125 lines
7.1 KiB
Text
125 lines
7.1 KiB
Text
The Robber Bridegroom
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There was once on a time a miller, who had a beautiful daughter, and as
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she was grown up, he wished that she was provided for, and well
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married. He thought, "If any good suitor comes and asks for her, I will
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give her to him." Not long afterwards, a suitor came, who appeared to
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be very rich, and as the miller had no fault to find with him, he
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promised his daughter to him. The maiden, however, did not like him
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quite so much as a girl should like the man to whom she is engaged, and
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had no confidence in him. Whenever she saw, or thought of him, she felt
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a secret horror. Once he said to her, "Thou art my betrothed, and yet
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thou hast never once paid me a visit." The maiden replied, "I know not
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where thy house is." Then said the bridegroom, "My house is out there
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in the dark forest." She tried to excuse herself and said she could not
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find the way there. The bridegroom said, "Next Sunday thou must come
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out there to me; I have already invited the guests, and I will strew
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ashes in order that thou mayst find thy way through the forest." When
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Sunday came, and the maiden had to set out on her way, she became very
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uneasy, she herself knew not exactly why, and to mark her way she
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filled both her pockets full of peas and lentils. Ashes were strewn at
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the entrance of the forest, and these she followed, but at every step
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she threw a couple of peas on the ground. She walked almost the whole
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day until she reached the middle of the forest, where it was the
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darkest, and there stood a solitary house, which she did not like, for
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it looked so dark and dismal. She went inside it, but no one was
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within, and the most absolute stillness reigned. Suddenly a voice
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cried,
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"Turn back, turn back, young maiden dear,
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'Tis a murderer's house you enter here."
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The maiden looked up, and saw that the voice came from a bird, which
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was hanging in a cage on the wall. Again it cried,
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"Turn back, turn back, young maiden dear,
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'Tis a murderer's house you enter here."
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Then the young maiden went on farther from one room to another, and
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walked through the whole house, but it was entirely empty and not one
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human being was to be found. At last she came to the the cellar, and
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there sat an extremely aged woman, whose head shook constantly. "Can
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you not tell me," said the maiden, "if my betrothed lives here?"
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"Alas, poor child," replied the old woman, "whither hast thou come?
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Thou art in a murderer's den. Thou thinkest thou art a bride soon to be
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married, but thou wilt keep thy wedding with death. Look, I have been
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forced to put a great kettle on there, with water in it, and when they
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have thee in their power, they will cut thee to pieces without mercy,
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will cook thee, and eat thee, for they are eaters of human flesh. If I
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do not have compassion on thee, and save thee, thou art lost."
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Thereupon the old woman led her behind a great hogshead where she could
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not be seen. "Be as still as a mouse," said she, "do not make a sound,
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or move, or all will be over with thee. At night, when the robbers are
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asleep, we will escape; I have long waited for an opportunity." Hardly
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was this done, than the godless crew came home. They dragged with them
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another young girl. They were drunk, and paid no heed to her screams
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and lamentations. They gave her wine to drink, three glasses full, one
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glass of white wine, one glass of red, and a glass of yellow, and with
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this her heart burst in twain. Thereupon they tore off her delicate
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raiment, laid her on a table, cut her beautiful body in pieces and
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strewed salt thereon. The poor bride behind the cask trembled and
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shook, for she saw right well what fate the robbers had destined for
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her. One of them noticed a gold ring on the little finger of the
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murdered girl, and as it would not come off at once, he took an axe and
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cut the finger off, but it sprang up in the air, away over the cask and
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fell straight into the bride's bosom. The robber took a candle and
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wanted to look for it, but could not find it. Then another of them
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said, "Hast thou looked behind the great hogshead?" But the old woman
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cried, "Come and get something to eat, and leave off looking till the
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morning, the finger won't run away from you."
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Then the robbers said, "The old woman is right," and gave up their
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search, and sat down to eat, and the old woman poured a
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sleeping-draught in their wine, so that they soon lay down in the
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cellar, and slept and snored. When the bride heard that, she came out
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from behind the hogshead, and had to step over the sleepers, for they
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lay in rows on the ground, and great was her terror lest she should
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waken one of them. But God helped her, and she got safely over. The old
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woman went up with her, opened the doors, and they hurried out of the
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murderers' den with all the speed in their power. The wind had blown
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away the strewn ashes, but the peas and lentils had sprouted and grown
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up, and showed them the way in the moonlight. They walked the whole
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night, until in the morning they arrived at the mill, and then the
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maiden told her father everything exactly as it had happened.
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When the day came when the wedding was to be celebrated, the bridegroom
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appeared, and the Miller had invited all his relations and friends. As
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they sat at table, each was bidden to relate something. The bride sat
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still, and said nothing. Then said the bridegroom to the bride, "Come,
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my darling, dost thou know nothing? Relate something to us like the
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rest." She replied, "Then I will relate a dream. I was walking alone
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through a wood, and at last I came to a house, in which no living soul
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was, but on the wall there was a bird in a cage which cried,
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"Turn back, turn back, young maiden dear,
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'Tis a murderer's house you enter here."
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And this it cried once more. 'My darling, I only dreamt this. Then I
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went through all the rooms, and they were all empty, and there was
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something so horrible about them! At last I went down into the cellar,
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and there sat a very very old woman, whose head shook; I asked her,
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'Does my bridegroom live in this house? She answered, 'Alas poor child,
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thou hast got into a murderer's den, thy bridegroom does live here, but
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he will hew thee in pieces, and kill thee, and then he will cook thee,
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and eat thee.' My darling, I only dreamt this. But the old woman hid me
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behind a great hogshead, and, scarcely was I hidden, when the robbers
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came home, dragging a maiden with them, to whom they gave three kinds
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of wine to drink, white, red, and yellow, with which her heart broke in
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twain. My darling, I only dreamt this. Thereupon they pulled off her
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pretty clothes, and hewed her fair body in pieces on a table, and
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sprinkled them with salt. My darling, I only dreamt this. And one of
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the robbers saw that there was still a ring on her little finger, and
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as it was hard to draw off, he took an axe and cut it off, but the
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finger sprang up in the air, and sprang behind the great hogshead, and
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fell in my bosom. And there is the finger with the ring!" And with
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these words she drew it forth, and showed it to those present.
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The robber, who had during this story become as pale as ashes, leapt up
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and wanted to escape, but the guests held him fast, and delivered him
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over to justice. Then he and his whole troop were executed for their
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infamous deeds.
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