Selected Tales of the Brothers Grimm(12)

“Dear God,” said the father, “you bring me nothing but misfortune. Begone yourself, I don’t want to see you again.”

“Yes, Father, gladly I will. Just wait until daybreak, and I’ll set out to learn fear, then at least I’ll know something I can live on.”

“Learn what you like,” said the father, “it’s all the same to me. Here, take these fifty pence to start you on your way. Go out into the world and don’t tell a single soul where you come from and who your father is. You bring me nothing but shame.”

“Yes, Father, as you wish. If that’s all you ask, it’s easy enough to do.”

So at daybreak, the boy put the fifty pence in his pocket and set out on the highway, muttering to himself, “If only I knew fear! If only I knew fear!”

Then a man came along and heard what the boy said to himself, and after they’d walked for a while together and passed the gallows, the man said to him, “See over there, that’s the tree where seven men got hitched up to the ropemaker’s daughter and are now taking flying lessons – just sit yourself down there and wait for nightfall. You’ll learn fear all right!”

“If there’s nothing else to it,” replied the lad, “that’s simple enough. If I really learn fear so quickly, I’ll give you my fifty pence. Just come back tomorrow morning.”

So the boy went over to the gallows tree, sat down under it, and waited for night to fall. And since he felt chilly he lit himself a fire, but ’round about midnight the wind blew so cold even the fire couldn’t keep him warm. And when the wind blew so hard, it made the hanged men knock against one another. He thought to himself, If you’re freezing your behind off beside the fire, just imagine how cold and uncomfortable those fellas up there must be. And feeling sorry for them, he fetched a ladder, climbed up, and loosened the knot of one after another, taking all seven of them down. Whereupon he stoked the fire, blew on it, and set them around it so that they could warm themselves. But they just sat there and didn’t budge, and their clothes caught fire. And he said, “Better watch out, boys, or I’ll hang you back up.” But the dead took no heed. They kept still and let their rags burn. So the boy got angry and said, “If you won’t watch out for yourselves, there’s nothing I can do to help you. I don’t want to burn along with you.” And one after the other, he hung them back up. Then he sat back down beside his fire and fell asleep.

And in the morning the man came by and wanted his fifty pence, and he said, “So now do you know what fear is?”

“No,” the boy replied. “How was I supposed to learn it? Those fellas up there didn’t open their mouths, and they were so stupid they let the old rags they had on burn off their backs.”

The man saw that he was not going to get his fifty pence today, and he went off swearing, “Heaven help me, I’ve never seen such a piece of work.”

So the boy continued on his way and started muttering to himself again, “If only I knew fear! If only I knew fear!”

A carter came walking up behind him, heard him muttering, and asked, “Who are you?”

“I don’t know,” the boy replied.

Then the carter asked, “Where are you from?”

“I don’t know.”

“What’s your father’s name?”

“I’m not supposed to say.”

“What do you keep muttering to yourself?”

“Oh,” the boy replied, “I want to learn fear, but nobody can teach it to me.”

“Stop talking nonsense,” the carter said. “Come along with me, I’ll look after you.”

So the boy went along with the carter, and that evening they came to an inn where they hoped to put up for the night. And once inside, the boy started muttering aloud to himself again, “If only I knew fear! If only I knew fear!”

Now the innkeeper heard it, laughed, and said, “If that’s your pleasure, we can surely oblige.”

“Pshaw!” said the innkeeper’s wife. “Many a daredevil already forfeited his life. It’d be a pity and a shame for the boy’s beautiful eyes if they never saw the light of day again.”

But the young man said, “However hard it might be, I want to learn it once and for all. That’s why I left home in the first place.” He would not let up until the innkeeper told him that not far away stood a castle with a curse on it, where a fella could very well learn what fear is if only he managed to spend three nights inside standing guard. The king had promised his daughter’s hand in marriage to anyone brave enough to try it, and she was said to be the most beautiful maiden the sun had ever shone on – and in the castle there was also a great treasure trove watched over by evil spirits, a treasure that would then be set free and was plentiful enough to make a poor man rich. Many had already tried their luck within, but not a single one ever came out again.