There was once on a time a stepmother who hated her stepdaughter
exceedingly, because she was more beautiful than her own daughter whom
she had brought with her into the house. By-and-by the father learned
also to hate his own child; he scolded her, and beat her, in order to
please his wife. One day his wife said to him, “Let us send your
daughter away. Let her look out for herself in the world.” Upon this
the man asked, “Where can we send her? Where can the poor girl go
alone?” To this the wife answered, “If you will not do this, husband, I
will no longer live with you. You had better take her to-morrow out of
the house. You can lead her into the forest, and then steal away from
her and hurry home.” She repeated this so often that at length he
consented, but said, “At least prepare the girl something for her
journey, that she may not die the first day of hunger.”
The stepmother thereupon made a cake, and, the next morning early, the
father led the girl far away into the very heart of the forest, and
there left her and went back home.
The poor girl, thus left alone, wandered all day about the wood seeking
for a path, but could find no way out of it. When it grew dark she got
up into a tree to pass the night, fearing lest some wild beasts would
eat her if she remained on the ground. And, indeed, all night long the
wolves were howling under the tree, so that the poor girl trembled so
much that she could hardly keep herself from falling. When day dawned
she descended from the tree and walked on again, hoping to find some
way out of the forest. But the wood grew thicker and thicker, and
seemed to have no end. In the evening, whilst she was looking for a
tree in which she might remain safely over the night, all at once she
saw something shining in the forest. So she went on, hoping to find
some shelter, and at length came to a fine large house. The gates were
open, so she went in, and walked through a great many rooms, each one
more beautiful than the other. On a table in one room she found a
candle burning. She thought this must be the house of some robbers; but
she was not afraid, for she reasoned with herself, “Rich men have
reason to fear robbers, but I have none—I will tell them that I will
serve them gladly for a piece of bread.”
She then took the cake from her bag, said grace, and began to eat. Just
as she had begun to eat a cock came into the room, and sprang upon the
table to reach the cake, so the girl crumbled some of it for him. Then
a little dog came in and jumped quite friendly upon her, so she broke a
piece from her cake for the little dog, and took him on her knee, and
petted and fed him. After that came in a cat also, and the girl fed her
too.
At length the girl heard a loud noise as if some great beast was
coming, and was greatly frightened when a lion came into the room. But
the lion moved his tail in such a friendly way, and looked so very
kindly, that she took heart, and offered him a piece of her cake. The
lion took it and began to lick her hand, and the girl had no longer any
fear of him, so she stroked him gently and fed him with the rest of the
cake. Suddenly she heard a great noise of weapons, and almost swooned
as a creature in a bear-skin entered the room. The cock, the dog, the
cat, and the lion all ran to it, and jumped about it affectionately,
showing in all possible ways their great joy. The poor girl thought it
a very strange beast, and expected it would jump upon her and kill her.
But the fearful thing threw the bear-skin from its head and shoulders,
and all the room shone and glittered with its golden garments. The poor
girl almost lost her senses when she saw before her a handsome man,
beautifully dressed. But he came up to her and said, “Don’t be afraid,
my dear! I am not a bad man, I am the son of the king, and when I wish
to hunt I come here and use this bear-skin as a disguise lest the
people should recognize me. Those who see me believe that I am a ghost,
and run away from me. No one dares to come into this house, knowing
that I often come here. You are the only person who has ventured in.
How did you know that I am not a ghost?”
Then she told him she had never heard of him nor of the house, but that
her stepmother had driven her away from home, and she told him all that
had happened to her. When he heard this he was very sorry, and said,
“Your stepmother hated you, but God has been kind to you. I will marry
you if you are willing to be my wife—will you consent?” “Yes,” she
replied.
Next day he took her to his father’s palace and married her. After some
time she begged to be allowed to go to see her father. So her husband
allowed her to go, and she dressed herself all in gold and went to her
father’s house. The father happened to be away from home, and the
stepmother, seeing her coming, was afraid lest she had come to revenge
herself. So she hurried to meet her and said, “You see that it was I
who sent you on the road to happiness.” The stepdaughter kissed her and
embraced her stepsister. Then the girl said she was very sorry that she
had not found her father at home, and, on her going away, she gave
plenty of money to her stepmother. When, however, she had gone away the
stepmother shook her fist after her and cried, “Wait a little, you
shall not be the only one so dressed out; to-morrow I will send my own
daughter after you the same way.”
When her husband came home at night she told him all that had happened,
and said, “What do you think, husband? would it not be a good thing to
send my girl also into the wood to try her fortune; for your girl, whom
we sent there, never came back until now, and now she has come
glittering in gold?”
The man sighed and agreed to the proposal. Next day the stepmother
prepared for her daughter plenty of cakes and roasted meats, and then
sent her with the father into the forest. The man led her deep into the
forest, as he had done his own daughter, and there left her. Finding
the father did not return, she began to seek a way to get home, and
soon came in sight of the house in the forest. She entered it, and
seeing no one, fastened the door inside. Then she took out of her bag
the baked meats and cakes and began to eat. Whilst she was eating the
cock, the dog, and the cat came in suddenly, and began to play about
her affectionately, hoping she would give them something; but she
became quite angry, and exclaimed, “The devil take you! I have hardly
enough for myself; do you think I will give any to you?” Then she began
to beat them, whereat the dog howled, and the lion, hearing it, rushed
in furiously, caught the girl and killed her.
Next day the king’s son came with his wife to hunt. She immediately
recognised her sister’s dress, and gathered together the fragments of
the body, which she took to her stepmother. She found her father at
home this time, and he was greatly pleased to hear that his daughter
was married to the king’s son. When, however, he heard what had
happened to the daughter of his wife, he was very sorry, but said, “Her
mother has deserved this from the hand of God, because she hated you
without a cause. There she is at the well. I will go and tell her.”
When the stepmother heard what had happened to her daughter, she said
to her husband, “I cannot bear your daughter. I cannot bear to look at
her. Let us kill her and her husband. If you will not consent, I will
jump down into this well.” “I cannot kill my own child,” returned he.
“Well, then,” cried she, “if you will not kill her, I cannot endure
her,” and so she jumped down into the well.