Then he said to the dwarfs, “Let me
have the coffin, I will give you whatever you want for it.” But the
dwarfs answered, “We will not part with it for all the gold in the
world.” Then he said, “Let me have it as a gift, for I cannot live
without seeing Snow-white. I will honour and prize her as my dearest
possession.” As he spoke in this way the good dwarfs took pity upon
him, and gave him the coffin. And now the King’s son had it carried away by his servants on their
shoulders. And it happened that they stumbled over a tree-stump, and
with the shock the poisonous piece of apple which Snow-white had bitten
off came out of her throat. And before long she opened her eyes, lifted
up the lid of the coffin, sat up, and was once more alive. “Oh,
heavens, where am I?” she cried. The King’s son, full of joy, said,
“You are with me,” and told her what had happened, and said, “I love
you more than everything in the world; come with me to my father’s
palace, you shall be my wife.”

And Snow-white was willing, and went with him, and their wedding was
held with great show and splendour. But Snow-white’s wicked step-mother
was also bidden to the feast. When she had arrayed herself in beautiful
clothes she went before the Looking-glass, and said—

“Looking-glass, Looking-glass, on the wall,
Who in this land is the fairest of all?”


the glass answered—

“Oh, Queen, of all here the fairest art thou,
But the young Queen is fairer by far as I trow.”


Then the wicked woman uttered a curse, and was so wretched, so utterly
wretched, that she knew not what to do. At first she would not go to
the wedding at all, but she had no peace, and must go to see the young
Queen. And when she went in she knew Snow-white; and she stood still
with rage and fear, and could not stir. But iron slippers had already
been put upon the fire, and they were brought in with tongs, and set
before her. Then she was forced to put on the red-hot shoes, and dance
until she dropped down dead. 54 The Knapsack, the Hat, and the Horn

There were once three brothers who had fallen deeper and deeper into
poverty, and at last their need was so great that they had to endure
hunger, and had nothing to eat or drink. Then said they, “We cannot go
on thus, we had better go into the world and seek our fortune.” They
therefore set out, and had already walked over many a long road and
many a blade of grass, but had not yet met with good luck. One day they
arrived in a great forest, and in the midst of it was a hill, and when
they came nearer they saw that the hill was all silver. Then spoke the
eldest, “Now I have found the good luck I wished for, and I desire
nothing more.” He took as much of the silver as he could possibly
carry, and then turned back and went home again. But the two others
said, “We want something more from good luck than mere silver,” and did
not touch it, but went onwards. After they had walked for two days
longer without stopping, they came to a hill which was all gold. The
second brother stopped, took thought with himself, and was undecided. “What shall I do?” said he; “shall I take for myself so much of this
gold, that I have sufficient for all the rest of my life, or shall I go
farther?” At length he made a decision, and putting as much into his
pockets as would go in, said farewell to his brother, and went home. But the third said, “Silver and gold do not move me, I will not
renounce my chance of fortune, perhaps something better still will be
given me.” He journeyed onwards, and when he had walked for three days,
he got into a forest which was still larger than the one before, and
never would come to an end, and as he found nothing to eat or to drink,
he was all but exhausted. Then he climbed up a high tree to find out if
up there he could see the end of the forest, but so far as his eye
could pierce he saw nothing but the tops of trees. Then he began to
descend the tree again, but hunger tormented him, and he thought to
himself, “If I could but eat my fill once more!” When he got down he
saw with astonishment a table beneath the tree richly spread with food,
the steam of which rose up to meet him. “This time,” said he, “my wish
has been fulfilled at the right moment.” And without inquiring who had
brought the food, or who had cooked it, he approached the table, and
ate with enjoyment until he had appeased his hunger. When he was done,
he thought, “It would after all be a pity if the pretty little
table-cloth were to be spoilt in the forest here,” and folded it up
tidily and put it in his pocket. Then he went onwards, and in the
evening, when hunger once more made itself felt, he wanted to make a
trial of his little cloth, and spread it out and said, “I wish thee to
be covered with good cheer again,” and scarcely had the wish crossed
his lips than as many dishes with the most exquisite food on them stood
on the table as there was room for. “Now I perceive,” said he, “in what
kitchen my cooking is done. Thou shalt be dearer to me than the
mountains of silver and gold.” For he saw plainly that it was a
wishing-cloth. The cloth, however, was still not enough to enable him
to sit down quietly at home; he preferred to wander about the world and
pursue his fortune farther. One night he met, in a lonely wood, a dusty, black charcoal-burner, who
was burning charcoal there, and had some potatoes by the fire, on which
he was going to make a meal. “Good evening, blackbird!” said the youth. “How dost thou get on in thy solitude?”

“One day is like another,” replied the charcoal-burner, “and every
night potatoes! Hast thou a mind to have some, and wilt thou be my
guest?” “Many thanks,” replied the traveler, “I won’t rob thee of thy
supper; thou didst not reckon on a visitor, but if thou wilt put up
with what I have, thou shalt have an invitation.”

“Who is to prepare it for thee?” said the charcoal-burner. “I see that
thou hast nothing with thee, and there is no one within a two hours’
walk who could give thee anything.” “And yet there shall be a meal,”
answered the youth, “and better than any thou hast ever tasted.”
Thereupon he brought his cloth out of his knapsack, spread it on the
ground, and said, “Little cloth, cover thyself,” and instantly boiled
meat and baked meat stood there, and as hot as if it had just come out
of the kitchen. The charcoal-burner stared, but did not require much
pressing; he fell to, and thrust larger and larger mouthfuls into his
black mouth. When they had eaten everything, the charcoal-burner smiled
contentedly, and said, “Hark thee, thy table-cloth has my approval; it
would be a fine thing for me in this forest, where no one ever cooks me
anything good. I will propose an exchange to thee; there in the corner
hangs a soldier’s knapsack, which is certainly old and shabby, but in
it lie concealed wonderful powers; but, as I no longer use it, I will
give it to thee for the table-cloth.”

“I must first know what these wonderful powers are,” answered the
youth.