Grimm's Household Tales

A long time ago there were a King and Queen who said every day, “Ah, if only we had a child!” but they never had one. But it happened that once, when the Queen was bathing, a frog crept out of the water onto the land and said to her, “Your wish will be fulfilled. Before a year has gone by, you will have a daughter.”

What the frog had said came true, and the Queen had a little girl who was so pretty that the King could not contain himself for joy and ordered a great feast. He invited not only his relatives, friends, and acquaintances but also the Wise Women, so that they might be kind and well disposed toward the child. There were thirteen of them in his kingdom, but since he had only twelve golden plates for them to eat from, one of them had to be left at home.

The feast was held with every kind of splendor, and when it came to an end, the Wise Women gave the baby their magic gifts: one gave virtue, another beauty, a third riches, and so on with everything in the world that one can wish for.

When eleven of them had made their promises, the thirteenth suddenly came in. She wished to take revenge for not having been invited, and without greeting anyone or even looking at anyone, she cried with a loud voice, “The King’s daughter will prick herself with a spindle in her fifteenth year and fall down dead.” Without saying another word, she turned around and left the room.

They were all shocked, but the twelfth, whose good wish was still unspoken, came forward. Because she could not undo the evil sentence but could only soften it, she said, “It will not be death, but a deep sleep of a hundred years, into which the princess will fall.”

The King, who wished to keep his dear child from this misfortune, gave orders that every spindle in the whole kingdom should be burned. Meanwhile the gifts of the Wise Women were fully granted to the young girl, for she was so beautiful, modest, good-natured, and wise that everyone who saw her could not help loving her.

It happened that on the very day when she was fifteen years old, the King and Queen were not at home, and the girl was left in the palace quite alone. So she went around to all sorts of places, looked into rooms and bedchambers just as she liked, and at last came to an old tower. She climbed up the narrow winding staircase and reached a little door. A rusty key was in the lock, and when she turned it, the door sprang open, and there in a little room sat an old woman with a spindle, busily spinning her flax.

“Good day, old lady,” said the King’s daughter. “What are you doing there?” “I am spinning,” said the old woman, and nodded her head. “What sort of thing is that, that rattles around so merrily?” said the girl, and she took the spindle and wanted to spin too. But she had scarcely touched the spindle when the magic decree was fulfilled, and she pricked her finger with it.

In the very moment when she felt the prick, she fell down upon the bed that stood there and lay in a deep sleep. This sleep spread over the whole palace. The King and Queen, who had just come home and entered the great hall, began to go to sleep, and the whole court with them. The horses went to sleep in the stable, the dogs in the yard, the pigeons on the roof, and the flies on the wall. Even the fire that was flaming on the hearth became quiet and slept, the roast meat stopped sizzling, and the cook, who was just about to pull the hair of the kitchen boy because he had forgotten something, let him go and went to sleep. The wind died down, and on the trees in front of the castle not a leaf moved again.

But around the castle a hedge of thorns began to grow, which became higher every year and at last grew close around the castle and all over it, so that nothing of it could be seen, not even the flag on the roof. But the story of the beautiful sleeping “Briar-rose,” as the princess was named, went around the country, so that from time to time kings’ sons came and tried to get through the thorny hedge into the castle.

But they found it impossible, for the thorns held fast together as if they had hands, and the young men were caught in them, could not get loose again, and died a miserable death.

After many, many years a King’s son came again to that country and heard an old man talking about the thorn hedge. He said that a castle was said to stand behind it, in which a wonderfully beautiful princess named Briar-rose had been asleep for a hundred years, and that the King and Queen and the whole court were asleep as well. The prince had also heard from his grandfather that many kings’ sons had already come and tried to get through the thorny hedge, but they had remained stuck fast in it and had died a pitiful death. Then the young man said, “I am not afraid. I will go and see the beautiful Briar-rose.” The good old man tried to dissuade him, but he did not listen to his words.

But by this time the hundred years had just passed, and the day had come when Briar-rose was to awake again. When the King’s son came near the thorn hedge, it was nothing but large and beautiful flowers, which parted from each other of their own accord and let him pass unhurt, and then they closed again behind him like a hedge. In the castle yard he saw the horses and the spotted hounds lying asleep, and on the roof sat the pigeons with their heads under their wings. When he entered the house, the flies were asleep on the wall, the cook in the kitchen was still holding out his hand to seize the boy, and the maid was sitting by the black hen that she was going to pluck.

He went on farther, and in the great hall he saw the whole court lying asleep, and up by the throne lay the King and Queen.

Then he went on still farther, and all was so quiet that he could hear his own breath, and at last he came to the tower and opened the door into the little room where Briar-rose was sleeping. There she lay, so beautiful that he could not turn his eyes away, and he stooped down and gave her a kiss. But as soon as he kissed her, Briar-rose opened her eyes and awoke and looked at him quite sweetly.

Then they went down together, and the King awoke, and the Queen, and the whole court, and they looked at each other in great astonishment. The horses in the courtyard stood up and shook themselves; the hounds jumped up and wagged their tails; the pigeons on the roof pulled their heads out from under their wings, looked around, and flew into the open country; the flies on the wall crept about again; the fire in the kitchen burned up and flickered and cooked the meat; the roast began to turn and sizzle again; the cook gave the boy such a box on the ear that he screamed; and the maid plucked the fowl, ready for the spit.

And then the marriage of the King’s son with Briar-rose was celebrated with all splendor, and they lived contentedly to the end of their days.

51 Fundevogel (Bird-foundling)

There was once a forester who went into the forest to hunt, and as he entered it, he heard a sound of screaming, as if a little child were there. He followed the sound and at last came to a high tree, and at the top of it a little child was sitting. The mother had fallen asleep under the tree with the child, and a bird of prey had seen it in her arms, flown down, snatched it away, and set it on the high tree.

The forester climbed up, brought the child down, and thought to himself, “You will take him home with you and bring him up with your Lina.” So he took it home, and the two children grew up together. The one that he had found in a tree was called Fundevogel because a bird had carried it away. Fundevogel and Lina loved each other so dearly that when they did not see each other, they were sad.

The forester, however, had an old cook, who one evening took two pails and began to fetch water, and she did not go just once but many times out to the spring. Lina saw this and said, “Listen, old Sanna, why are you fetching so much water?” “If you will never repeat it to anyone, I will tell you why.” So Lina said no, she would never repeat it to anyone, and then the cook said, “Early tomorrow morning, when the forester is out hunting, I will heat the water, and when it is boiling in the kettle, I will throw in Fundevogel and boil him in it.”

Early the next morning the forester got up and went out hunting, and when he was gone, the children were still in bed. Then Lina said to Fundevogel, “If you will never leave me, I too will never leave you.” Fundevogel said, “Neither now nor ever will I leave you.” Then Lina said, “Then I will tell you. Last night old Sanna carried so many buckets of water into the house that I asked her why she was doing that, and she said that if I would promise not to tell anyone, she would tell me. I said I would be sure not to tell anyone, and she said that early tomorrow morning, when Father was out hunting, she would set the kettle full of water, throw you into it, and boil you. But we will get up quickly, dress ourselves, and go away together.”

The two children therefore got up, dressed quickly, and went away. When the water in the kettle was boiling, the cook went into the bedroom to fetch Fundevogel and throw him into it. But when she came in and went to the beds, both children were gone. Then she was terribly alarmed, and she said to herself, “What shall I say now when the forester comes home and sees that the children are gone? They must be followed at once to get them back.”

Then the cook sent three servants after them, who were to run and overtake the children. The children, however, were sitting outside the forest, and when they saw the three servants running from afar, Lina said to Fundevogel, “Never leave me, and I will never leave you.” Fundevogel said, “Neither now nor ever.” Then Lina said, “You become a rose tree, and I will be the rose on it.” When the three servants came to the forest, nothing was there but a rose tree with one rose on it, and the children were nowhere. Then they said, “There is nothing to be done here,” and they went home and told the cook that they had seen nothing in the forest but a little rose bush with one rose on it. Then the old cook scolded and said, “You simpletons, you should have cut the rose bush in two, broken off the rose, and brought it home with you. Go and do it at once.” So they had to go out and look for the second time. The children, however, saw them coming from a distance. Then Lina said, “Fundevogel, never leave me, and I will never leave you.” Fundevogel said, “Neither now nor ever.” Lina said, “Then you become a church, and I will be the chandelier in it.” So when the three servants came, nothing was there but a church with a chandelier in it. They said to each other, “What can we do here? Let us go home.” When they got home, the cook asked if they had not found the children, and they said no, they had found nothing but a church, and there was a chandelier in it. The cook scolded them and said, “You fools! Why did you not pull the church to pieces and bring the chandelier home with you?” And now the old cook herself got on her legs and went with the three servants in pursuit of the children. The children, however, saw from afar that the three servants were coming, and the cook waddling after them. Then Lina said, “Fundevogel, never leave me, and I will never leave you.” Then Fundevogel said, “Neither now nor ever.” Lina said, “Be a fishpond, and I will be the duck on it.” The cook came up to them, and when she saw the pond, she lay down beside it and was about to drink it up. But the duck swam quickly to her, seized her head in its beak, and drew her into the water, and there the old witch drowned. Then the children went home together and were heartily delighted, and if they are not dead, they are still living.