mud/content/library/grimm/165_the_griffin.txt

The Griffin

There was once upon a time a King, but where he reigned and what he was
called, I do not know. He had no son, but an only daughter who had
always been ill, and no doctor had been able to cure her. Then it was
foretold to the King that his daughter should eat herself well with an
apple. So he ordered it to be proclaimed throughout the whole of his
kingdom, that whosoever brought his daughter an apple with which she
could eat herself well, should have her to wife, and be King. This
became known to a peasant who had three sons, and he said to the
eldest, “Go out into the garden and take a basketful of those beautiful
apples with the red cheeks and carry them to the court; perhaps the
King’s daughter will be able to eat herself well with them, and then
thou wilt marry her and be King.” The lad did so, and set out.

When he had gone a short way he met a little iron man who asked him
what he had there in the basket, to which replied Uele, for so was he
named, “Frogs’ legs.” On this the little man said, “Well, so shall it
be, and remain,” and went away. At length Uele arrived at the palace,
and made it known that he had brought apples which would cure the
King’s daughter if she ate them. This delighted the King hugely, and he
caused Uele to be brought before him; but, alas! when he opened the
basket, instead of having apples in it he had frogs’ legs which were
still kicking about. On this the King grew angry, and had him driven
out of the house. When he got home he told his father how it had fared
with him. Then the father sent the next son, who was called Seame, but
all went with him just as it had gone with Uele. He also met the little
iron man, who asked what he had there in the basket. Seame said, “Hogs’
bristles,” and the iron man said, “well, so shall it be, and remain.”
When Seame got to the King’s palace and said he brought apples with
which the King’s daughter might eat herself well, they did not want to
let him go in, and said that one fellow had already been there, and had
treated them as if they were fools. Seame, however, maintained that he
certainly had the apples, and that they ought to let him go in. At
length they believed him, and led him to the King. But when he
uncovered the basket, he had but hogs’ bristles. This enraged the King
most terribly, so he caused Seame to be whipped out of the house. When
he got home he related all that had befallen him, then the youngest
boy, whose name was Hans, but who was always called Stupid Hans, came
and asked his father if he might go with some apples. “Oh!” said the
father, “thou wouldst be just the right fellow for such a thing! If the
clever ones can’t manage it, what canst thou do?” The boy, however, did
not believe him, and said, “Indeed, father, I wish to go.” “Just get
away, thou stupid fellow, thou must wait till thou art wiser,” said the
father to that, and turned his back. Hans, however, pulled at the back
of his smock-frock and said, “Indeed, father, I wish to go.” “Well,
then, so far as I am concerned thou mayst go, but thou wilt soon come
home again!” replied the old man in a spiteful voice. The boy, however,
was tremendously delighted and jumped for joy. “Well, act like a fool!
thou growest more stupid every day!” said the father again. Hans,
however, did not care about that, and did not let it spoil his
pleasure, but as it was then night, he thought he might as well wait
until the morrow, for he could not get to court that day. All night
long he could not sleep in his bed, and if he did doze for a moment, he
dreamt of beautiful maidens, of palaces, of gold, and of silver, and
all kinds of things of that sort. Early in the morning, he went forth
on his way, and directly afterwards the little shabby-looking man in
his iron clothes, came to him and asked what he was carrying in the
basket. Hans gave him the answer that he was carrying apples with which
the King’s daughter was to eat herself well. “Then,” said the little
man, “so shall they be, and remain.” But at the court they would none
of them let Hans go in, for they said two had already been there who
had told them that they were bringing apples, and one of them had
frogs’ legs, and the other hogs’ bristles. Hans, however, resolutely
maintained that he most certainly had no frogs’ legs, but some of the
most beautiful apples in the whole kingdom. As he spoke so pleasantly,
the door-keeper thought he could not be telling a lie, and asked him to
go in, and he was right, for when Hans uncovered his basket in the
King’s presence, golden-yellow apples came tumbling out. The King was
delighted, and caused some of them to be taken to his daughter, and
then waited in anxious expectation until news should be brought to him
of the effect they had. But before much time had passed by, news was
brought to him: but who do you think it was who came? it was his
daughter herself! As soon as she had eaten of those apples, she was
cured, and sprang out of her bed. The joy the King felt cannot be
described! but now he did not want to give his daughter in marriage to
Hans, and said he must first make him a boat which would go quicker on
dry land than on water. Hans agreed to the conditions, and went home,
and related how it had fared with him. Then the father sent Uele into
the forest to make a boat of that kind. He worked diligently, and
whistled all the time. At mid-day, when the sun was at the highest,
came the little iron man and asked what he was making? Uele gave him
for answer, “Wooden bowls for the kitchen.” The iron man said, “So it
shall be, and remain.” By evening Uele thought he had now made the
boat, but when he wanted to get into it, he had nothing but wooden
bowls. The next day Seame went into the forest, but everything went
with him just as it had done with Uele. On the third day Stupid Hans
went. He worked away most industriously, so that the whole forest
resounded with the heavy strokes, and all the while he sang and
whistled right merrily. At mid-day, when it was the hottest, the little
man came again, and asked what he was making? “A boat which will go
quicker on dry land than on the water,” replied Hans, “and when I have
finished it, I am to have the King’s daughter for my wife.” “Well,”
said the little man, “such an one shall it be, and remain.” In the
evening, when the sun had turned into gold, Hans finished his boat, and
all that was wanted for it. He got into it and rowed to the palace. The
boat went as swiftly as the wind. The King saw it from afar, but would
not give his daughter to Hans yet, and said he must first take a
hundred hares out to pasture from early morning until late evening, and
if one of them got away, he should not have his daughter. Hans was
contented with this, and the next day went with his flock to the
pasture, and took great care that none of them ran away.

Before many hours had passed came a servant from the palace, and told
Hans that he must give her a hare instantly, for some visitors had come
unexpectedly. Hans, however, was very well aware what that meant, and
said he would not give her one; the King might set some hare soup
before his guest next day. The maid, however, would not believe in his
refusal, and at last she began to get angry with him. Then Hans said
that if the King’s daughter came herself, he would give her a hare. The
maid told this in the palace, and the daughter did go herself. In the
meantime, however, the little man came again to Hans, and asked him
what he was doing there? He said he had to watch over a hundred hares
and see that none of them ran away, and then he might marry the King’s
daughter and be King. “Good,” said the little man, “there is a whistle
for thee, and if one of them runs away, just whistle with it, and then
it will come back again.” When the King’s daughter came, Hans gave her
a hare into her apron; but when she had gone about a hundred steps with
it, he whistled, and the hare jumped out of the apron, and before she
could turn round was back to the flock again. When the evening came the
hare-herd whistled once more, and looked to see if all were there, and
then drove them to the palace. The King wondered how Hans had been able
to take a hundred hares to graze without losing any of them; he would,
however, not give him his daughter yet, and said he must now bring him
a feather from the Griffin’s tail. Hans set out at once, and walked
straight forwards. In the evening he came to a castle, and there he
asked for a night’s lodging, for at that time there were no inns. The
lord of the castle promised him that with much pleasure, and asked
where he was going? Hans answered, “To the Griffin.” “Oh! to the
Griffin! They tell me he knows everything, and I have lost the key of
an iron money-chest; so you might be so good as to ask him where it
is.” “Yes, indeed,” said Hans, “I will do that.” Early the next morning
he went onwards, and on his way arrived at another castle in which he
again stayed the night. When the people who lived there learnt that he
was going to the Griffin, they said they had in the house a daughter
who was ill, and that they had already tried every means to cure her,
but none of them had done her any good, and he might be so kind as to
ask the Griffin what would make their daughter healthy again? Hans said
he would willingly do that, and went onwards. Then he came to a lake,
and instead of a ferry-boat, a tall, tall man was there who had to
carry everybody across. The man asked Hans whither he was journeying?
“To the Griffin,” said Hans. “Then when you get to him,” said the man,
“just ask him why I am forced to carry everybody over the lake.” “Yes,
indeed, most certainly I’ll do that,” said Hans. Then the man took him
up on his shoulders, and carried him across. At length Hans arrived at
the Griffin’s house, but the wife only was at home, and not the Griffin
himself. Then the woman asked him what he wanted? Thereupon he told her
everything;—that he had to get a feather out of the Griffin’s tail, and
that there was a castle where they had lost the key of their
money-chest, and he was to ask the Griffin where it was?—that in
another castle the daughter was ill, and he was to learn what would
cure her?—and then not far from thence there was a lake and a man
beside it, who was forced to carry people across it, and he was very
anxious to learn why the man was obliged to do it. Then said the woman,
“But look here, my good friend, no Christian can speak to the Griffin;
he devours them all; but if you like, you can lie down under his bed,
and in the night, when he is quite fast asleep, you can reach out and
pull a feather out of his tail, and as for those things which you are
to learn, I will ask about them myself.” Hans was quite satisfied with
this, and got under the bed. In the evening, the Griffin came home, and
as soon as he entered the room, said, “Wife, I smell a Christian.”
“Yes,” said the woman, “one was here to-day, but he went away again;”
and on that the Griffin said no more.

In the middle of the night when the Griffin was snoring loudly, Hans
reached out and plucked a feather from his tail. The Griffin woke up
instantly, and said, “Wife, I smell a Christian, and it seems to me
that somebody was pulling at my tail.” His wife said, “Thou hast
certainly been dreaming, and I told thee before that a Christian was
here to-day, but that he went away again. He told me all kinds of
things that in one castle they had lost the key of their money-chest,
and could find it nowhere.” “Oh! the fools!” said the Griffin; “the key
lies in the wood-house under a log of wood behind the door.” “And then
he said that in another castle the daughter was ill, and they knew no
remedy that would cure her.” “Oh! the fools!” said the Griffin; “under
the cellar-steps a toad has made its nest of her hair, and if she got
her hair back she would be well.” “And then he also said that there was
a place where there was a lake and a man beside it who was forced to
carry everybody across.” “Oh, the fool!” said the Griffin; “if he only
put one man down in the middle, he would never have to carry another
across.” Early the next morning the Griffin got up and went out. Then
Hans came forth from under the bed, and he had a beautiful feather, and
had heard what the Griffin had said about the key, and the daughter,
and the ferry-man. The Griffin’s wife repeated it all once more to him
that he might not forget it, and then he went home again. First he came
to the man by the lake, who asked him what the Griffin had said, but
Hans replied that he must first carry him across, and then he would
tell him. So the man carried him across, and when he was over Hans told
him that all he had to do was to set one person down in the middle of
the lake, and then he would never have to carry over any more. The man
was hugely delighted, and told Hans that out of gratitude he would take
him once more across, and back again. But Hans said no, he would save
him the trouble, he was quite satisfied already, and pursued his way.
Then he came to the castle where the daughter was ill; he took her on
his shoulders, for she could not walk, and carried her down the
cellar-steps and pulled out the toad’s nest from beneath the lowest
step and gave it into her hand, and she sprang off his shoulder and up
the steps before him, and was quite cured. Then were the father and
mother beyond measure rejoiced, and they gave Hans gifts of gold and of
silver, and whatsoever else he wished for, that they gave him. And when
he got to the other castle he went at once into the wood-house, and
found the key under the log of wood behind the door, and took it to the
lord of the castle. He also was not a little pleased, and gave Hans as
a reward much of the gold that was in the chest, and all kinds of
things besides, such as cows, and sheep, and goats. When Hans arrived
before the King, with all these things—with the money, and the gold,
and the silver and the cows, sheep and goats, the King asked him how he
had come by them. Then Hans told him that the Griffin gave every one
whatsoever he wanted. So the King thought he himself could make such
things useful, and set out on his way to the Griffin; but when he got
to the lake, it happened that he was the very first who arrived there
after Hans, and the man put him down in the middle of it and went away,
and the King was drowned. Hans, however, married the daughter, and
became King.