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Grimms' Fairy Tales
The
Juniper Tree
It is now long ago, quite two thousand years,
since there was a rich man who had a beautiful and pious
wife, and they loved each other dearly. They had, however,
no children, though they wished for them very much, and
the woman prayed for them day and night, but still they
had none. Now there was a court-yard in front of their house
in which was a juniper-tree, and one day in winter the woman
was standing beneath it, paring herself an apple, and while
she was paring herself the apple she cut her finger, and
the blood fell on the snow. "Ah," said the woman,
and sighed right heavily, and looked at the blood before
her, and was most unhappy, "ah, if I had but a child
as red as blood and as white as snow!" And while she
thus spake, she became quite happy in her mind, and felt
just as if that were going to happen. Then she went into
the house and a month went by and the snow was gone, and
two months, and then everything was green, and three months,
and then all the flowers came out of the earth, and four
months, and then all the trees in the wood grew thicker,
and the green branches were all closely entwined, and the
birds sang until the wood resounded and the blossoms fell
from the trees, then the fifth month passed away and she
stood under the juniper-tree, which smelt so sweetly that
her heart leapt, and she fell on her knees and was beside
herself with joy, and when the sixth month was over the
fruit was large and fine, and then she was quite still,
and the seventh month she snatched at the juniper-berries
and ate them greedily, then she grew sick and sorrowful,
then the eighth month passed, and she called her husband
to her, and wept and said, "If I die then bury me beneath
the juniper-tree." Then she was quite comforted and
happy until the next month was over, and then she had a
child as white as snow and as red as blood, and when she
beheld it she was so delighted that she died.
Then her husband buried her beneath the juniper-tree, and
he began to weep sore; after some time he was more at ease,
and though he still wept he could bear it, and after some
time longer he took another wife.
By the second wife he had a daughter, but the first wife's
child was a little son, and he was as red as blood and as
white as snow. When the woman looked at her daughter she
loved her very much, but then she looked at the little boy
and it seemed to cut her to the heart, for the thought came
into her mind that he would always stand in her way, and
she was for ever thinking how she could get all the fortune
for her daughter, and the Evil One filled her mind with
this till she was quite wroth with the little boy, and slapped
him here and cuffed him there, until the unhappy child was
in continual terror, for when he came out of school he had
no peace in any place.
One day the woman had gone upstairs to her room, and her
little daughter went up too, and said, "Mother, give
me an apple." "Yes, my child," said the woman,
and gave her a fine apple out of the chest, but the chest
had a great heavy lid with a great sharp iron lock. "Mother,"
said the little daughter, "is brother not to have one
too?" This made the woman angry, but she said, "Yes,
when he comes out of school." And when she saw from
the window that he was coming, it was just as if the Devil
entered into her, and she snatched at the apple and took
it away again from her daughter, and said, "Thou shalt
not have one before thy brother." Then she threw the
apple into the chest, and shut it. Then the little boy came
in at the door, and the Devil made her say to him kindly,
"My son, wilt thou have an apple?" and she looked
wickedly at him. "Mother," said the little boy,
"how dreadful you look! Yes, give me an apple."
Then it seemed to her as if she were forced to say to him,
"Come with me," and she opened the lid of the
chest and said, "Take out an apple for thyself,"
and while the little boy was stooping inside, the Devil
prompted her, and crash! she shut the lid down, and his
head flew off and fell among the red apples. Then she was
overwhelmed with terror, and thought, "If I could but
make them think that it was not done by me!" So she
went upstairs to her room to her chest of drawers, and took
a white handkerchief out of the top drawer, and set the
head on the neck again, and folded the handkerchief so that
nothing could be seen, and she set him on a chair in front
of the door, and put the apple in his hand.
After this Marlinchen came into the kitchen to her mother,
who was standing by the fire with a pan of hot water before
her which she was constantly stirring round. "Mother,"
said Marlinchen, "brother is sitting at the door, and
he looks quite white and has an apple in his hand. I asked
him to give me the apple, but he did not answer me, and
I was quite frightened." "Go back to him,"
said her mother, "and if he will not answer thee, give
him a box on the ear." So Marlinchen went to him and
said, "Brother, give me the apple." But he was
silent, and she gave him a box on the ear, on which his
head fell down. Marlinchen was terrified, and began crying
and screaming, and ran to her mother, and said, "Alas,
mother, I have knocked my brother's head off!" and
she wept and wept and could not be comforted. "Marlinchen,"
said the mother, "what hast thou done? but be quiet
and let no one know it; it cannot be helped now, we will
make him into black-puddings." Then the mother took
the little boy and chopped him in pieces, put him into the
pan and made him into black puddings; but Marlinchen stood
by weeping and weeping, and all her tears fell into the
pan and there was no need of any salt.
Then the father came home, and sat down to dinner and said,
"But where is my son?" And the mother served up
a great dish of black-puddings, and Marlinchen wept and
could not leave off. Then the father again said, "But
where is my son?" "Ah," said the mother,
"he has gone across the country to his mother's great
uncle; he will stay there awhile." "And what is
he going to do there? He did not even say good-bye to me."
"Oh, he wanted to go, and asked me if he might stay
six weeks, he is well taken care of there." "Ah,"
said the man, "I feel so unhappy lest all should not
be right. He ought to have said good-bye to me." With
that he began to eat and said, "Marlinchen, why art
thou crying? Thy brother will certainly come back."
Then he said, "Ah, wife, how delicious this food is,
give me some more." And the more he ate the more he
wanted to have, and he said, "Give me some more, you
shall have none of it. It seems to me as if it were all
mine." And he ate and ate and threw all the bones under
the table, until he had finished the whole. But Marlinchen
went away to her chest of drawers, and took her best silk
handkerchief out of the bottom drawer, and got all the bones
from beneath the table, and tied them up in her silk handkerchief,
and carried them outside the door, weeping tears of blood.
Then the juniper-tree began to stir itself, and the branches
parted asunder, and moved together again, just as if some
one was rejoicing and clapping his hands. At the same time
a mist seemed to arise from the tree, and in the centre
of this mist it burned like a fire, and a beautiful bird
flew out of the fire singing magnificently, and he flew
high up in the air, and when he was gone, the juniper-tree
was just as it had been before, and the handkerchief with
the bones was no longer there. Marlinchen, however, was
as gay and happy as if her brother were still alive. And
she went merrily into the house, and sat down to dinner
and ate.
But the bird flew away and lighted on a goldsmith's house,
and began to sing,
"My mother she killed me,
My father he ate me,
My sister, little Marlinchen,
Gathered together all my bones,
Tied them in a silken handkerchief,
Laid them beneath the juniper-tree,
Kywitt, kywitt, what a beautiful bird am I!"
The goldsmith was sitting in his workshop making a gold
chain, when he heard the bird which was sitting singing
on his roof, and very beautiful the song seemed to him.
He stood up, but as he crossed the threshold he lost one
of his slippers. But he went away right up the middle of
the street with one shoe on and one sock; he had his apron
on, and in one hand he had the gold chain and in the other
the pincers, and the sun was shining brightly on the street.
Then he went right on and stood still, and said to the bird,
"Bird," said he then, "how beautifully thou
canst sing! Sing me that piece again." "No,"
said the bird, "I'll not sing it twice for nothing!
Give me the golden chain, and then I will sing it again
for thee." "There," said the goldsmith, "there
is the golden chain for thee, now sing me that song again."
Then the bird came and took the golden chain in his right
claw, and went and sat in front of the goldsmith, and sang,
"My mother she killed me,
My father he ate me,
My sister, little Marlinchen,
Gathered together all my bones,
Tied them in a silken handkerchief,
Laid them beneath the juniper-tree,
Kywitt, kywitt, what a beautiful bird am I!"
Then the bird flew away to a shoemaker, and lighted on
his roof and sang,
"My mother she killed me,
My father he ate me,
My sister, little Marlinchen,
Gathered together all my bones,
Tied them in a silken handkerchief,
Laid them beneath the juniper-tree,
Kywitt, kywitt, what a beautiful bird am I!"
The shoemaker heard that and ran out of doors in his shirt
sleeves, and looked up at his roof, and was forced to hold
his hand before his eyes lest the sun should blind him.
"Bird," said he, "how beautifully thou canst
sing!" Then he called in at his door, "Wife, just
come outside, there is a bird, look at that bird, he just
can sing well." Then he called his daughter and children,
and apprentices, boys and girls, and they all came up the
street and looked at the bird and saw how beautiful he was,
and what fine red and green feathers he had, and how like
real gold his neck was, and how the eyes in his head shone
like stars. "Bird," said the shoemaker, "now
sing me that song again." "Nay," said the
bird, "I do not sing twice for nothing; thou must give
me something." "Wife," said the man, "go
to the garret, upon the top shelf there stands a pair of
red shoes, bring them down." Then the wife went and
brought the shoes. "There, bird," said the man,
"now sing me that piece again." Then the bird
came and took the shoes in his left claw, and flew back
on the roof, and sang,
"My mother she killed me,
My father he ate me,
My sister, little Marlinchen,
Gathered together all my bones,
Tied them in a silken handkerchief,
Laid them beneath the juniper-tree,
Kywitt, kywitt, what a beautiful bird am I!"
And when he had sung the whole he flew away. In his right
claw he had the chain and the shoes in his left, and he
flew far away to a mill, and the mill went, "klipp
klapp, klipp klapp, klipp klapp," and in the mill sat
twenty miller's men hewing a stone, and cutting, hick hack,
hick hack, hick hack, and the mill went klipp klapp, klipp
klapp, klipp klapp. Then the bird went and sat on a lime-tree
which stood in front of the mill, and sang,
"My mother she killed me,"
Then one of them stopped working,
"My father he ate me."
Then two more stopped working and listened to that,
"My sister, little Marlinchen,"
Then four more stopped,
"Gathered together all my bones,
Tied them in a silken handkerchief,"
Now eight only were hewing,
"Laid them beneath"
Now only five,
"The juniper-tree,"
And now only one,
"Kywitt, kywitt, what a beautiful bird am I!"
Then the last stopped also, and heard the last words. "Bird,"
said he, "how beautifully thou singest! Let me, too,
hear that. Sing that once more for me."
"Nay," said the bird, "I will not sing twice
for nothing. Give me the millstone, and then I will sing
it again."
"Yes," said he, "if it belonged to me only,
thou shouldst have it."
"Yes," said the others, "if he sings again
he shall have it." Then the bird came down, and the
twenty millers all set to work with a beam and raised the
stone up. And the bird stuck his neck through the hole,
and put the stone on as if it were a collar, and flew on
to the tree again, and sang,
"My mother she killed me,
My father he ate me,
My sister, little Marlinchen,
Gathered together all my bones,
Tied them in a silken handkerchief,
Laid them beneath the juniper-tree,
Kywitt, kywitt, what a beautiful bird am I!"
And when he had done singing, he spread his wings, and
in his right claw he had the chain, and in his left the
shoes, and round his neck the millstone, and he flew far
away to his father's house.
In the room sat the father, the mother, and Marlinchen
at dinner, and the father said, "How light-hearted
I feel, how happy I am!" "Nay," said the
mother, "I feel so uneasy, just as if a heavy storm
were coming." Marlinchen, however, sat weeping and
weeping, and then came the bird flying, and as it seated
itself on the roof the father said, "Ah, I feel so
truly happy, and the sun is shining so beautifully outside,
I feel just as if I were about to see some old friend again."
"Nay," said the woman, "I feel so anxious,
my teeth chatter, and I seem to have fire in my veins."
And she tore her stays open, but Marlinchen sat in a corner
crying, and held her plate before her eyes and cried till
it was quite wet. Then the bird sat on the juniper tree,
and sang,
"My mother she killed me,"
Then the mother stopped her ears, and shut her eyes, and
would not see or hear, but there was a roaring in her ears
like the most violent storm, and her eyes burnt and flashed
like lightning,
"My father he ate me,"
"Ah, mother," says the man, "that is a beautiful
bird! He sings so splendidly, and the sun shines so warm,
and there is a smell just like cinnamon."
"My sister, little Marlinchen,"
Then Marlinchen laid her head on her knees and wept without
ceasing, but the man said, "I am going out, I must
see the bird quite close." "Oh, don't go,"
said the woman, "I feel as if the whole house were
shaking and on fire." But the man went out and looked
at the bird:
"Gathered together all my bones,
Tied them in a silken handkerchief,
Laid them beneath the juniper tree,
Kywitt, kywitt, what a beautiful bird am I!"
On this the bird let the golden chain fall, and it fell
exactly round the man's neck, and so exactly round it that
it fitted beautifully. Then he went in and said, "Just
look what a fine bird that is, and what a handsome gold
chain he has given me, and how pretty he is!" But the
woman was terrified, and fell down on the floor in the room,
and her cap fell off her head. Then sang the bird once more,
"My mother she killed me."
"Would that I were a thousand feet beneath the earth
so as not to hear that!"
"My father he ate me,"
Then the woman fell down again as if dead.
"My sister, little Marlinchen,"
"Ah," said Marlinchen, "I too will go out
and see if the bird will give me anything," and she
went out.
"Gathered together all my bones,
Tied them in a silken handkerchief,"
Then he threw down the shoes to her.
"Laid them beneath the juniper-tree,
Kywitt, kywitt, what a beautiful bird am I!"
Then she was light-hearted and joyous, and she put on the
new red shoes, and danced and leaped into the house. "Ah,"
said she, "I was so sad when I went out and now I am
so light-hearted; that is a splendid bird, he has given
me a pair of red shoes!" "Well," said the
woman, and sprang to her feet and her hair stood up like
flames of fire, "I feel as if the world were coming
to an end! I, too, will go out and see if my heart feels
lighter." And as she went out at the door, crash! the
bird threw down the millstone on her head, and she was entirely
crushed by it. The father and Marlinchen heard what had
happened and went out, and smoke, flames, and fire were
rising from the place, and when that was over, there stood
the little brother, and he took his father and Marlinchen
by the hand, and all three were right glad, and they went
into the house to dinner, and ate.
From Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, Household Tales, trans. Margaret
Hunt (London: George Bell, 1884), 1:181-190. |
