And the willow-wren summoned everything which flew in
the air, not only birds, large and small, but midges, and hornets, bees
and flies had to come. When the time came for the war to begin, the willow-wren sent out spies
to discover who was the enemy’s commander-in-chief. The gnat, who was
the most crafty, flew into the forest where the enemy was assembled,
and hid herself beneath a leaf of the tree where the watchword was to
be given. There stood the bear, and he called the fox before him and
said, “Fox, thou art the most cunning of all animals, thou shalt be
general and lead us.” “Good,” said the fox, “but what signal shall we
agree upon?” No one knew that, so the fox said, “I have a fine long
bushy tail, which almost looks like a plume of red feathers. When I
lift my tail up quite high, all is going well, and you must charge; but
if I let it hang down, run away as fast as you can.” When the gnat had
heard that, she flew away again, and revealed everything, with the
greatest minuteness, to the willow-wren. When day broke, and the battle
was to begin, all the four-footed animals came running up with such a
noise that the earth trembled. The willow-wren also came flying through
the air with his army with such a humming, and whirring, and swarming
that every one was uneasy and afraid, and on both sides they advanced
against each other. But the willow-wren sent down the hornet, with
orders to get beneath the fox’s tail, and sting with all his might. When the fox felt the first sting, he started so that he drew up one
leg, with the pain, but he bore it, and still kept his tail high in the
air; at the second sting, he was forced to put it down for a moment; at
the third, he could hold out no longer, and screamed out and put his
tail between his legs. When the animals saw that, they thought all was
lost, and began to fly, each into his hole and the birds had won the
battle. Then the King and Queen flew home to their children and cried,
“Children, rejoice, eat and drink to your heart’s content, we have won
the battle!” But the young wrens said, “We will not eat yet, the bear
must come to the nest, and beg for pardon and say that we are honorable
children, before we will do that.” Then the willow-wren flew to the
bear’s hole and cried, “Growler, thou art to come to the nest to my
children, and beg their pardon, or else every rib of thy body shall be
broken.” So the bear crept thither in the greatest fear, and begged
their pardon. And now at last the young wrens were satisfied, and sat
down together and ate and drank, and made merry till quite late into
the night. 103 Sweet Porridge

There was a poor but good little girl who lived alone with her mother,
and they no longer had anything to eat. So the child went into the
forest, and there an aged woman met her who was aware of her sorrow,
and presented her with a little pot, which when she said, “Cook, little
pot, cook,” would cook good, sweet porridge, and when she said, “Stop,
little pot,” it ceased to cook. The girl took the pot home to her
mother, and now they were freed from their poverty and hunger, and ate
sweet porridge as often as they chose. Once on a time when the girl had
gone out, her mother said, “Cook, little pot, cook.” And it did cook
and she ate till she was satisfied, and then she wanted the pot to stop
cooking, but did not know the word. So it went on cooking and the
porridge rose over the edge, and still it cooked on until the kitchen
and whole house were full, and then the next house, and then the whole
street, just as if it wanted to satisfy the hunger of the whole world,
and there was the greatest distress, but no one knew how to stop it. At
last when only one single house remained, the child came home and just
said, “Stop, little pot,” and it stopped and gave up cooking, and
whosoever wished to return to the town had to eat his way back. 104 Wise Folks

One day a peasant took his good hazel-stick out of the corner and said
to his wife, “Trina, I am going across country, and shall not return
for three days. If during that time the cattle-dealer should happen to
call and want to buy our three cows, you may strike a bargain at once,
but not unless you can get two hundred thalers for them; nothing less,
do you hear?” “For heaven’s sake just go in peace,” answered the woman,
“I will manage that.” “You, indeed,” said the man. “You once fell on
your head when you were a little child, and that affects you even now;
but let me tell you this, if you do anything foolish, I will make your
back black and blue, and not with paint, I assure you, but with the
stick which I have in my hand, and the colouring shall last a whole
year, you may rely on that.” And having said that, the man went on his
way. Next morning the cattle-dealer came, and the woman had no need to say
many words to him. When he had seen the cows and heard the price, he
said, “I am quite willing to give that, honestly speaking, they are
worth it. I will take the beasts away with me at once.” He unfastened
their chains and drove them out of the byre, but just as he was going
out of the yard-door, the woman clutched him by the sleeve and said,
“You must give me the two hundred thalers now, or I cannot let the cows
go.” “True,” answered the man, “but I have forgotten to buckle on my
money-belt. Have no fear, however, you shall have security for my
paying. I will take two cows with me and leave one, and then you will
have a good pledge.” The woman saw the force of this, and let the man
go away with the cows, and thought to herself, “How pleased Hans will
be when he finds how cleverly I have managed it!” The peasant came home
on the third day as he had said he would, and at once inquired if the
cows were sold? “Yes, indeed, dear Hans,” answered the woman, “and as
you said, for two hundred thalers. They are scarcely worth so much, but
the man took them without making any objection.” “Where is the money?”
asked the peasant. “Oh, I have not got the money,” replied the woman;
“he had happened to forget his money-belt, but he will soon bring it,
and he left good security behind him.” “What kind of security?” asked
the man. “One of the three cows, which he shall not have until he has
paid for the other two. I have managed very cunningly, for I have kept
the smallest, which eats the least.” The man was enraged and lifted up
his stick, and was just going to give her the beating he had promised
her. Suddenly he let the stick fail and said, “You are the stupidest
goose that ever waddled on God’s earth, but I am sorry for you. I will
go out into the highways and wait for three days to see if I find
anyone who is still stupider than you. If I succeed in doing so, you
shall go scot-free, but if I do not find him, you shall receive your
well-deserved reward without any discount.”

He went out into the great highways, sat down on a stone, and waited
for what would happen.