Selected Tales of the Brothers Grimm(15)
Her chambermaid said, “Permit me to help, milady. I’ll teach him fear.” She went out to the brook that flowed through the castle garden and fished out a bucketful of goldfish. And while the young king slept, she bid his wife pull back the blanket and shower him with a bucket of cold water and goldfish so that the little fish wriggled all over him. Whereupon he awakened with a cry: “Jeepers creepers, honey! By God, now I know what fear is.”
THE DEVIL WITH THE THREE GOLDEN HAIRS
There once was a poor woman who gave birth to a little son, and because he came into the world with a caul it was foretold of him that at age fourteen he would wed the daughter of a king. It so happened, shortly thereafter, that the king came to visit the village, but nobody knew it was the king, and when he asked the people for the latest news, they replied, “A few days ago a child was born with a caul. Good luck will shine on all his undertakings. It was foretold of him that in his fourteenth year he will take the king’s daughter to wife.”
The king, who had an evil heart and was displeased by the prophecy, went to the parents, pretending to be well-intentioned, and said, “You poor people, permit me to adopt your child, I will provide for all his needs.” At first they hesitated, but seeing as the stranger offered them hard cash, they thought, Ours is a good-luck child, it must be for the best. They finally agreed and gave him the boy.
The king put the boy in a box and rode away with it, until he came to a deep body of water; then he tossed the box in and thought, I’ve saved my daughter from this unexpected suitor. But the box did not go under, it floated like a little boat, and not a drop of water leaked in. It floated to within two miles of the king’s capital where it got stuck on the dam of a mill. A mill hand who fortunately happened to be present and noticed the box, pulled it out of the water with a long hook and thought he would find great riches, but when he opened the box, there inside lay a beautiful boy, bubbling with joy. He brought the boy back to the miller and his wife, and because they had no children they were overjoyed and said, “God blessed us with this boy.” They took good care of the foundling and fed him well, and he grew up to be a fine and handsome lad.
It came to pass that the king once stopped at the mill during a thunderstorm and asked the miller and his wife if the tall, handsome lad was their son. “No,” they replied, “he’s a foundling. Fourteen years ago he came floating up in a box and a mill hand pulled him out of the water.” Then the king realized that it was none other than the good-luck child whom he had tossed into the water, and said, “Good people, might the boy take a message back to the queen? I’ll give him three gold pieces in payment.”
“The king’s wish is our command,” they replied, and told the lad to get ready.
Whereupon the king wrote a letter to the queen that said, “As soon as the boy arrives bearing this letter, he is to be killed and buried, and all this must happen before I get back.”
The boy set out with this letter in hand but got lost along the way and, come evening, arrived in a great forest. In the darkness he saw a little light, and drawing near, he came to a little house. He entered and found an old woman seated all alone by the fire. Frightened, she said, “Where do you come from and where are you going?”
“I come from the mill,” he replied, “and am going to the queen to bring her a letter – but seeing as I got lost in the woods, I was wondering if I could spend the night here.”
“You poor boy,” said the woman, “this is a den of thieves, and if they find you here when they get home they will kill you.”
“Come what may,” said the boy, “I’m not afraid, but I’m so tired I can’t walk another step,” whereupon he lay himself down on a bench and fell fast asleep.
Not long thereafter the robbers got home and asked in a rage what this strange boy was doing lying there.
“Oh,” said the old woman, “he’s just an innocent child who got lost in the woods, and I took him in out of pity – he is on his way to the queen to bring her a letter.”
The robbers opened the letter and read that as soon as he reached the palace, the boy bearing this letter was to be killed. Now the hard-hearted robbers took pity on the boy, and their leader tore up the letter and drafted another, in which it said that as soon as the boy arrived he was immediately to be married to the princess. They then let him sleep peacefully on the bench until morning, and when he awakened, they gave him the letter and showed him the right way to the royal residence. As soon as the queen opened and read the letter, she did what it said. She threw a sumptuous wedding feast, and the princess was married to the good-luck child; and since the youth was handsome and kind, she was glad and lived happily with him.