Not long thereafter Johannes went out hunting and followed a deer with silver antlers. He hunted the deer for a long time but could not catch it. Finally, he met an old woman, who turned him and his dog, horse, and bear into stone.
Meanwhile Caspar Waterspring returned to the tree in which he and his brother had stuck their knives and saw that his brother’s knife had rusted. He immediately decided to search for his twin and rode off. Soon he came to the city where his brother’s wife was living. She thought he was her real husband because he looked just like him and was delighted by his return and insisted that he stay with her. But Caspar Waterspring continued traveling until he found his brother and animals, all turned into stone. Soon after he forced the old woman to break the magic spell, and then the brothers rode toward their home. Along the way, they agreed that the first one to be embraced by the princess should be her husband. Well, it turned out to be Johannes Waterspring.
75
THE BIRD PHOENIX
One day a rich man went for a walk along the river. All at once he saw a small casket swimming by. He grabbed hold of the casket, and when he opened the cover, he saw a small child lying inside. So he took the child home and had him raised in his house. However, the rich man disliked the boy, and one time he took the boy with him in boat on the river. Once the boat was in the middle of the river, he swam to shore, and left the child alone in the boat. The boat continued floating down the river until it passed the mill, and the miller saw the child. The miller took pity on the child, fetched him from the boat, and raised him in his house.
One day the rich man happened to come by, recognized the child, and carried him away. Soon thereafter he gave the young man a letter to bring to his wife, and the letter read: “As soon as you read this letter, you are to kill the person who delivered it.”
However, as the young man was traveling through the forest, he met an old man who said to him: “Show me the letter that you’re carrying in your hand.”
The old man took the letter, turned it around once, and gave it back to the young man. Now the letter read: “You are immediately to offer our daughter as wife to the young man delivering this letter.”
And this is what happened, and when the rich man heard about this, he became furious and said: “Well, this wedding’s not going to happen so quickly. Before I give you my daughter, you must bring me three feathers from the bird Phoenix.”
So, the young man set out on his way to the bird Phoenix and met the old man again on the same spot in the forest.
“Keep walking for the entire day,” he said. “In the evening you’ll come to a tree. Two doves will be sitting on it, and they’ll tell you how to proceed.”
That evening, when the young man came to the tree, two doves were sitting on it. One of the doves said: “Whoever searches for the bird Phoenix must walk the entire day. In the evening he’ll come to a gate that’s locked.”
Then the second dove said: “There is a gold key that lies underneath this tree, and it will open the gate.”
The young man found the key and later used it to open the gate. Two men were sitting there, and one of them said: “Whoever searches for the bird Phoenix must travel a great distance over the high mountain, and then he’ll finally come to a castle.”
On the evening of the third day he finally reached the castle, where a wise little lady sat and said: “What do you want here?”
“Oh, I’d like to get three feathers from the bird Phoenix.”
“Your life is in danger,” she said. “If the bird Phoenix becomes aware of your presence, he’ll eat you up skin and hair. Nevertheless, I’ll see if I can help you get the three feathers. He comes here every day, and I must comb him with a narrow comb. So now quick, get under the table.”
After he did this, young man was then covered completely by a cloth.
Meanwhile the bird Phoenix came home, sat down at the table, and said: “I smell, I smell human flesh!”
“Oh, what! You see, don’t you, that nobody’s here!”
“Comb me now!” the bird Phoenix responded.
The wise little lady combed the bird Phoenix, and as she was doing this, he fell asleep. When he was sound asleep, she grabbed a feather, pulled it out, and threw it beneath the table. All at once he woke up: “Why are you tearing my hair like that? I dreamed that a human came and pulled out one of my feathers.”
She calmed him down, and so it went, two more times. When the young man had the three feathers, he set out for home and was now able to obtain his bride.
76
THE CARNATION
A long time ago there lived a king who never wanted to marry. Now one day he stood at a window and watched some people entering the church. Among them was a maiden who was so beautiful that he immediately abandoned his resolution. So he had the maiden summoned to him and chose her for his wife. After one year had passed, she gave birth to a prince, and the king didn’t know whom to ask to be the godfather. Finally, he said: “The first man I meet, no matter who it is, I’ll ask him to be the godfather.”
He went out, and the first person he met was a poor old man, and he asked him to be the godfather. The poor man agreed but requested that he be the only one to carry the child into the church, that the church was to be locked, and that nobody be allowed to observe the ceremony. All this was granted. However, the king had an evil, curious gardener, and when the old man carried the child into the church, he sneaked after him and hid himself among the benches. Soon he watched the old man carrying the child before the altar and blessing him. The old man seemed to be someone who understood secret powers, and he gave the child the gift of realizing everything he wished for.
The evil gardener immediately thought how advantageous it would be for him if he had the child. So one day when the queen went for a walk and carried the child in her arm, the gardener tore it away from her, smeared her mouth with the blood of a slaughtered chicken, and accused her of killing and eating her child in the garden. So the king had her thrown into prison, while the gardener sent the child far away to a forester in the woods. He was supposed to raise the child, and it was there that the prince learned all about hunting. Moreover, the forester had a beautiful daughter by the name of Lisa, and the two young children became very fond of one another. Lisa revealed to him that he was a prince, and that he had the power to realize every wish he made.
After some time had passed, the gardener came to the forester, and when the prince saw him, he immediately wished the gardener to become a poodle, and his dear Lisa, a carnation. He stuck her on himself, and the poodle had to run alongside the prince. Then he went to his father’s court, where he entered the royal service as hunter, and soon he became the king’s favorite hunter because he could shoot any kind of animal in the forest. All the prince had to do was to wish, and the animals came running to him. Despite all the services he rendered the king, the prince did not ask to be compensated. He only asked for a room for himself that he kept locked, and he insisted on taking care of meals for himself. All this seemed strange to his fellow hunters, especially his refusal to receive wages, so that one of his comrades followed him and looked through the keyhole. All at once he saw the new hunter sitting at a table next to a beautiful maiden, who was his dear Lisa, whom he changed into her natural form whenever he was in the room. She kept him company whenever they were alone, and whenever he went out, she became a carnation again and stood in a glass of water.
The hunters thought that he must have a great amount of wealth and broke into his room when the prince went out hunting. However, they found absolutely nothing, only the carnation on the window sill. Since the flower was so beautiful, they brought it to the king, who became so very fond of it that he demanded it from the hunter. However, the young hunter refused to give it to him, even for all the money in the world, because the flower was his beautiful Lisa. Finally, when the king insisted on having it, the hunter revealed everything that had happened and that he was his son. When the king heard this, he rej
oiced with all his heart. The queen was released from the prison, and the faithful Lisa became the prince’s wife. The godless gardener was compelled to remain a poodle for the rest of his life and was often kicked by the servants when he lay underneath the table.
77
THE CARPENTER AND THE TURNER
A carpenter and a turner wanted to see who could make the best piece of work. The carpenter made a dish that could swim by itself, while the turner made wings that he could use to fly. Everyone said that the carpenter’s masterpiece was better. So the turner took his wings, put them on, and flew out of the country. He flew the entire day until he came to another country, where a prince saw him flying and asked to borrow the pair of wings. Since the prince promised to pay him well, the turner gave him the wings, and the prince flew to another kingdom. There he saw a tower illuminated by many lights. He decided to swoop down to the ground and find out what the occasion was. When he learned that the most beautiful princess in the world lived there, he became very curious. In the evening he flew through an open window and was able to be with the princess but not for very long, for they were betrayed, and the prince and princess were sentenced to die at the stake.
However, the prince had taken his wings with him, and as the flames flared, he tied the wings on and flew with the princess to his homeland, where he descended to the ground. Since everyone had been sad during his absence, he revealed his true identity and was elected king.
After some time had passed, the father of the maiden who had been carried away by the prince made it known that whoever brought back his daughter would receive half his kingdom. When the prince learned about this, he gathered together an army and brought the princess to her father, who was forced to keep his promise.
78
THE OLD GRANDFATHER AND THE GRANDSON
Once upon a time there was an old man who could barely walk. His knees trembled, and he didn’t hear or see much. Moreover, he had lost all his teeth. When he sat at the dinner table, he could barely hold the spoon. He spilled the soup on his napkin, and the food continued to flow from his mouth. His son and his son’s wife felt disgusted by this, and therefore, the grandfather finally had to take a place behind the oven in the corner of the room. They gave him his food in a clay bowl. In addition, it was never full, and he would look morosely over to the table, his eyes filled with tears. One time his trembling hands could not gasp the bowl tightly enough, and it fell to the ground and broke. The young wife scolded him, while he said nothing and only sighed. So they bought a wooden bowl for a penny, and now he had to eat out of it.
One time, as they were sitting at the dinner table, the little four-year-old grandson collected small wooden sticks on the floor.
“What are you doing there?” his father asked.
“Oh,” the child answered, “I’m making a little trough so mother and father can eat out of it when I’m older and bigger.”
Then the husband and wife looked at each other for a while. Finally, they burst into tears and immediately brought the old grandfather to the table. From then on they let him eat with them and also said nothing whenever he happened to spill a few things.
79
THE WATER NIXIE
A little brother and a little sister were playing near a well, and as they were playing, they both fell into the water. A water nixie was there and said: “Now I’ve got you, and now be good children and work nice and hard for me!”
Then she gave the maiden some dirty, tangled flax to spin and also a hollow bucket to fetch water. The young boy had to chop down a tree with a blunt axe, and all they got to eat were dumplings as hard as rocks. Eventually, the children lost their patience, and one Sunday, they waited until the nixie was in church and then ran away. After the church service was over, the nixie saw that the chickens had fled the coop, and she set out after them as fast as she could. The children saw her coming from afar, and the maiden threw a brush behind her. The brush changed into a huge mountain of bristles with thousands and thousands of thorns. The nixie had great difficulty in climbing over them. When the children saw her, the boy threw a comb behind him that changed into a huge mountain with thousands and thousands of spikes, but the nixie was able to grab hold of them and climb over the mountain. Now the maiden threw a mirror behind her that formed a glass mountain that was so very, very slippery that the nixie couldn’t climb over it. So she thought: “I’d better go home and fetch my axe and split the mountain in two.” However, by the time she had returned and had smashed the glass, the children had long since made their escape, and the water nixie had to return to tread water in her well.
80
THE DEATH OF LITTLE HEN
Some time ago little hen went with little rooster to the nut mountain. They enjoyed themselves and ate nuts together. One time, however, little hen found such a large nut that she wasn’t able to swallow the kernel, and it got stuck so firmly in her throat that she feared she might choke to death.
“Little rooster!” she screamed. “Please run as fast as you can and fetch me some water, otherwise I’ll choke to death.”
Little rooster ran as fast as he could to the well and said: “Well, you must give me some water. Little hen’s lying on the nut mountain, and she’s about to choke to death!”
“First run to the bride,” the well answered, “and get some red silk for me.”
“So little rooster ran to the bride and said, “Bride, I need some red silk from you. The silk is for the well, who’ll give me some water to take to little hen, who’s lying on the nut mountain, where she’s swallowed a large kernel and is about to choke to death.”
The bride answered: “First run and fetch me my wreath that got caught on the branch of a willow.”
So little rooster ran to the willow, pulled the wreath from the branch, and brought it back to the bride. In return the bride gave him some red silk, and little rooster brought it to the well, who gave him water in exchange. Then little rooster brought the water to little hen, but by the time he had reached her, she had choked to death and lay there motionless and dead. Little rooster became so sad that he uttered a loud cry, and all the animals came and mourned for her. Six mice built a little wagon that was to carry little hen to her grave. When the wagon was finished, the mice harnessed themselves to it, and the little rooster was to drive the wagon. Along the way they encountered the fox, who asked: “Where are you going, little rooster?”
“I’m off to bury my little hen.”
“May I ride with you?”
“Yes, but since you’re so heavy, take a seat in the back.
If you sat up front, my horses would fall, and the wagon would crack.”
So the fox sat down in the back. Then the wolf, the bear, the stag, the lion, and all the animals in the forest took a seat in the back. Thus they continued their journey until they came to a brook.
“How shall we get across?” asked little rooster.
A straw was lying near the brook and said: “I’ll lay myself across the book. Then you can drive over me.”
However, as soon as the six mice touched the bridge, the straw slipped and fell into the water, and the six mice went tumbling after and drowned. So the situation was just as bad as it had been before, but a piece of hot coal came along and said: “I’m large enough. I’ll lay myself across, and you can drive over me.”
Then the piece of coal also laid itself across the water, but unfortunately it grazed the surface a little. Soon it started hissing, and before long it was extinguished and died. When a stone saw that, it took pity on little rooster and offered its help. It lay down across the water, and now little rooster himself pulled the wagon across. When he reached the other side and was already on land with dead little hen, he wanted to help the others in the back out of the wagon, but there were too many of them, and the wagon slipped backward, causing everyone to fall into the water and drown. So little rooster was all alone with dead little hen, and he dug a grave for her. Then he laid her in it and made a mound on top
. Afterward he sat down on the ground and grieved until he, too, died, And then everyone was dead.
81
THE BLACKSMITH AND THE DEVIL
Once upon a time there was a blacksmith who enjoyed life: he squandered his money and carried on many lawsuits. After a few years, he didn’t have a single cent left in his pouch.
“Why should I torture myself any longer in this world?” he thought. So he went into the forest with the intention of hanging himself from a tree. Just as he was about to stick his head into the noose, a man with a long white beard came out from behind a tree carrying a large book in his hand.
“Listen, blacksmith,” he said. “Write your name down in this large book, and for ten long years you’ll have a good life. But after that you’ll be mine, and I’ll come and fetch you.”
“Who are you?” asked the blacksmith.
“I’m the devil.”
“What can you do?”