Presently the guest came, and knocked
politely and courteously at the house-door. Grethel ran, and looked to
see who was there, and when she saw the guest, she put her finger to
her lips and said, “Hush! hush! get away as quickly as you can, if my
master catches you it will be the worse for you; he certainly did ask
you to supper, but his intention is to cut off your two ears. Just
listen how he is sharpening the knife for it!” The guest heard the
sharpening, and hurried down the steps again as fast as he could. Grethel was not idle; she ran screaming to her master, and cried, “You
have invited a fine guest!” “Eh, why, Grethel? What do you mean by
that?” “Yes,” said she, “he has taken the chickens which I was just
going to serve up, off the dish, and has run away with them!” “That’s a
nice trick!” said her master, and lamented the fine chickens. “If he
had but left me one, so that something remained for me to eat.” He
called to him to stop, but the guest pretended not to hear. Then he ran
after him with the knife still in his hand, crying, “Just one, just
one,” meaning that the guest should leave him just one chicken, and not
take both. The guest, however, thought no otherwise than that he was to
give up one of his ears, and ran as if fire were burning under him, in
order to take them both home with him. 78 The Old Man and His Grandson

There was once a very old man, whose eyes had become dim, his ears dull
of hearing, his knees trembled, and when he sat at table he could
hardly hold the spoon, and spilt the broth upon the table-cloth or let
it run out of his mouth. His son and his son’s wife were disgusted at
this, so the old grandfather at last had to sit in the corner behind
the stove, and they gave him his food in an earthenware bowl, and not
even enough of it. And he used to look towards the table with his eyes
full of tears. Once, too, his trembling hands could not hold the bowl,
and it fell to the ground and broke. The young wife scolded him, but he
said nothing and only sighed. Then they bought him a wooden bowl for a
few half-pence, out of which he had to eat. They were once sitting thus when the little grandson of four years old
began to gather together some bits of wood upon the ground. “What are
you doing there?” asked the father. “I am making a little trough,”
answered the child, “for father and mother to eat out of when I am
big.”

The man and his wife looked at each other for a while, and presently
began to cry. Then they took the old grandfather to the table, and
henceforth always let him eat with them, and likewise said nothing if
he did spill a little of anything. 79 The Water-Nix

A little brother and sister were once playing by a well, and while they
were thus playing, they both fell in. A water-nix lived down below, who
said, “Now I have got you, now you shall work hard for me!” and carried
them off with her. She gave the girl dirty tangled flax to spin, and
she had to fetch water in a bucket with a hole in it, and the boy had
to hew down a tree with a blunt axe, and they got nothing to eat but
dumplings as hard as stones. Then at last the children became so
impatient, that they waited until one Sunday, when the nix was at
church, and ran away. But when church was over, the nix saw that the
birds were flown, and followed them with great strides. The children
saw her from afar, and the girl threw a brush behind her which formed
an immense hill of bristles, with thousands and thousands of spikes,
over which the nix was forced to scramble with great difficulty; at
last, however, she got over. When the children saw this, the boy threw
behind him a comb which made a great hill of combs with a thousand
times a thousand teeth, but the nix managed to keep herself steady on
them, and at last crossed over that. Then the girl threw behind her a
looking-glass which formed a hill of mirrors, and was so slippery that
it was impossible for the nix to cross it. Then she thought, “I will go
home quickly and fetch my axe, and cut the hill of glass in half.” Long
before she returned, however, and had hewn through the glass, the
children had escaped to a great distance, and the water-nix was obliged
to betake herself to her well again. 80 The Death of the Little Hen

Once upon a time the little hen went with the little cock to the
nut-hill, and they agreed together that whichsoever of them found a
kernel of a nut should share it with the other. Then the hen found a
large, large nut, but said nothing about it, intending to eat the
kernel herself. The kernel, however, was so large that she could not
swallow it, and it remained sticking in her throat, so that she was
alarmed lest she should be choked. Then she cried, “Cock, I entreat
thee to run as fast thou canst, and fetch me some water, or I shall
choke.” The little cock did run as fast as he could to the spring, and
said, “Stream, thou art to give me some water; the little hen is lying
on the nut-hill, and she has swallowed a large nut, and is choking.”
The well answered, “First run to the bride, and get her to give thee
some red silk.” The little cock ran to the bride and said, “Bride, you
are to give me some red silk; I want to give red silk to the well, the
well is to give me some water, I am to take the water to the little hen
who is lying on the nut-hill and has swallowed a great nut-kernel, and
is choking with it.” The bride answered, “First run and bring me my
little wreath which is hanging to a willow.” So the little cock ran to
the willow, and drew the wreath from the branch and took it to the
bride, and the bride gave him some water for it. Then the little cock
took the water to the hen, but when he got there the hen had choked in
the meantime, and lay there dead and motionless. Then the cock was so
distressed that he cried aloud, and every animal came to lament the
little hen, and six mice built a little carriage to carry her to her
grave, and when the carriage was ready they harnessed themselves to it,
and the cock drove. On the way, however, they met the fox, who said,
“Where art thou going, little cock?” “I am going to bury my little
hen.” “May I drive with thee?” “Yes, but seat thyself at the back of
the carriage, for in the front my little horses could not drag thee.”
Then the fox seated himself at the back, and after that the wolf, the
bear, the stag, the lion, and all the beasts of the forest did the
same. Then the procession went onwards, and they reached the stream. “How are we to get over?” said the little cock. A straw was lying by
the stream, and it said, “I will lay myself across, and you shall drive
over me.” But when the six mice came to the bridge, the straw slipped
and fell into the water, and the six mice all fell in and were drowned.