On his arrival, the man at once demanded the keys and the egg, and as
he could perceive no trace of any blood on it, he said, “Thou hast
stood the test, thou shalt be my bride.” He now had no longer any power
over her, and was forced to do whatsoever she desired. “Oh, very well,”
said she, “thou shalt first take a basketful of gold to my father and
mother, and carry it thyself on thy back; in the meantime I will
prepare for the wedding.” Then she ran to her sisters, whom she had
hidden in a little chamber, and said, “The moment has come when I can
save you. The wretch shall himself carry you home again, but as soon as
you are at home send help to me.” She put both of them in a basket and
covered them quite over with gold, so that nothing of them was to be
seen, then she called in the wizard and said to him, “Now carry the
basket away, but I shall look through my little window and watch to see
if thou stoppest on the way to stand or to rest.”

The wizard raised the basket on his back and went away with it, but it
weighed him down so heavily that the perspiration streamed from his
face. Then he sat down and wanted to rest awhile, but immediately one
of the girls in the basket cried, “I am looking through my little
window, and I see that thou art resting. Wilt thou go on at once?” He
thought it was his bride who was calling that to him; and got up on his
legs again. Once more he was going to sit down, but instantly she
cried, “I am looking through my little window, and I see that thou art
resting. Wilt thou go on directly?” And whenever he stood still, she
cried this, and then he was forced to go onwards, until at last,
groaning and out of breath, he took the basket with the gold and the
two maidens into their parents’ house. At home, however, the bride
prepared the marriage-feast, and sent invitations to the friends of the
wizard. Then she took a skull with grinning teeth, put some ornaments
on it and a wreath of flowers, carried it upstairs to the
garret-window, and let it look out from thence. When all was ready, she
got into a barrel of honey, and then cut the feather-bed open and
rolled herself in it, until she looked like a wondrous bird, and no one
could recognize her. Then she went out of the house, and on her way she
met some of the wedding-guests, who asked,

“O, Fitcher’s bird, how com’st thou here?”
“I come from Fitcher’s house quite near.”
“And what may the young bride be doing?”
“From cellar to garret she’s swept all clean,
And now from the window she’s peeping, I ween.”


At last she met the bridegroom, who was coming slowly back. He, like
the others, asked,

“O, Fitcher’s bird, how com’st thou here?”
“I come from Fitcher’s house quite near.”
“And what may the young bride be doing? “From cellar to garret she’s swept all clean,
And now from the window she’s peeping, I ween.”


The bridegroom looked up, saw the decked-out skull, thought it was his
bride, and nodded to her, greeting her kindly. But when he and his
guests had all gone into the house, the brothers and kinsmen of the
bride, who had been sent to rescue her, arrived. They locked all the
doors of the house, that no one might escape, set fire to it, and the
wizard and all his crew had to burn. 47 The Juniper-Tree

It is now long ago, quite two thousand years, since there was a rich
man who had a beautiful and pious wife, and they loved each other
dearly. They had, however, no children, though they wished for them
very much, and the woman prayed for them day and night, but still they
had none. Now there was a court-yard in front of their house in which
was a juniper-tree, and one day in winter the woman was standing
beneath it, paring herself an apple, and while she was paring herself
the apple she cut her finger, and the blood fell on the snow. “Ah,”
said the woman, and sighed right heavily, and looked at the blood
before her, and was most unhappy, “ah, if I had but a child as red as
blood and as white as snow!” And while she thus spake, she became quite
happy in her mind, and felt just as if that were going to happen. Then
she went into the house and a month went by and the snow was gone, and
two months, and then everything was green, and three months, and then
all the flowers came out of the earth, and four months, and then all
the trees in the wood grew thicker, and the green branches were all
closely entwined, and the birds sang until the wood resounded and the
blossoms fell from the trees, then the fifth month passed away and she
stood under the juniper-tree, which smelt so sweetly that her heart
leapt, and she fell on her knees and was beside herself with joy, and
when the sixth month was over the fruit was large and fine, and then
she was quite still, and the seventh month she snatched at the
juniper-berries and ate them greedily, then she grew sick and
sorrowful, then the eighth month passed, and she called her husband to
her, and wept and said, “If I die then bury me beneath the
juniper-tree.” Then she was quite comforted and happy until the next
month was over, and then she had a child as white as snow and as red as
blood, and when she beheld it she was so delighted that she died. Then her husband buried her beneath the juniper-tree, and he began to
weep sore; after some time he was more at ease, and though he still
wept he could bear it, and after some time longer he took another wife. By the second wife he had a daughter, but the first wife’s child was a
little son, and he was as red as blood and as white as snow. When the
woman looked at her daughter she loved her very much, but then she
looked at the little boy and it seemed to cut her to the heart, for the
thought came into her mind that he would always stand in her way, and
she was for ever thinking how she could get all the fortune for her
daughter, and the Evil One filled her mind with this till she was quite
wroth with the little boy, and slapped him here and cuffed him there,
until the unhappy child was in continual terror, for when he came out
of school he had no peace in any place. One day the woman had gone upstairs to her room, and her little
daughter went up too, and said, “Mother, give me an apple.” “Yes, my
child,” said the woman, and gave her a fine apple out of the chest, but
the chest had a great heavy lid with a great sharp iron lock. “Mother,”
said the little daughter, “is brother not to have one too?” This made
the woman angry, but she said, “Yes, when he comes out of school.” And
when she saw from the window that he was coming, it was just as if the
Devil entered into her, and she snatched at the apple and took it away
again from her daughter, and said, “Thou shalt not have one before thy
brother.” Then she threw the apple into the chest, and shut it. Then
the little boy came in at the door, and the Devil made her say to him
kindly, “My son, wilt thou have an apple?” and she looked wickedly at
him. “Mother,” said the little boy, “how dreadful you look!