Chapter Chapter 66 · How Six Men Got on in the World

. How Six Men Got on in the World

There was once a man who understood all kinds of arts; he served in

war, and behaved well and bravely, but when the war was over he

received his dismissal, and three farthings for his expenses on the

way. “Stop,” said he, “I shall not be content with this. If I can only

meet with the right people, the King will yet have to give me all the

treasure of the country.” Then full of anger he went into the forest,

and saw a man standing therein who had plucked up six trees as if they

were blades of corn. He said to him, “Wilt thou be my servant and go

with me?” “Yes,” he answered, “but, first, I will take this little

bundle of sticks home to my mother,” and he took one of the trees, and

wrapped it round the five others, lifted the bundle on his back, and

carried it away. Then he returned and went with his master, who said,

“We two ought to be able to get through the world very well,” and when

they had walked on for a short while they found a huntsman who was

kneeling, had shouldered his gun, and was about to fire. The master

said to him, “Huntsman, what art thou going to shoot?” He answered,

“Two miles from here a fly is sitting on the branch of an oak-tree, and

I want to shoot its left eye out.” “Oh, come with me,” said the man,

“if we three are together, we certainly ought to be able to get on in

the world!” The huntsman was ready, and went with him, and they came to

seven windmills whose sails were turning round with great speed, and

yet no wind was blowing either on the right or the left, and no leaf

was stirring. Then said the man, “I know not what is driving the

windmills, not a breath of air is stirring,” and he went onwards with

his servants, and when they had walked two miles they saw a man sitting

on a tree who was shutting one nostril, and blowing out of the other.

“Good gracious! what are you doing up there?” He answered, “Two miles

from here are seven windmills; look, I am blowing them till they turn

round.” “Oh, come with me,” said the man. “If we four are together, we

shall carry the whole world before us!” Then the blower came down and

went with him, and after a while they saw a man who was standing on one

leg and had taken off the other, and laid it beside him. Then the

master said, “You have arranged things very comfortably to have a

rest.” “I am a runner,” he replied, “and to stop myself running far too

fast, I have taken off one of my legs, for if I run with both, I go

quicker than any bird can fly.” “Oh, go with me. If we five are

together, we shall carry the whole world before us.” So he went with

them, and it was not long before they met a man who wore a cap, but had

put it quite on one ear. Then the master said to him, “Gracefully,

gracefully, don’t stick your cap on one ear, you look just like a

tom-fool!” “I must not wear it otherwise,” said he, “for if I set my

hat straight, a terrible frost comes on, and all the birds in the air

are frozen, and drop dead on the ground.” “Oh, come with me,” said the

master. “If we six are together, we can carry the whole world before

us.”

Now the six came to a town where the King had proclaimed that whosoever

ran a race with his daughter and won the victory, should be her

husband, but whosoever lost it, must lose his head. Then the man

presented himself and said, “I will, however, let my servant run for

me.” The King replied, “Then his life also must be staked, so that his

head and thine are both set on the victory.” When that was settled and

made secure, the man buckled the other leg on the runner, and said to

him, “Now be nimble, and help us to win.” It was fixed that the one who

was first to bring some water from a far distant well was to be the

victor. The runner received a pitcher, and the King’s daughter one too,

and they began to run at the same time, but in an instant, when the

King’s daughter had got a very little way, the people who were looking

on could see no more of the runner, and it was just as if the wind had

whistled by. In a short time he reached the well, filled his pitcher

with water, and turned back. Half-way home, however, he was overcome

with fatigue, and set his pitcher down, lay down himself, and fell

asleep. He had, however, made a pillow of a horse’s skull which was

lying on the ground, in order that he might lie uncomfortably, and soon

wake up again. In the meantime the King’s daughter, who could also run

very well quite as well as any ordinary mortal can had reached the

well, and was hurrying back with her pitcher full of water, and when

she saw the runner lying there asleep, she was glad and said, “My enemy

is delivered over into my hands,” emptied his pitcher, and ran on. And

now all would have been lost if by good luck the huntsman had not been

standing at the top of the castle, and had not seen everything with his

sharp eyes. Then said he, “The King’s daughter shall still not prevail

against us;” and he loaded his gun, and shot so cleverly, that he shot

the horse’s skull away from under the runner’s head without hurting

him. Then the runner awoke, leapt up, and saw that his pitcher was

empty, and that the King’s daughter was already far in advance. He did

not lose heart, however, but ran back to the well with his pitcher,

again drew some water, and was at home again, ten minutes before the

King’s daughter. “Behold!” said he, “I have not bestirred myself till

now, it did not deserve to be called running before.”

But it pained the King, and still more his daughter, that she should be

carried off by a common disbanded soldier like that; so they took

counsel with each other how to get rid of him and his companions. Then

said the King to her, “I have thought of a way; don’t be afraid, they

shall not come back again.” And he said to them, “You shall now make

merry together, and eat and drink,” and he conducted them to a room

which had a floor of iron, and the doors also were of iron, and the

windows were guarded with iron bars. There was a table in the room

covered with delicious food, and the King said to them, “Go in, and

enjoy yourselves.” And when they were inside, he ordered the doors to

be shut and bolted. Then he sent for the cook, and commanded him to

make a fire under the room until the iron became red-hot. This the cook

did, and the six who were sitting at table began to feel quite warm,

and they thought the heat was caused by the food; but as it became

still greater, and they wanted to get out, and found that the doors and

windows were bolted, they became aware that the King must have an evil

intention, and wanted to suffocate them. “He shall not succeed,

however,” said the one with the cap. “I will cause a frost to come,

before which the fire shall be ashamed, and creep away.” Then he put

his cap on straight, and immediately there came such a frost that all

heat disappeared, and the food on the dishes began to freeze. When an

hour or two had passed by, and the King believed that they had perished

in the heat, he had the doors opened to behold them himself. But when

the doors were opened, all six were standing there, alive and well, and

said that they should very much like to get out to warm themselves, for

the very food was fast frozen to the dishes with the cold. Then, full

of anger, the King went down to the cook, scolded him, and asked why he

had not done what he had been ordered to do. But the cook replied,

“There is heat enough there, just look yourself.” Then the King saw

that a fierce fire was burning under the iron room, and perceived that

there was no getting the better of the six in this way.

Again the King considered how to get rid of his unpleasant guests, and

caused their chief to be brought and said, “If thou wilt take gold and

renounce my daughter, thou shalt have as much as thou wilt.”

“Oh, yes, Lord King,” he answered, “give me as much as my servant can

carry, and I will not ask for your daughter.”

On this the King was satisfied, and the other continued, “In fourteen

days, I will come and fetch it.” Thereupon he summoned together all the

tailors in the whole kingdom, and they were to sit for fourteen days

and sew a sack. And when it was ready, the strong one who could tear up

trees had to take it on his back, and go with it to the King. Then said

the King, “Who can that strong fellow be who is carrying a bundle of

linen on his back that is as big as a house?” and he was alarmed and

said, “What a lot of gold he can carry away!” Then he commanded a ton

of gold to be brought; it took sixteen of his strongest men to carry

it, but the strong one snatched it up in one hand, put it in his sack,

and said, “Why don’t you bring more at the same time? that hardly

covers the bottom!” Then, little by little, the King caused all his

treasure to be brought thither, and the strong one pushed it into the

sack, and still the sack was not half full with it. “Bring more,” cried

he, “these few crumbs don’t fill it.” Then seven thousand carts with

gold had to be gathered together in the whole kingdom, and the strong

one thrust them and the oxen harnessed to them into his sack. “I will

examine it no longer,” said he, “but will just take what comes, so long

as the sack is but full.” When all that was inside, there was still

room for a great deal more; then he said, “I will just make an end of

the thing; people do sometimes tie up a sack even when it is not full.”

So he took it on his back, and went away with his comrades. When the

King now saw how one single man was carrying away the entire wealth of

the country, he became enraged, and bade his horsemen mount and pursue

the six, and ordered them to take the sack away from the strong one.

Two regiments speedily overtook the six, and called out, “You are

prisoners, put down the sack with the gold, or you will all be cut to

pieces!” “What say you?” cried the blower, “that we are prisoners!

Rather than that should happen, all of you shall dance about in the

air.” And he closed one nostril, and with the other blew on the two

regiments. Then they were driven away from each other, and carried into

the blue sky over all the mountains one here, the other there. One

sergeant cried for mercy; he had nine wounds, and was a brave fellow

who did not deserve ill treatment. The blower stopped a little so that

he came down without injury, and then the blower said to him, “Now go

home to thy King, and tell him he had better send some more horsemen,

and I will blow them all into the air.” When the King was informed of

this he said, “Let the rascals go. They have the best of it.” Then the

six conveyed the riches home, divided it amongst them, and lived in

content until their death.