Said he, “If thou art cold, come down, little old
mother, and warm thyself.” She answered, “No, thy animals will bite
me.” But he said, “They will not hurt thee.” Then she cried, “I will
throw down a wand to thee, and if thou smitest them with it they will
do me no harm.” When the huntsman heard that, he had no confidence in
the old woman, and said, “I will not strike my animals. Come down, or I
will fetch thee.” Then she cried, “What dost thou want? Thou shalt not
touch me.” But he replied, “If thou dost not come, I will shoot thee.”
Said she, “Shoot away, I do not fear thy bullets!” Then he aimed, and
fired at her, but the witch was proof against all leaden bullets, and
laughed, and yelled and cried, “Thou shalt not hit me.” The huntsman
knew what to do, tore three silver buttons off his coat, and loaded his
gun with them, for against them her arts were useless, and when he
fired she fell down at once with a scream. Then he set his foot on her
and said, Old witch, if thou dost not instantly confess where my
brother is, I will seize thee with both my hands and throw thee into
the fire. She was in a great fright, begged for mercy and said, He and
his animals lie in a vault, turned to stone. Then he compelled her to
go thither with him, threatened her, and said, Old sea-cat, now shalt
thou make my brother and all the human beings lying here, alive again,
or thou shalt go into the fire! She took a wand and touched the stones,
and then his brother with his animals came to life again, and many
others, merchants, artizans, and shepherds, arose, thanked him for
their deliverance, and went to their homes. But when the twin brothers
saw each other again, they kissed each other and rejoiced with all
their hearts. Then they seized the witch, bound her and laid her on the
fire, and when she was burnt the forest opened of its own accord, and
was light and clear, and the King’s palace could be seen at about the
distance of a three hours walk. Thereupon the two brothers went home together, and on the way told each
other their histories. And when the youngest said that he was ruler of
the whole country in the King’s stead, the other observed, “That I
remarked very well, for when I came to the town, and was taken for
thee, all royal honours were paid me; the young Queen looked on me as
her husband, and I had to eat at her side, and sleep in thy bed.” When
the other heard that, he became so jealous and angry that he drew his
sword, and struck off his brother’s head. But when he saw him lying
there dead, and saw his red blood flowing, he repented most violently:
“My brother delivered me,” cried he, “and I have killed him for it,”
and he bewailed him aloud. Then his hare came and offered to go and
bring some of the root of life, and bounded away and brought it while
yet there was time, and the dead man was brought to life again, and
knew nothing about the wound. After this they journeyed onwards, and the youngest said, “Thou lookest
like me, hast royal apparel on as I have, and the animals follow thee
as they do me; we will go in by opposite gates, and arrive at the same
time from the two sides in the aged King’s presence.” So they
separated, and at the same time came the watchmen from the one door and
from the other, and announced that the young King and the animals had
returned from the chase. The King said, “It is not possible, the gates
lie quite a mile apart.” In the meantime, however, the two brothers
entered the courtyard of the palace from opposite sides, and both
mounted the steps. Then the King said to the daughter, “Say which is
thy husband. Each of them looks exactly like the other, I cannot tell.”
Then she was in great distress, and could not tell; but at last she
remembered the necklace which she had given to the animals, and she
sought for and found her little golden clasp on the lion, and she cried
in her delight, “He who is followed by this lion is my true husband”. Then the young King laughed and said, “Yes, he is the right one,” and
they sat down together to table, and ate and drank, and were merry. At
night when the young King went to bed, his wife said, “Why hast thou
for these last nights always laid a two-edged sword in our bed? I
thought thou hadst a wish to kill me.” Then he knew how true his
brother had been. 61 The Little Peasant

There was a certain village wherein no one lived but really rich
peasants, and just one poor one, whom they called the little peasant. He had not even so much as a cow, and still less money to buy one, and
yet he and his wife did so wish to have one. One day he said to her,
“Hark you, I have a good thought, there is our gossip the carpenter, he
shall make us a wooden calf, and paint it brown, so that it look like
any other, and in time it will certainly get big and be a cow.” The
woman also liked the idea, and their gossip the carpenter cut and
planed the calf, and painted it as it ought to be, and made it with its
head hanging down as if it were eating. Next morning when the cows were being driven out, the little peasant
called the cow-herd and said, “Look, I have a little calf there, but it
is still small and has still to be carried.” The cow-herd said, “All
right, and took it in his arms and carried it to the pasture, and set
it among the grass.” The little calf always remained standing like one
which was eating, and the cow-herd said, “It will soon run alone, just
look how it eats already!” At night when he was going to drive the herd
home again, he said to the calf, “If thou canst stand there and eat thy
fill, thou canst also go on thy four legs; I don’t care to drag thee
home again in my arms.” But the little peasant stood at his door, and
waited for his little calf, and when the cow-herd drove the cows
through the village, and the calf was missing, he inquired where it
was. The cow-herd answered, “It is still standing out there eating. It
would not stop and come with us.” But the little peasant said, “Oh, but
I must have my beast back again.” Then they went back to the meadow
together, but some one had stolen the calf, and it was gone. The
cow-herd said, “It must have run away.” The peasant, however, said,
“Don’t tell me that,” and led the cow-herd before the mayor, who for
his carelessness condemned him to give the peasant a cow for the calf
which had run away. And now the little peasant and his wife had the cow for which they had
so long wished, and they were heartily glad, but they had no food for
it, and could give it nothing to eat, so it soon had to be killed. They
salted the flesh, and the peasant went into the town and wanted to sell
the skin there, so that he might buy a new calf with the proceeds. On
the way he passed by a mill, and there sat a raven with broken wings,
and out of pity he took him and wrapped him in the skin. As, however,
the weather grew so bad and there was a storm of rain and wind, he
could go no farther, and turned back to the mill and begged for
shelter.