The peasant wished to divide the gold, but the soldier said, “Give what
falls to my lot to the poor, I will come with thee to thy cottage, and
together we will live in rest and peace on what remains, as long as God
is pleased to permit.”



196 Old Rinkrank

There was once on a time a King who had a daughter, and he caused a
glass mountain to be made, and said that whosoever could cross to the
other side of it without falling should have his daughter to wife. Then
there was one who loved the King’s daughter, and he asked the King if
he might have her. “Yes,” said the King; “if you can cross the mountain
without falling, you shall have her.” And the princess said she would
go over it with him, and would hold him if he were about to fall. So
they set out together to go over it, and when they were half way up the
princess slipped and fell, and the glass-mountain opened and shut her
up inside it, and her betrothed could not see where she had gone, for
the mountain closed immediately. Then he wept and lamented much, and
the King was miserable too, and had the mountain broken open where she
had been lost, and though the would be able to get her out again, but
they could not find the place into which she had fallen. Meanwhile the
King’s daughter had fallen quite deep down into the earth into a great
cave. An old fellow with a very long gray beard came to meet her, and
told her that if she would be his servant and do everything he bade
her, she might live, if not he would kill her. So she did all he bade
her. In the mornings he took his ladder out of his pocket, and set it
up against the mountain and climbed to the top by its help, and then he
drew up the ladder after him. The princess had to cook his dinner, make
his bed, and do all his work, and when he came home again he always
brought with him a heap of gold and silver. When she had lived with him
for many years, and had grown quite old, he called her Mother Mansrot,
and she had to call him Old Rinkrank. Then once when he was out, and
she had made his bed and washed his dishes, she shut the doors and
windows all fast, and there was one little window through which the
light shone in, and this she left open. When Old Rinkrank came home, he
knocked at his door, and cried, “Mother Mansrot, open the door for me.”
“No,” said she, “Old Rinkrank, I will not open the door for thee.” Then
he said,

“Here stand I, poor Rinkrank,
On my seventeen long shanks,
On my weary, worn-out foot,
Wash my dishes, Mother Mansrot.”


“I have washed thy dishes already,” said she. Then again he said,

“Here stand I, poor Rinkrank,
On my seventeen long shanks,
On my weary, worn-out foot,
Make me my bed, Mother Mansrot.”


“I have made thy bed already,” said she. Then again he said,

“Here stand I, poor Rinkrank,
On my seventeen long shanks,
On my weary, worn-out foot,
Open the door, Mother Mansrot.”


Then he ran all round his house, and saw that the little window was
open, and thought, “I will look in and see what she can be about, and
why she will not open the door for me.” He tried to peep in, but could
not get his head through because of his long beard. So he first put his
beard through the open window, but just as he had got it through,
Mother Mansrot came by and pulled the window down with a cord which she
had tied to it, and his beard was shut fast in it. Then he began to cry
most piteously, for it hurt him very much, and to entreat her to
release him again. But she said not until he gave her the ladder with
which he ascended the mountain. Then, whether he would or not, he had
to tell her where the ladder was. And she fastened a very long ribbon
to the window, and then she set up the ladder, and ascended the
mountain, and when she was at the top of it she opened the window. She
went to her father, and told him all that had happened to her. The King
rejoiced greatly, and her betrothed was still there, and they went and
dug up the mountain, and found Old Rinkrank inside it with all his gold
and silver. Then the King had Old Rinkrank put to death, and took all
his gold and silver. The princess married her betrothed, and lived
right happily in great magnificence and joy. 197 The Crystal Ball

There was once an enchantress, who had three sons who loved each other
as brothers, but the old woman did not trust them, and thought they
wanted to steal her power from her. So she changed the eldest into an
eagle, which was forced to dwell in the rocky mountains, and was often
seen sweeping in great circles in the sky. The second, she changed into
a whale, which lived in the deep sea, and all that was seen of it was
that it sometimes spouted up a great jet of water in the air. Each of
them only bore his human form for only two hours daily. The third son,
who was afraid she might change him into a raging wild beast a bear
perhaps, or a wolf, went secretly away. He had heard that a King’s
daughter who was bewitched, was imprisoned in the Castle of the Golden
Sun, and was waiting for deliverance. Those, however, who tried to free
her risked their lives; three-and-twenty youths had already died a
miserable death, and now only one other might make the attempt, after
which no more must come. And as his heart was without fear, he caught
at the idea of seeking out the Castle of the Golden Sun. He had already
travelled about for a long time without being able to find it, when he
came by chance into a great forest, and did not know the way out of it. All at once he saw in the distance two giants, who made a sign to him
with their hands, and when he came to them they said, “We are
quarrelling about a cap, and which of us it is to belong to, and as we
are equally strong, neither of us can get the better of the other. The
small men are cleverer than we are, so we will leave the decision to
thee.” “How can you dispute about an old cap?” said the youth. “Thou
dost not know what properties it has! It is a wishing-cap; whosoever
puts it on, can wish himself away wherever he likes, and in an instant
he will be there.” “Give me the cap,” said the youth, “I will go a
short distance off, and when I call you, you must run a race, and the
cap shall belong to the one who gets first to me.” He put it on and
went away, and thought of the King’s daughter, forgot the giants, and
walked continually onward. At length he sighed from the very bottom of
his heart, and cried, “Ah, if I were but at the Castle of the Golden
Sun,” and hardly had the words passed his lips than he was standing on
a high mountain before the gate of the castle. He entered and went through all the rooms, until in the last he found
the King’s daughter. But how shocked he was when he saw her. She had an
ashen-gray face full of wrinkles, blear eyes, and red hair. “Are you
the King’s daughter, whose beauty the whole world praises?” cried he.