Grimms-Fairy-Tales.pdf

Grimms’ Fairy Tales

By The Brothers Grimm

Download free eBooks of classic literature, books and

novels at Planet eBook. Subscribe to our free eBooks blog

and email newsletter.

THE GOLDEN BIRD

hen the gardener’s eldest son set out and thought to ind

the golden bird very easily; and when he had gone but a lit-

tle way, he came to a wood, and by the side of the wood

he saw a fox sitting; so he took his bow and made ready to

shoot at it. hen the fox said, ‘Do not shoot me, for I will

give you good counsel; I know what your business is, and

that you want to ind the golden bird. You will reach a vil-

lage in the evening; and when you get there, you will see

two inns opposite to each other, one of which is very pleas-

ant and beautiful to look at: go not in there, but rest for the

night in the other, though it may appear to you to be very

poor and mean.’ But the son thought to himself, ‘What can

such a beast as this know about the matter?’ So he shot his

arrow at the fox; but he missed it, and it set up its tail above

its back and ran into the wood. hen he went his way, and

in the evening came to the village where the two inns were;

and in one of these were people singing, and dancing, and

feasting; but the other looked very dirty, and poor. ‘I should

be very silly,’ said he, ‘if I went to that shabby house, and

let this charming place’; so he went into the smart house,

and ate and drank at his ease, and forgot the bird, and his

country too.

Time passed on; and as the eldest son did not come back,

and no tidings were heard of him, the second son set out,

and the same thing happened to him. He met the fox, who

gave him the good advice: but when he came to the two

inns, his eldest brother was standing at the window where

the merrymaking was, and called to him to come in; and he

could not withstand the temptation, but went in, and forgot

stood a tree which bore golden apples. hese apples

were always counted, and about the time when they began

to grow ripe it was found that every night one of them was

gone. he king became very angry at this, and ordered the

gardener to keep watch all night under the tree. he gar-

dener set his eldest son to watch; but about twelve o’clock

he fell asleep, and in the morning another of the apples was

missing. hen the second son was ordered to watch; and

at midnight he too fell asleep, and in the morning another

apple was gone. hen the third son ofered to keep watch;

but the gardener at irst would not let him, for fear some

harm should come to him: however, at last he consented,

and the young man laid himself under the tree to watch. As

the clock struck twelve he heard a rustling noise in the air,

and a bird came lying that was of pure gold; and as it was

snapping at one of the apples with its beak, the gardener’s

son jumped up and shot an arrow at it. But the arrow did

the bird no harm; only it dropped a golden feather from its

tail, and then lew away. he golden feather was brought to

the king in the morning, and all the council was called to-

gether. Everyone agreed that it was worth more than all the

wealth of the kingdom: but the king said, ‘One feather is of

no use to me, I must have the whole bird.’

Grimms’ Fairy Tales

Free eBooks at Planet eBook.com

A certain king had a beautiful garden, and in the garden

the golden bird and his country in the same manner.

Time passed on again, and the youngest son too wished

to set out into the wide world to seek for the golden bird; but

his father would not listen to it for a long while, for he was

very fond of his son, and was afraid that some ill luck might

happen to him also, and prevent his coming back. Howev-

er, at last it was agreed he should go, for he would not rest

at home; and as he came to the wood, he met the fox, and

heard the same good counsel. But he was thankful to the

fox, and did not attempt his life as his brothers had done;

so the fox said, ‘Sit upon my tail, and you will travel faster.’

So he sat down, and the fox began to run, and away they

went over stock and stone so quick that their hair whistled

in the wind.

When they came to the village, the son followed the fox’s

counsel, and without looking about him went to the shabby

inn and rested there all night at his ease. In the morning

came the fox again and met him as he was beginning his

journey, and said, ‘Go straight forward, till you come to a

castle, before which lie a whole troop of soldiers fast asleep

and snoring: take no notice of them, but go into the castle

and pass on and on till you come to a room, where the gold-

en bird sits in a wooden cage; close by it stands a beautiful

golden cage; but do not try to take the bird out of the shab-

by cage and put it into the handsome one, otherwise you

will repent it.’ hen the fox stretched out his tail again, and

the young man sat himself down, and away they went over

stock and stone till their hair whistled in the wind.

Before the castle gate all was as the fox had said: so the

son went in and found the chamber where the golden bird

hung in a wooden cage, and below stood the golden cage,

and the three golden apples that had been lost were lying

close by it. hen thought he to himself, ‘It will be a very

droll thing to bring away such a ine bird in this shabby

cage’; so he opened the door and took hold of it and put it

into the golden cage. But the bird set up such a loud scream

that all the soldiers awoke, and they took him prisoner and

carried him before the king. he next morning the court sat

to judge him; and when all was heard, it sentenced him to

die, unless he should bring the king the golden horse which

could run as switly as the wind; and if he did this, he was

to have the golden bird given him for his own.

So he set out once more on his journey, sighing, and in

great despair, when on a sudden his friend the fox met him,

and said, ‘You see now what has happened on account of

your not listening to my counsel. I will still, however, tell

you how to ind the golden horse, if you will do as I bid you.

You must go straight on till you come to the castle where the

horse stands in his stall: by his side will lie the groom fast

asleep and snoring: take away the horse quietly, but be sure

to put the old leathern saddle upon him, and not the golden

one that is close by it.’ hen the son sat down on the fox’s

tail, and away they went over stock and stone till their hair

whistled in the wind.

All went right, and the groom lay snoring with his hand

upon the golden saddle. But when the son looked at the

horse, he thought it a great pity to put the leathern sad-

dle upon it. ‘I will give him the good one,’ said he; ‘I am

Grimms’ Fairy Tales

Free eBooks at Planet eBook.com

sure he deserves it.’ As he took up the golden saddle the

groom awoke and cried out so loud, that all the guards ran

in and took him prisoner, and in the morning he was again

brought before the court to be judged, and was sentenced

to die. But it was agreed, that, if he could bring thither the

beautiful princess, he should live, and have the bird and the

horse given him for his own.

hen he went his way very sorrowful; but the old fox

came and said, ‘Why did not you listen to me? If you had,

you would have carried away both the bird and the horse;

yet will I once more give you counsel. Go straight on, and

in the evening you will arrive at a castle. At twelve o’clock

at night the princess goes to the bathing-house: go up to

her and give her a kiss, and she will let you lead her away;

but take care you do not sufer her to go and take leave of

her father and mother.’ hen the fox stretched out his tail,

and so away they went over stock and stone till their hair

whistled again.

As they came to the castle, all was as the fox had said,

and at twelve o’clock the young man met the princes go-

ing to the bath and gave her the kiss, and she agreed to run

away with him, but begged with many tears that he would

let her take leave of her father. At irst he refused, but she

wept still more and more, and fell at his feet, till at last he

consented; but the moment she came to her father’s house

the guards awoke and he was taken prisoner again.

hen he was brought before the king, and the king said,

‘You shall never have my daughter unless in eight days you

dig away the hill that stops the view from my window.’ Now

this hill was so big that the whole world could not take it

away: and when he had worked for seven days, and had

done very little, the fox came and said. ‘Lie down and go

to sleep; I will work for you.’ And in the morning he awoke

and the hill was gone; so he went merrily to the king, and

told him that now that it was removed he must give him the

princess.

hen the king was obliged to keep his word, and away

went the young man and the princess; and the fox came and

said to him, ‘We will have all three, the princess, the horse,

and the bird.’ ‘Ah!’ said the young man, ‘that would be a

great thing, but how can you contrive it?’

‘If you will only listen,’ said the fox, ‘it can be done. When

you come to the king, and he asks for the beautiful prin-

cess, you must say, ‘Here she is!’ hen he will be very joyful;

and you will mount the golden horse that they are to give

you, and put out your hand to take leave of them; but shake

hands with the princess last. hen lit her quickly on to the

horse behind you; clap your spurs to his side, and gallop

away as fast as you can.’

All went right: then the fox said, ‘When you come to the

castle where the bird is, I will stay with the princess at the

door, and you will ride in and speak to the king; and when

he sees that it is the right horse, he will bring out the bird;

but you must sit still, and say that you want to look at it, to

see whether it is the true golden bird; and when you get it

into your hand, ride away.’

his, too, happened as the fox said; they carried of the

bird, the princess mounted again, and they rode on to a

Grimms’ Fairy Tales

Free eBooks at Planet eBook.com

great wood. hen the fox came, and said, ‘Pray kill me, and

cut of my head and my feet.’ But the young man refused to

do it: so the fox said, ‘I will at any rate give you good coun-

sel: beware of two things; ransom no one from the gallows,

and sit down by the side of no river.’ hen away he went.

‘Well,’ thought the young man, ‘it is no hard matter to keep

that advice.’

He rode on with the princess, till at last he came to the

village where he had let his two brothers. And there he

heard a great noise and uproar; and when he asked what

was the matter, the people said, ‘Two men are going to be

hanged.’ As he came nearer, he saw that the two men were

his brothers, who had turned robbers; so he said, ‘Cannot

they in any way be saved?’ But the people said ‘No,’ unless

he would bestow all his money upon the rascals and buy

their liberty. hen he did not stay to think about the mat-

ter, but paid what was asked, and his brothers were given up,

and went on with him towards their home.

And as they came to the wood where the fox irst met

them, it was so cool and pleasant that the two brothers said,

‘Let us sit down by the side of the river, and rest a while, to

eat and drink.’ So he said, ‘Yes,’ and forgot the fox’s counsel,

and sat down on the side of the river; and while he suspect-

ed nothing, they came behind, and threw him down the

bank, and took the princess, the horse, and the bird, and

went home to the king their master, and said. ‘All this have

we won by our labour.’ hen there was great rejoicing made;

but the horse would not eat, the bird would not sing, and

the princess wept.

he youngest son fell to the bottom of the river’s bed:

luckily it was nearly dry, but his bones were almost broken,

and the bank was so steep that he could ind no way to get

out. hen the old fox came once more, and scolded him for

not following his advice; otherwise no evil would have be-

fallen him: ‘Yet,’ said he, ‘I cannot leave you here, so lay hold

of my tail and hold fast.’ hen he pulled him out of the river,

and said to him, as he got upon the bank, ‘Your brothers

have set watch to kill you, if they ind you in the kingdom.’

So he dressed himself as a poor man, and came secretly to

the king’s court, and was scarcely within the doors when

the horse began to eat, and the bird to sing, and princess let

of weeping. hen he went to the king, and told him all his

brothers’ roguery; and they were seized and punished, and

he had the princess given to him again; and ater the king’s

death he was heir to his kingdom.

A long while ater, he went to walk one day in the wood,

and the old fox met him, and besought him with tears in his

eyes to kill him, and cut of his head and feet. And at last

he did so, and in a moment the fox was changed into a man,

and turned out to be the brother of the princess, who had

been lost a great many many years.

Grimms’ Fairy Tales

Free eBooks at Planet eBook.com

Plik z chomika:

Inne pliki z tego folderu:

Inne foldery tego chomika: