Grimm's Household Tales

In the days when wishing was still of some use, a king’s son was bewitched by an old witch and shut inside an iron stove in a forest. There he spent many years, and no one could free him. Then a king’s daughter, who had lost her way, came into the forest and could not find her father’s kingdom again. After she had wandered about for nine days, she finally came to the iron stove. Then a voice came out of it and asked her, “Where do you come from, and where are you going?” She answered, “I have lost my father’s kingdom and cannot get home again.” Then the voice inside the iron stove said, “I will help you get home again, and very quickly at that, if you will promise to do what I ask of you. I am the son of a far greater king than your father, and I will marry you.”

Then she was afraid and thought, “Good heavens! What can I do with an iron stove?” But because she wished very much to get home to her father, she promised to do as he asked. He said, “You must return here, bring a knife with you, and scrape a hole in the iron.” Then he gave her a companion who walked near her but did not speak, and in two hours the companion took her home. There was great joy in the castle when the King’s daughter came home, and the old King threw his arms around her neck and kissed her. She, however, was deeply troubled and said, “Dear father, how I have suffered! I would never have gotten home again from the great wild forest if I had not come to an iron stove, but I have been forced to give my word that I will go back to it, set it free, and marry it.” Then the old King was so terrified that he nearly fainted, for he had only this one daughter. They therefore resolved to send the miller’s daughter, who was very beautiful, in her place. They took her there, gave her a knife, and said she was to scrape at the iron stove. So she scraped at it for twenty-four hours but could not scrape off even the smallest bit of it. When day dawned, a voice in the stove said, “It seems to me that it is day outside.” Then she answered, “It seems so to me too; I think I hear the noise of my father’s mill.”

“So you are a miller’s daughter! Then go on your way at once, and let the King’s daughter come here.” Then she went away at once and told the old King that the man outside would not have her; he wanted the King’s daughter. They, however, still had a swineherd’s daughter, who was even prettier than the miller’s daughter, and they decided to give her a piece of gold to go to the iron stove instead of the King’s daughter. So she was taken there, and she also had to scrape for twenty-four hours. She, however, accomplished nothing. When day broke, a voice inside the stove cried, “It seems to me that it is day outside!” Then she answered, “So it seems to me also; I think I hear my father’s horn blowing.”

“Then you are a swineherd’s daughter! Go away at once and tell the King’s daughter to come, and tell her that what was promised must be done, and that if she does not come, everything in the kingdom will be ruined and destroyed, and not one stone will be left standing on another.” When the King’s daughter heard that, she began to weep, but now there was nothing to do but keep her promise. So she took leave of her father, put a knife in her pocket, and went out to the iron stove in the forest. When she got there, she began to scrape, and the iron gave way, and when two hours had passed, she had already scraped a small hole. Then she peeped in and saw a youth so handsome, and so brilliant with gold and precious jewels, that her very soul was delighted. So she went on scraping and made the hole so large that he was able to get out. Then he said, “You are mine, and I am yours; you are my bride, and you have set me free.” He wanted to take her away with him to his kingdom, but she begged him to let her go once more to her father, and the King’s son allowed her to do so, but she was not to say more than three words to her father, and then she was to come back. So she went home, but she spoke more than three words, and instantly the iron stove disappeared and was taken far away over glass mountains and piercing swords; but the King’s son was set free and was no longer shut up in it. After this she said good-bye to her father, took some money with her, but not much, and went back to the great forest and looked for the iron stove, but it was nowhere to be found. For nine days she searched for it, and then her hunger grew so great that she did not know what to do, for she could no longer live. When it was evening, she sat down in a small tree and made up her mind to spend the night there, because she was afraid of wild beasts. When midnight drew near, she saw a small light in the distance and thought, “Ah, there I will be saved!” She got down from the tree and went toward the light, praying on the way. Then she came to a little old house; much grass had grown all around it, and a small heap of wood lay in front of it. She thought, “Ah, where have I ended up?” and peeped in through the window, but she saw nothing inside but toads, big and little, except for a table well covered with wine and roast meat, with plates and glasses of silver. Then she took courage and knocked at the door. The fat toad cried,

“Little green waiting maid,
Waiting maid with the limping leg,
Little dog of the limping leg,
Hop here and there,
And quickly see who is outside.”

And a small toad came walking by and opened the door for her. When she entered, they all welcomed her and urged her to sit down. They asked, “Where have you come from, and where are you going?” Then she told them all that had happened to her, and how, because she had disobeyed the order that had been given her not to say more than three words, the stove and the King’s son as well had disappeared, and now she was about to search for him over hill and dale until she found him. Then the old fat toad said,

“Little green waiting maid,
Waiting maid with the limping leg,
Little dog of the limping leg,
Hop here and there,
And bring me the great box.”

Then the little one went and brought the box. After this they gave her food and drink and took her to a well-made bed, which felt like silk and velvet, and she lay down in it, in God’s name, and slept. When morning came she got up, and the old toad gave her three needles out of the great box, which she was to take with her; she would need them, for she had to cross a high glass mountain and go over three piercing swords and a great lake. If she did all this, she would get her lover back. Then the old toad gave her three things that she was to take the greatest care of, namely, three large needles, a plow wheel, and three nuts. With these she traveled on, and when she came to the glass mountain, which was so slippery, she stuck the three needles first behind her feet and then in front of them, and so got over it, and when she was over it, she hid them in a place that she marked carefully. After this she came to the three piercing swords, and then she seated herself on her plow wheel and rolled over them. At last she arrived at a great lake, and when she had crossed it, she came to a large and beautiful castle. She went and asked for a position; she said she was a poor girl and would like to be hired. She knew, however, that the King’s son whom she had freed from the iron stove in the great forest was in the castle. Then she was taken on as a scullery maid at low wages. But already the King’s son had another maiden by his side whom he wanted to marry, for he thought that the girl who had freed him had long been dead.

In the evening, when she had washed up and was done, she reached into her pocket and found the three nuts that the old toad had given her. She cracked one with her teeth and was going to eat the kernel when, to her surprise, there was a stately royal garment in it! But when the bride heard of this, she came and asked for the dress and wanted to buy it, and said, “It is not a dress for a servant girl.” But the girl said no, she would not sell it; but if the bride would grant her one thing, she could have it, and that was permission to sleep one night in her bridegroom’s chamber. The bride gave her permission because the dress was so pretty and she had never had one like it. When it was evening, she said to her bridegroom, “That silly girl will sleep in your room.” “If you are willing, so am I,” he said. The bride, however, gave him a glass of wine in which she had poured a sleeping potion. So the bridegroom and the scullery maid went to sleep in the room, and he slept so soundly that she could not wake him.

She wept the whole night and cried, “I set you free when you were in an iron stove in the wild forest; I sought you, and walked over a glass mountain and three sharp swords and a great lake before I found you, and yet you will not hear me!”

The servants sat by the chamber door and heard how she wept the whole night through, and in the morning they told their lord about it. And the next evening, when she had washed up, she opened the second nut, and a far more beautiful dress was inside it, and when the bride saw it, she wanted to buy that one also. But the girl would not take money and begged that she might once again sleep in the bridegroom’s chamber. The bride, however, gave him a sleeping potion, and he slept so soundly that he could hear nothing. But the scullery maid wept the whole night long and cried, “I set you free when you were in an iron stove in the wild forest; I sought you, and walked over a glass mountain and over three sharp swords and a great lake before I found you, and yet you will not hear me!” The servants sat by the chamber door and heard her weeping the whole night through, and in the morning they informed their lord of it. And on the third evening, when she had washed up, she opened the third nut, and inside it was a still more beautiful dress that was stiff with pure gold. When the bride saw it, she wanted to have it, but the maiden gave it up only on condition that she might sleep in the bridegroom’s room for the third time. The King’s son, however, was on his guard and threw the sleeping potion away. So when she began to weep and to cry, “Dearest love, I set you free when you were in the iron stove in the terrible wild forest,” the King’s son leaped up and said, “You are the true one, you are mine, and I am yours.” Then, while it was still night, he got into a carriage with her, and they took away the false bride’s clothes so that she could not get up. When they came to the great lake, they sailed across it, and when they reached the three sharp swords, they seated themselves on the plow wheel, and when they got to the glass mountain, they thrust the three needles into it, and so at last they got to the little old house; but when they went inside it, it was a great castle, and the toads were all freed from their enchantment and were king’s children, full of happiness. Then the wedding was celebrated, and the King’s son and the princess remained in the castle, which was much larger than the castles of their fathers. But because the old King grieved at being left alone, they fetched him and brought him to live with them, and they had two kingdoms and lived in a happy marriage.

A mouse did run,
This story is done.