1812
GRIMM'S FAIRY TALES
IRON JOHN
by Jacob Ludwig Grimm and Wilhelm Carl Grimm
Electronically Enhanced Text (c) Copyright 1996, World Library(R)
IRON JOHN
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ONCE UPON a time there lived a King who had a great forest near
his palace, full of all kinds of wild animals. One day he sent out a
huntsman to shoot him a roe, but he did not come back. "Perhaps some
accident has befallen him," said the King, and the next day he sent
out two more huntsmen who were to search for him, but they too
stayed away. Then on the third day, he sent for all his huntsmen,
and said, "Scour the whole forest through, and do not give up until ye
have found all three." But of these also, none came home again, and of
the pack of hounds which they had taken with them, none were seen
more. From that time forth, no one would any longer venture into the
forest, and it lay there in deep stillness and solitude, and nothing
was seen of it, but sometimes an eagle or a hawk flying over it.
This lasted for many years, when a strange huntsman announced
himself to the King as seeking a situation, and offered to go into the
dangerous forest. The King, however, would not give his consent, and
said, "It is not safe in there; I fear it would fare with thee no
better than with the others, and thou wouldst never come out again."
The huntsman replied, "Lord, I will venture it at my own risk; I
have no fear."
The huntsman therefore betook himself with his dog to the forest. It
was not long before the dog fell in with some game on the way, and
wanted to pursue it; but hardly had the dog run two steps when it
stood before a deep pool, could go no farther, and a naked arm
stretched itself out of the water, seized it, and drew it under.
When the huntsman saw that, he went back and fetched three men to come
with buckets and bail out the water. When they could see to the bottom
there lay a wild man whose body was brown like rusty iron, and whose
hair hung over his face down to his knees. They bound him with
cords, and led him away to the castle. There was great astonishment
over the wild man; the King, however, had him put in an iron cage in
his court-yard, and forbade the door to be opened on pain of death,
and the Queen herself was to take the key into her keeping. And from
this time forth every one could again go into the forest with safety.
The King had a son eight years old, who was once playing in the
court-yard, and while he was playing, his golden ball fell into the
cage. The boy ran thither and said, "Give me my ball." "Not till
thou hast opened the door for me," answered the man. "No," said the
boy, "I will not do that; the King has forbidden it," and ran away.
The next day he again went and asked for his ball; the wild man
said, "Open my door," but the boy would not. On the third day the King
had ridden out hunting, and the boy went once more and said, "I cannot
open the door even if I wished, for I have not the key." Then the wild
man said, "It lies under thy mother's pillow, thou canst get it
there." The boy, who wanted to have his ball back, cast all thought to
the winds, and brought the key. The door opened with difficulty, and
the boy pinched his fingers. When it was open the wild man stepped
out, gave him the golden ball, and hurried away. The boy had become
afraid; he called and cried after him, "Oh, wild man, do not go
away, or I shall be beaten!" The wild man turned back, took him up,
set him on his shoulder, and went with hasty steps into the forest.
When the King came home, he observed the empty cage, and asked the
Queen how that had happened. She knew nothing about it, and sought the
key, but it was gone. She called the boy, but no one answered. The
King sent out people to seek for him in the fields, but they did not
find him. Then he could easily guess what had happened, and much grief
reigned in the royal court.
When the wild man had once more reached the dark forest, he took the
boy down from his shoulder, and said to him, "Thou wilt never see
thy father and mother again, but I will keep thee with me, for thou
hast set me free, and I have compassion on thee. If thou dost all I
bid thee, thou shalt fare well. Of treasure and gold I have enough,
and more than any one in the world." He made a bed of moss for the boy
on which he slept, and the next morning the man took him to a well,
and said, "Behold, the gold well is as bright and clear as crystal;
thou shalt sit beside it, and take care that nothing falls into it, or
it will be polluted. I will come every evening to see if thou hast
obeyed my order." The boy placed himself by the margin of the well,
and often saw a golden fish or a golden snake show itself therein, and
took care that nothing fell in. As he was thus sitting, his finger
hurt him so violently that he involuntarily put it in the water. He
drew it quickly out again, but saw that it was quite gilded, and
whatsoever pains he took to wash the gold off again, all was to no
purpose.
In the evening Iron John came back, looked at the boy, and said,
"What has happened to the well?" "Nothing, nothing," he answered,
and held his finger behind his back, that the man might not see it.
But he said, "Thou hast dipped thy finger into the water; this time it
may pass, but take care thou dost not let anything go in." By daybreak
the boy was already sitting by the well and watching it. His finger
hurt him again and he passed it over his head, and then unhappily a
hair fell down into the well. He took it quickly out, but it was
already quite gilded. Iron John came, and already knew what had
happened. "Thou hast let a hair fall into the well," said he. "I
will allow thee to watch by it once more, but if this happens for
the third time then the well is polluted, and thou canst no longer
remain with me."
On the third day, the boy sat by the well, and did not stir his
finger, however much it hurt him. But the time was long to him, and he
looked at the reflection of his face on the surface of the water.
And as he still bent down more and more while he was doing so, and
trying to look straight into the eyes, his long hair fell down from
his shoulders into the water. He raised himself up quickly, but the
whole of the hair of his head was already golden and shone like the
sun. You may imagine how terrified the poor boy was! He took his
pocket-handkerchief and tied it round his head, in order that the
man might not see it. When he came he already knew everything, and
said, "Take the handkerchief off." Then the golden hair streamed
forth, and let the boy excuse himself as he might, it was of no use.
"Thou hast not stood the trial, and canst stay here no longer. Go
forth into the world, there thou wilt learn what poverty is. But as
thou hast not a bad heart, and as I mean well by thee, there is one
thing I will grant thee; if thou fallest into any difficulty, come
to the forest and cry, 'Iron John,' and then I will come and help
thee. My power is great, greater than thou thinkest, and I have gold
and silver in abundance."
Then the King's son left the forest, and walked by beaten and
unbeaten paths ever onwards until at length he reached a great city.
There he looked for work, but could find none, and he had learnt
nothing by which he could help himself. At length he went to the
palace, and asked if they would take him in. The people about court
did not at all know what use they could make of him, but they liked
him, and told him to stay. At length the cook took him into his
service, and said he might carry food and water, and rake the
cinders together. Once when it so happened that no one else was at
hand, the cook ordered him to carry the food to the royal table, but
as he did not like to let his golden hair be seen, he kept his
little cap on.
Such a thing as that had never yet come under the King's notice, and
he said, "When thou comest to the royal table thou must take thy hat
off." He answered, "Ah, Lord, I cannot; I have a bad sore place on
my head." Then the King had the cook called before him and scolded
him, and asked how he could take such a boy as that into his
service, and that he was to turn him off at once. The cook, however,
had pity on him, and exchanged him for the gardener's boy.
Now the boy had to plant and water the garden, hoe and dig, and bear
the wind and bad weather. Once in summer when he was working alone
in the garden, the day was so warm he took his little cap off that the
air might cool him. As the sun shone on his hair it glittered and
flashed so that the rays fell into the bed-room of the King's
daughter, and up she sprang to see what that could be. Then she saw
the boy, and cried to him, "Boy, bring me a wreath of flowers." He put
his cap on with all haste, and gathered wild field-flowers and bound
them together. When he was ascending the stairs with them, the
gardener met him, and said, "How canst thou take the King's daughter a
garland of such common flowers? Go quickly, and get another, and
seek out the prettiest and rarest." "Oh, no," replied the boy, "the
wild ones have more scent, and will please her better."
When he got into the room, the King's daughter said, "Take thy cap
off, it is not seemly to keep it on in my presence." He again said, "I
may not, I have a sore head." She, however, caught at his cap and
pulled it off, and then his golden hair rolled down on his
shoulders, and it was splendid to behold. He wanted to run out, but
she held him by the arm, and gave him a handful of ducats. With
these he departed, but he cared nothing for the gold pieces. He took
them to the gardener, and said, "I present them to thy children,
they can play with them."
The following day the King's daughter again called to him that he
was to bring her a wreath of field-flowers, and when he went in with
it, she instantly snatched at his cap, and wanted to take it away from
him, but he held it fast with both hands. She again gave him a handful
of ducats, but he would not keep them, and gave them to the gardener
for playthings for his children. On the third day things went just the
same; she could not get his cap away from him, and he would not have
her money.
Not long afterwards, the country was overrun by war. The King
gathered together his people, and did not know whether or not he could
offer any opposition to the enemy, who was superior in strength and
had a mighty army. Then said the gardener's boy, "I am grown up, and
will go to the wars also, only give me a horse." The others laughed,
and said, "Seek one for thyself when we are gone, we will leave one
behind us in the stable for thee." When they had gone forth, he went
into the stable, and got the horse out; it was lame of one foot, and
limped hobblety jig, hobblety jig; nevertheless he mounted it, and
rode away to the dark forest. When he came to the outskirts, he called
"Iron John" three times so loudly that it echoed through the trees.
Thereupon the wild man appeared immediately, and said, "What dost thou
desire?" "I want a strong steed, for I am going to the wars." "That
thou shalt have, and still more than thou askest for."
Then the wild man went back into the forest, and it was not long
before a stable-boy came out of it, who led a horse that snorted
with its nostrils, and could hardly be restrained, and behind them
followed a great troop of soldiers entirely equipped in iron, and
their swords flashed in the sun. The youth made over his
three-legged horse to the stable-boy, mounted the other, and rode at
the head of the soldiers. When he got near the battle-field a great
part of the King's men had already fallen, and little was wanting to
make the rest give way. Then the youth galloped thither with his
iron soldiers, broke like a hurricane over the enemy, and beat down
all who opposed him. They began to fly, but the youth pursued, and
never stopped, until there was not a single man left. Instead,
however, of returning to the King, he conducted his troop by
bye-ways back to the forest, and called forth Iron John. "What dost
thou desire?" asked the wild man. "Take back thy horse and thy troops,
and give me my three-legged horse again." All that he asked was
done, and soon he was riding on his three-legged horse.
When the King returned to his palace, his daughter went to meet him,
and wished him joy of his victory. "I am not the one who carried
away the victory," said he, "but a stranger knight who came to my
assistance with his soldiers." The 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." She 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 jig back again!'
They asked, too, 'Under what hedge hast thou been lying sleeping all
the time?' He, however, said, 'I did the best of all, and it would
have gone badly without me.' And then he was still more ridiculed."
The King said to his daughter, "I will proclaim a great feast that
shall last for three days, and thou shalt throw a golden apple.
Perhaps the unknown will come to it." When the feast was announced,
the youth went out to the forest, and called Iron John. "What dost
thou desire?" asked he. "That I may catch the King's daughter's golden
apple." "It is as safe as if thou hadst it already," said Iron John.
"Thou shalt likewise have a suit of red armor for the occasion, and
ride on a spirited chestnut horse." When the day came, the youth
galloped to the spot, took his place amongst the knights, and was
recognized by no one. The 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.
On the second day Iron John equipped him as a white knight, and gave
him a white horse. Again he was the only one who caught the apple, and
he did not linger an instant, but galloped off with it. The King
grew angry, and said, "That is not allowed; he must appear before me
and tell his name." He gave the order that if the knight who caught
the apple should go away again they should pursue him, and if he did
not come back willingly, they were to cut him down and stab him.
On the third day, he received from Iron John a suit of black armor
and a black horse, and again he caught the apple. But 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. The 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. They rode back and announced
this to the King.
The following day the King's daughter asked the gardener about his
boy. "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."
The King had him summoned into his presence, and he came and again
had his little cap on his head. But 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. "Art thou
the knight who came every day to the festival, always in different
colors, and who caught the three golden apples?" asked the King.
"Yes," answered he, "and here the apples are," and he took them out of
his pocket, and returned them to the King. "If thou desirest further
proof, thou mayest see the wound which thy people gave me when they
followed me. But I am likewise the knight who helped thee to thy
victory over thine enemies." "If thou canst perform such deeds as
that, thou art no gardener's boy; tell me, who is thy father?" "My
father is a mighty King, and gold have I in plenty as great as I
require." "I well see," said the King, "that I owe thanks to thee; can
I do anything to please thee?" "Yes," answered he, "that indeed thou
canst. Give me thy daughter to wife."
The 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. His 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. And 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. He went up to the
youth, embraced him and said, "I am Iron John, and was by
enchantment a wild man, but thou hast set me free; all the treasures
which I possess, shall be thy property."
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THE END
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