Once he said to her, “You are my bride-to-be and don’t even come to visit me.”
The girl replied, “I don’t know where you live.”
To which the bridegroom said, “My house is out in the deep, dark woods.”
She searched for excuses and said she couldn’t find the way.
The bridegroom said, “This next Sunday you must come to me. I’ve already invited all the guests, and so that you find the way through the woods, I will strew ashes.”
When Sunday came and the girl made ready to set out, she felt so frightened, though she did not rightly know why, and so as to mark the way, she filled both her pockets with peas and lentils. Finding ashes strewn at the entrance to the woods, she followed the trail, but with every step she dropped a few peas to the right and to the left. She walked almost the entire day, until, deep in the woods where it was the darkest, she spotted a house and didn’t like the look of it, for it seemed so sinister and eerie. She went in, but there was nobody home, and there was a deathly silence. All of a sudden she heard a voice:
“Turn back, turn back, young bride,
A murderer lives inside.”
The girl looked up and down and saw that the voice came from a bird in a cage hanging from the wall. Again it sang out:
“Turn back, turn back, young bride,
A murderer lives inside.”
Then the lovely bride went through the entire house, from one room to another, but all was still and there was not a soul in sight. Finally she went down into the cellar, where there sat an age-old woman shaking her head. “Can you not tell me,” the girl asked, “if my bridegroom lives here?”
“Oh you poor child,” replied the old woman, “why has fate brought you here? You’ve landed in a den of thieves. You think you’re a bride soon to be wed, but you will be wedded to death. You see, they made me fill a great cauldron of water, and once they’ve got you in their clutches, they’ll mercilessly hack you to pieces, cook you, and eat you, for man-eating cannibals live here. If I don’t take pity on you and save you, you’re surely done for.”
Whereupon the old woman led the girl behind a great big barrel where she could not be seen. “Be still as a mouse,” the woman said. “Don’t stir, don’t budge, or else you’re done for. At night, when the robbers are asleep we’ll slip away – I’ve been waiting a long time for the chance to escape.” No sooner had the girl found her hiding place than the godless gang got home. They had dragged along another girl, were dead drunk, and kept on screaming and yammering. They gave her wine to drink, three glasses full – a glass of white, a glass of red, and a glass of yellow wine – which made her heart burst. They tore off her fine clothes, lay her on a table, chopped her lovely body into bits, and sprinkled it with salt. The poor bride hidden behind the barrel quaked and trembled with terror, for she saw what fate the robbers had in store for her. One of them noticed a golden ring on the little finger of the murdered girl, and since he could not slip it off, he took a cleaver and hacked the finger off, but the force of the blow made the severed finger bounce in the air and bound over the barrel, landing smack-dab in the bride’s lap. The thief took a lantern and searched for it, but he couldn’t find it. Whereupon another one said, “Have you looked behind the great big barrel?” But the old woman called out, “Come and eat, and leave the looking for tomorrow – the finger won’t run away.” “The old woman’s right,” the robbers replied, then left off their search and sat down to eat. The old woman dripped a sleeping potion into their wine, so that they soon lay down on the cellar floor and fell asleep. When the bride heard the sound of their snoring, she crept out from behind the barrel and had to climb carefully over their sleeping hulks reclining side by side on the floor, terrified of waking one. But God helped her make her way safely across. The old woman climbed with her out of the cellar, opened the door, and together they hurried as fast as they could away from that den of thieves. The wind had blown away the scattered ashes, but the peas and lentils germinated and sprouted and showed them the way in the moonlight. They walked the whole night until they came to the mill. The girl told her father everything that had happened. On the day on which the wedding was to take place the bridegroom appeared, but the miller made sure to invite all his relatives and acquaintances.
When they sat at the table, everyone was supposed to tell a story. The bride sat in silence and said nothing. So the bridegroom said to her, “Well, my dear, have you nothing to say? Tell us a story.” Whereupon she replied, “Let me tell you a dream I had. I went alone through the woods and came at last to a lonely house with not a soul in sight, but there was a bird in a cage hanging on the wall, and it sang out: ‘Turn back, turn back, young bride, A murderer lives inside.’ “And the bird sang it out yet again. It was only a dream, dear heart. I went from room to room and they were all empty, and it felt so eerie everywhere. Then, finally, I climbed down into the cellar. There sat an age-old woman shaking her head. So I asked her, ‘Does my bridegroom live here?’ And she replied, ‘Oh, my poor child, you’ve landed in a den of thieves. Your bridegroom does live here, but he intends to cut you up, cook you, and eat you.’ Dear heart, it’s only a dream. But the old woman hid me behind a great big barrel, and no sooner was I hidden than the robbers returned, dragging a girl along with them. They gave her three kinds of wine to drink – white, red, and yellow – which made her heart burst. Dear heart, it’s only a dream. Then they tore off her fine clothes, cut up her lovely body on a table, and sprinkled it with salt. Dear heart, it’s only a dream. And one of the robbers saw a gold ring on her little finger, and since it was hard to slip off, he took a cleaver and hacked it off, but the force of the blow made the finger fly into the air, bound over the great big barrel, and land in my lap. And here is the ring finger.” With these words she raised it aloft and showed it to everyone there. As she told the tale, the robber turned white as chalk, jumped up, and tried to escape, but the wedding guests grabbed hold of him and handed him over to the authorities. Then he and his whole band were judged and executed for their evil deeds.