1812
GRIMM'S FAIRY TALES
KING THRUSHBEARD
by Jacob Ludwig Grimm and Wilhelm Carl Grimm
Electronically Enhanced Text (c) Copyright 1996, World Library(R)
KING THRUSHBEARD
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A KING had a daughter who was beautiful beyond measure, but so proud
and overbearing that none of her suitors were good enough for her; she
not only refused one after the other, but made a laughing-stock of
them.
Once the King appointed a great feast, and bade all the marriageable
men to it from far and near. And they were all put in rows,
according to their rank and station: first came the Kings, then the
Princes, the dukes, the earls, the barons, and lastly the noblemen.
The Princess was led in front of the rows, but she had a mocking
epithet for each. One was too fat, "What a tub!" said she; another too
tall, "Long and lean is ill to be seen," said she; a third too
short, "Fat and short, not fit to court," said she. A fourth was too
pale- "A regular death's-head"; a fifth too red-faced- "A
game-cock," she called him. The sixth was not well-made enough- "Green
wood ill dried!" cried she. So every one had something against him,
and she made especially merry over a good King who was very tall,
and whose chin had grown a little peaked. "Only look," cried she,
laughing, "he has a chin like a thrush's beak."
And from that time they called him King Thrushbeard. But the old
King, when he saw that his daughter mocked every one, and scorned
all the assembled suitors, swore in his anger that she should have the
first beggar that came to the door for a husband.
A few days afterwards came a traveling ballad-singer, and sang under
the window in hopes of a small alms. When the King heard of it, he
said that he must come in. And so the ballad-singer entered in his
dirty tattered garments, and sang before the King and his daughter;
when he had done, he asked for a small reward. But the King said,
"Your song has so well pleased me, that I will give you my daughter to
wife."
The Princess was horrified; but the King said, "I took an oath to
give you to the first beggar that came, and so it must be done."
There was no remedy. The priest was fetched, and she had to be
married to the ballad-singer out of hand. When all was done, the
King said, "Now, as you are a beggar-wife, you can stay no longer in
my castle, so off with you and your husband."
The beggar-man led her away, and she was obliged to go forth with
him on foot. On the way they came to a great wood, and she asked,
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"Oh, whose is this forest, so thick and so fine?"
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He answered,
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"It is King Thrushbeard's, and might have been thine."
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And she cried,
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"Oh, I was a silly young thing, I'm afeared,
Would I had taken that good King Thrushbeard!"
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Then they passed through a meadow, and she asked,
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"Oh, whose is this meadow, so green and so fine?"
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He answered,
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"It is King Thrushbeard's, and might have been thine."
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And she cried,
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"I was a silly young thing, I'm afeared,
Would I had taken that good King Thrushbeard!"
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Then they passed through a great town, and she asked,
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"Whose is this city, so great and so fine?"
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He answered,
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"Oh, it is King Thrushbeard's, and might have been thine."
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And she cried,
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"I was a silly young thing, I'm afeared,
Would I had taken that good King Thrushbeard!"
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Then said the beggar-man, "It does not please me to hear you
always wishing for another husband; am I not good enough for you?"
At last they came to a very small house, and she said,
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"Oh dear me! what poor little house do I see?
And whose, I would know, may the wretched hole be?"
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The man answered, "That is my house and yours, where we must live
together."
She had to stoop before she could go in at the door.
"Where are the servants?" asked the King's daughter.
"What servants?" answered the beggar-man, "what you want to have
done you must do yourself. Make a fire quickly, and put on water,
and cook me some food; I am very tired."
But the King's daughter understood nothing about fire-making and
cooking, and the beggar-man had to lend a hand himself in order to
manage it at all. And when they had eaten their poor fare, they went
to bed; but the man called up his wife very early in the morning, in
order to clean the house.
For a few days they lived in this indifferent manner, until they
came to the end of their store. "Wife," said the man, "this will not
do, stopping here and earning nothing; you must make baskets."
So he went out and cut willows, and brought them home; and she began
to weave them, but the hard twigs wounded her tender hands. "I see
this will not do," said the man, "you had better try spinning."
So she sat her down and tried to spin, but the harsh thread cut
her soft fingers, so that the blood flowed. "Look now!" said the
man, "you are no good at any sort of work; I made a bad bargain when I
took you. I must see what I can do to make a trade of pots and earthen
vessels; you can sit in the market and offer them for sale."
"Oh dear!" thought she, "suppose while I am selling in the market
people belonging to my father's kingdom should see me, how they
would mock at me!" But there was no help for it; she had to submit, or
else die of hunger.
The first day all went well; the people bought her wares eagerly,
because she was so beautiful, and gave her whatever she asked, and
some of them gave her the money and left the pots after all behind
them. And they lived on these earnings as long as they lasted; and
then the man bought a number of new pots. So she seated herself in a
corner of the market, and stood the wares before her for sale. All
at once a drunken horse-soldier came plunging by, and rode straight
into the midst of her pots, breaking them into a thousand pieces.
She could do nothing for weeping. "Oh dear, what will become of me,"
cried she; "what will my husband say?" and she hastened home and
told him her misfortune.
"Who ever heard of such a thing as sitting in the corner of the
market with earthenware pots!" said the man; "now leave off crying;
I see you are not fit for any regular work. I have been asking at your
father's castle if they want a kitchen-maid, and they say they don't
mind taking you; at any rate you will get your victuals free."
And the King's daughter became a kitchen-maid, to be at the cook's
beck and call, and to do the hardest work. In each of her pockets
she fastened a little pot, and brought home in them whatever was left,
and upon that she and her husband were fed. It happened one day,
when the wedding of the eldest Prince was celebrated, the poor woman
went upstairs, and stood by the parlor door to see what was going
on. And when the place was lighted up, and the company arrived, each
person handsomer than the one before, and all was brilliancy and
splendor, she thought on her own fate with a sad heart, and bewailed
her former pride and haughtiness which had brought her so low, and
plunged her in so great poverty. And as the rich and delicate dishes
smelling so good were carried to and fro every now and then, the
servants would throw her a few fragments, which she put in her
pockets, intending to take home. And then the Prince himself passed
in, clothed in silk and velvet, with a gold chain round his neck.
And when he saw the beautiful woman standing in the doorway, he seized
her hand and urged her to dance with him, but she refused, all
trembling, for she saw it was King Thrushbeard, who had come to
court her, whom she had turned away with mocking. It was of no use her
resisting, he drew her into the room; and all at once the band to
which her pockets were fastened broke, and the pots fell out, and
the soup ran about, and the fragments were scattered all round. And
when the people saw that, there was great laughter and mocking, and
she felt so ashamed, that she wished herself a thousand fathoms
underground.
She rushed to the door to fly from the place, when a man caught
her just on the steps, and when she looked at him, it was King
Thrushbeard again. He said to her in a kind tone, "Do not be afraid, I
and the beggar-man with whom you lived in the wretched little hut
are one. For love of you I disguised myself, and it was I who broke
your pots in the guise of a horse-soldier. I did all that to bring
down your proud heart, and to punish your haughtiness, which caused
you to mock at me."
Then she wept bitterly, and said, "I have done great wrong, and am
not worthy to be your wife."
But he said, "Take courage, the evil days are gone over; now let
us keep our wedding-day."
Then came the ladies-in-waiting and put on her splendid clothing;
and her father came, and the whole court, and wished her joy on her
marriage with King Thrushbeard; and then the merry-making began in
good earnest. I cannot help wishing that you and I could have been
there too.
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THE END
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