The Iron Stove

In the days when wishing was still of some use, a King's son was
bewitched by an old witch, and shut up in an iron stove in a forest.
There he passed many years, and no one could deliver him. Then a King's
daughter came into the forest, who had lost herself, and could not find
her father's kingdom again. After she had wandered about for nine days,
she at length came to the iron stove. Then a voice came forth from it,
and asked her, "Whence comest thou, and whither goest, thou?" She
answered, "I have lost my father's kingdom, and cannot get home again."
Then a voice inside the iron stove said, "I will help thee to get home
again, and that indeed most swiftly, if thou wilt promise to do what I
desire of thee. I am the son of a far greater King than thy father, and
I will marry thee."

Then was she afraid, and thought, "Good heavens! What can I do with an
iron stove?" But as she much wished to get home to her father, she
promised to do as he desired. But he said, "Thou shalt return here, and
bring a knife with thee, and scrape a hole in the iron." Then he gave
her a companion who walked near her, but did not speak, but in two
hours he took her home; there was great joy in the castle when the
King's daughter came home, and the old King fell on her neck and kissed
her. She, however, was sorely troubled, and said, "Dear father, what I
have suffered! I should never have got home again from the great wild
forest, if I had not come to an iron stove, but I have been forced to
give my word that I will go back to it, set it free, and marry it."
Then the old King was so terrified that he all but fainted, for he had
but this one daughter. They therefore resolved they would send, in her
place, the miller's daughter, who was very beautiful. They took her
there, gave her a knife, and said she was to scrape at the iron stove.
So she scraped at it for four-and-twenty hours, but could not bring off
the least morsel of it. When day dawned, a voice in the stove said, "It
seems to me it is day outside." Then she answered, "It seems so to me
too; I fancy I hear the noise of my father's mill."

"So thou art a miller's daughter! Then go thy way at once, and let the
King's daughter come here." Then she went away at once, and told the
old King that the man outside there, would have none of her he wanted
the King's daughter. They, however, still had a swine-herd's daughter,
who was even prettier than the miller's daughter, and they determined
to give her a piece of gold to go to the iron stove instead of the
King's daughter. So she was taken thither, and she also had to scrape
for four-and-twenty hours. She, however, made nothing of it. When day
broke, a voice inside the stove cried, "It seems to me it is day
outside!" Then answered she, "So it seems to me also; I fancy I hear my
father's horn blowing."

"Then thou art a swine-herd's daughter! Go away at once, and tell the
King's daughter to come, and tell her all must be done as promised, and
if she does not come, everything in the kingdom shall be ruined and
destroyed, and not one stone be left standing on another." When the
King's daughter heard that she began to weep, but now there was nothing
for it but to keep her promise. So she took leave of her father, put a
knife in her pocket, and went forth to the iron stove in the forest.
When she got there, she began to scrape, and the iron gave way, and
when two hours were over, she had already scraped a small hole. Then
she peeped in, and saw a youth so handsome, and so brilliant with gold
and with precious jewels, that her very soul was delighted. Now,
therefore, she went on scraping, and made the hole so large that he was
able to get out. Then said he, "Thou art mine, and I am thine; thou art
my bride, and hast released me." He wanted to take her away with him to
his kingdom, but she entreated him to let her go once again to her
father, and the King's son allowed her to do so, but she was not to say
more to her father than three words, and then she was to come back
again. So she went home, but she spoke more than three words, and
instantly the iron stove disappeared, and was taken far away over glass
mountains and piercing swords; but the King's son was set free, and no
longer shut up in it. After this she bade good-bye to her father, took
some money with her, but not much, and went back to the great forest,
and looked for the iron stove, but it was nowhere to be found. For nine
days she sought it, and then her hunger grew so great that she did not
know what to do, for she could no longer live. When it was evening, she
seated herself in a small tree, and made up her mind to spend the night
there, as she was afraid of wild beasts. When midnight drew near she
saw in the distance a small light, and thought, "Ah, there I should be
saved!" She got down from the tree, and went towards the light, but on
the way she prayed. Then she came to a little old house, and much grass
had grown all about it, and a small heap of wood lay in front of it.
She thought, "Ah, whither have I come," and peeped in through the
window, but she saw nothing inside but toads, big and little, except a
table well covered with wine and roast meat, and the plates and glasses
were of silver. Then she took courage, and knocked at the door. The fat
toad cried,

"Little green waiting-maid,
Waiting-maid with the limping leg,
Little dog of the limping leg,
Hop hither and thither,
And quickly see who is without:"


and a small toad came walking by and opened the door to her. When she
entered, they all bade her welcome, and she was forced to sit down.
They asked, "Where hast thou come from, and whither art thou going?"
Then she related all that had befallen her, and how because she had
transgressed the order which had been given her not to say more than
three words, the stove, and the King's son also, had disappeared, and
now she was about to seek him over hill and dale until she found him.
Then the old fat one said,

"Little green waiting-maid,
Waiting-maid with the limping leg,
Little dog of the limping leg,
Hop hither and thither,
And bring me the great box."


Then the little one went and brought the box. After this they gave her
meat and drink, and took her to a well-made bed, which felt like silk
and velvet, and she laid herself therein, in God's name, and slept.
When morning came she arose, and the old toad gave her three needles
out of the great box which she was to take with her; they would be
needed by her, for she had to cross a high glass mountain, and go over
three piercing swords and a great lake. If she did all this she would
get her lover back again. Then she gave her three things, which she was
to take the greatest care of, namely, three large needles, a
plough-wheel, and three nuts. With these she travelled onwards, and
when she came to the glass mountain which was so slippery, she stuck
the three needles first behind her feet and then before them, and so
got over it, and when she was over it, she hid them in a place which
she marked carefully. After this she came to the three piercing swords,
and then she seated herself on her plough-wheel, and rolled over them.
At last she arrived in front of a great lake, and when she had crossed
it, she came to a large and beautiful castle. She went and asked for a
place; she was a poor girl, she said, and would like to be hired. She
knew, however, that the King's son whom she had released from the iron
stove in the great forest was in the castle. Then she was taken as a
scullery-maid at low wages. But, already the King's son had another
maiden by his side whom he wanted to marry, for he thought that she had
long been dead.

In the evening, when she had washed up and was done, she felt in her
pocket and found the three nuts which the old toad had given her. She
cracked one with her teeth, and was going to eat the kernel when lo and
behold there was a stately royal garment in it! But when the bride
heard of this she came and asked for the dress, and wanted to buy it,
and said, "It is not a dress for a servant-girl." But she said no, she
would not sell it, but if the bride would grant her one thing she
should have it, and that was, leave to sleep one night in her
bridegroom's chamber. The bride gave her permission because the dress
was so pretty, and she had never had one like it. When it was evening
she said to her bridegroom, "That silly girl will sleep in thy room."
"If thou art willing so am I," said he. She, however, gave him a glass
of wine in which she had poured a sleeping-draught. So the bridegroom
and the scullery-maid went to sleep in the room, and he slept so
soundly that she could not waken him.

She wept the whole night and cried, "I set thee free when thou wert in
an iron stove in the wild forest, I sought thee, and walked over a
glass mountain, and three sharp swords, and a great lake before I found
thee, and yet thou wilt not hear me!"

The servants sat by the chamber-door, and heard how she thus wept the
whole night through, and in the morning they told it to their lord. And
the next evening when she had washed up, she opened the second nut, and
a far more beautiful dress was within it, and when the bride beheld it,
she wished to buy that also. But the girl would not take money, and
begged that she might once again sleep in the bridegroom's chamber. The
bride, however, gave him a sleeping-drink, and he slept so soundly that
he could hear nothing. But the scullery-maid wept the whole night long,
and cried, "I set thee free when thou wert in an iron stove in the wild
forest, I sought thee, and walked over a glass mountain, and over three
sharp swords and a great lake before I found thee, and yet thou wilt
not hear me!" The servants sat by the chamber-door and heard her
weeping the whole night through, and in the morning informed their lord
of it. And on the third evening, when she had washed up, she opened the
third nut, and within it was a still more beautiful dress which was
stiff with pure gold. When the bride saw that she wanted to have it,
but the maiden only gave it up on condition that she might for the
third time sleep in the bridegroom's apartment. The King's son was,
however, on his guard, and threw the sleeping-draught away. Now,
therefore, when she began to weep and to cry, "Dearest love, I set thee
free when thou wert in the iron stove in the terrible wild forest," the
King's son leapt up and said, "Thou art the true one, thou art mine,
and I am thine." Thereupon, while it was still night, he got into a
carriage with her, and they took away the false bride's clothes so that
she could not get up. When they came to the great lake, they sailed
across it, and when they reached the three sharp-cutting swords they
seated themselves on the plough-wheel, and when they got to the glass
mountain they thrust the three needles in it, and so at length they got
to the little old house; but when they went inside that, it was a great
castle, and the toads were all disenchanted, and were King's children,
and full of happiness. Then the wedding was celebrated, and the King's
son and the princess remained in the castle, which was much larger than
the castles of their fathers. As, however, the old King grieved at
being left alone, they fetched him away, and brought him to live with
them, and they had two kingdoms, and lived in happy wedlock.

A mouse did run,
This story is done.
