Delphi Complete Fairy Tales of The Brothers Grimm (Illustrated) E-Book

Jacob Ludwig Carl Grimm

• Herausgeber: Delphi Classics Ltd
• Kategorie: Fantasy und Science-Fiction
• Serie: Delphi Series Eight
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2017

Seitenzahl: 4850

Beschreibung

The Brothers Grimm, Jacob and Wilhelm, were German academics, philologists and lexicographers, whose first collection of folk tales, Children's and Household Tales has enjoyed enduring popularity, influencing the works of countless other writers, while changing the course of children’s literature. This comprehensive eBook presents the complete fairy tales of The Brothers Grimm, with numerous illustrations, rare texts, informative introductions and the usual Delphi bonus material. (Version 1)

* Beautifully illustrated with images relating to the Grimms’ life and works
* Concise introductions to the main texts
* All the fairy tales and legends, translated by Margaret Hunt
* The first English translation of the fairy tales by Edgar Taylor, with the original illustrations by George Cruikshank — available in no other collection
* Multiple translations of the tales, including texts by Marian Edwardes, Lucy Crane and the famous edition illustrated by Arthur Rackham
* Five different translations in total
* Also includes the original German text of the fairy tales (1857 edition)
* Features Thomas Crofton Croker’s FAIRY LEGENDS AND TRADITIONS OF THE SOUTH OF IRELAND, which the Brothers Grimm translated
* Images of how the books were first published, giving your eReader a taste of the original texts
* Excellent formatting of the texts
* Famous tales are fully illustrated with their original artwork
* Special alphabetical contents tables for the complete fairy tales
* Easily locate the tales you want to read
* Features a bonus biography - discover the authors’ intriguing life
* Scholarly ordering of texts into chronological order and literary genres

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CONTENTS:

The Fairy Tales
GRIMMS’ FAIRY TALES
EDGAR TAYLOR TRANSLATION, 1826
MARGARET HUNT TRANSLATION, 1884
LUCY CRANE TRANSLATION, 1886
ARTHUR RACKHAM ILLUSTRATED EDITION, 1909
MARIAN EDWARDES REVISION, 1912
THE ORIGINAL GERMAN TEXT, 1857
LIST OF FAIRY TALES IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER

The Translation
FAIRY LEGENDS AND TRADITIONS OF THE SOUTH OF IRELAND by Thomas Crofton Croker

The Biography
THE BROTHERS GRIMM by Henry Sweet

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Leseprobe

The Collected Works of

THE BROTHERS GRIMM

Jacob (1785–1863) and Wilhelm Grimm (1786–1859)

Contents

The Fairy Tales

GRIMMS’ FAIRY TALES

EDGAR TAYLOR TRANSLATION, 1826

MARGARET HUNT TRANSLATION, 1884

LUCY CRANE TRANSLATION, 1886

ARTHUR RACKHAM ILLUSTRATED EDITION, 1909

MARIAN EDWARDES REVISION, 1912

THE ORIGINAL GERMAN TEXT, 1857

LIST OF FAIRY TALES IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER

The Translation

FAIRY LEGENDS AND TRADITIONS OF THE SOUTH OF IRELAND by Thomas Crofton Croker

The Biography

THE BROTHERS GRIMM by Henry Sweet

The Delphi Classics Catalogue

© Delphi Classics 2017

Version 1

The Collected Works of

THE BROTHERS GRIMM

By Delphi Classics, 2017

COPYRIGHT

Collected Works of the Brothers Grimm

First published in the United Kingdom in 2017 by Delphi Classics.

© Delphi Classics, 2017.

All rights reserved.  No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of the publisher, nor be otherwise circulated in any form other than that in which it is published.

ISBN: 978 1 78656 091 9

Delphi Classics

is an imprint of

Delphi Publishing Ltd

Hastings, East Sussex

United Kingdom

Contact: [email protected]

www.delphiclassics.com

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The Fairy Tales

Hanau, a town in Main-Kinzig-Kreis, Hesse, Germany, located 25km east of Frankfurt — the birthplace of the Bothers Grimm

The birthplace was destroyed by the devastating Allied land bombardment of 19 March 1945, which affected the entire inner city of Hanau. The site of birthplace is on the south side of the Paradeplatz (later used as a police building and Landratsamt) and is now marked only by a memorial stone on the opposite side of the road.

GRIMMS’ FAIRY TALES

Published originally under the title Kinder- und Hausmärchen (Children’s and Household Tales), this collection of fairy tales was first published in 1812 by the Grimm brothers, Jacob and Wilhelm. The first volume of the first edition featured 86 stories, with a second volume of 70 stories following in 1815. For the second edition, two volumes were issued in 1819 and a third in 1822, totalling 170 tales. Numerous tales were added to each subsequent edition, until the seventh edition contained 211 stories. All editions were extensively illustrated, first by Philipp Grot Johann and, after his death in 1892, by German illustrator Robert Leinweber.

The rise of romanticism in the early nineteenth century revived interest in fairy tales, which had declined since the late seventeenth century. Johann Karl August Musäus had published a popular collection of tales between 1782 and 1787, and so the Grimms aided the revival with this famous collection, building on the conviction that a national identity could be found in popular culture and with the common folk. They collected and published tales as a reflection of German cultural identity. In the first collection, though, they included Charles Perrault’s tales, published in Paris in 1697 and written for the literary salons of an aristocratic French audience.

The first volumes roused much criticism as they were called ‘Children’s Tales’, though they were not regarded as suitable for children, both due to the scholarly information included with the text and the subject matter. Many changes through the editions were made, removing violent and sexual references. The wicked mother of the first edition in Snow White and Hansel and Gretel was subsequently changed to a stepmother. In 1825, the Brothers published their Kleine Ausgabe (small edition), a selection of 50 tales designed for child readers, which went through ten editions between 1825 and 1858.

The brothers were directly influenced by Brentano and von Arnim, who edited and adapted the folk songs of Des Knaben Wunderhorn (The Boy’s Magic Horn or cornucopia). They began the collection with the purpose of creating a scholarly treatise of traditional stories and of preserving the stories as they had been handed from generation to generation — a practice they saw as being threatened by increased industrialisation. The Grimms appropriated stories as being uniquely German, such as “Little Red Riding Hood”, which had existed in many versions and regions throughout Europe, as they believed such stories were reflections of Germanic culture. Furthermore, the brothers saw fragments of old religions and faiths reflected in the stories, which they argued would continue to exist and survive through the telling of stories.

The brothers gained a reputation for collecting tales from peasants, although many tales came from middle-class or aristocratic acquaintances. Wilhelm’s wife Dortchen Wild and her family, with their nursery maid, told the brothers some of the more well-known tales, such as “Hansel and Gretel” and “Sleeping Beauty”. Wilhelm collected a number of tales after befriending August von Haxthausen, whom he visited in 1811 in Westphalia where he heard stories from von Haxthausen’s circle of friends. Several of the storytellers were of Huguenot ancestry, telling tales of French origin such as those told to the Grimms by Marie Hassenpflug, an educated woman of French Huguenot ancestry and it is probable that these informants were familiar with Perrault’s Histoires ou contes du temps passé (Stories from Past Times). Other tales were collected from Dorothea Viehmann, the wife of a middle-class tailor and also of French descent. In spite of her middle-class background, in the first English translation she was characterised as a peasant and given the name Gammer Gretel.

The work of the Brothers Grimm influenced other story collectors, both inspiring them to collect tales and leading them to similarly foster a spirit of romantic nationalism, which upheld that the fairy tales of a country were particularly representative of it, to the neglect of cross-cultural influence. Among those influenced were the Russian Alexander Afanasyev, the Norwegians Peter Christen Asbjørnsen and Jørgen Moe, the English Joseph Jacobs and Jeremiah Curtin, an American that collected Irish tales.

Frontispiece and title page of the second edition, 1812

Frontispiece used for the second volume of the 1840 fourth edition. The portrait by Ludwig Emil Grimm bears resemblance to the storyteller Dorothea Viehmann.

August von Haxthausen, a German agricultural scientist, economist, lawyer, writer and collector of folk songs, who influenced the Brothers Grimm

Cinderella by Alexander Zick, c. 1900

An illustration for the famous tale of Rumpelstiltskin by Walter Crane, 1886

Early illustration of Snow White, inspired by the famous Grimm tale: Schneewittchen erhält den Giftkamm by Ölgemälde von Hans Makart, 1872

‘Little Red Riding Hood’ by Carl Larsson, 1881

EDGAR TAYLOR TRANSLATION, 1826

Translated by Edgar Taylor and Illustrated by George Cruikshank

Edgar Taylor (1793–1839) was a British solicitor and author of legal, historical and literary works. He was the first translator of Kinder- und Hausmärchen, published in English as German Popular Stories in 1823, with the translation of the second volume appearing in 1826. Taylor’s translations were anonymous at the time and were released with illustrations by George Cruikshank. Taylor wrote to the Grimms that he created the translations with ‘the amusement of some young friends principally in view’. A second edition, entitled Gammer Grethel, or German Fairy Tales and Popular Stories, appeared in 1839. Taylor’s translations have been viewed by some as representative of a more general movement gathering support in the 1820’s, tending to separate the fantasy elements of fairy tales from cruelty and bawdiness, with the addition of Christian teaching. Surprisingly, Taylor’s English edition was more popular than the Grimms’ first edition in German, due to the original text’s scholarly approach. The popularity of German Popular Stories helped to make fairy tales an acceptable form of children’s literature in England.

The first editions

The original frontispiece

CONTENTS

PREFACE TO THE ORIGINAL EDITION.

The Travelling Musicians

Hans in Luck

The Golden Bird

The Fisherman and His Wife

The Tom-Tit and the Bear

The Twelve Dancing Princesses

Rose-Bud

Tom Thumb

The Grateful Beasts

Jorinda and Jorindel

The Wonderful Musician

The Queen Bee

The Dog and the Sparrow

Frederick and Catherine

The Three Children of Fortune

King Grisly-Beard

The Adventures of Chanticleer and Partlet

Snow-Drop

The Elves and the Shoemaker

The Turnip

Old Sultan

The Lady and the Lion

The Jew in the Bush

The King of the Golden Mountain

The Golden Goose

Mrs. Fox

Hansel and Grettel

The Giant with the Three Golden Hairs

The Frog-Prince

The Fox and the Horse

Rumpel-Stilts-Kin

The Goose-Girl

Faithful John

The Blue Light

Ashputtel

The Young Giant and the Tailor

The Crows and the Soldier

Pee-Wit

Hans and His Wife Grettel

Cherry, or the Frog-Bride

Mother Holle

The Water of Life

Peter the Goatherd

The Four Clever Brothers

The Elfin Grove

The Salad

The Nose

The Five Servants

Cat-Skin

The Robber-Bridegroom

The Three Sluggards

The Seven Ravens

Roland and May-Bird

The Mouse, the Bird, and the Sausage

The Juniper Tree

PREFACE TO THE ORIGINAL EDITION.

THE Translators were first induced to compile this little work by the eager relish with which a few of the tales were received by the young friends to whom they were narrated. In this feeling, however, the Translators do not hesitate to avow their own participation. Popular fictions and traditions are somewhat gone out of fashion; yet most will own them to be associated with the brightest recollections of their youth. They are, like the Christmas Pantomime, ostensibly brought forth to tickle the palate of the young, but are often received with as keen an appetite by those of graver years. There is, at least, a debt of gratitude due to these ancient friends and comforters. To follow the words of the author, from whom the motto in the title-page is selected, “They have been the revivers of drowzy age at midnight; old and young have with such tales chimed mattins till the cock crew in the morning; batchelors and maids have compassed the Christmas fire-block till the curfew bell rang candle out; the old shepheard and the young plow-boy after their daye’s labor, have carold out the same to make them merrye with; and who but they have made long nightes seem short, and heavy toy les easie?”

But the amusement of the hour was not the translators’ only object. The rich collection from which the following tales are selected, is very interesting in a literary point of view, as affording a new proof of the wide and early diffusion of these gay creations of the imagination, apparently flowing from some great and mysterious fountain head, whence Calmuck, Russian, Celt, Scandinavian, and German, in their various ramifications, have imbibed their earliest lessons of moral instruction.

The popular tales of England have been too much neglected. They are nearly discarded from the libraries of childhood. Philosophy is made the companion of the nursery: we have lisping chemists and leading-string mathematicians: this is the age of reason, not of imagination; and the loveliest dreams of fairy innocence are considered as vain and frivolous. Much might be urged against this rigid and philosophic (or rather unphilosophic) exclusion of works of fancy and fiction. Our imagination is surely as susceptible of improvement by exercise, as our judgement or our memory; and so long as such fictions only are presented to the young mind as do not interfere with the important department of moral education, a beneficial effect must be produced by the pleasurable employment of a faculty in which so much of our happiness in every period of life consists.

It is, however, probably owing merely to accidental causes that some countries have carefully preserved their ancient stores of fiction, while here they have been suffered to pass to oblivion or corruption, notwithstanding the patriotic example of a few such names as Hearne, Spelman, and Le Neve, who did not disdain to turn towards them the light of their carefully trimmed lamp, scanty and ill-furnished as it often was. A very interesting and ingenious article in the Quarterly Review (No. XLI.), to which the Translators readily acknowledge their particular obligations, recently attracted attention to the subject, and has shown how wide a field is open, interesting to the antiquarian as well as to the reader who only seeks amusement.

The collection from which the following Tales are taken is one of great extent, obtained for the most part from the mouths of German peasants by the indefatigable exertions of John and William Grimm, brothers in kindred and taste. — The result of their labours ought to be peculiarly interesting to English readers, inasmuch as many of their national tales are proved to be of the highest Northern antiquity, and common to the parallel classes of society in countries whose populations have been long and widely disjointed. Strange to say, “Jack, commonly called the Giant-killer, and Thomas Thumb,” as the reviewer observes, “landed in England from the same hulls and war ships which conveyed Hengist and Horsa, and Ebba the Saxon.” Who would have expected that Whittington and his Cat, whose identity and London citizen* ship appeared so certain; — Tom Thumb, whose parentage Hearne had traced, and whose monumental honours were the boast of Lincoln; — or the Giant-destroyer of Tylney, whose bones were supposed to moulder in his native village in Norfolk, should be equally renowned amongst the humblest inhabitants of Munster and Paderborn?

A careful comparison would probably establish many other coincidences. The sports and songs of children, to which MM. Grimm have directed considerable attention, often excite surprise at their striking resemblance to the usages of our own country. We wish, with Leucadia Loblado, speaking of Spanish popular sports, “that antiquarians were a more jovial and volatile race, and that some one would trace up these amusements to their common source,” if such a thing were possible, or at any rate would point out their affinities. A remarkable coincidence occurs in the German song to the Lady-bird, or “Marien-wiirmchen.” The second verse alone has been preserved in England; but it is singular that the burthen of the song should have been so long preserved in countries whose inhabitants have been so completely separated. The whole song, which is to be found in Wunderhorn, i. 235, may be thus translated:

Lady-bird! Lady-bird! pretty one! stay:

Come sit on my finger, so happy and gay;

   With me shall no mischief betide thee;

No harm would I do thee, no foemau is near:

I only would gaze on thy beauties so dear,

  Those beautiful winglets beside thèe.

Lady-bird! Lady-bird! fly away home,

Thy house is a-fire, thy children will roam;

  List! list! to their cry and bewailing:

The pitiless spider is weaving their doom,

Then, Lady-bird! Lady-bird! fly away home;

  Hark! bark! to thy children’s bewailing.

Fly back again, back again, Lady-bird dear!

Thy neighbours will merrily welcome thee here,

   With them shall no perils attend thee;

They’ll guard thee so safely from danger or care,

They’ll gaze on thy beautiful winglets so fair,

   And comfort, and love, and befriend thee.

The valuable notes and dissertations added by MM. Grimm to their work, have principally for their object to establish the connexion between many of these traditions and the ancient mythological fables of the Scandinavian and Teutonic nations. “In these popular stories,” they are sanguine enough to believe, “is concealed the pure and primitive mythology of the Teutons, which has been considered as lost for ever; and they are convinced, that if such researches are continued in the different districts of Germany, the traditions of this nature which are now neglected, will change into treasures of incredible worth, and assist in affording a new basis for the study of the origin of their ancient poetical fictions.” On these points their illustrations, though sometimes overstrained, are often highly interesting and satisfactory. Perhaps more attention might have been directed to illustrate the singular admixture of oriental incidents of fairy and romance, with the ruder features of Northern fable; and particularly to inform us how far the well-known vehicles of the lighter southern fictions were current at an early period in Germany. It often seems difficult to account for the currency, among the peasantry on the shores of the Baltic and the forests of the Hartz, of fictions which would seem to belong to the Entertainments of the Arabians, yet involved in legends referable to the highest Teutonic origin.

But it is curious to observe that this connexion between the popular tales of remote and unconnected regions, is equally remarkable in the richest collection of traditionary narrative which any country can boast; we mean the ““Pentamerone, overo Trattenemiento de li Piccerilli” (‘Fun for the Little Ones’), published by Giov. Battista Basile, very early in the 17th century, from the old stories current among the Neapolitans. It is singular that the German and Neapolitan tales (though the latter were till lately quite unknown to foreigners, and never translated out of the Italian tongues), bear the strongest and most minute resemblances. The French fairy tales that have become popular, were chiefly taken from “The Nights (Notti piacevoli) of Straparola,”published first in 1550; but in his collection such fictions occupy no prominent and apparently only an accidental station, the bulk of the tales being of what may be called the Classical Italian School. The Pentamerone was drawn from original sources, and probably compiled without any knowledge of Straparola, although the latter is precedent in date. The two works have only four pieces in common. Mr. Dunlop would add greatly to the value of his excellent work on fiction, if he would include in his inquiries this most interesting branch of popular entertainment, to which Sir Walter Scott has already pointed in his notes to “The Lady of the Lake.”

Among the most pleasing of the German tales are those in which animals support the leading characters. They are perhaps more venerable in their origin than the heroic and fairy tales. They are not only amusing by their playful and dramatic character, but instructive by the purity of their morality. None bear more strongly the impress of a remote Eastern original, both in their principles and their form of conveying instruction. Justice always prevails, active talent is every where successful, the amiable and generous qualities are brought forward to excite the sympathies of the reader, and in the end are constantly rewarded by triumph over lawless power. It will be observed as a peculiarity of the German fables, that they introduce even inanimate objects among their actors, a circumstance sometimes attended with considerable effect. Even the sun, the moon, and the winds form part of the dramatis personae.

The Translators can do little more than direct the attention of the curious reader to the source whence they have selected their materials. The nature and immediate design of the present publication exclude the introduction of some of those stories which would, in a literary point of view, be most curious. With a view to variety, they have wished rather to avoid than to select those, the leading incidents of which are already familiar to the English reader, and have therefore often deprived themselves of the interest which comparison would afford. There were also many stories of great merit and tending highly to the elucidation of ancient mythology, customs, and opinions, which the scrupulous fastidiousness of modern taste, especially in works likely to attract the attention of youth, warned them to pass by. If they should ever be encouraged to resume their task, they might undertake it with different and more serious objects. In those tales which they have selected they had proposed to make no alteration whatever; but in a few instances they have been compelled to depart in some degree from their purpose. They have, however, endeavoured to notice these variations in the notes, and in most cases the alteration consists merely in the curtailment of adventures or circumstances not affecting the main plot or character of the story.

A few brief notes are added; but the Translators trust it will always be borne in mind, that their little work makes no literary pretensions; that its immediate design precludes the subjects most attractive as matters of research; and that professedly critical dissertations would therefore be out of place. Their object in what they have done in this department, has been merely to attract attention to a subject little noticed, and to point, however imperfectly, at a source of interesting and amusing inquiry.

London, 1823.

THE success of the first volume of German Popular Stories, has encouraged one of the translators to venture on a second. The majority of the Tales will be found to have more of the general character of fairy tales, and less of German peculiarity, than those of the first volume, in preparing which, the whole of MM. Grimm’s collection was open for the choice of examples of all classes. Perhaps some readers may not think the worse of the present volume on that account.

Two or three stories have been taken from other collections, as pointed out in the notes.

The Translator cannot let pass the opportunity of thanking the Editor of the new and highly valuable edition of Warton’s History of English Poetry for the notice he has been pleased to take of the first portion of this little work in his preface. He must apologize for the present volume having, like the first, too little of a character of research to satisfy the antiquarian reader; but he could not alter his plan without interfering too much with the original design, and the unity of its execution. He is, however, glad to see the subject in such able hands as those into which “the Editor’s Preface” shows it has fallen.

The Translator once thought of following up these little volumes with one of selections from the Neapolitan Pentamerone\ but perhaps the public has had enough of subjects with which, though he amuses himself, he may tire his readers.

O the happy, happy season,

Ere bright Fancy bent to Reason;

When the spirit of our stories

Filled the mind with unseen glories;

Told of creatures of the air,

Spirits, fairies, goblins rare,

Guarding man with tenderest care;

When before the blazing hearth,

Listening to the tale of mirth,

Sons and daughters, mother, sire,

Neighbours all drew round the fire;

Lending open ear and faith

To what some learned gossip saith!

  But the fays and all are gone,

Reason, Reason, reigns alone;

Every grace and charm is fled,

All by dulness banished;

Thus we ponder, slow and sad,

After Truth the world is mad;

Ah! believe me, Error too

Hath its charms, nor small, nor few.

                          Imitated from VOLTAIRE, by a friend.

London. 1826.

“Now you must imagine me to sit by a good fire, amongst a companye of good fellowes, over a well spiced wassel bowle of Christmas ale, telling of these merrie tales which hereafter followe.” — Pref to Hist, of”Tom Thumbe the Little.” — 1621.

“And so, Gentle Reader, craving thy kind acceptance, I wish thee as much willingness to the reading as I have been forward in the printing, and so I end — Farewell.” — Pref to “Valentine and Orson.... with new “pictures lively expressing the history — 1677.

The Travelling Musicians

An honest farmer had once an ass, that had been a faithful servant to him a great many years, but was now growing old and every day more and more unfit for work. His master therefore was tired of keeping him and began to think of putting an end to him; but the ass, who saw that some mischief was in the wind, took himself slyly off, and began his journey towards the great city, “for there,” thought he, “I may turn musician.”

After he had travelled a little way, he spied a dog lying by the road-side and panting as if he were very tired. “What makes you pant so, my friend?” said the ass. “Alas!” said the dog, “my master was going to knock me on the head, because I am old and weak, and can no longer make myself useful to him in hunting; so I ran away: but what can I do to earn my livelihood?” “Hark ye!” said the ass, “I am going to the great city to turn musician: suppose you go with me, and try what you can do in the same way?” The dog said he was willing, and they jogged on together.

They had not gone far before they saw a cat sitting in the middle of the road and making a most rueful face. “Pray, my good lady,” said the ass, “what’s the matter with you? you look quite out of spirits!” “Ah me!” said the cat, “how can one be in good spirits when one’s life is in danger? Because I am beginning to grow old, and had rather lie at my ease by the fire than run about the house after the mice, my mistress laid hold of me, and was going to drown me; and though I have been lucky enough to get away from her, I do not know what I am to live upon.” “O!” said the ass, “by all means go with us to the great city; you are a good night singer, and may make your fortune as a musician.” The cat was pleased with the thought, and joined the party.

Soon afterwards, as they were passing by a farm-yard, they saw a cock perched upon a gate, and screaming out with all his might and main. “Bravo!” said the ass; “upon my word you make a famous noise; pray what is all this about?” “Why,” said the cock, “I was just now saying that we should have fine weather for our washing-day, and yet my mistress and the cook don’t thank me for my pains, but threaten to cut off my head to-morrow, and make broth of me for the guests that are coming on Sunday!” “Heaven forbid!” said the ass; “come with us, Master Chanticleer; it will be better, at any rate, than staying here to have your head cut off! Besides, who knows? If we take care to sing in tune, we may get up some kind of a concert: so come along with us.” “With all my heart,” said the cock: so they all four went on jollily together.

They could not, however, reach the great city the first day; so when night came on, they went into a wood to sleep. The ass and the dog laid themselves down under a great tree, and the cat climbed up into the branches; while the cock, thinking that the higher he sat the safer he should be, flew up to the very top of the tree, and then, according to his custom, before he went to sleep, looked out on all sides of him to see that everything was well. In doing this, he saw afar off something bright and shining; and calling to his companions said, “There must be a house no great way off, for I see a light.” “If that be the case,” said the ass, “we had better change our quarters, for our lodging is not the best in the world!” “Besides,” added the dog, “I should not be the worse for a bone or two, or a bit of meat.” So they walked off together towards the spot where Chanticleer had seen the light; and as they drew near, it became larger and brighter, till they at last came close to a house in which a gang of robbers lived.

The ass, being the tallest of the company, marched up to the window and peeped in. “Well, Donkey,” said Chanticleer, “what do you see?” “What do I see?” replied the ass, “why I see a table spread with all kinds of good things, and robbers sitting round it making merry.” “That would be a noble lodging for us,” said the cock. “Yes,” said the ass, “if we could only get in:” so they consulted together how they should contrive to get the robbers out; and at last they hit upon a plan. The ass placed himself upright on his hind-legs, with his fore-feet resting against the window; the dog got upon his back; the cat scrambled up to the dog’s shoulders, and the cock flew up and sat upon the cat’s head. When all was ready, a signal was given, and they began their music. The ass brayed, the dog barked, the cat mewed, and the cock screamed; and then they all broke through the window at once, and came tumbling into the room, amongst the broken glass, with a most hideous clatter! The robbers, who had been not a little frightened by the opening concert, had now no doubt that some frightful hobgoblin had broken in upon them, and scampered away as fast as they could.

The coast once clear, our travellers soon sat down, and dispatched what the robbers had left, with as much eagerness as if they had not expected to eat again for a month. As soon as they had satisfied themselves, they put out the lights, and each once more sought out a resting-place to his own liking. The donkey laid himself down upon a heap of straw in the yard; the dog stretched himself upon a mat behind the door; the cat rolled herself up on the hearth before the warm ashes; and the cock perched upon a beam on the top of the house; and, as they were all rather tired with their journey, they soon fell asleep.

But about midnight, when the robbers saw from afar that the lights were out and that all seemed quiet, they began to think that they had been in too great a hurry to run away; and one of them, who was bolder than the rest, went to see what was going on. Finding everything still, he marched into the kitchen, and groped about till he found a match in order to light a candle; and then, espying the glittering fiery eyes of the cat, he mistook them for live coals, and held the match to them to light it. But the cat, not understanding this joke, sprung at his face, and spit, and scratched at him. This frightened him dreadfully, and away he ran to the back door; but there the dog jumped up and bit him in the leg; and as he was crossing over the yard the ass kicked him; and the cock, who had been awakened by the noise, crowed with all his might. At this the robber ran back as fast as he could to his comrades, and told the captain “how a horrid witch had got into the house, and had spit at him and scratched his face with her long bony fingers; how a man with a knife in his hand had hidden himself behind the door, and stabbed him in the leg; how a black monster stood in the yard and struck him with a club, and how the devil sat upon the top of the house and cried out, ‘Throw the rascal up here!’” After this the robbers never dared to go back to the house: but the musicians were so pleased with their quarters, that they took up their abode there; and there they are, I dare say, at this very day.

Hans in Luck

Hans had served his master seven years, and at last said to him, “Master, my time is up, I should like to go home and see my mother; so give me my wages.” And the master said, “You have been a faithful and good servant, so your pay shall be handsome.” Then he gave him a piece of silver that was as big as his head.

Hans took out his pocket-handkerchief, put the piece of silver into it, threw it over his shoulder, and jogged off homewards. As he went lazily on, dragging one foot after another, a man came in sight, trotting along gaily on a capital horse. “Ah!” said Hans aloud, “what a fine thing it is to ride on horseback! there he sits as if he was at home in his chair; he trips against no stones, spares his shoes, and yet gets on he hardly knows how.” The horseman heard this, and said, “Well, Hans, why do you go on foot then?” “Ah!” said he, “I have this load to carry; to be sure it is silver, but it is so heavy that I can’t hold up my head, and it hurts my shoulder sadly.” “What do you say to changing?” said the horseman; “I will give you my horse, and you shall give me the silver.” “With all my heart,” said Hans: “but I tell you one thing, — you’ll have a weary task to drag it along.” The horseman got off, took the silver, helped Hans up, gave him the bridle into his hand, and said, “When you want to go very fast, you must smack your lips loud, and cry ‘Jip.’”

Hans was delighted as he sat on the horse, and rode merrily on. After a time he thought he should like to go a little faster, so he smacked his lips, and cried “Jip.” Away went the horse full gallop; and before Hans knew what he was about, he was thrown off, and lay in a ditch by the road side; and his horse would have run off, if a shepherd who was coming by, driving a cow, had not stopt it. Hans soon came to himself, and got upon his legs again. He was sadly vexed, and said to the shepherd, “This riding is no joke when a man gets on a beast like this, that stumbles and flings him off as if he would break his neck. However, I’m off now once for all: I like your cow a great deal better; one can walk along at one’s leisure behind her, and have milk, butter, and cheese, every day into the bargain. What would I give to have such a cow!” “Well,” said the shepherd, “if you are so fond of her, I will change my cow for your horse.” “Done!” said Hans merrily. The shepherd jumped upon the horse, and away he rode.

Hans drove off his cow quietly, and thought his bargain a very lucky one. “If I have only a piece of bread (and I certainly shall be able to get that), I can, whenever I like, eat my butter and cheese with it; and when I am thirsty I can milk my cow and drink the milk: what can I wish for more?” When he came to an inn, he halted, ate up all his bread, and gave away his last penny for a glass of beer: then he drove his cow towards his mother’s village; and the heat grew greater as noon came on, till at last he found himself on a wide heath that would take him more than an hour to cross, and he began to be so hot and parched that his tongue clave to the roof of his mouth. “I can find a cure for this,” thought he, “now will I milk my cow and quench my thirst;” so he tied her to the stump of a tree, and held his leathern cap to milk into; but not a drop was to be had.

While he was trying his luck and managing the matter very clumsily, the uneasy beast gave him a kick on the head that knocked him down and there he lay a long while senseless. Luckily a butcher soon came by driving a pig in a wheel-barrow. “What is the matter with you?” said the butcher as he helped him up. Hans told him what had happened, and the butcher gave him a flask, saying “There, drink and refresh yourself; your cow will give you no milk, she is an old beast good for nothing but the slaughter-house.” “Alas, alas!” said Hans, “who would have thought it? If I kill her, what will she be good for? I hate cow-beef, it is not tender enough for me. If it were a pig now, one could do something with it, it would at any rate make some sausages.” “Well,” said the butcher, “to please you, I’ll change, and give you the pig for the cow.” “Heaven reward you for your kindness!” said Hans as he gave the butcher the cow, and took the pig off the wheel-barrow, and drove it off, holding it by the string that was tied to its leg.

So on he jogged, and all seemed now to go right with him; he had met with some misfortunes, to be sure; but he was now well repaid for all. The next person he met was a countryman carrying a fine white goose under his arm. The countryman stopped to ask what o’clock it was; and Hans told him all his luck, and how he had made so many good bargains. The countryman said he was going to take the goose to a christening; “Feel,” said he, “how heavy it is, and yet it is only eight weeks old. Whoever roasts and eats it may cut plenty of fat off it, it has lived so well!” “You’re right,” said Hans as he weighed it in his hand; “but my pig is no trifle.” Meantime the countryman began to look grave, and shook his head. “Hark ye,” said he, “my good friend; your pig may get you into a scrape; in the village I just come from, the squire has had a pig stolen out of his stye. I was dreadfully afraid, when I saw you, that you had got the squire’s pig; it will be a bad job if they catch you; the least they’ll do, will be to throw you into the horsepond.”

Poor Hans was sadly frightened. “Good man,” cried he, “pray get me out of this scrape; you know this country better than I, take my pig and give me the goose.” “I ought to have something into the bargain,” said the countryman; “however, I will not bear hard upon you, as you are in trouble.” Then he took the string in his hand, and drove off the pig by a side path; while Hans went on the way homewards free from care. “After all,” thought he, “I have the best of the bargain: first there will be a capital roast; then the fat will find me in goose grease for six months; and then there are all the beautiful white feathers; I will put them into my pillow, and then I am sure I shall sleep soundly without rocking. How happy my mother will be!”

As he came to the last village, he saw a scissor-grinder, with his wheel, working away, and singing

O’er hill and o’er dale so happy I roam,Work light and live well, all the world is my home;Who so blythe, so merry as I?

Hans stood looking for a while, and at last said “You must be well off, master grinder, you seem so happy at your work.” “Yes,” said the other, “mine is a golden trade; a good grinder never puts his hand in his pocket without finding money in it: — but where did you get that beautiful goose?” “I did not buy it, but changed a pig for it.” “And where did you get the pig?” “I gave a cow for it.” “And the cow?” “I gave a horse for it.” “And the horse?” “I gave a piece of silver as big as my head for that.” “And the silver?” “Oh! I worked hard for that seven long years.” “You have thriven well in the world hitherto,” said the grinder; “now if you could find money in your pocket whenever you put your hand into it, your fortune would be made.” “Very true: but how is that to be managed?” “You must turn grinder like me,” said the other; “you only want a grindstone; the rest will come of itself. Here is one that is a little the worse for wear: I would not ask more than the value of your goose for it; — will you buy?” “How can you ask such a question?” replied Hans; “I should be the happiest man in the world, if I could have money whenever I put my hand in my pocket; what could I want more? there’s the goose!” “Now,” said the grinder, as he gave him a common rough stone that lay by his side, “this is a most capital stone; do but manage it cleverly, and you can make an old nail cut with it.”

Hans took the stone and went off with a light heart: his eyes sparkled for joy, and he said to himself, “I must have been born in a lucky hour; everything that I want or wish for comes to me of itself.”

Meantime he began to be tired, for he had been travelling ever since day-break; he was hungry too, for he had given away his last penny in his joy at getting the cow. At last he could go no further, and the stone tired him terribly; he dragged himself to the side of a pond, that he might drink some water, and rest a while; so he laid the stone carefully by his side on the bank: but as he stooped down to drink, he forgot it, pushed it a little, and down it went plump into the pond. For a while he watched it sinking in the deep clear water, then sprang up for joy, and again fell upon his knees, and thanked heaven with tears in his eyes for its kindness in taking away his only plague, the ugly heavy stone. “How happy am I!” cried he: “no mortal was ever so lucky as I am.” Then up he got with a light and merry heart, and walked on free from all his troubles, till he reached his mother’s house.

The Golden Bird

A certain king had a beautiful garden, and in the garden stood a tree which bore golden apples. These apples were always counted, and about the time when they began to grow ripe it was found that every night one of them was gone. The king became very angry at this, and ordered the gardener to keep watch all night under the tree. The gardener set his eldest son to watch; but about twelve o’clock he fell asleep, and in the morning another of the apples was missing. Then the second son was ordered to watch; and at midnight he too fell asleep, and in the morning another apple was gone. Then the third son offered to keep watch; but the gardener at first would not let him, for fear some harm should come to him: however, at last he consented, and the young man laid himself under the tree to watch. As the clock struck twelve he heard a rustling noise in the air, and a bird came flying that was of pure gold; and as it was snapping at one of the apples with its beak, the gardener’s son jumped up and shot an arrow at it. But the arrow did the bird no harm; only it dropped a golden feather from its tail, and then flew away. The golden feather was brought to the king in the morning, and all the council was called together. Every one agreed that it was worth more than all the wealth of the kingdom: but the king said, “One feather is of no use to me, I must have the whole bird.”

Then the gardener’s eldest son set out and thought to find the golden bird very easily; and when he had gone but a little way, he came to a wood, and by the side of the wood he saw a fox sitting; so he took his bow and made ready to shoot at it. Then the fox said, “Do not shoot me, for I will give you good counsel; I know what your business is, and that you want to find the golden bird. You will reach a village in the evening; and when you get there, you will see two inns opposite to each other, one of which is very pleasant and beautiful to look at: go not in there, but rest for the night in the other, though it may appear to you to be very poor and mean.” But the son thought to himself, “What can such a beast as this know about the matter?” So he shot his arrow at the fox; but he missed it, and it set up its tail above its back and ran into the wood. Then he went his way, and in the evening came to the village where the two inns were; and in one of these were people singing, and dancing, and feasting; but the other looked very dirty, and poor. “I should be very silly,” said he, “if I went to that shabby house, and left this charming place;” so he went into the smart house, and ate and drank at his ease, and forgot the bird, and his country too.

Time passed on; and as the eldest son did not come back, and no tidings were heard of him, the second son set out, and the same thing happened to him. He met the fox, who gave him the same good advice: but when he came to the two inns, his eldest brother was standing at the window where the merrymaking was, and called to him to come in; and he could not withstand the temptation, but went in, and forgot the golden bird and his country in the same manner.

Time passed on again, and the youngest son too wished to set out into the wide world to seek for the golden bird; but his father would not listen to it for a long while, for he was very fond of his son, and was afraid that some ill luck might happen to him also, and prevent his coming back. However, at last it was agreed he should go, for he would not rest at home; and as he came to the wood, he met the fox, and heard the same good counsel. But he was thankful to the fox, and did not attempt his life as his brothers had done; so the fox said, “Sit upon my tail, and you will travel faster.” So he sat down, and the fox began to run, and away they went over stock and stone so quick that their hair whistled in the wind.

When they came to the village, the son followed the fox’s counsel, and without looking about him went to the shabby inn and rested there all night at his ease. In the morning came the fox again and met him as he was beginning his journey, and said, “Go straight forward, till you come to a castle, before which lie a whole troop of soldiers fast asleep and snoring: take no notice of them, but go into the castle and pass on and on till you come to a room, where the golden bird sits in a wooden cage; close by it stands a beautiful golden cage; but do not try to take the bird out of the shabby cage and put it into the handsome one, otherwise you will repent it.” Then the fox stretched out his tail again, and the young man sat himself down, and away they went over stock and stone till their hair whistled in the wind.

Before the castle gate all was as the fox had said: so the son went in and found the chamber where the golden bird hung in a wooden cage, and below stood the golden cage, and the three golden apples that had been lost were lying close by it. Then thought he to himself, “It will be a very droll thing to bring away such a fine bird in this shabby cage;” so he opened the door and took hold of it and put it into the golden cage. But the bird set up such a loud scream that all the soldiers awoke, and they took him prisoner and carried him before the king. The next morning the court sat to judge him; and when all was heard, it sentenced him to die, unless he should bring the king the golden horse which could run as swiftly as the wind; and if he did this, he was to have the golden bird given him for his own.

So he set out once more on his journey, sighing, and in great despair, when on a sudden his good friend the fox met him, and said, “You see now what has happened on account of your not listening to my counsel. I will still, however, tell you how to find the golden horse, if you will do as I bid you. You must go straight on till you come to the castle where the horse stands in his stall: by his side will lie the groom fast asleep and snoring: take away the horse quietly, but be sure to put the old leathern saddle upon him, and not the golden one that is close by it.” Then the son sat down on the fox’s tail, and away they went over stock and stone till their hair whistled in the wind.

All went right, and the groom lay snoring with his hand upon the golden saddle. But when the son looked at the horse, he thought it a great pity to put the leathern saddle upon it. “I will give him the good one,” said he; “I am sure he deserves it.” As he took up the golden saddle the groom awoke and cried out so loud, that all the guards ran in and took him prisoner, and in the morning he was again brought before the court to be judged, and was sentenced to die. But it was agreed, that, if he could bring thither the beautiful princess, he should live, and have the bird and the horse given him for his own.

Then he went his way again very sorrowful; but the old fox came and said, “Why did not you listen to me? If you had, you would have carried away both the bird and the horse; yet will I once more give you counsel. Go straight on, and in the evening you will arrive at a castle. At twelve o’clock at night the princess goes to the bathing-house: go up to her and give her a kiss, and she will let you lead her away; but take care you do not suffer her to go and take leave of her father and mother.” Then the fox stretched out his tail, and so away they went over stock and stone till their hair whistled again.

As they came to the castle, all was as the fox had said, and at twelve o’clock the young man met the princess going to the bath and gave her the kiss, and she agreed to run away with him, but begged with many tears that he would let her take leave of her father. At first he refused, but she wept still more and more, and fell at his feet, till at last he consented; but the moment she came to her father’s house, the guards awoke and he was taken prisoner again.

Then he was brought before the king, and the king said, “You shall never have my daughter unless in eight days you dig away the hill that stops the view from my window.” Now this hill was so big that the whole world could not take it away: and when he had worked for seven days, and had done very little, the fox came and said, “Lie down and go to sleep; I will work for you.” And in the morning he awoke and the hill was gone; so he went merrily to the king, and told him that now that it was removed he must give him the princess.

Then the king was obliged to keep his word, and away went the young man and the princess; and the fox came and said to him, “We will have all three, the princess, the horse, and the bird.” “Ah!” said the young man, “that would be a great thing, but how can you contrive it?”

“If you will only listen,” said the fox, “it can soon be done. When you come to the king, and he asks for the beautiful princess, you must say, ‘Here she is!’ Then he will be very joyful; and you will mount the golden horse that they are to give you, and put out your hand to take leave of them; but shake hands with the princess last. Then lift her quickly on to the horse behind you; clap your spurs to his side, and gallop away as fast as you can.”

All went right: then the fox said, “When you come to the castle where the bird is, I will stay with the princess at the door, and you will ride in and speak to the king; and when he sees that it is the right horse, he will bring out the bird; but you must sit still, and say that you want to look at it, to see whether it is the true golden bird; and when you get it into your hand, ride away.”

This, too, happened as the fox said; they carried off the bird, the princess mounted again, and they rode on to a great wood. Then the fox came, and said, “Pray kill me, and cut off my head and my feet.” But the young man refused to do it: so the fox said, “I will at any rate give you good counsel: beware of two things; ransom no one from the gallows, and sit down by the side of no river.” Then away he went. “Well,” thought the young man, “it is no hard matter to keep that advice.”

He rode on with the princess, till at last he came to the village where he had left his two brothers. And there he heard a great noise and uproar; and when he asked what was the matter, the people said, “Two men are going to be hanged.” As he came nearer, he saw that the two men were his brothers, who had turned robbers; so he said, “Cannot they in any way be saved?” But the people said “No,” unless he would bestow all his money upon the rascals and buy their liberty. Then he did not stay to think about the matter, but paid what was asked, and his brothers were given up, and went on with him towards their home.

And as they came to the wood where the fox first met them, it was so cool and pleasant that the two brothers said, “Let us sit down by the side of the river, and rest a while, to eat and drink.” So he said, “Yes,” and forgot the fox’s counsel, and sat down on the side of the river; and while he suspected nothing, they came behind, and threw him down the bank, and took the princess, the horse, and the bird, and went home to the king their master, and said, “All this have we won by our labour.” Then there was great rejoicing made; but the horse would not eat, the bird would not sing, and the princess wept.

The youngest son fell to the bottom of the river’s bed: luckily it was nearly dry, but his bones were almost broken, and the bank was so steep that he could find no way to get out. Then the old fox came once more, and scolded him for not following his advice; otherwise no evil would have befallen him: “Yet,” said he, “I cannot leave you here, so lay hold of my tail and hold fast.” Then he pulled him out of the river, and said to him, as he got upon the bank, “Your brothers have set watch to kill you, if they find you in the kingdom.” So he dressed himself as a poor man, and came secretly to the king’s court, and was scarcely within the doors when the horse began to eat, and the bird to sing, and the princess left off weeping. Then he went to the king, and told him all his brothers’ roguery; and they were seized and punished, and he had the princess given to him again; and after the king’s death he was heir to his kingdom.

A long while after, he went to walk one day in the wood, and the old fox met him, and besought him with tears in his eyes to kill him, and cut off his head and feet. And at last he did so, and in a moment the fox was changed into a man, and turned out to be the brother of the princess, who had been lost a great many many years.

The Fisherman and His Wife

There was once a fisherman who lived with his wife in a ditch, close by the sea-side. The fisherman used to go out all day long a-fishing; and one day, as he sat on the shore with his rod, looking at the shining water and watching his line, all on a sudden his float was dragged away deep under the sea: and in drawing it up he pulled a great fish out of the water. The fish said to him, “Pray let me live: I am not a real fish; I am an enchanted prince, put me in the water again, and let me go.” “Oh!” said the man, “you need not make so many words about the matter; I wish to have nothing to do with a fish that can talk; so swim away as soon as you please.” Then he put him back into the water, and the fish darted straight down to the bottom, and left a long streak of blood behind him.

When the fisherman went home to his wife in the ditch, he told her how he had caught a great fish, and how it had told him it was an enchanted prince, and that on hearing it speak he had let it go again. “Did you not ask it for anything?” said the wife. “No,” said the man, “what should I ask for?” “Ah!” said the wife, “we live very wretchedly here in this nasty stinking ditch; do go back, and tell the fish we want a little cottage.”

The fisherman did not much like the business: however, he went to the sea, and when he came there the water looked all yellow and green. And he stood at the water’s edge, and said,

“O man of the sea!Come listen to me,For Alice my wife,The plague of my life,Hath sent me to beg a boon of thee!”