They were still in the days of betrothal,
and their greatest happiness was being together. One day in order that
they might be able to talk together in quiet they went for a walk in
the forest. “Take care,” said Joringel, “that you do not go too near
the castle.”

It was a beautiful evening; the sun shone brightly between the trunks
of the trees into the dark green of the forest, and the turtle-doves
sang mournfully upon the young boughs of the birch-trees. Jorinda wept now and then: she sat down in the sunshine and was
sorrowful. Joringel was sorrowful too; they were as sad as if they were
about to die. Then they looked around them, and were quite at a loss,
for they did not know by which way they should go home. The sun was
still half above the mountain and half set. Joringel looked through the bushes, and saw the old walls of the castle
close at hand. He was horror-stricken and filled with deadly fear. Jorinda was singing—

“My little bird, with the necklace red,
Sings sorrow, sorrow, sorrow,
He sings that the dove must soon be dead,
Sings sorrow, sor—jug, jug, jug.”


Joringel looked for Jorinda. She was changed into a nightingale, and
sang, “jug, jug, jug.” A screech-owl with glowing eyes flew three times
round about her, and three times cried, “to-whoo, to-whoo, to-whoo!”

Joringel could not move: he stood there like a stone, and could neither
weep nor speak, nor move hand or foot. The sun had now set. The owl flew into the thicket, and directly
afterwards there came out of it a crooked old woman, yellow and lean,
with large red eyes and a hooked nose, the point of which reached to
her chin. She muttered to herself, caught the nightingale, and took it
away in her hand. Joringel could neither speak nor move from the spot; the nightingale
was gone. At last the woman came back, and said in a hollow voice,
“Greet thee, Zachiel. If the moon shines on the cage, Zachiel, let him
loose at once.” Then Joringel was freed. He fell on his knees before
the woman and begged that she would give him back his Jorinda, but she
said that he should never have her again, and went away. He called, he
wept, he lamented, but all in vain, “Ah, what is to become of me?”

Joringel went away, and at last came to a strange village; there he
kept sheep for a long time. He often walked round and round the castle,
but not too near to it. At last he dreamt one night that he found a
blood-red flower, in the middle of which was a beautiful large pearl;
that he picked the flower and went with it to the castle, and that
everything he touched with the flower was freed from enchantment; he
also dreamt that by means of it he recovered his Jorinda. In the morning, when he awoke, he began to seek over hill and dale if
he could find such a flower. He sought until the ninth day, and then,
early in the morning, he found the blood-red flower. In the middle of
it there was a large dew-drop, as big as the finest pearl. Day and night he journeyed with this flower to the castle. When he was
within a hundred paces of it he was not held fast, but walked on to the
door. Joringel was full of joy; he touched the door with the flower,
and it sprang open. He walked in through the courtyard, and listened
for the sound of the birds. At last he heard it. He went on and found
the room from whence it came, and there the witch was feeding the birds
in the seven thousand cages. When she saw Joringel she was angry, very angry, and scolded and spat
poison and gall at him, but she could not come within two paces of him. He did not take any notice of her, but went and looked at the cages
with the birds; but there were many hundred nightingales, how was he to
find his Jorinda again? Just then he saw the old woman quietly take away a cage with a bird in
it, and go towards the door. Swiftly he sprang towards her, touched the cage with the flower, and
also the old woman. She could now no longer bewitch any one; and
Jorinda was standing there, clasping him round the neck, and she was as
beautiful as ever! 70 The Three Sons of Fortune

A father once called his three sons before him, and he gave to the
first a cock, to the second a scythe, and to the third a cat. “I am
already aged,” said he, “my death is nigh, and I have wished to take
thought for you before my end; money I have not, and what I now give
you seems of little worth, but all depends on your making a sensible
use of it. Only seek out a country where such things are still unknown,
and your fortune is made.”

After the father’s death the eldest went away with his cock, but
wherever he came the cock was already known; in the towns he saw him
from a long distance, sitting upon the steeples and turning round with
the wind, and in the villages he heard more than one crowing; no one
would show any wonder at the creature, so that it did not look as if he
would make his fortune by it. At last, however, it happened that he came to an island where the
people knew nothing about cocks, and did not even understand how to
divide their time. They certainly knew when it was morning or evening,
but at night, if they did not sleep through it, not one of them knew
how to find out the time. “Look!” said he, “what a proud creature! it has a ruby-red crown upon
its head, and wears spurs like a knight; it calls you three times
during the night, at fixed hours, and when it calls for the last time,
the sun soon rises. But if it crows by broad daylight, then take
notice, for there will certainly be a change of weather.”

The people were well pleased; for a whole night they did not sleep, and
listened with great delight as the cock at two, four, and six o’clock,
loudly and clearly proclaimed the time. They asked if the creature were
for sale, and how much he wanted for it? “About as much gold as an ass
can carry,” answered he. “A ridiculously small price for such a
precious creature!” they cried unanimously, and willingly gave him what
he had asked. When he came home with his wealth his brothers were astonished, and the
second said, “Well, I will go forth and see whether I cannot get rid of
my scythe as profitably.” But it did not look as if he would, for
labourers met him everywhere, and they had scythes upon their shoulders
as well as he. At last, however, he chanced upon an island where the people knew
nothing of scythes. When the corn was ripe there, they took cannon out
to the fields and shot it down. Now this was rather an uncertain
affair; many shot right over it, others hit the ears instead of the
stems, and shot them away, whereby much was lost, and besides all this,
it made a terrible noise. So the man set to work and mowed it down so
quietly and quickly that the people opened their mouths with
astonishment. They agreed to give him what he wanted for the scythe,
and he received a horse laden with as much gold as it could carry. And now the third brother wanted to take his cat to the right man. He
fared just like the others; so long as he stayed on the mainland there
was nothing to be done.