บทที่ บทที่ 10 · Little Brother and Little Sister

. Little Brother and Little Sister

Little brother took his little sister by the hand and said, “Since our

mother died we have had no happiness; our step-mother beats us every

day, and if we come near her she kicks us away with her foot. Our meals

are the hard crusts of bread that are left over; and the little dog

under the table is better off, for she often throws it a nice bit. May

Heaven pity us. If our mother only knew! Come, we will go forth

together into the wide world.”

They walked the whole day over meadows, fields, and stony places; and

when it rained the little sister said, “Heaven and our hearts are

weeping together.” In the evening they came to a large forest, and they

were so weary with sorrow and hunger and the long walk, that they lay

down in a hollow tree and fell asleep.

The next day when they awoke, the sun was already high in the sky, and

shone down hot into the tree. Then the brother said, “Sister, I am

thirsty; if I knew of a little brook I would go and just take a drink;

I think I hear one running.” The brother got up and took the little

sister by the hand, and they set off to find the brook.

But the wicked step-mother was a witch, and had seen how the two

children had gone away, and had crept after them privily, as witches do

creep, and had bewitched all the brooks in the forest.

Now when they found a little brook leaping brightly over the stones,

the brother was going to drink out of it, but the sister heard how it

said as it ran, “Who drinks of me will be a tiger; who drinks of me

will be a tiger.” Then the sister cried, “Pray, dear brother, do not

drink, or you will become a wild beast, and tear me to pieces.” The

brother did not drink, although he was so thirsty, but said, “I will

wait for the next spring.”

When they came to the next brook the sister heard this also say, “Who

drinks of me will be a wolf; who drinks of me will be a wolf.” Then the

sister cried out, “Pray, dear brother, do not drink, or you will become

a wolf, and devour me.” The brother did not drink, and said, “I will

wait until we come to the next spring, but then I must drink, say what

you like; for my thirst is too great.”

And when they came to the third brook the sister heard how it said as

it ran, “Who drinks of me will be a roebuck; who drinks of me will be a

roebuck.” The sister said, “Oh, I pray you, dear brother, do not drink,

or you will become a roebuck, and run away from me.” But the brother

had knelt down at once by the brook, and had bent down and drunk some

of the water, and as soon as the first drops touched his lips he lay

there a young roebuck.

And now the sister wept over her poor bewitched brother, and the little

roe wept also, and sat sorrowfully near to her. But at last the girl

said, “Be quiet, dear little roe, I will never, never leave you.”

Then she untied her golden garter and put it round the roebuck’s neck,

and she plucked rushes and wove them into a soft cord. With this she

tied the little beast and led it on, and she walked deeper and deeper

into the forest.

And when they had gone a very long way they came at last to a little

house, and the girl looked in; and as it was empty, she thought, “We

can stay here and live.” Then she sought for leaves and moss to make a

soft bed for the roe; and every morning she went out and gathered roots

and berries and nuts for herself, and brought tender grass for the roe,

who ate out of her hand, and was content and played round about her. In

the evening, when the sister was tired, and had said her prayer, she

laid her head upon the roebuck’s back: that was her pillow, and she

slept softly on it. And if only the brother had had his human form it

would have been a delightful life.

For some time they were alone like this in the wilderness. But it

happened that the King of the country held a great hunt in the forest.

Then the blasts of the horns, the barking of dogs, and the merry shouts

of the huntsmen rang through the trees, and the roebuck heard all, and

was only too anxious to be there. “Oh,” said he, to his sister, “let me

be off to the hunt, I cannot bear it any longer;” and he begged so much

that at last she agreed. “But,” said she to him, “come back to me in

the evening; I must shut my door for fear of the rough huntsmen, so

knock and say, ‘My little sister, let me in!’ that I may know you; and

if you do not say that, I shall not open the door.” Then the young

roebuck sprang away; so happy was he and so merry in the open air.

The King and the huntsmen saw the pretty creature, and started after

him, but they could not catch him, and when they thought that they

surely had him, away he sprang through the bushes and could not be

seen. When it was dark he ran to the cottage, knocked, and said, “My

little sister, let me in.” Then the door was opened for him, and he

jumped in, and rested himself the whole night through upon his soft

bed.

The next day the hunt went on afresh, and when the roebuck again heard

the bugle-horn, and the ho! ho! of the huntsmen, he had no peace, but

said, “Sister, let me out, I must be off.” His sister opened the door

for him, and said, “But you must be here again in the evening and say

your pass-word.”

When the King and his huntsmen again saw the young roebuck with the

golden collar, they all chased him, but he was too quick and nimble for

them. This went on for the whole day, but at last by the evening the

huntsmen had surrounded him, and one of them wounded him a little in

the foot, so that he limped and ran slowly. Then a hunter crept after

him to the cottage and heard how he said, “My little sister, let me

in,” and saw that the door was opened for him, and was shut again at

once. The huntsman took notice of it all, and went to the King and told

him what he had seen and heard. Then the King said, “To-morrow we will

hunt once more.”

The little sister, however, was dreadfully frightened when she saw that

her fawn was hurt. She washed the blood off him, laid herbs on the

wound, and said, “Go to your bed, dear roe, that you may get well

again.” But the wound was so slight that the roebuck, next morning, did

not feel it any more. And when he again heard the sport outside, he

said, “I cannot bear it, I must be there; they shall not find it so

easy to catch me.” The sister cried, and said, “This time they will

kill you, and here am I alone in the forest and forsaken by all the

world. I will not let you out.” “Then you will have me die of grief,”

answered the roe; “when I hear the bugle-horns I feel as if I must jump

out of my skin.” Then the sister could not do otherwise, but opened the

door for him with a heavy heart, and the roebuck, full of health and

joy, bounded into the forest.

When the King saw him, he said to his huntsmen, “Now chase him all day

long till night-fall, but take care that no one does him any harm.”

As soon as the sun had set, the King said to the huntsman, “Now come

and show me the cottage in the wood;” and when he was at the door, he

knocked and called out, “Dear little sister, let me in.” Then the door

opened, and the King walked in, and there stood a maiden more lovely

than any he had ever seen. The maiden was frightened when she saw, not

her little roe, but a man come in who wore a golden crown upon his

head. But the King looked kindly at her, stretched out his hand, and

said, “Will you go with me to my palace and be my dear wife?” “Yes,

indeed,” answered the maiden, “but the little roe must go with me, I

cannot leave him.” The King said, “It shall stay with you as long as

you live, and shall want nothing.” Just then he came running in, and

the sister again tied him with the cord of rushes, took it in her own

hand, and went away with the King from the cottage.

The King took the lovely maiden upon his horse and carried her to his

palace, where the wedding was held with great pomp. She was now the

Queen, and they lived for a long time happily together; the roebuck was

tended and cherished, and ran about in the palace-garden.

But the wicked step-mother, because of whom the children had gone out

into the world, thought all the time that the sister had been torn to

pieces by the wild beasts in the wood, and that the brother had been

shot for a roebuck by the huntsmen. Now when she heard that they were

so happy, and so well off, envy and hatred rose in her heart and left

her no peace, and she thought of nothing but how she could bring them

again to misfortune. Her own daughter, who was ugly as night, and had

only one eye, grumbled at her and said, “A Queen! that ought to have

been my luck.” “Only be quiet,” answered the old woman, and comforted

her by saying, “when the time comes I shall be ready.”

As time went on, the Queen had a pretty little boy, and it happened

that the King was out hunting; so the old witch took the form of the

chamber-maid, went into the room where the Queen lay, and said to her,

“Come, the bath is ready; it will do you good, and give you fresh

strength; make haste before it gets cold.”

The daughter also was close by; so they carried the weakly Queen into

the bath-room, and put her into the bath; then they shut the door and

ran away. But in the bath-room they had made a fire of such deadly heat

that the beautiful young Queen was soon suffocated.

When this was done the old woman took her daughter, put a nightcap on

her head, and laid her in bed in place of the Queen. She gave her too

the shape and the look of the Queen, only she could not make good the

lost eye. But in order that the King might not see it, she was to lie

on the side on which she had no eye.

In the evening when he came home and heard that he had a son he was

heartily glad, and was going to the bed of his dear wife to see how she

was. But the old woman quickly called out, “For your life leave the

curtains closed; the Queen ought not to see the light yet, and must

have rest.” The King went away, and did not find out that a false Queen

was lying in the bed.

But at midnight, when all slept, the nurse, who was sitting in the

nursery by the cradle, and who was the only person awake, saw the door

open and the true Queen walk in. She took the child out of the cradle,

laid it on her arm, and suckled it. Then she shook up its pillow, laid

the child down again, and covered it with the little quilt. And she did

not forget the roebuck, but went into the corner where it lay, and

stroked its back. Then she went quite silently out of the door again.

The next morning the nurse asked the guards whether anyone had come

into the palace during the night, but they answered, “No, we have seen

no one.”

She came thus many nights and never spoke a word: the nurse always saw

her, but she did not dare to tell anyone about it.

When some time had passed in this manner, the Queen began to speak in

the night, and said—

“How fares my child, how fares my roe?

Twice shall I come, then never more.”

The nurse did not answer, but when the Queen had gone again, went to

the King and told him all. The King said, “Ah, heavens! what is this?

To-morrow night I will watch by the child.” In the evening he went into

the nursery, and at midnight the Queen again appeared and said—

“How fares my child, how fares my roe?

Once will I come, then never more.”

And she nursed the child as she was wont to do before she disappeared.

The King dared not speak to her, but on the next night he watched

again. Then she said—

“How fares my child, how fares my roe?

This time I come, then never more.”

Then the King could not restrain himself; he sprang towards her, and

said, “You can be none other than my dear wife.” She answered, “Yes, I

am your dear wife,” and at the same moment she received life again, and

by God’s grace became fresh, rosy, and full of health.

Then she told the King the evil deed which the wicked witch and her

daughter had been guilty of towards her. The King ordered both to be

led before the judge, and judgment was delivered against them. The

daughter was taken into the forest where she was torn to pieces by wild

beasts, but the witch was cast into the fire and miserably burnt. And

as soon as she was burnt the roebuck changed his shape, and received

his human form again, so the sister and brother lived happily together

all their lives.