drove away with him. They first drove to the little house
which he had built with the silver tools, and behold it was a great
castle, and everything inside it was of silver and gold; and then she
married him, and he was rich, so rich that he had enough for all the
rest of his life. After this, let no one ever say that anyone who is
silly can never become a person of importance.