“Who are you, and why do you come here?” And many other questions. But
he remained silent as a stone, indicating with his hands only that he
was dumb and in need of help. She told him to sit at her feet, and when
he had gladly done so, she inclined her head toward him, that he might
comb her hair. He began to arrange her hair as if to comb it, but as
soon as he had found the red one, he separated it from the rest,
plucked it out, leaped up, and ran from her with his utmost speed.
The girl sprang after him, and was soon at his heels. The man, turning
round as he ran, and seeing that his pursuer would soon overtake him,
threw the embroidered scarf on the ground, as he had been told. When
the girl saw it, she stopped and began to examine it; turning it over
on both sides, and admiring the embroidery. Meanwhile the man gained a
considerable distance in advance. The girl tied the scarf round her
bosom and recommenced the pursuit. When the man saw that she was again
about to overtake him, he threw down the red handkerchief. At the sight
of it, the girl again stopped, examined, and wondered at it; the
peasant, in the meantime, was again enabled to increase the distance
between them. When the girl perceived this, she became furious, and
throwing away both scarf and handkerchief began to run with increased
speed after him. She was just upon the point of catching the poor
peasant, when he threw the looking-glass at her feet. At the sight of
the looking-glass, the like of which she had never seen before, the
girl checked herself, picked it up, and looked in it. Seeing her own
face, she fancied there was another girl looking at her. While she was
thus occupied the man ran so far that she could not possibly overtake
him. When the girl saw that further pursuit was useless, she turned
back, and the peasant, joyful and unhurt, reached his home. Once within
doors he showed the hair to his wife and children, and told them all
that had happened to him; but his wife only laughed at the Story. The
peasant, however, took no heed of her ridicule, but went to a
neighboring town to sell the hair. He was soon surrounded by a crowd of
people, and some merchants began to bid for his prize. One merchant
offered him one gold piece, another two, for the single hair, and so
on, until the price rose to a hundred gold pieces. Meanwhile the king,
hearing of the wonderful red hair, ordered the peasant to be called in,
and offered him a thousand gold pieces for it. The man joyfully sold it
for that sum.
What wonderful kind of hair was this after all? The king split it
carefully open from end to end, and in it was found the story of many
marvelous secrets of nature, and of things that had happened since the
creation of the world.
Thus the peasant became rich, and henceforth lived happily with his
wife and children. The child he had seen in his dream, was an angel
sent down from heaven to succor him, and to reveal to mankind the
knowledge of many wonderful things which had hitherto remained
unexplained.