Grimm's Household Tales

Once upon a time there was a girl who was young and beautiful, but she had lost her mother when she was quite a child, and her stepmother did all she could to make the girl’s life wretched. Whenever this woman gave her anything to do, she worked at it indefatigably and did everything in her power. Still, she could not touch the heart of the wicked woman by that; the woman was never satisfied, and it was never enough. The harder the girl worked, the more work was put upon her, and all that the woman thought of was how to weigh her down with still heavier burdens and make her life still more miserable.

One day the stepmother said to her, “Here are twelve pounds of feathers that you must pick, and if they are not finished this evening, you may expect a good beating. Do you imagine you can idle away the whole day?” The poor girl sat down to the work, but tears ran down her cheeks as she did so, for she saw plainly enough that it was quite impossible to finish the work in one day. Whenever she had a little heap of feathers lying before her and she sighed or struck her hands together in her anguish, the feathers flew away, and she had to gather them up again and begin her work anew. Then she put her elbows on the table, laid her face in her hands, and cried, “Is there no one, then, on God’s earth to have pity on me?” Then she heard a low voice that said, “Take comfort, my child; I have come to help you.” The maiden looked up, and an old woman was at her side. The old woman took the girl kindly by the hand and said, “Only tell me what is troubling you.” Because the old woman spoke so kindly, the girl told her about her miserable life, how one burden after another was laid upon her, and how she could never get to the end of the work that was given to her. “If I have not finished these feathers by this evening, my stepmother will beat me. She has threatened that she will, and I know she keeps her word.” Her tears began to flow again, but the good old woman said, “Do not be afraid, my child. Rest a while, and in the meantime I will see to your work.” The girl lay down on her bed and soon fell asleep. The old woman sat down at the table with the feathers, and how they flew off the quills, which she scarcely touched with her withered hands! The twelve pounds were soon finished, and when the girl woke up, great snow-white heaps lay piled up, and everything in the room was neatly cleared away, but the old woman had vanished. The maiden thanked God and sat still until evening came, when the stepmother came in and marveled to see the work completed. “Just look, you awkward creature,” she said, “at what can be done when people are industrious. And why could you not have set about something else? There you sit with your hands crossed.” When she went out, she said, “The creature is worth more than her salt. I must give her some work that is still harder.”

The next morning the stepmother called the girl and said, “Here is a spoon for you. With it you must empty out for me the great pond that is beside the garden, and if it is not done by night, you know what will happen.” The girl took the spoon and saw that it was full of holes; but even if it had not been, she never could have emptied the pond with it. She set to work at once, knelt down by the water, into which her tears were falling, and began to empty it. But the good old woman appeared again, and when she learned the cause of the girl’s grief, she said, “Take heart, my child. Go into the thicket, lie down, and sleep. I will soon do your work.” As soon as the old woman was alone, she barely touched the pond, and a vapor rose up on high from the water and mingled with the clouds. Gradually the pond was emptied, and when the maiden woke before sunset and came there, she saw nothing but the fish struggling in the mud. She went to her stepmother and showed her that the work was done. “It ought to have been done long before this,” the stepmother said, and she grew white with anger, but she was already thinking up something new.

On the third morning the stepmother said to the girl, “You must build me a castle on the plain there, and it must be ready by the evening.” The maiden was dismayed and said, “How can I complete such a great work?” “I will endure no opposition,” screamed the stepmother. “If you can empty a pond with a spoon that is full of holes, you can build a castle too. I will take possession of it this very day, and if anything is missing, even the most trifling thing in the kitchen or cellar, you know what lies before you!” She drove the girl out, and when the girl came into the valley, the rocks were there, piled up one above the other, and all her strength would not have enabled her to move even the smallest of them. She sat down and wept, but she still hoped the old woman would help her. The old woman was not long in coming. She comforted the girl and said, “Lie down there in the shade and sleep, and I will soon build the castle for you. If it would give you pleasure, you can live in it yourself.” When the maiden had gone away, the old woman touched the gray rocks. They began to rise and at once moved together as if giants were building the walls. On these the building arose, and it seemed as if countless hands were working invisibly and placing one stone upon another. There was a dull, heavy noise from the ground; pillars rose up on high of their own accord and arranged themselves in order beside each other. The tiles laid themselves in order on the roof, and when noon came, the great weathercock was already turning on the summit of the tower, like a golden figure of the Virgin with fluttering garments. The inside of the castle was being finished as evening drew near. How the old woman managed it, I do not know, but the walls of the rooms were hung with silk and velvet. Embroidered chairs were there, and richly ornamented armchairs stood by marble tables. Crystal chandeliers hung down from the ceilings and were mirrored in the smooth floor. Green parrots were there in gilded cages, and so were strange birds that sang most beautifully, and on all sides there was as much magnificence as if a king were going to live there. The sun was just setting when the girl woke up, and the brightness of a thousand lights flashed in her face. She hurried to the castle and went in through the open door. The steps were spread with red cloth, and the golden balustrade was lined with flowering trees. When she saw the splendor of the rooms, she stood as if turned to stone. Who knows how long she might have stood there if she had not remembered her stepmother? “Alas!” she said to herself, “if only she could be satisfied at last and would stop making my life a misery to me.” The girl went and told the stepmother that the castle was ready. “I will move into it at once,” the stepmother said, and she rose from her seat. When they entered the castle, she was forced to hold her hand before her eyes, because the brilliance of everything was so dazzling. “You see,” she said to the girl, “how easy it has been for you to do this. I ought to have given you something harder.” She went through all the rooms and examined every corner to see whether anything was missing or defective, but she could find nothing. “Now we will go down below,” she said, looking at the girl with malicious eyes. “The kitchen and the cellar still have to be examined, and if you have forgotten anything, you will not escape your punishment.” But the fire was burning on the hearth, the meat was cooking in the pans, the tongs and shovel were leaning against the wall, and the shining brass utensils were all arranged in sight. Nothing was missing, not even a coal box and a water pail. “Which is the way to the cellar?” she cried. “If it is not abundantly filled, it will go badly for you.” She herself raised the trapdoor and went down, but she had hardly taken two steps when the heavy trapdoor, which had only been laid back, fell down. The girl heard a scream and quickly lifted the door to go to her aid, but the stepmother had fallen, and the girl found her lying lifeless at the bottom.

And now the magnificent castle belonged to the girl alone. At first she could hardly get used to her good fortune. Beautiful dresses were hanging in the wardrobes, the chests were filled with gold or silver, or with pearls and jewels, and she never felt a desire that she was not able to satisfy. Soon the fame of the maiden’s beauty and riches spread over all the world. Suitors presented themselves daily, but none pleased her. At last the King’s son came, and he knew how to touch her heart, and she became engaged to him. In the garden of the castle was a linden tree, under which they were sitting together one day when he said to her, “I will go home and obtain my father’s consent to our marriage. I beg you to wait for me here under this linden tree. I will be back with you in a few hours.” The maiden kissed him on his left cheek and said, “Keep true to me, and never let anyone else kiss you on this cheek. I will wait here under the linden tree until you return.”

The maiden stayed beneath the linden tree until sunset, but he did not return. For three days she sat there from morning until evening, waiting for him, but in vain. When he still was not there by the fourth day, she said, “Some accident must have happened to him. I will go out and look for him, and I will not come back until I have found him.” She packed up three of her most beautiful dresses, one embroidered with bright stars, the second with silver moons, and the third with golden suns, tied a handful of jewels in her handkerchief, and set out. She asked everywhere for her betrothed, but no one had seen him; no one knew anything about him. She wandered far and wide through the world, but she did not find him. At last she hired herself out to a farmer as a cowherd and buried her dresses and jewels beneath a stone.

And now she lived as a herdswoman, guarded her herd, and was very sad and full of longing for her beloved. She had a little calf, which she taught to know her and fed from her own hand, and when she said,

“Little calf, little calf, kneel by my side,
And do not forget your shepherd maid,
As the prince forgot his betrothed bride,
Who waited for him in the linden tree’s shade.”

the little calf knelt down, and she stroked it.

And when she had lived for a couple of years alone and full of grief, a report spread over all the land that the King’s daughter was about to be married. The road to the town passed through the village where the maiden was living, and once when the maiden was driving out her herd, her bridegroom traveled by. He was sitting proudly on his horse and never looked around, but when she saw him, she recognized her beloved, and it was just as if a sharp knife had pierced her heart. “Alas!” she said, “I believed he was true to me, but he has forgotten me.”

The next day he came along the road again. When he was near her, she said to the little calf,

“Little calf, little calf, kneel by my side,
And do not forget your shepherd maid,
As the prince forgot his betrothed bride,
Who waited for him in the linden tree’s shade.”

When he became aware of the voice, he looked down and reined in his horse. He looked into the herdswoman’s face and then put his hands before his eyes as if he were trying to remember something, but he soon rode onward and was out of sight. “Alas!” she said, “he no longer knows me,” and her grief became ever greater.

Soon after this, a great festival lasting three days was to be held at the King’s court, and the whole country was invited to it.

“Now I will try my last chance,” thought the maiden, and when evening came, she went to the stone under which she had buried her treasures. She took out the dress with the golden suns, put it on, and adorned herself with the jewels. She let down her hair, which she had hidden under a handkerchief, and it fell in long curls about her. Thus she went into the town, and in the darkness no one saw her. When she entered the brightly lit hall, everyone started back in amazement, but no one knew who she was. The King’s son went to meet her, but he did not recognize her. He led her out to dance and was so enchanted with her beauty that he thought no more of the other bride. When the feast was over, she vanished in the crowd and hurried to the village before daybreak, where she once more put on her herdswoman’s dress.

The next evening she took out the dress with the silver moons and put a half-moon made of precious stones in her hair. When she appeared at the festival, all eyes were turned upon her, but the King’s son hurried to meet her and, filled with love for her, danced with her alone and no longer so much as glanced at anyone else. Before she went away, she was forced to promise him that she would come again to the festival on the last evening.

When she appeared for the third time, she wore the star dress, which sparkled at every step she took, and her hair ribbon and belt were studded with jewels like stars. The prince had already been waiting for her for a long time, and he forced his way up to her. “Just tell me who you are,” he said. “I feel as if I had known you a long time already.” “Do you not know what I did when you left me?” Then she stepped up to him and kissed him on his left cheek, and in a moment it was as if scales fell from his eyes, and he recognized the true bride. “Come,” he said to her, “I will not stay here any longer.” He gave her his hand and led her down to the carriage. The horses hurried away to the magic castle as if the wind had been harnessed to the carriage. The illuminated windows already shone in the distance. When they drove past the linden tree, countless glowworms were swarming about it. It shook its branches and sent out its fragrance. On the steps flowers were blooming, and the room echoed with the song of strange birds, but in the hall the entire court was assembled, and the priest was waiting to marry the bridegroom to the true bride.