Grimm's Household Tales

Once upon a time there was a king who had a wife with golden hair, and she was so beautiful that her equal was not to be found on earth. It happened that she fell ill, and as she felt that she must soon die, she called the King and said, “If you wish to marry again after my death, take no one who is not quite as beautiful as I am and who does not have just such golden hair as I have. You must promise me this.” And after the King had promised her this, she closed her eyes and died.

For a long time the King could not be comforted and had no thought of taking another wife. At length his councilors said, “There is no help for it; the King must marry again, so that we may have a Queen.” And now messengers were sent far and wide to look for a bride who equaled the late Queen in beauty. In the whole world, however, none was to be found, and even if one had been found, there would still have been no one who had such golden hair. So the messengers returned home just as they had left.

Now the King had a daughter who was just as beautiful as her dead mother and had the same golden hair. When she was grown up, the King looked at her one day and saw that in every respect she was like his late wife, and he suddenly felt a violent love for her. Then he said to his councilors, “I will marry my daughter, for she is the counterpart of my late wife; otherwise I can find no bride who resembles her.” When the councilors heard that, they were shocked and said, “God has forbidden a father to marry his daughter. No good can come from such a crime, and the kingdom will be caught up in the ruin.”

The daughter was still more shocked when she became aware of her father’s resolution, but she hoped to turn him from his plan. Then she said to him, “Before I fulfill your wish, I must have three dresses, one as golden as the sun, one as silvery as the moon, and one as bright as the stars. Besides this, I wish for a mantle made of a thousand different kinds of fur and hair joined together, and one of every kind of animal in your kingdom must give a piece of its skin for it.” But she thought, “To get that will be quite impossible, and thus I will turn my father away from his wicked intentions.” The King, however, did not give it up. The cleverest maidens in his kingdom had to weave the three dresses, one as golden as the sun, one as silvery as the moon, and one as bright as the stars. His huntsmen had to catch one of every kind of animal in the whole of his kingdom and take from it a piece of its skin, and out of these a mantle of a thousand different kinds of fur was made. At length, when all was ready, the King had the mantle brought, spread it out before her, and said, “The wedding will be tomorrow.”

When, therefore, the King’s daughter saw that there was no longer any hope of changing her father’s mind, she resolved to run away from him. In the night, while everyone was asleep, she got up and took three different things from her treasures: a golden ring, a golden spinning wheel, and a golden reel. The three dresses of the sun, moon, and stars she put into a nutshell; she put on her mantle of all kinds of fur and blackened her face and hands with soot. Then she entrusted herself to God, went away, and walked the whole night until she reached a great forest. And as she was tired, she got into a hollow tree and fell asleep.

The sun rose, and she slept on, and she was still sleeping when it was full day. Then it so happened that the King to whom this forest belonged was hunting in it. When his dogs came to the tree, they sniffed and ran around it, barking. The King said to the huntsmen, “Just see what kind of wild beast has hidden itself in there.” The huntsmen obeyed his order, and when they came back they said, “A wondrous beast is lying in the hollow tree; we have never before seen one like it. Its skin is fur of a thousand different kinds, but it is lying asleep.” The King said, “See if you can catch it alive, and then fasten it to the carriage, and we will take it with us.” When the huntsmen laid hold of the maiden, she awoke full of terror and cried to them, “I am a poor child, abandoned by father and mother; have pity on me and take me with you.” Then they said, “Allerleirauh, you will be useful in the kitchen. Come with us, and you can sweep up the ashes.” So they put her in the carriage and took her home to the royal palace. There they pointed out to her a closet under the stairs, where no daylight entered, and said, “Hairy animal, there you can live and sleep.” Then she was sent into the kitchen, and there she carried wood and water, swept the hearth, plucked the fowls, picked the vegetables, raked the ashes, and did all the dirty work.

Allerleirauh lived there for a long time in great wretchedness. Alas, beautiful princess, what is to become of you now! It happened, however, that one day a feast was held in the palace, and she said to the cook, “May I go upstairs for a while and look on? I will stand outside the door.” The cook answered, “Yes, go, but you must be back here in half an hour to sweep the hearth.” Then she took her oil lamp, went into her den, took off her fur dress, and washed the soot off her face and hands, so that her full beauty once more came to light. And she opened the nut and took out her dress that shone like the sun, and when she had done that, she went up to the festival, and everyone made way for her, for no one knew her, and they thought that she could only be a king’s daughter. The King came to meet her, gave her his hand, and danced with her, and he thought in his heart, “My eyes have never yet seen anyone so beautiful!” When the dance was over, she curtsied, and when the King looked around again, she had vanished, and no one knew where she had gone. The guards who stood outside the palace were called and questioned, but no one had seen her.

She had, however, run into her little den, quickly taken off her dress, made her face and hands black again, put on the fur mantle, and become Allerleirauh once more. And now when she went into the kitchen and was about to get to her work and sweep up the ashes, the cook said, “Leave that alone until morning and make the soup for the King. I, too, will go upstairs for a while and take a look, but do not let any hairs fall in, or in the future you will get nothing to eat.” So the cook went away, and Allerleirauh made the soup for the King. She made bread soup as well as she could, and when it was ready, she fetched her golden ring from her little den and put it in the bowl in which the soup was served. When the dancing was over, the King had his soup brought and ate it, and he liked it so much that it seemed to him he had never tasted better. But when he came to the bottom of the bowl, he saw a golden ring lying there and could not imagine how it could have gotten there. Then he ordered the cook to appear before him. The cook was terrified when he heard the order and said to Allerleirauh, “You have certainly let a hair fall into the soup, and if you have, you will be beaten for it.” When the cook came before the King, the King asked who had made the soup. The cook replied, “I made it.” But the King said, “That is not true, for it was much better than usual and cooked differently.” The cook answered, “I must acknowledge that I did not make it. It was made by the rough animal.” The King said, “Go and tell it to come up here.”

When Allerleirauh came, the King said, “Who are you?” “I am a poor girl who no longer has any father or mother.” He asked further, “Of what use are you in my palace?” She answered, “I am good for nothing but to have boots thrown at my head.” He continued, “Where did you get the ring that was in the soup?” She answered, “I know nothing about the ring.” So the King could learn nothing and had to send her away again.

After a while there was another festival, and then, as before, Allerleirauh begged the cook for leave to go and look on. He answered, “Yes, but come back again in half an hour and make the King the bread soup that he likes so much.” Then she ran into her den, washed herself quickly, took out of the nut the dress that was as silvery as the moon, and put it on. Then she went up and looked like a princess, and the King stepped forward to meet her and rejoiced to see her once more, and as the dance was just beginning, they danced it together. But when it was ended, she again disappeared so quickly that the King could not see where she went. She, however, sprang into her den and once more made herself a hairy animal and went into the kitchen to prepare the bread soup. When the cook had gone upstairs, she fetched the little golden spinning wheel and put it in the bowl so that the soup covered it. Then the soup was taken to the King, who ate it and liked it as much as before, and he had the cook brought, who this time likewise was forced to confess that Allerleirauh had prepared the soup. Allerleirauh again came before the King, but she answered that she was good for nothing but to have boots thrown at her head, and that she knew nothing at all about the little golden spinning wheel.

When the King held a festival for the third time, everything happened just as it had before. The cook said, “Truly, rough-skin, you are a witch, and you always put something in the soup that makes it so good that the King likes it better than what I cook,” but as she begged so hard, he let her go up at the appointed time. And now she put on the dress that shone like the stars and so entered the hall. Again the King danced with the beautiful maiden and thought that she had never yet been so beautiful. And while she was dancing, he contrived, without her noticing, to slip a golden ring onto her finger, and he had given orders that the dance should last a very long time. When it was ended, he wanted to hold her fast by her hands, but she tore herself loose and sprang away through the crowd so quickly that she vanished from his sight. She ran as fast as she could into her den beneath the stairs, but because she had been gone too long and had stayed more than half an hour, she could not take off her pretty dress but only threw her fur mantle over it, and in her haste she did not make herself quite black, but one finger remained white. Then Allerleirauh ran into the kitchen and cooked the bread soup for the King, and as the cook was away, she put her golden reel into it. When the King found the reel at the bottom of the bowl, he had Allerleirauh summoned, and then he noticed the white finger and saw the ring that he had put on it during the dance. Then he grasped her by the hand and held her fast, and when she wanted to free herself and run away, her mantle of fur opened a little, and the star dress shone forth. The King clutched the mantle and tore it off. Then her golden hair shone forth, and she stood there in full splendor and could no longer hide herself. And when she had washed the soot and ashes from her face, she was more beautiful than anyone who had ever been seen on earth. But the King said, “You are my dear bride, and we will never part from each other again.” Then the marriage was solemnized, and they lived happily until their death.