The farmer’s daughter went home and got undressed until she was completely naked, so that she was not dressed. Next she took a large fishnet and wrapped it completely around her so that she was not naked. Then she took some money, leased a donkey, and tied the fishnet to its tail. The donkey had to drag her along so that she neither rode nor drove. And, since the donkey had to drag her along the wagon tracks, only her big toes could touch the ground so that she was neither on the road nor off it. Thus, when she appeared before the king this way, he said she had solved the riddle and had fulfilled all the conditions. He released her father from the prison, took her as his wife, and ordered her to look after all the royal possessions.
Now, some years went by, and one day, when the king was out reviewing his troops, a group of farmers happened to stop in front of his castle. They had been selling wood, and some of the wagons were drawn by horses, others by oxen. One of the farmers had three horses, and his mare gave birth to a foal that ran away and lay down between two oxen hitched to another farmer’s wagon. When the two farmers came together, they started bickering, throwing things at each other, and making a lot of noise. The farmer with the oxen wanted to keep the foal and claimed that the oxen had given birth to it. The other said no, his horse had given birth to it, and the foal was his. The quarrel was taken before the king, and he declared that wherever the foal had laid itself down, there it should stay. So the farmer with the oxen got the foal, even though it didn’t belong to him. The other farmer went away, wept, and grieved over his foal. However, since he had heard that the queen came from a poor farmer’s family and was compassionate, he went to her and asked whether she could help him get his foal back.
“Yes,” she said. “But you must promise not to tell that I’ve helped you. Now, here’s what you have to do: Early tomorrow morning when the king goes out to review his guard, you’re to place yourself in the middle of the road where he has to pass. Bring a large fishnet with you and pretend to fish with it. You’re to keep fishing and shaking the net out as though it were full.”
Then the queen also told him what to answer the king when he questioned him.
The next day the farmer got up and went fishing on dry land. When the king rode by and saw that, he sent his messenger to ask the foolish man what he was doing.
“I’m fishing,” he replied.
When the messenger asked how he could fish without water, the farmer answered, “If two oxen can manage to give birth to a foal, then I can manage to catch a fish on dry land.”
The messenger brought the farmer’s answer back to the king, who summoned the farmer and said he knew that the farmer had not thought up the answer himself. The king wanted to know who had helped him with the answer, and he’d better confess right away. But the farmer refused to talk and kept repeating, may God help him if he hadn’t thought up the answer himself. So they laid him down on a bundle of straw, beat and tortured him until he confessed that the queen had given him the idea.
When the king returned home, he said to his wife, “Why did you dupe me? I no longer want you for my wife. Your time is up! Go back to the farmhouse where you came from.”
However, he granted her one last request: she could take the dearest and best thing that she could think of with her, and that was to be her parting gift.
“Very well, dear husband,” she said. “Your wish is my command.”
Then she embraced him, kissed him, and asked him to drink to her departure. He agreed, and she ordered a strong sleeping potion before saying farewell. The king took a big swig, but she only drank a little. Soon he fell into a deep sleep, and when she saw that, she called a servant, took a beautiful white linen sheet, and wrapped him in it. Other servants had to carry the king outside and put him into a carriage. Then she drove him to her house and put him to bed. He slept a whole day and night, and when he woke up, he looked around him and said, “My God! Where am I?”
He called his servants, but nobody was there. Finally, his wife came to the bed and said, “Dear king, you ordered me to take the dearest and best thing with me from the castle. Since you are the dearest and best thing I know, I took you with me.”
“Dear wife,” the king replied, “you shall be mine, and I shall be yours forever.”
Then he took her back with him to the royal castle and married her again. And I am sure that they are still living together even today.
9
THE GENIE IN THE GLASS
A man paid for his son to study, and after the boy had successfully attended a few schools, the father couldn’t support him anymore. So he told him to come home and said: “You know that I’ve run out of money. I can’t give you anything anymore.”
“Dear father,” said the son, “don’t worry. If that’s the way it is, I’ll stay and travel with you and earn some money from carpentry.”
Indeed, the father was a day laborer and earned his living as a carpenter.
“My son,” the father said, “that will be difficult for you to do because I only have one axe and can’t buy one for you.”
“Well,” the son answered, “Go to our neighbor, and ask him to lend you one.”
So the father borrowed an axe for his son, and they went into the forest to work. After they had worked until noon, the father said: “Now we’ll rest a bit and eat our lunch. Then we’ll be refreshed when we return to our work.”
The student took his lunch in his hand and said to his father that he wanted to go around and search for birds’ nests.
“Don’t be foolish!” the father said. “Why do you want to run around in the forest like that? Stay with me. Otherwise, you’ll get tired and won’t be able to do much work anymore.”
However, the son walked about in the forest, ate his bread, and looked for birds’ nests. When he came to a large, dangerous oak tree, he searched all around. All of a sudden he heard a voice coming from the roots of the tree. It was crying out in quite a muffled tone: “Let me out! Let me out!”
He listened for it and called: “Where are you?”
Once again the voice cried: “Let me out! Let me out!”
“Yes, but I don’t see anything,” the student said. “Where are you?”
“I’m over here in the roots of the oak tree.”
So the student began to search and found a glass bottle in the hollow of the tree, and the voice was coming from there. When he held the bottle against the light, he could see a shape in it like a frog, and the shape cried out: “Pull out the cork!”
The student did this, and as he pulled out the cork, an enormous man came out and said: “Do you know what reward you’ve earned by letting me out?”
“No,” the student said.
“Well then, I’ll tell you. I must break your neck for doing this.”
“No, you can’t do this to me,” the student answered. “You should have told me sooner. Then I wouldn’t have let you out. We’ve got to ask more people about this before you do anything.”
“Forget about more people! You must receive the reward you deserve. Do you think people had pity for me when I was stuck in the bottle? No, they were punishing me! Do you know what my name is?”
“No,” the student replied. “I don’t know.”
“I’m the all-powerful Mercurius,” the genie said. “I’ve got to break your neck.”
“No, that’s not the right way to go about things.” the student said. “Take it easy. First you must prove whether you can get back into the bottle; otherwise I won’t believe that you ever came out of it. When I see that, I’ll surrender to you and be your prisoner.”
The genie agreed and returned though the opening and down the neck of the bottle. As soon as he was inside, the student took the cork that he had pulled out and shoved it back into the top of the bottle. He had easily duped the genie, and now the genie pleaded with the student to let him out and set him free.
“No,” said the student. “I can’t free anyone who seeks to put an end to my life, and I’ll never ever let you o
ut again.”
“I’ll give you as much money as you’ll need for the rest of your life,” the genie replied.
“You’d only deceive me like you did the first time,” the student said.
“No,” stated the genie. “I won’t do anything to you.”
The student was eventually persuaded by the genie, and he pulled the cork out again.
After the genie climbed out, he said: “Now I’ll reward you. Here’s a special bandage made of plaster. If you rub this on a wound with one end, the wound will be healed, and if you rub it on steel or iron with the other end, it will be turned into silver.”
The student wanted to try out the bandage right away, and he made a tiny scratch on a tree and rubbed it with the bandage. All at once it was healed. So the student thanked the genie, and the genie thanked the student for releasing him from the bottle, and they took leave of one another.
The student returned to his father, who had resumed working and scolded his son for staying away so long. “Didn’t I say that you’d do nothing?”
“I’ll make up for it,” the student replied.
“Well,” said the father, “there’s no way to make up for lost time.”
“Father, what do you want me to do first?”
“Chop down that tree.”
So the student took out his plaster and rubbed his axe with it. After he had struck the tree two times, the axe was worn down and the blade was no longer sharp enough because it was entirely made of silver.
“Look, father,” said the son. “What kind of axe did you give me? It’s now completely bent.”
“Oh, what have you done now?” the father said and had become even angrier. “Now I’ll have to pay for the axe. Your help will be my undoing.”
“Don’t be angry, father,” said the son. “I’ll certainly pay for the axe.”
“Yes, you numbskull, how are you going to pay for it? You have nothing but what I give you. Your head’s full of hazy ideas from studying. You don’t understand the first thing about using an axe.”
The son wanted to persuade his father to call it a day, but the father told him to go away. However, the student wouldn’t leave him in peace and said he wouldn’t go home until his father came with him. The son took the axe with him, and the father, who was an old man, couldn’t see that it had become silver. When they reached home, the father said: “Now see if you can sell the axe somewhere.”
So the student took the axe, brought it to a goldsmith in the city, and asked him how much he’d pay for it. As soon as the goldsmith saw the axe, he said that he wasn’t rich enough to pay for it and didn’t have enough money on hand. Then the student told him to give him what he had, and he would wait until the goldsmith could borrow more money to pay for it. So the goldsmith gave him three hundred gold coins, and the student borrowed another hundred. Then the student went home with the money to his father and said: “I’ve got money, so now go to the neighbor and ask him how much he wants for the axe.”
“I already know,” the father said. “he wants a gold coin and a penny.”
“Well then,” the student replied. “Give him two gold coins and twelve pennies. That’s more than double what he wants, and it’s enough.”
Then the student gave his father a hundred gold coins and declared that he’d never want for money and told him the entire story of what had happened. Meanwhile, the student took the other three hundred gold coins and went to finish his studies. Afterward he could heal all kinds of wounds and became the most famous doctor in the world.
10
THE THREE LITTLE BIRDS
More than a thousand years ago there were many minor kings in this country, and one of them lived on the mountain called Köterberg. He was very fond of hunting, and one day, when he left his castle and went down the mountain with his huntsmen, he came upon three maidens tending their cows. When they saw the king with his men, the oldest pointed at the king and called to the other two, “Hallo, hallo! If I can’t have that man over there, I don’t want any at all.”
Then the second responded from the other side of the mountain and pointed at the fellow walking on the king’s right. “Hallo, hallo! If I can’t have that man over there, I don’t want any at all.”
Finally, the youngest pointed at the fellow on the king’s left and called out, “Hallo! Hallo! If I can’t have that man over there, I don’t want any at all.”
The two men were the king’s ministers, and the king had heard what the maidens had said. After he returned from the hunt, he summoned the three maidens and asked them what they had said the day before on the mountain. They refused to answer, but the king asked the oldest if she would take him for her husband. She said yes, and her two sisters also married the two ministers, for the maidens were all beautiful and had fine features, especially the queen, who had hair like flax.
The two sisters didn’t bear any children, and once when the king had to take a trip, he asked them to stay with the queen and cheer her up, for she was with child. While he was away, she gave birth to a little boy who had a bright red star as a birthmark. But the two sisters decided to throw the pretty baby boy into the river. After they had thrown him into the water—I think it was the Weser—a little bird flew up in the air and sang:
“Get ready for your death.
I’ll see what I can do.
Get ready for the wreath.
Brave boy, can that be you?”
When the two sisters heard the song, they feared for their lives and ran off. Later the king returned home, and they told him the queen had given birth to a dog, and the king responded, “Whatever God does is always for the best.”
However, a fisherman lived by the river, and he fished the little boy out of the river while he was still alive. Since his wife had not given birth to any children, they fed and cared for him.
After a year had passed, the king went on another journey, and the queen gave birth to a second boy during his absence. The two wicked sisters again took the baby away and threw him into the river. Then the little bird flew up into the air once more and sang:
“Get ready for your death.
I’ll see what I can do.
Get ready for the wreath.
Brave boy, can that be you?”
When the king came home, the sisters told him the queen had again given birth to a dog, and he responded as before, “Whatever God does is always for the best.”
However, the fisherman fetched this baby out of the water, too, and fed and cared for him.
Once again the king went on a journey, and the queen gave birth to a little girl, whom the wicked sisters also threw into the river. Then the little bird flew up into the air once more and sang:
“Get ready for your death.
I’ll see what I can do.
Get ready for the wreath.
Brave girl, can that be you?”
When the king came back home, the sisters told him the queen had given birth to a cat. This time the king became so angry that he had his wife thrown into prison, where she was forced to stay for many years.
In the meantime, the children grew up, and one day the oldest went out fishing with some other boys, but they didn’t want him around and said, “You foundling, go your own way!”
The boy was very upset when he heard that and asked the old fisherman whether it was true. Then the fisherman told him how he had been out fishing one day and had found him in the water. The boy then said he wanted to go out and search for his father. The fisherman begged him to remain, but there was no holding him back. At last the fisherman gave in, and the boy went forth. He walked for many days until he came to a large and mighty river, where he found an old woman standing and fishing.
“Good day, grandma,” said the boy.
“Why, thank you kindly.”
“You’ll be fishing here a long time before you catch any fish.”
“And you’ll be searching a long time before you find your father. How are you going to get across the riv
er?”
“God only knows.”
Then the old woman picked him up and carried him across on her back. Once he was on the other side, he continued his search for his father a long time, but he couldn’t find him.
When a year had gone by, the second boy went out looking for his brother. He, too, came to the river, and the same thing happened to him as with his brother. Now only the daughter was left alone at home, and she grieved so much for her brothers that finally the fisherman had to let her go, too. Soon she also came to the large river and said to the old woman, “Good day, grandma.”
“Why, thank you kindly.”
“May God help you with your fishing.”
When the old woman heard that, she treated the girl in a friendly way. She carried her across the river, gave her a stick, and said, “Now, my daughter, just keep going straight ahead, and when you come to a big black dog, you must be quiet. Don’t be afraid or laugh or stop to look at it. Then you’ll come to a large open castle. You must drop the stick on the threshold and go right through the castle and out the other side, where you’ll see an old well. A big tree will be growing from the well, and a cage with a bird inside will be hanging on the tree. Take the cage down and get a glass of water from the well. Then carry both things back the same way you came. When you come to the threshold, pick up the stick, and when you come to the dog again, hit it in the face with the stick, but see to it that you don’t miss. Then come back here to me.”
The girl found everything just as the woman had said, and on her way back from the castle she met her two brothers, who had been searching half the world for each other. They went on together to the spot where the black dog was lying. Then she hit it on the face, and it turned into a handsome prince, who accompanied them to the river. The old woman was still standing there and was happy to see them. She carried all four of them across the river, and then she departed because she had now been released from a magic spell.
The others traveled back to the old fisherman, and they were all glad to have found each other again. Once inside the house, they hung the birdcage on the wall. But the second son was still restless. So he took a bow and went hunting. When he became tired, he took out his flute and began playing a little tune. The king, who also was out hunting, heard the music and went toward it. When he saw the boy, he said, “Who’s given you permission to hunt here?”