II
There once was a father who slaughtered a pig, and his children saw that. In the afternoon, when they began playing, one child said to the other, “You be the little pig, and I’ll be the butcher.” He then took a shiny knife and slit his little brother’s throat.
Their mother was upstairs in a room bathing another child, and when she heard the cries of her son, she immediately ran downstairs. Upon seeing what had happened, she took the knife out of her son’s throat and was so enraged that she stabbed the heart of the other boy, who had been playing the butcher. Then she quickly ran back to the room to tend to her child in the bathtub, but while she had been gone, he had drowned in the tub. Now the woman became so frightened and desperate that she wouldn’t allow the neighbors to comfort her and finally hung herself. When her husband came back from the fields and saw everything, he became so despondent that he died soon thereafter.
23
THE LITTLE MOUSE, THE LITTLE BIRD, AND THE SAUSAGE
Once upon a time a little mouse, a little bird, and a sausage came together and set up house. For a long time they lived together in peace and happiness, and they managed to increase their possessions by a considerable amount. The little bird’s job was to fly into the forest every day and bring back wood. The mouse had to carry water, light the fire, and set the table while the sausage did the cooking.
Now, if things go too well for people, they always look for new things! So, one day as the bird was flying about, he came upon another bird, and he boasted and told him about his superb situation. But the other bird called him a poor sap because he had to do most of the work while the other two friends had easy lives. For instance, after the mouse started the fire and carried the water into the house, she generally went to her little room and rested until she was called to set the table. The sausage stayed by the pot and kept an eye on the cooking, and right at mealtime, he slid through the stew or vegetables to make sure everything was salted, seasoned, and ready to eat. As soon as the little bird came home and laid down his bundle, they would sit down at the table, and after finishing the meal, they would sleep soundly until the next morning. Such was their glorious life.
However, the little bird had been disturbed by what the other bird had said the previous day and told his companions that he had been their slave long enough and was no longer going to be taken for a fool. He wanted them to change and try another arrangement. No matter how long the mouse and the sausage vehemently argued against this, the bird dominated and insisted that they try a new way. So they drew lots, and it fell upon the sausage to get the wood; the mouse became cook; and the bird was to fetch water.
What happened?
After the sausage went to fetch the wood, the bird started the fire, and the mouse put the kettle on the stove. Then they waited for the sausage to return home with the wood for the next day. However, the sausage was gone for such a long time that the other two had an uneasy feeling, and the bird flew out a little way to meet him.
Not far from their home, the sausage had encountered a dog. Now this dog had considered the sausage free game and had grabbed him and swallowed him down. The little bird arrived and accused the dog of highway robbery, but it was of no use, for the dog maintained he had found forged letters on the sausage, and therefore, the sausage had had to pay for this with his life.
Now the little bird sadly picked up the wood and carried it back home. He told the mouse what he had seen and heard, and they were very distressed. Nevertheless, they agreed to do the best they could and stay together. Meanwhile, the little bird set the table, and the mouse prepared the meal. She intended to put the finishing touches on it by seasoning it and sliding through the vegetables the way the sausage used to do, but before she even reached the middle of the vegetables, she got stuck and had to pay for it with her life.
When the bird came to serve the meal, there was no cook. He became so upset that he scattered wood all over the place, calling and searching for the mouse. But his cook was no longer to be found. Since the little bird was so distracted, he didn’t notice that the wood had caught fire, and the house went up in flames. The bird rushed out to fetch some water, but the bucket slipped and fell into the well, dragging the bird along. Since he couldn’t manage to get himself out, he was left to drown.
24
MOTHER HOLLE
A widow had two daughters, one who was beautiful and diligent, the other, ugly and lazy. But she was fonder of the ugly and lazy one, and the other had to do all the work and was just like the Cinderella in the house.
Now, one day the beautiful maiden went out to fetch water, and as she bent over to pull the bucket from the well, she leaned over too much and fell into the water. And when she awoke and came to her senses, she was lying on the ground in a beautiful meadow, where the sun was shining and thousands of flowers were growing. She left the meadow, and soon she came to a baker’s oven full of bread, but the bread was yelling, “Oh, take me out! Take me out, or else I’ll burn, I’ve already been baked long enough!”
So she went to the oven and diligently took out everything. After that she moved on and came to a tree full of apples.
“Oh, shake me! Shake me!” the tree exclaimed. “My apples are all ripe.”
So she shook the tree until the apples fell like raindrops, and she kept shaking until they had all fallen to the ground. After that she moved on. At last she came to a small cottage where an old woman was looking out of a window. She had such big teeth that the maiden was scared and wanted to run away. But the old woman cried after her, “Don’t be afraid, my dear child! Stay with me, and if you do all the housework properly, everything will turn out well for you. You must only make my bed nicely and give it a good shaking so the feathers fly. Then it will snow on earth, for I am Mother Holle.”1
Since the old woman had spoken so kindly to her, the maiden agreed to enter her service. She took care of everything to the old woman’s satisfaction and always shook the bed so hard that the feathers flew about like snowflakes. In return, the woman treated her well: she never said an unkind word to the maiden, and she gave her roasted or boiled meat every day. After the maiden had spent a long time with Mother Holle, her heart saddened. Even though everything was a thousand times better there than at home, she still had a yearning to return. At last she said to Mother Holle, “I’ve got a tremendous longing to return home, and even though everything is wonderful here, I can’t stay any longer.”
“You’re right,” Mother Holle responded, “and since you’ve served me so faithfully, I myself shall bring you up there again.”
She took the maiden by the hand and led her to a large gate. When it was opened and the maiden was standing beneath the gateway, an enormous shower of gold came pouring down, and all the gold stuck to her so that she became completely covered with it.
“I want you to have this because you’ve been so diligent,” said Mother Holle. Thereupon, the gate closed, and the maiden found herself up on earth. Then she went to her mother, and since she was covered with so much gold, her mother gave her a warm welcome. Then, when her mother heard how she had obtained so much wealth, she wanted her other, ugly and lazy daughter to have the same good fortune. Therefore, this daughter also had to jump down the well. Like her sister, she awoke in the beautiful meadow and walked along the same path. When she came to the oven, the bread cried out again, “Oh, take me out! Take me out, or else I’ll burn! I’ve already been baked long enough!”
But the lazy maiden answered, “Do you think I want to get myself dirty?”
She moved on, and soon she came to the apple tree that cried out, “Oh, shake me! Shake me! My apples are all ripe.”
However, the lazy maiden replied, “Are you serious? One of the apples could fall and hit me on my head.”
When she came to Mother Holle’s cottage, she wasn’t afraid because she had already heard about the old woman’s big teeth, and she hired herself out to her right away. On the first day she made an effort to work hard and ob
ey Mother Holle when the old woman told her what to do, for the thought of gold was on her mind. On the second day she started loafing, and on the third day she loafed even more. Indeed, she didn’t want to get out of bed in the morning, and she did a poor job of making Frau Holle’s bed. She certainly didn’t shake it hard enough to make the feathers fly. Soon Mother Holle became tired of this and discharged the maiden from her service. The lazy maiden was quite happy to go and now expected the shower of gold. Mother Holle led her to the gate, but as the maiden was standing beneath the gateway, a big kettle of pitch came pouring down over her instead of gold.
“That’s a reward for your services,” Mother Holle said and closed the gate. The lazy maiden went home covered with pitch, and it stuck to her for as long as she lived.
* * *
1 Whenever it snowed in olden days, people in Hessia used to say Mother Holle is making her bed.
25
THE THREE RAVENS
Once upon a time there was a mother who had three little sons who were playing cards one day next to the church. And when the sermon was finished, their mother returned home and saw what they had been doing. So she cursed her godless children, and they were immediately turned into three coal-black ravens and flew away.
The three brothers, however, had a little sister who loved them with all her heart, and she grieved so much about their banishment that she no longer had any peace of mind and finally set out to look for them. The only thing that she took with her for the long, long journey was a little stool on which she rested when she became too tired, and she ate nothing the entire time but wild apples and pears. Unfortunately, she couldn’t find the three ravens. But one time, when they had flown over her head, one of them had dropped a ring, and when she picked it up, she recognized it as the ring that she had given to her youngest brother one time as a present.
The sister continued her journey, and she went so far, so very far, until she came to the end of the world and went to the sun, which was, however, much too hot and ate small children. So after that she went to the moon, which was, however, much too cold and also mean, and when it saw her, it said, “I smell, I smell human flesh!”
So the maiden left there quickly and went to the stars, which were good to her, and each one sat on a little stool, and the morning star stood up and gave her a gammy leg to help her open the gate to the glass mountain.
“If you don’t have this little leg, you won’t be able to climb the glass mountain. It’s on the glass mountain that you’ll find your brothers!”
So the sister took the gammy leg, wrapped it in some cloth, and continued her journey until she came to the glass mountain. However, the gate was closed, and just as she wanted to take the gammy leg from the cloth, she discovered that she had lost it along the way. Since she didn’t know what to do, she took a knife, sliced off her pinky, stuck it into the lock, and opened the gate. Then a little dwarf came toward her and said, “My child, what are you looking for here?”
“I’m looking for my brothers, the three ravens.”
“The lord ravens are not at home,” said the little dwarf. “If you want to wait, then come in.”
And the little dwarf brought three little plates and three little mugs, and the sister ate a bit from each little plate and drank a sip from each mug, and she let the little ring fall into the last mug. All of a sudden a whizzing and a buzzing could be heard in the air.
“The lord ravens are flying back home,” said the little dwarf.
And the ravens began to speak one after the other:
“Who has eaten from my little plate?”
“Who has drunk from my little mug?”
As the third raven, however, came to his little mug, he found the ring and saw clearly that their little sister had arrived. They recognized her because of the ring, and they were all saved and transformed and were happy to go home.
26
LITTLE RED CAP
Once upon a time there was a sweet little maiden. Whoever laid eyes upon her couldn’t help but love her. But it was her grandmother who could never give the child enough. One day she made her a present, a small, red velvet cap, and since it was so becoming and the maiden always wanted to wear it, people only called her Little Red Cap.
One day her mother said to her: “Come, Little Red Cap, take this piece of cake and bottle of wine and bring them to your grandmother. She’s sick and weak, and this will strengthen her. Be nice and good and greet her from me. Go directly there and don’t stray from the path, otherwise you’ll fall and break the glass, and your grandmother will get nothing.”
Little Red Cap promised to obey her mother. Well, the grandmother lived out in the forest, half an hour from the village, and as soon as Little Red Cap entered the forest, she encountered the wolf. However, Little Red Cap didn’t know what a wicked sort of an animal he was and was not afraid of him.
“Good day, Little Red Cap,” he said.
“Thank you kindly, wolf.”
“Where are you going so early, Little Red Cap?”
“To grandmother’s.”
“What are you carrying under your apron?”
“Cake and wine. My grandmother’s sick and weak, and yesterday we baked this cake so it will help her get well.”
“Where does your grandmother live, Little Red Cap?”
“About a quarter of an hour from here in the forest. Her house is under the three big oak trees. You can tell it by the hazel bushes,” said Little Red Cap.
The wolf thought to himself, “What a juicy morsel she’ll be for me! Now, how am I going to catch her?” Then he said, “Listen, Little Red Cap, haven’t you seen the beautiful flowers growing in the forest? Why don’t you look around? I believe you haven’t even noticed how lovely the birds are singing. You march along as if you were going straight to school in the village, and yet it’s so delightful out here in the woods!”
Little Red Cap looked around and saw that the sun had broken through the trees and that the woods were full of beautiful flowers. So she thought to herself, “If I bring grandmother a bunch of flowers, she’d certainly like that. It’s still early, and I’ll arrive on time.”
So she plunged into the woods to look for flowers. And each time she plucked one, she thought she saw another even prettier flower and ran after it, going deeper and deeper into the forest. But the wolf went straight to the grandmother’s house and knocked at the door.
“Who’s there?”
“Little Red Cap. I’ve brought you some cake and wine. Open up.”
“Just lift the latch,” the grandmother called. “I’m too weak and can’t get up.”
The wolf lifted the latch, and the door sprang open. Then he went straight to the grandmother’s bed and gobbled her up. Next he took her clothes, put them on along with her nightcap, lay down in her bed, and drew the curtains.
Meanwhile, Little Red Cap had been running around and looking for flowers, and only when she had as many as she could carry did she continue on the way to her grandmother. She was puzzled when she found the door open, and as she entered the room, it seemed so strange inside that she thought, “Oh, my God, how frightened I feel today, and usually I like to be at grandmother’s.” Then she went to the bed and drew back the curtains. There lay her grandmother with her cap pulled down over her face, giving her a strange appearance.
“Oh, grandmother, what big ears you have!”
“The better to hear you with.”
“Oh, grandmother, what big eyes you have!”
“The better to see you with.”
“Oh, grandmother, what big hands you have!”
“The better to grab you with.”
“Oh, grandmother, what a terribly big mouth you have!”
“The better to eat you with!”
No sooner did the wolf say that than he jumped out of bed and gobbled up poor Little Red Cap. After the wolf had the fat chunks in his body, he lay down in bed again, fell asleep, and began to snore very loudly. The huntsman hap
pened to be passing by the house and thought to himself, “The way the old woman’s snoring, you’d better see if something’s wrong.” He went into the room, and when he came to the bed, he saw the wolf lying in it. He had been searching for the wolf a long time and thought that the beast had certainly eaten the grandmother. “Perhaps she can still be saved,” he said to himself. “I won’t shoot.” So he took some scissors and cut open the wolf’s belly. After he made a couple of cuts, he saw the little red cap shining forth, and after he made a few more cuts, the girl jumped out and exclaimed, “Oh, how frightened I was! It was so dark in the wolf’s body.”
Soon the grandmother emerged alive. Little Red Cap quickly fetched some large heavy stones, and they filled the wolf’s body with them. When he awoke and tried to run away, the stones were so heavy that he fell down at once and died.
All three were delighted. The huntsman skinned the fur from the wolf. The grandmother ate the cake and drank the wine that Little Red Cap had brought. And Little Red Cap thought to herself: “Never again will you stray from the path by yourself and go into the forest when your mother has forbidden it.”
It’s also been told that Little Red Cap returned to her grandmother one day to bring some baked goods. Another wolf spoke to her and tried to entice her to leave the path, but this time Little Red Cap was on her guard. She went straight ahead and told her grandmother that she had seen the wolf, that he had wished her good day, but that he had had such a mean look in his eyes that “he would have eaten me if we hadn’t been on the open road.”
“Come,” said the grandmother. “We’ll lock the door so he can’t get in.”