“And when I got to the
fifth flight, I peeped through the keyhole of a door, and there,
godfather, I saw you, and you had long, long horns.” “Oh, that is a
lie!” The man became alarmed, and ran out, and if he had not, who knows
what the godfather would have done to him. 43 Frau Trude

There was once a little girl who was obstinate and inquisitive, and
when her parents told her to do anything, she did not obey them, so how
could she fare well? One day she said to her parents, “I have heard so
much of Frau Trude, I will go to her some day. People say that
everything about her does look so strange, and that there are such odd
things in her house, that I have become quite curious!” Her parents
absolutely forbade her, and said, “Frau Trude is a bad woman, who does
wicked things, and if thou goest to her; thou art no longer our child.”
But the maiden did not let herself be turned aside by her parent’s
prohibition, and still went to Frau Trude. And when she got to her,
Frau Trude said, “Why art thou so pale?” “Ah,” she replied, and her
whole body trembled, “I have been so terrified at what I have seen.”
“What hast thou seen?” “I saw a black man on your steps.” “That was a
collier.” “Then I saw a green man.” “That was a huntsman.” “After that
I saw a blood-red man.” “That was a butcher.” “Ah, Frau Trude, I was
terrified; I looked through the window and saw not you, but, as I
verily believe, the devil himself with a head of fire.” “Oho!” said
she, “then thou hast seen the witch in her proper costume. I have been
waiting for thee, and wanting thee a long time already; thou shalt give
me some light.” Then she changed the girl into a block of wood, and
threw it into the fire. And when it was in full blaze she sat down
close to it, and warmed herself by it, and said, “That shines bright
for once in a way.”



44 Godfather Death

A poor man had twelve children and was forced to work night and day to
give them even bread. When therefore the thirteenth came into the
world, he knew not what to do in his trouble, but ran out into the
great highway, and resolved to ask the first person whom he met to be
godfather. The first to meet him was the good God who already knew what
filled his heart, and said to him, “Poor man, I pity thee. I will hold
thy child at its christening, and will take charge of it and make it
happy on earth.” The man said, “Who art thou?” “I am God.” “Then I do
not desire to have thee for a godfather,” said the man; “thou givest to
the rich, and leavest the poor to hunger.” Thus spoke the man, for he
did not know how wisely God apportions riches and poverty. He turned
therefore away from the Lord, and went farther. Then the Devil came to
him and said, “What seekest thou? If thou wilt take me as a godfather
for thy child, I will give him gold in plenty and all the joys of the
world as well.” The man asked, “Who art thou?” “I am the Devil.” “Then
I do not desire to have thee for godfather,” said the man; “thou
deceivest men and leadest them astray.” He went onwards, and then came
Death striding up to him with withered legs, and said, “Take me as
godfather.” The man asked, “Who art thou?” “I am Death, and I make all
equal.” Then said the man, “Thou art the right one, thou takest the
rich as well as the poor, without distinction; thou shalt be
godfather.” Death answered, “I will make thy child rich and famous, for
he who has me for a friend can lack nothing.” The man said, “Next
Sunday is the christening; be there at the right time.” Death appeared
as he had promised, and stood godfather quite in the usual way. When the boy had grown up, his godfather one day appeared and bade him
go with him. He led him forth into a forest, and showed him a herb
which grew there, and said, “Now shalt thou receive thy godfather’s
present. I make thee a celebrated physician. When thou art called to a
patient, I will always appear to thee. If I stand by the head of the
sick man, thou mayst say with confidence that thou wilt make him well
again, and if thou givest him of this herb he will recover; but if I
stand by the patient’s feet, he is mine, and thou must say that all
remedies are in vain, and that no physician in the world could save
him. But beware of using the herb against my will, or it might fare ill
with thee.”

It was not long before the youth was the most famous physician in the
whole world. “He had only to look at the patient and he knew his
condition at once, and if he would recover, or must needs die.” So they
said of him, and from far and wide people came to him, sent for him
when they had any one ill, and gave him so much money that he soon
became a rich man. Now it so befell that the King became ill, and the
physician was summoned, and was to say if recovery were possible. But
when he came to the bed, Death was standing by the feet of the sick
man, and the herb did not grow which could save him. “If I could but
cheat Death for once,” thought the physician, “he is sure to take it
ill if I do, but, as I am his godson, he will shut one eye; I will risk
it.” He therefore took up the sick man, and laid him the other way, so
that now Death was standing by his head. Then he gave the King some of
the herb, and he recovered and grew healthy again. But Death came to
the physician, looking very black and angry, threatened him with his
finger, and said, “Thou hast overreached me; this time I will pardon
it, as thou art my godson; but if thou venturest it again, it will cost
thee thy neck, for I will take thee thyself away with me.”

Soon afterwards the King’s daughter fell into a severe illness. She was
his only child, and he wept day and night, so that he began to lose the
sight of his eyes, and he caused it to be made known that whosoever
rescued her from death should be her husband and inherit the crown. When the physician came to the sick girl’s bed, he saw Death by her
feet. He ought to have remembered the warning given by his godfather,
but he was so infatuated by the great beauty of the King’s daughter,
and the happiness of becoming her husband, that he flung all thought to
the winds. He did not see that Death was casting angry glances on him,
that he was raising his hand in the air, and threatening him with his
withered fist. He raised up the sick girl, and placed her head where
her feet had lain. Then he gave her some of the herb, and instantly her
cheeks flushed red, and life stirred afresh in her. When Death saw that for a second time he was defrauded of his own
property, he walked up to the physician with long strides, and said,
“All is over with thee, and now the lot falls on thee,” and seized him
so firmly with his ice-cold hand, that he could not resist, and led him
into a cave below the earth. There he saw how thousands and thousands
of candles were burning in countless rows, some large, others
half-sized, others small. Every instant some were extinguished, and
others again burnt up, so that the flames seemed to leap hither and
thither in perpetual change.