Hardly had she disappeared, before the count
descended from the tree, and hastened after her with nimble steps. He
had not been gone long before he saw, in the twilight, two figures
coming over the meadow. It was the King and Queen, who had perceived
from a distance the light shining in the old woman’s little house, and
were going to it. The count told them what wonderful things he had seen
by the well, and they did not doubt that it had been their lost
daughter. They walked onwards full of joy, and soon came to the little
house. The geese were sitting all round it, and had thrust their heads
under their wings and were sleeping, and not one of them moved. The
King and Queen looked in at the window, the old woman was sitting there
quite quietly spinning, nodding her head and never looking round. The
room was perfectly clean, as if the little mist men, who carry no dust
on their feet, lived there. Their daughter, however, they did not see. They gazed at all this for a long time, at last they took heart, and
knocked softly at the window. The old woman appeared to have been
expecting them; she rose, and called out quite kindly, “Come in,—I know
you already.” When they had entered the room, the old woman said, “You
might have spared yourself the long walk, if you had not three years
ago unjustly driven away your child, who is so good and lovable. No
harm has come to her; for three years she has had to tend the geese;
with them she has learnt no evil, but has preserved her purity of
heart. You, however, have been sufficiently punished by the misery in
which you have lived.” Then she went to the chamber and called, “Come
out, my little daughter.” Thereupon the door opened, and the princess
stepped out in her silken garments, with her golden hair and her
shining eyes, and it was as if an angel from heaven had entered. She went up to her father and mother, fell on their necks and kissed
them; there was no help for it, they all had to weep for joy. The young
count stood near them, and when she perceived him she became as red in
the face as a moss-rose, she herself did not know why. The King said,
“My dear child, I have given away my kingdom, what shall I give thee?”
“She needs nothing,” said the old woman. “I give her the tears that she
has wept on your account; they are precious pearls, finer than those
that are found in the sea, and worth more than your whole kingdom, and
I give her my little house as payment for her services.” When the old
woman had said that, she disappeared from their sight. The walls
rattled a little, and when the King and Queen looked round, the little
house had changed into a splendid palace, a royal table had been
spread, and the servants were running hither and thither. The story goes still further, but my grandmother, who related it to me,
had partly lost her memory, and had forgotten the rest. I shall always
believe that the beautiful princess married the count, and that they
remained together in the palace, and lived there in all happiness so
long as God willed it. Whether the snow-white geese, which were kept
near the little hut, were verily young maidens (no one need take
offence,) whom the old woman had taken under her protection, and
whether they now received their human form again, and stayed as
handmaids to the young Queen, I do not exactly know, but I suspect it. This much is certain, that the old woman was no witch, as people
thought, but a wise woman, who meant well. Very likely it was she who,
at the princess’s birth, gave her the gift of weeping pearls instead of
tears. That does not happen now-a-days, or else the poor would soon
become rich. 180 Eve’s Various Children

When Adam and Eve were driven out of Paradise, they were compelled to
build a house for themselves on unfruitful ground, and eat their bread
in the sweat of their brow. Adam dug up the land, and Eve span. Every
year Eve brought a child into the world; but the children were unlike
each other, some pretty, and some ugly. After a considerable time had
gone by, God sent an angel to them, to announce that he was coming to
inspect their household. Eve, delighted that the Lord should be so
gracious, cleaned her house diligently, decked it with flowers, and
strewed reeds on the floor. Then she brought in her children, but only
the beautiful ones. She washed and bathed them, combed their hair, put
clean raiment on them, and cautioned them to conduct themselves
decorously and modestly in the presence of the Lord. They were to bow
down before him civilly, hold out their hands, and to answer his
questions modestly and sensibly. The ugly children were, however, not
to let themselves be seen. One hid himself beneath the hay, another
under the roof, a third in the straw, the fourth in the stove, the
fifth in the cellar, the sixth under a tub, the seventh beneath the
wine-cask, the eighth under an old fur cloak, the ninth and tenth
beneath the cloth out of which she always made their clothes, and the
eleventh and twelfth under the leather out of which she cut their
shoes. She had scarcely got ready, before there was a knock at the
house-door. Adam looked through a chink, and saw that it was the Lord. Adam opened the door respectfully, and the Heavenly Father entered. There, in a row, stood the pretty children, and bowed before him, held
out their hands, and knelt down. The Lord, however, began to bless
them, laid his hands on the first, and said, “Thou shalt be a powerful
king;” and to the second, “Thou a prince,” to the third, “Thou a
count,” to the fourth, “Thou a knight,” to the fifth, “Thou a
nobleman,” to the sixth, “Thou a burgher,” to the seventh, “Thou a
merchant,” to the eighth, “Thou a learned man.” He bestowed upon them
also all his richest blessings. When Eve saw that the Lord was so mild
and gracious, she thought, “I will bring hither my ill-favoured
children also, it may be that he will bestow his blessing on them
likewise.” So she ran and brought them out of the hay, the straw, the
stove, and wherever else she had concealed them. Then came the whole
coarse, dirty, shabby, sooty band. The Lord smiled, looked at them all,
and said, “I will bless these also.” He laid his hands on the first,
and said to him, “Thou shalt be a peasant,” to the second, “Thou a
fisherman,” to the third, “Thou a smith,” to the fourth, “Thou a
tanner,” to the fifth, “Thou a weaver,” to the sixth, “Thou a
shoemaker,” to the seventh, “Thou a tailor,” to the eighth, “Thou a
potter,” to the ninth, “Thou a waggoner,” to the tenth, “Thou a
sailor,” to the eleventh, “Thou an errand-boy,” to the twelfth, “Thou a
scullion all the days of thy life.”

When Eve had heard all this she said, “Lord, how unequally thou
dividest thy gifts! After all they are all of them my children, whom I
have brought into the world, thy favours should be given to all alike.”
But God answered, “Eve, thou dost not understand.