Iron Hans · page 21 2 3101They began to flee, but the youth pursued, and never stopped, until there was not a single man left.102Instead of returning to the king, however, he conducted his troop by byways back to the forest, and called forth Iron Hans.103‘What do you desire?’ asked the wild man.104‘Take back your horse and your troops, and give me my three-legged horse again.’105All that he asked was done, and soon he was riding on his three-legged horse.106When the king returned to his palace, his daughter went to meet him, and wished him joy of his victory.107‘I am not the one who carried away the victory,’ said he, ‘but a strange knight who came to my assistance with his soldiers.’108The daughter wanted to hear who the strange knight was, but the king did not know, and said: ‘He followed the enemy, and I did not see him again.’109She inquired of the gardener where his boy was, but he smiled, and said: ‘He has just come home on his three-legged horse, and the others have been mocking him, and crying: “Here comes our hobblety jib back again!”110They asked, too: “Under what hedge have you been lying sleeping all the time?”111So he said: “I did the best of all, and it would have gone badly without me.”112And then he was still more ridiculed.’113The king said to his daughter: ‘I will proclaim a great feast that shall last for three days, and you shall throw a golden apple.114Perhaps the unknown man will show himself.’115When the feast was announced, the youth went out to the forest, and called Iron Hans.116‘What do you desire?’ asked he.117‘That I may catch the king’s daughter’s golden apple.’118‘It is as safe as if you had it already,’ said Iron Hans.119‘You shall likewise have a suit of red armour for the occasion, and ride on a spirited chestnut-horse.’120When the day came, the youth galloped to the spot, took his place amongst the knights, and was recognized by no one.121The king’s daughter came forward, and threw a golden apple to the knights, but none of them caught it but he, only as soon as he had it he galloped away.122On the second day Iron Hans equipped him as a white knight, and gave him a white horse.123Again he was the only one who caught the apple, and he did not linger an instant, but galloped off with it.124The king grew angry, and said: ‘That is not allowed; he must appear before me and tell his name.’125He gave the order that if the knight who caught the apple, should go away again they should pursue him, and if he would not come back willingly, they were to cut him down and stab him.126On the third day, he received from Iron Hans a suit of black armour and a black horse, and again he caught the apple.127But when he was riding off with it, the king’s attendants pursued him, and one of them got so near him that he wounded the youth’s leg with the point of his sword.128The youth nevertheless escaped from them, but his horse leapt so violently that the helmet fell from the youth’s head, and they could see that he had golden hair.129They rode back and announced this to the king.130The following day the king’s daughter asked the gardener about his boy.131‘He is at work in the garden; the queer creature has been at the festival too, and only came home yesterday evening; he has likewise shown my children three golden apples which he has won.’132The king had him summoned into his presence, and he came and again had his little cap on his head.133But the king’s daughter went up to him and took it off, and then his golden hair fell down over his shoulders, and he was so handsome that all were amazed.134‘Are you the knight who came every day to the festival, always in different colours, and who caught the three golden apples?’ asked the king.135‘Yes,’ answered he, ‘and here the apples are,’ and he took them out of his pocket, and returned them to the king.136‘If you desire further proof, you may see the wound which your people gave me when they followed me.137But I am likewise the knight who helped you to your victory over your enemies.’138‘If you can perform such deeds as that, you are no gardener’s boy; tell me, who is your father?’139‘My father is a mighty king, and gold have I in plenty as great as I require.’140‘I well see,’ said the king, ‘that I owe my thanks to you; can I do anything to please you?’141‘Yes,’ answered he, ‘that indeed you can.142Give me your daughter to wife.’143The maiden laughed, and said: ‘He does not stand much on ceremony, but I have already seen by his golden hair that he was no gardener’s boy,’ and then she went and kissed him.144His father and mother came to the wedding, and were in great delight, for they had given up all hope of ever seeing their dear son again.145And as they were sitting at the marriage-feast, the music suddenly stopped, the doors opened, and a stately king came in with a great retinue.146He went up to the youth, embraced him and said: ‘I am Iron Hans, and was by enchantment a wild man, but you have set me free; all the treasures which I possess, shall be your property.’147CAT-SKIN148There was once a king, whose queen had hair of the purest gold, and was so beautiful that her match was not to be met with on the whole face of the earth.149But this beautiful queen fell ill, and when she felt that her end drew near she called the king to her and said, ‘Promise me that you will never marry again, unless you meet with a wife who is as beautiful as I am, and who has golden hair like mine.’150Then when the king in his grief promised all she asked, she shut her eyes and died.151But the king was not to be comforted, and for a long time never thought of taking another wife.152At last, however, his wise men said, ‘this will not do; the king must marry again, that we may have a queen.’153So messengers were sent far and wide, to seek for a bride as beautiful as the late queen.154But there was no princess in the world so beautiful; and if there had been, still there was not one to be found who had golden hair.155So the messengers came home, and had had all their trouble for nothing.156Now the king had a daughter, who was just as beautiful as her mother, and had the same golden hair.157And when she was grown up, the king looked at her and saw that she was just like this late queen: then he said to his courtiers, ‘May I not marry my daughter?158She is the very image of my dead wife: unless I have her, I shall not find any bride upon the whole earth, and you say there must be a queen.’159When the courtiers heard this they were shocked, and said, ‘Heaven forbid that a father should marry his daughter!160Out of so great a sin no good can come.’161And his daughter was also shocked, but hoped the king would soon give up such thoughts; so she said to him, ‘Before I marry anyone I must have three dresses: one must be of gold, like the sun; another must be of shining silver, like the moon; and a third must be dazzling as the stars: besides this, I want a mantle of a thousand different kinds of fur put together, to which every beast in the kingdom must give a part of his skin.’162And thus she thought he would think of the matter no more.163But the king made the most skilful workmen in his kingdom weave the three dresses: one golden, like the sun; another silvery, like the moon; and a third sparkling, like the stars: and his hunters were told to hunt out all the beasts in his kingdom, and to take the finest fur out of their skins: and thus a mantle of a thousand furs was made.164When all were ready, the king sent them to her; but she got up in the night when all were asleep, and took three of her trinkets, a golden ring, a golden necklace, and a golden brooch, and packed the three dresses--of the sun, the moon, and the stars--up in a nutshell, and wrapped herself up in the mantle made of all sorts of fur, and besmeared her face and hands with soot.165Then she threw herself upon Heaven for help in her need, and went away, and journeyed on the whole night, till at last she came to a large wood.166As she was very tired, she sat herself down in the hollow of a tree and soon fell asleep: and there she slept on till it was midday.167Now as the king to whom the wood belonged was hunting in it, his dogs came to the tree, and began to snuff about, and run round and round, and bark.168‘Look sharp!’ said the king to the huntsmen, ‘and see what sort of game lies there.’169And the huntsmen went up to the tree, and when they came back again said, ‘In the hollow tree there lies a most wonderful beast, such as we never saw before; its skin seems to be of a thousand kinds of fur, but there it lies fast asleep.’170‘See,’ said the king, ‘if you can catch it alive, and we will take it with us.’171So the huntsmen took it up, and the maiden awoke and was greatly frightened, and said, ‘I am a poor child that has neither father nor mother left; have pity on me and take me with you.’172Then they said, ‘Yes, Miss Cat-skin, you will do for the kitchen; you can sweep up the ashes, and do things of that sort.’173So they put her into the coach, and took her home to the king’s palace.174Then they showed her a little corner under the staircase, where no light of day ever peeped in, and said, ‘Cat-skin, you may lie and sleep there.’175And she was sent into the kitchen, and made to fetch wood and water, to blow the fire, pluck the poultry, pick the herbs, sift the ashes, and do all the dirty work.176Thus Cat-skin lived for a long time very sorrowfully.177‘Ah! pretty princess!’ thought she, ‘what will now become of thee?’178But it happened one day that a feast was to be held in the king’s castle, so she said to the cook, ‘May I go up a little while and see what is going on?179I will take care and stand behind the door.’180And the cook said, ‘Yes, you may go, but be back again in half an hour’s time, to rake out the ashes.’181Then she took her little lamp, and went into her cabin, and took off the fur skin, and washed the soot from off her face and hands, so that her beauty shone forth like the sun from behind the clouds.182She next opened her nutshell, and brought out of it the dress that shone like the sun, and so went to the feast.183Everyone made way for her, for nobody knew her, and they thought she could be no less than a king’s daughter.184But the king came up to her, and held out his hand and danced with her; and he thought in his heart, ‘I never saw any one half so beautiful.’185When the dance was at an end she curtsied; and when the king looked round for her, she was gone, no one knew wither.186The guards that stood at the castle gate were called in: but they had seen no one.187The truth was, that she had run into her little cabin, pulled off her dress, blackened her face and hands, put on the fur-skin cloak, and was Cat-skin again.188When she went into the kitchen to her work, and began to rake the ashes, the cook said, ‘Let that alone till the morning, and heat the king’s soup; I should like to run up now and give a peep: but take care you don’t let a hair fall into it, or you will run a chance of never eating again.’189As soon as the cook went away, Cat-skin heated the king’s soup, and toasted a slice of bread first, as nicely as ever she could; and when it was ready, she went and looked in the cabin for her little golden ring, and put it into the dish in which the soup was.190When the dance was over, the king ordered his soup to be brought in; and it pleased him so well, that he thought he had never tasted any so good before.191At the bottom he saw a gold ring lying; and as he could not make out how it had got there, he ordered the cook to be sent for.192The cook was frightened when he heard the order, and said to Cat-skin, ‘You must have let a hair fall into the soup; if it be so, you will have a good beating.’193Then he went before the king, and he asked him who had cooked the soup.194‘I did,’ answered the cook.195But the king said, ‘That is not true; it was better done than you could do it.’196Then he answered, ‘To tell the truth I did not cook it, but Cat-skin did.’197‘Then let Cat-skin come up,’ said the king: and when she came he said to her, ‘Who are you?’198‘I am a poor child,’ said she, ‘that has lost both father and mother.’199‘How came you in my palace?’ asked he.200‘I am good for nothing,’ said she, ‘but to be scullion-girl, and to have boots and shoes thrown at my head.’1 2 3← previousKing Grisly-beardnext →Snow-white and Rose-red↑ back to Grimms' Fairy TalesThis page in Markdown → https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg2591/59/page/2/