Grimm's Household Tales

Once upon a time there was a princess who had a room with twelve windows high up under the battlements of her castle. The windows looked out in every possible direction, and when she climbed up to the room and looked around her, she could inspect her whole kingdom. When she looked out of the first window, her sight was keener than that of any other human being; from the second she could see still better, from the third more distinctly still, and so it went on, until the twelfth, from which she saw everything above the earth and under the earth, and nothing at all could be kept secret from her. Moreover, because she was haughty and would be subject to no one but wished to keep the dominion for herself alone, she had it proclaimed that no one should ever be her husband who could not conceal himself from her so effectively that it would be quite impossible for her to find him. Anyone who tried this, however, and was discovered by her was to have his head struck off and stuck on a post. Ninety-seven posts with the heads of dead men were already standing before the castle, and no one had come forward for a long time. The princess was delighted and thought to herself, “Now I will be free as long as I live.” Then three brothers appeared before her and announced that they wished to try their luck. The eldest believed he would be quite safe if he crept into a lime pit, but she saw him from the first window, made him come out, and had his head cut off. The second crept into the cellar of the palace, but she perceived him also from the first window, and his fate was sealed. His head was placed on the ninety-ninth post. Then the youngest came to her and begged her to give him a day for consideration, and also to be so gracious as to overlook it if she happened to discover him twice; but if he failed the third time, he would regard his life as over. Because he was so handsome and begged so earnestly, she said, “Yes, I will grant you that, but you will not succeed.”

The next day he pondered for a long time how he should hide himself, but all in vain. Then he seized his gun and went out hunting. He saw a raven, took good aim at him, and was just going to fire when the bird cried, “Don’t shoot; I will make it worth your while not to.” He put his gun down, went on, and came to a lake, where he surprised a large fish that had come up from the depths to the surface of the water. When he had aimed at it, the fish cried, “Don’t shoot, and I will make it worth your while.” He allowed it to dive down again, went onward, and met a fox that was lame. He fired and missed it, and the fox cried, “You had much better come here and draw the thorn out of my foot for me.” He did this; but then he wanted to kill the fox and skin it. The fox said, “Stop, and I will make it worth your while.” The youth let him go and, since it was evening, returned home.

The next day he was to hide himself, but no matter how much he racked his brains over it, he did not know where. He went into the forest to the raven and said, “I let you live, so now tell me where I am to hide myself so that the King’s daughter will not see me.” The raven hung his head and thought it over for a long time. At last he croaked, “I have it.” He fetched an egg out of his nest, cut it into two parts, and shut the youth inside it; then he made it whole again and sat on it. When the King’s daughter went to the first window, she could not find him, nor could she from the others, and she began to be uneasy, but from the eleventh she saw him. She ordered the raven to be shot and the egg to be brought and broken, and the youth was forced to come out. She said, “For once you are excused, but if you do not do better than this, you are lost!”

The next day he went to the lake, called the fish to him, and said, “I allowed you to live; now tell me where to hide myself so that the King’s daughter may not see me.” The fish thought for a while and at last cried, “I have it! I will shut you up in my stomach.” The fish swallowed the youth and went down to the bottom of the lake. The King’s daughter looked through her windows and did not see him even from the eleventh, and she was alarmed; but at last from the twelfth she saw him. She ordered the fish to be caught and killed, and then the youth appeared. Everyone can imagine what a state of mind he was in. She said, “Twice you have been forgiven, but be sure that your head will be set on the hundredth post.”

On the last day he went with a heavy heart into the country and met the fox. “You know how to find all kinds of hiding places,” he said. “I let you live; now advise me where I should hide myself so that the King’s daughter will not discover me.” “That’s a hard task,” answered the fox, looking very thoughtful. At last he cried, “I have it!” He went with the youth to a spring, dipped himself in it, and came out as a stall keeper in the market and a dealer in animals. The youth had to dip himself in the water also and was changed into a small sea hare. The merchant went into the town and showed the pretty little animal, and many people gathered to see it. At last the King’s daughter came too, and because she liked it very much, she bought it and gave the merchant a good deal of money for it. Before he handed it over to her, he said to it, “When the King’s daughter goes to the window, creep quickly under the braids of her hair.” And now the time arrived when she was to search for him. She went to one window after another in turn, from the first to the eleventh, and did not see him. When she did not see him from the twelfth either, she was full of anxiety and anger and shut it with such violence that the glass in every window shivered into a thousand pieces, and the whole castle shook.

She went back and felt the sea hare beneath the braids of her hair. Then she seized it and threw it on the ground, exclaiming, “Away with you! Get out of my sight!” It ran to the merchant, and both of them hurried to the spring, where they plunged in and received back their true forms. The youth thanked the fox and said, “The raven and the fish are fools compared with you; you know the right tune to play, and there is no denying that!”

The youth went straight to the palace. The princess was already expecting him and resigned herself to her destiny. The wedding was celebrated, and now he was king and lord of the whole kingdom. He never told her where he had hidden himself the third time or who had helped him, so she believed that he had done everything by his own skill, and she had great respect for him, for she thought to herself, “He is able to do more than I.”