Grimm's Household Tales

Once upon a time there was a rich King who had three daughters, who went daily to walk in the palace garden. The King was a great lover of all kinds of fine trees, but there was one for which he had such an affection that if anyone gathered an apple from it, he wished him a hundred fathoms underground. And when harvest time came, the apples on this tree were all as red as blood. The three daughters went every day beneath the tree and looked to see whether the wind had blown down an apple, but they never found one by any chance, and the tree was so loaded with apples that it was almost breaking, and the branches hung down to the ground. Then the King’s youngest child had a great desire for an apple and said to her sisters, “Our father loves us far too much to wish us underground. I believe that he would do that only to people who were strangers.” And while she was speaking, the child plucked off quite a large apple and ran to her sisters, saying, “Just taste, my dear little sisters, for never in my life have I tasted anything so delightful.” Then the two other sisters also ate some of the apple, and at once all three sank deep down into the earth, where they could hear no rooster crow.

When midday came, the King wished to call them to come to dinner, but they were nowhere to be found. He sought them everywhere in the palace and garden but could not find them. Then he was much troubled and made known to the whole land that whoever brought his daughters back again should have one of them as his wife. After this, so many young men went about the country in search that there was no counting them, for everyone loved the three children because they were so kind to all and so beautiful. Three young huntsmen also went out, and when they had traveled about for eight days, they arrived at a great castle, in which were beautiful rooms, and in one room a table was set, on which were delicate dishes that were still so warm that they were smoking, but in the whole of the castle no human being was to be seen or heard. They waited there for half a day, and the food still remained warm and smoking, and at length they were so hungry that they sat down and ate. They agreed with each other that they would stay and live in that castle, and that one of them, chosen by casting lots, would remain in the house while the other two sought the King’s daughters. They cast lots, and the lot fell on the eldest, so the next day the two younger ones went out to search, and the eldest had to stay home. At midday a tiny, tiny gnome came and begged for a piece of bread. Then the huntsman took the bread that he had found there, cut a slice off the loaf, and was about to give it to him, but while he was giving it to the gnome, the latter let it fall and asked the huntsman to be so good as to give him that piece again. The huntsman was about to do so and stooped down, at which the gnome took a stick, seized him by the hair, and gave him a good beating. The next day the second one stayed at home, and he fared no better. When the other two returned in the evening, the eldest said, “Well, how did you get along?”

“Oh, very badly,” he said, and then they lamented their misfortune together, but they said nothing about it to the youngest, for they did not like him at all and always called him Stupid Hans, because he did not exactly belong in the forest. On the third day the youngest stayed at home, and again the little gnome came and begged for a piece of bread. When the youth gave it to him, the elf let it fall as before and asked him to be so good as to give him that piece again. Then Hans said to the little gnome, “What! Can you not pick up that piece yourself? If you will not take as much trouble as that for your daily bread, you do not deserve to have it.” Then the gnome grew very angry and said that Hans was to do it, but the huntsman would not, and took my dear gnome and gave him a thorough beating. Then the gnome screamed terribly and cried, “Stop, stop, and let me go, and I will tell you where the King’s daughters are.” When Hans heard that, he stopped beating him, and the gnome told him that he was an earth gnome, and that there were more than a thousand like him, and that if Hans would go with him, the gnome would show him where the King’s daughters were. Then the gnome showed him a deep well, but there was no water in it. And the elf said that he knew well that the companions Hans had with him did not intend to deal honorably with him; therefore, if Hans wished to rescue the King’s children, he must do it alone. The other two brothers would also be very glad to recover the King’s daughters, but they did not want to have any trouble or danger. Hans was therefore to take a large basket, and he must seat himself in it with his short sword and a bell and be let down. Below were three rooms, and in each of them was a princess with a many-headed dragon, whose heads she was to comb and trim, but he must cut them off. Having said all this, the elf vanished. When it was evening, the two brothers came and asked how he had gotten along, and he said, “Pretty well so far.” He told them that he had seen no one except at midday, when a little gnome had come and begged for a piece of bread; that he had given some to him, but that the gnome had let it fall and had asked him to pick it up again; that, as he did not choose to do that, the elf had begun to lose his temper; and that he had done what he ought not and had given the elf a beating, after which the elf had told him where the King’s daughters were. Then the two were so angry at this that they turned green and yellow. The next morning they went to the well together and drew lots to see who should first seat himself in the basket, and again the lot fell on the eldest, and he was to seat himself in it and take the bell with him. Then he said, “If I ring, you must draw me up again immediately.” When he had gone down for a short distance, he rang, and they at once drew him up again. Then the second seated himself in the basket, but he did just the same as the first, and then it was the turn of the youngest, but he let himself be lowered all the way to the bottom. When he had gotten out of the basket, he took his short sword, went and stood outside the first door, and listened, and he heard the dragon snoring very loudly. He opened the door slowly, and one of the princesses was sitting there with nine dragon heads lying on her lap, and she was combing them. Then he took his short sword and hacked at them, and the nine fell off. The princess sprang up, threw her arms around his neck, embraced and kissed him repeatedly, and took her chest ornament, which was made of pure gold, and hung it around his neck. Then he went to the second princess, who had a dragon with five heads to comb, and rescued her also, and he did likewise for the youngest, who had a dragon with four heads. And they all rejoiced and embraced him and kissed him without stopping. Then he rang very loudly, so that those above heard him, and he placed the princesses one after the other in the basket and had them all drawn up, but when it came to his own turn, he remembered the words of the elf, who had told him that his comrades did not mean him well. So he took a great stone that was lying there and placed it in the basket, and when it was about halfway up, his false brothers above cut the rope, so that the basket with the stone fell to the ground. They thought that he was dead and ran away with the three princesses, making them promise to tell their father that it was they who had rescued them, and then they went to the King, and each demanded a princess in marriage.

In the meantime the youngest huntsman was wandering about the three chambers in great trouble, fully expecting to have to end his days there, when he saw a flute hanging on the wall. Then he said, “Why do you hang there? No one can be merry here.” He looked at the dragons’ heads and said, “You cannot help me now, either.” He walked back and forth for such a long time that he made the surface of the ground quite smooth. But at last other thoughts came to his mind, and he took the flute from the wall and played a few notes on it, and suddenly a number of elves appeared, and with every note that he sounded, one more came. Then he played until the room was entirely filled. They all asked what he desired, so he said he wished to get above ground, back to daylight, at which they seized him by every hair that grew on his head, and in this way they flew with him onto the earth again. When he was above ground, he went at once to the King’s palace, just as the wedding of one princess was about to be celebrated, and he went to the room where the King and his three daughters were. When the princesses saw him, they fainted. Then the King was angry and ordered him to be put in prison at once, because he thought he must have done some injury to the children. When the princesses came to, however, they entreated the King to set him free again. The King asked why, and they said that they were not allowed to tell that, but their father said that they were to tell it to the stove. And he went out, listened at the door, and heard everything. Then he had the two brothers hanged on the gallows, and to the third he gave his youngest daughter, and on that occasion I wore a pair of glass shoes, and I struck them against a stone, and they said, “Klink,” and were broken.