My father is behind us, and will take us back with him. I will at
once change thee into a briar, and myself into a rose, and I will
shelter myself in the midst of the bush.” When the father reached the
place, there stood a briar with one rose on it, then he was about to
gather the rose, when the thorn came and pricked his finger so that he
was forced to go home again. His wife asked why he had not brought
their daughter back with him? So he said he had nearly got up to her,
but that all at once he had lost sight of her, and a briar with one
rose was growing on the spot. Then said the Queen, “If thou hadst but gathered the rose, the briar
would have been forced to come too.” So he went back again to fetch the
rose, but in the meantime the two were already far over the plain, and
the King ran after them. Then the daughter once more looked round and
saw her father coming, and said, “Oh, what shall we do now? I will
instantly change thee into a church and myself into a priest, and I
will stand up in the pulpit, and preach.” When the King got to the
place, there stood a church, and in the pulpit was a priest preaching. So he listened to the sermon, and then went home again. Then the Queen asked why he had not brought their daughter with him,
and he said, “Nay, I ran a long time after her, and just as I thought I
should soon overtake her, a church was standing there and a priest was
in the pulpit preaching.” “Thou shouldst just have brought the priest,”
said his wife, “and then the church would soon have come. It is no use
to send thee, I must go there myself.” When she had walked for some
time, and could see the two in the distance, the King’s daughter peeped
round and saw her mother coming, and said, “Now we are undone, for my
mother is coming herself: I will immediately change thee into a
fish-pond and myself into a fish. When the mother came to the place, there was a large fish-pond, and in
the midst of it a fish was leaping about and peeping out of the water,
and it was quite merry. She wanted to catch the fish, but she could
not. Then she was very angry, and drank up the whole pond in order to
catch the fish, but it made her so ill that she was forced to vomit,
and vomited the whole pond out again. Then she cried, “I see very well
that nothing can be done now,” and said that now they might come back
to her. Then the King’s daughter went back again, and the Queen gave
her daughter three walnuts, and said, “With these thou canst help
thyself when thou art in thy greatest need.” So the young folks went
once more away together. And when they had walked quite ten miles, they
arrived at the castle from whence the King’s son came, and close by it
was a village. When they reached it, the King’s son said, “Stay here,
my dearest, I will just go to the castle, and then will I come with a
carriage and with attendants to fetch thee.”

When he got to the castle they all rejoiced greatly at having the
King’s son back again, and he told them he had a bride who was now in
the village, and they must go with the carriage to fetch her. Then they
harnessed the horses at once, and many attendants seated themselves
outside the carriage. When the King’s son was about to get in, his
mother gave him a kiss, and he forgot everything which had happened,
and also what he was about to do. On this his mother ordered the horses
to be taken out of the carriage again, and everyone went back into the
house. But the maiden sat in the village and watched and watched, and
thought he would come and fetch her, but no one came. Then the King’s
daughter took service in the mill which belonged to the castle, and was
obliged to sit by the pond every afternoon and clean the tubs. And the Queen came one day on foot from the castle, and went walking by
the pond, and saw the well-grown maiden sitting there, and said, “What
a fine strong girl that is! She pleases me well!” Then she and all with
her looked at the maid, but no one knew her. So a long time passed by
during which the maiden served the miller honorably and faithfully. In
the meantime, the Queen had sought a wife for her son, who came from
quite a distant part of the world. When the bride came, they were at
once to be married. And many people hurried together, all of whom
wanted to see everything. Then the girl said to the miller that he
might be so good as to give her leave to go also. So the miller said,
“Yes, do go there.” When she was about to go, she opened one of the
three walnuts, and a beautiful dress lay inside it. She put it on, and
went into the church and stood by the altar. Suddenly came the bride
and bridegroom, and seated themselves before the altar, and when the
priest was just going to bless them, the bride peeped half round and
saw the maiden standing there. Then she stood up again, and said she
would not be given away until she also had as beautiful a dress as that
lady there. So they went back to the house again, and sent to ask the
lady if she would sell that dress. No, she would not sell it, but the
bride might perhaps earn it. Then the bride asked her how she was to do
this? Then the maiden said if she might sleep one night outside the
King’s son’s door, the bride might have what she wanted. So the bride
said, “Yes, she was willing to do that.” But the servants were ordered
to give the King’s son a sleeping-drink, and then the maiden laid
herself down on the threshold and lamented all night long. She had had
the forest cut down for him, she had had the fish-pond cleaned out for
him, she had had the castle built for him, she had changed him into a
briar, and then into a church, and at last into a fish-pond, and yet he
had forgotten her so quickly. The King’s son did not hear one word of
it, but the servants had been awakened, and had listened to it, and had
not known what it could mean. The next morning when they were all up,
the bride put on the dress, and went away to the church with the
bridegroom. In the meantime the maiden opened the second walnut, and a
still more beautiful dress was inside it. She put it on, and went and
stood by the altar in the church, and everything happened as it had
happened the time before. And the maiden again lay all night on the
threshold which led to the chamber of the King’s son, and the servant
was once more to give him a sleeping-drink. The servant, however, went
to him and gave him something to keep him awake, and then the King’s
son went to bed, and the miller’s maiden bemoaned herself as before on
the threshold of the door, and told of all that she had done. All this
the King’s son heard, and was sore troubled, and what was past came
back to him. Then he wanted to go to her, but his mother had locked the
door. The next morning, however, he went at once to his beloved, and
told her everything which had happened to him, and prayed her not to be
angry with him for having forgotten her.