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Grimms' Fairy Tales
Allerleirauh
There was once on a time a King who had a
wife with golden hair, and she was so beautiful that her
equal was not to be found on earth. It came to pass that
she lay ill, and as she felt that she must soon die, she
called the King and said, "If thou wishest to marry
again after my death, take no one who is not quite as beautiful
as I am, and who has not just such golden hair as I have:
this thou must promise me." And after the King had
promised her this she closed her eyes and died.
For a long time the King could not be comforted, and had
no thought of taking another wife. At length his councillors
said, "There is no help for it, the King must marry
again, that we may have a Queen." And now messengers
were sent about far and wide, to seek a bride who equalled
the late Queen in beauty. In the whole world, however, none
was to be found, and even if one had been found, still there
would have been no one who had such golden hair. So the
messengers came home as they went.
Now the King had a daughter, who was just as beautiful
as her dead mother, and had the same golden hair. When she
was grown up the King looked at her one day, and saw that
in every respect she was like his late wife, and suddenly
felt a violent love for her. Then he spake to his councillors,
"I will marry my daughter, for she is the counterpart
of my late wife, otherwise I can find no bride who resembles
her." When the councillors heard that, they were shocked,
and said, "God has forbidden a father to marry his
daughter, no good can come from such a crime, and the kingdom
will be involved in the ruin."
The daughter was still more shocked when she became aware
of her father's resolution, but hoped to turn him from his
design. Then she said to him, "Before I fulfil your
wish, I must have three dresses, one as golden as the sun,
one as silvery as the moon, and one as bright as the stars;
besides this, I wish for a mantle of a thousand different
kinds of fur and hair joined together, and one of every
kind of animal in your kingdom must give a piece of his
skin for it." But she thought, "To get that will
be quite impossible, and thus I shall divert my father from
his wicked intentions." The King, however, did not
give it up, and the cleverest maidens in his kingdom had
to weave the three dresses, one as golden as the sun, one
as silvery as the moon, and one as bright as the stars,
and his huntsmen had to catch one of every kind of animal
in the whole of his kingdom, and take from it a piece of
its skin, and out of these was made a mantle of a thousand
different kinds of fur. At length, when all was ready, the
King caused the mantle to be brought, spread it out before
her, and said, "The wedding shall be to-morrow."
When, therefore, the King's daughter saw that there was
no longer any hope of turning her father's heart, she resolved
to run away from him. In the night whilst every one was
asleep, she got up, and took three different things from
her treasures, a golden ring, a golden spinning-wheel, and
a golden reel. The three dresses of the sun, moon, and stars
she put into a nutshell, put on her mantle of all kinds
of fur, and blackened her face and hands with soot. Then
she commended herself to God, and went away, and walked
the whole night until she reached a great forest. And as
she was tired, she got into a hollow tree, and fell asleep.
The sun rose, and she slept on, and she was still sleeping
when it was full day. Then it so happened that the King
to whom this forest belonged, was hunting in it. When his
dogs came to the tree, they sniffed, and ran barking round
about it. The King said to the huntsmen, "Just see
what kind of wild beast has hidden itself in there."
The huntsmen obeyed his order, and when they came back they
said, "A wondrous beast is lying in the hollow tree;
we have never before seen one like it. Its skin is fur of
a thousand different kinds, but it is lying asleep."
Said the King, "See if you can catch it alive, and
then fasten it to the carriage, and we will take it with
us." When the huntsmen laid hold of the maiden, she
awoke full of terror, and cried to them, "I am a poor
child, deserted by father and mother; have pity on me, and
take me with you." Then said they, "Allerleirauh,
thou wilt be useful in the kitchen, come with us, and thou
canst sweep up the ashes." So they put her in the carriage,
and took her home to the royal palace. There they pointed
out to her a closet under the stairs, where no daylight
entered, and said, "Hairy animal, there canst thou
live and sleep." Then she was sent into the kitchen,
and there she carried wood and water, swept the hearth,
plucked the fowls, picked the vegetables, raked the ashes,
and did all the dirty work.
Allerleirauh lived there for a long time in great wretchedness.
Alas, fair princess, what is to become of thee now! It happened,
however, that one day a feast was held in the palace, and
she said to the cook, "May I go up-stairs for a while,
and look on? I will place myself outside the door."
The cook answered, "Yes, go, but you must be back here
in half-an-hour to sweep the hearth." Then she took
her oil-lamp, went into her den, put off her fur-dress,
and washed the soot off her face and hands, so that her
full beauty once more came to light. And she opened the
nut, and took out her dress which shone like the sun, and
when she had done that she went up to the festival, and
every one made way for her, for no one knew her, and thought
no otherwise than that she was a king's daughter. The King
came to meet her, gave his hand to her, and danced with
her, and thought in his heart, "My eyes have never
yet seen any one so beautiful!" When the dance was
over she curtsied, and when the King looked round again
she had vanished, and none knew whither. The guards who
stood outside the palace were called and questioned, but
no one had seen her.
She had, however, run into her little den, had quickly
taken off her dress, made her face and hands black again,
put on the fur-mantle, and again was Allerleirauh. And now
when she went into the kitchen, and was about to get to
her work and sweep up the ashes, the cook said, "Leave
that alone till morning, and make me the soup for the King;
I, too, will go upstairs awhile, and take a look; but let
no hairs fall in, or in future thou shalt have nothing to
eat." So the cook went away, and Allerleirauh made
the soup for the king, and made bread soup and the best
she could, and when it was ready she fetched her golden
ring from her little den, and put it in the bowl in which
the soup was served. When the dancing was over, the King
had his soup brought and ate it, and he liked it so much
that it seemed to him he had never tasted better. But when
he came to the bottom of the bowl, he saw a golden ring
lying, and could not conceive how it could have got there.
Then he ordered the cook to appear before him. The cook
was terrified when he heard the order, and said to Allerleirauh,
"Thou hast certainly let a hair fall into the soup,
and if thou hast, thou shalt be beaten for it." When
he came before the King the latter asked who had made the
soup? The cook replied, "I made it." But the King
said, "That is not true, for it was much better than
usual, and cooked differently." He answered, "I
must acknowledge that I did not make it, it was made by
the rough animal." The King said, "Go and bid
it come up here."
When Allerleirauh came, the King said, "Who art thou?"
"I am a poor girl who no longer has any father or mother."
He asked further, "Of what use art thou in my palace?"
She answered, "I am good for nothing but to have boots
thrown at my head." He continued, "Where didst
thou get the ring which was in the soup?" She answered,
"I know nothing about the ring." So the King could
learn nothing, and had to send her away again.
After a while, there was another festival, and then, as
before, Allerleirauh begged the cook for leave to go and
look on. He answered, "Yes, but come back again in
half-an-hour, and make the King the bread soup which he
so much likes." Then she ran into her den, washed herself
quickly, and took out of the nut the dress which was as
silvery as the moon, and put it on. Then she went up and
was like a princess, and the King stepped forward to meet
her, and rejoiced to see her once more, and as the dance
was just beginning they danced it together. But when it
was ended, she again disappeared so quickly that the King
could not observe where she went. She, however, sprang into
her den, and once more made herself a hairy animal, and
went into the kitchen to prepare the bread soup. When the
cook had gone up-stairs, she fetched the little golden spinning-wheel,
and put it in the bowl so that the soup covered it. Then
it was taken to the King, who ate it, and liked it as much
as before, and had the cook brought, who this time likewise
was forced to confess that Allerleirauh had prepared the
soup. Allerleirauh again came before the King, but she answered
that she was good for nothing else but to have boots thrown
at her head, and that she knew nothing at all about the
little golden spinning-wheel.
When, for the third time, the King held a festival, all
happened just as it had done before. The cook said, "Faith
rough-skin, thou art a witch, and always puttest something
in the soup which makes it so good that the King likes it
better than that which I cook," but as she begged so
hard, he let her go up at the appointed time. And now she
put on the dress which shone like the stars, and thus entered
the hall. Again the King danced with the beautiful maiden,
and thought that she never yet had been so beautiful. And
whilst she was dancing, he contrived, without her noticing
it, to slip a golden ring on her finger, and he had given
orders that the dance should last a very long time. When
it was ended, he wanted to hold her fast by her hands, but
she tore herself loose, and sprang away so quickly through
the crowd that she vanished from his sight. She ran as fast
as she could into her den beneath the stairs, but as she
had been too long, and had stayed more than half-an-hour
she could not take off her pretty dress, but only threw
over it her fur-mantle, and in her haste she did not make
herself quite black, but one finger remained white. Then
Allerleirauh ran into the kitchen, and cooked the bread
soup for the King, and as the cook was away, put her golden
reel into it. When the King found the reel at the bottom
of it, he caused Allerleirauh to be summoned, and then he
espied the white finger, and saw the ring which he had put
on it during the dance. Then he grasped her by the hand,
and held her fast, and when she wanted to release herself
and run away, her mantle of fur opened a little, and the
star-dress shone forth. The King clutched the mantle and
tore it off. Then her golden hair shone forth, and she stood
there in full splendour, and could no longer hide herself.
And when she had washed the soot and ashes from her face,
she was more beautiful than anyone who had ever been seen
on earth. But the King said, "Thou art my dear bride,
and we will never more part from each other." Thereupon
the marriage was solemnized, and they lived happily until
their death.
From Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, Household Tales, trans. Margaret
Hunt (London: George Bell, 1884), 1:277-282. |
