Allerleirauh

There was once on a time 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
came to pass that she lay ill, and as she felt that she must soon die,
she called the King and said, "If thou wishest to marry again after my
death, take no one who is not quite as beautiful as I am, and who has
not just such golden hair as I have: this thou must promise me." 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 councillors said, "There is no help
for it, the King must marry again, that we may have a Queen." And now
messengers were sent about far and wide, to seek a bride who equalled
the late Queen in beauty. In the whole world, however, none was to be
found, and even if one had been found, still there would have been no
one who had such golden hair. So the messengers came home as they went.

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 suddenly felt a violent love for her. Then he spake to
his councillors, "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 councillors 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 involved in the ruin."

The daughter was still more shocked when she became aware of her
father's resolution, but hoped to turn him from his design. Then she
said to him, "Before I fulfil 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 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 his skin for it." But she thought,
"To get that will be quite impossible, and thus I shall divert my
father from his wicked intentions." The King, however, did not give it
up, and 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, and 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 was made a mantle of a thousand different kinds
of fur. At length, when all was ready, the King caused the mantle to be
brought, spread it out before her, and said, "The wedding shall be
to-morrow."

When, therefore, the King's daughter saw that there was no longer any
hope of turning her father's heart, she resolved to run away from him.
In the night whilst every one 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, put on her mantle of all kinds of
fur, and blackened her face and hands with soot. Then she commended
herself to God, and 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 barking round about it. 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." Said the King, "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, deserted by father and mother; have pity
on me, and take me with you." Then said they, "Allerleirauh, thou wilt
be useful in the kitchen, come with us, and thou canst 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 canst thou 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,
fair princess, what is to become of thee now! It happened, however,
that one day a feast was held in the palace, and she said to the cook,
"May I go up-stairs for a while, and look on? I will place myself
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, put 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 which shone like the sun,
and when she had done that she went up to the festival, and every one
made way for her, for no one knew her, and thought no otherwise than
that she was a king's daughter. The King came to meet her, gave his
hand to her, and danced with her, and thought in his heart, "My eyes
have never yet seen any one so beautiful!" When the dance was over she
curtsied, and when the King looked round again she had vanished, and
none knew whither. 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, had quickly taken off her
dress, made her face and hands black again, put on the fur-mantle, and
again was Allerleirauh. 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 till morning, and make me the soup for the King; I, too,
will go upstairs awhile, and take a look; but let no hairs fall in, or
in future thou shalt have nothing to eat." So the cook went away, and
Allerleirauh made the soup for the king, and made bread soup and the
best 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, and could not conceive how it could have got there. Then he
ordered the cook to appear before him. The cook was terrified when he
heard the order, and said to Allerleirauh, "Thou hast certainly let a
hair fall into the soup, and if thou hast, thou shalt be beaten for
it." When he came before the King the latter 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." He
answered, "I must acknowledge that I did not make it, it was made by
the rough animal." The King said, "Go and bid it come up here."

When Allerleirauh came, the King said, "Who art thou?" "I am a poor
girl who no longer has any father or mother." He asked further, "Of
what use art thou in my palace?" She answered, "I am good for nothing
but to have boots thrown at my head." He continued, "Where didst thou
get the ring which 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 which he so much likes." Then she ran into her den, washed herself
quickly, and took out of the nut the dress which was as silvery as the
moon, and put it on. Then she went up and was 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
observe 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 up-stairs, she fetched the
little golden spinning-wheel, and put it in the bowl so that the soup
covered it. Then it was taken to the King, who ate it, and liked it as
much as before, and 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 else but to have boots thrown at her head, and that she knew
nothing at all about the little golden spinning-wheel.

When, for the third time, the King held a festival, all happened just
as it had done before. The cook said, "Faith rough-skin, thou art a
witch, and always puttest something in the soup which makes it so good
that the King likes it better than that which I cook," but as she
begged so hard, he let her go up at the appointed time. And now she put
on the dress which shone like the stars, and thus entered the hall.
Again the King danced with the beautiful maiden, and thought that she
never yet had been so beautiful. And whilst she was dancing, he
contrived, without her noticing it, to slip a golden ring on 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 so quickly through the crowd
that she vanished from his sight. She ran as fast as she could into her
den beneath the stairs, but as she had been too long, and had stayed
more than half-an-hour she could not take off her pretty dress, but
only threw over it her fur-mantle, 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, put her golden reel into it. When the King found the
reel at the bottom of it, he caused Allerleirauh to be summoned, and
then he espied the white finger, and saw the ring which he had put on
it during the dance. Then he grasped her by the hand, and held her
fast, and when she wanted to release 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 splendour, 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, "Thou art my dear bride, and we will never more part from
each other." Thereupon the marriage was solemnized, and they lived
happily until their death.
