The Turnip Princess and Other Newly Discovered Fairy Tales (Penguin Classics) (14 page)

There once lived a fisherman who had three sons. He sent them out into the world to seek their fortunes, and he was curious to learn which one would return as the wealthiest.

The sons had learned about an enchanted castle not far from where they lived, and they were hoping to recover all kinds of treasures from it. On the way they passed a forest, and there the two elder brothers separated from the youngest. He was supposed to go into the woods, which were not quite safe, while they marched on to the castle.

The brothers were standing at the entrance to the castle, and they heard the song of a little bird hopping around on the branch of a tree: “Happy as you go in, sad when you leave!” The two fellows paid no attention to the words and went into the castle. Its walls were lined with figures of iron and stone. All the doors were shut tight, but one suddenly opened, as if on its own. The brothers walked in and saw an old man standing before them. His long white beard was wrapped around his arm three times. He asked what they wanted.

“We are the sons of a fisherman who sent us out to seek our fortunes. We came here in search of the treasures in the castle.”

“My dear fellows, I am the custodian of the treasures, but I can only give them to the person who can answer three questions. The treasures belong to a princess who lives in a castle high in the mountains surrounded by a lake. There is no chance of finding a way in. She alone has the answers, and without her help you won’t be able to answer the questions.”

The two brothers asked to hear the questions. Perhaps they would be able to answer them on their own. “I advise you to leave now,” the man said, “for if you fail to answer the third question, you will be turned into stone or iron, just like the statues you see here. You won’t be able to leave once I have asked the second question.”

And then he began posing the questions:

“How many fish are in the lake?”

“How many birds in the land?”

“How long has my beard been white?”

“You have until sundown, not much time.”

The younger of the two fellows didn’t think he would know the answers, and he had already left. But the elder stayed and wanted to answer the questions. He was not able to give the right answers and was turned into an iron statue.

In the meantime, Hans, the youngest of the three, was trudging through the woods. He had helped his father catch fish, and that was the only skill he had. Near a lake he discovered a palace. He sat down and began worrying about what the future would hold for him. His stomach began growling and so he decided to try to catch some fish in the lake. Before long he caught a glittering fish with golden scales. When he unhooked it from his fishing pole, it began speaking and begged for its life. The good-natured lad threw the fish back in the water. After a little while, it put its head back up above the surface and said: “My dear boy, if you ever need anything, just call me and I will come help you.”

Hans was astonished, but he continued fishing and managed to catch a few fish and roast them up for supper. Finally, he decided to return home, but he couldn’t find the way back. The lake was straight ahead and behind him the dark woods. He called out:

“Little fish, little fish, down in the waters!”

The fish came swimming up to the surface. “What do you want of me, Hans Dudeldee?”

Hans explained that he was lost and needed to find a place to sleep for the night.

“Climb up on my back; I’ll take you to her!”

“To whom?”

“Just wait and see; come and follow me!”

Hans climbed up on the back of the golden fish, which grew in size under him and carried him to a dazzling palace, splendidly furnished. A toad was soaking in an aromatic bath and said: “Oh, my dear Dudeldee, I’ve waited nearly a thousand years for you, and now you are finally here! I am a princess who was enchanted, and no one has been able to set me free. When they have the courage to try, they end up drowning. I know just how many people have been turned to stone in my castle, only because they tried to answer the questions that the castle guard posed. I alone have the magic mirror in which the answers appear. But the evil fairy that cursed me locked the mirror in a cabinet and then threw the key into the lake. If you can fetch the key, the spell will be broken, and I can give you the mirror that will help you answer the questions and earn the riches in the castle.”

Hans had no idea how to find the key. Feeling down on his luck, he went over to the lake and began fishing. He threw all the little fish back into the water as soon as they asked him to. Then he remembered his little golden fish and called out: “Little fish, little fish, in the sea!”

And back came the call: “What do you want of me, Hans Dudeldee?”

The fish appeared, and Hans explained what he needed. The fish leaped out of the water three times and suddenly all the fish whose lives Hans had spared appeared. They deliberated for a few moments and then one after another disappeared. Hans was becoming concerned about how this would all end. But not much later he saw a bright shining object on the horizon coming closer and closer to him. The little fish were swimming together, carrying a gold chain on their backs, and hanging from it was the key.

Hans brought the key to the toad, who opened the cabinet and took out the mirror. The toad said: “Keep the mirror with you. Don’t show it to anyone and don’t let anyone steal it from you or you will die, and we will all remain enchanted. Go over
to the castle, and when the guard asks you the questions, say to the mirror:

‘Mirror, mirror, bright and clear,

Give me all the numbers here!

I’m a stranger from far away,

Here to plan my wedding day.’”

And so he reached the castle. He heard the little bird singing and marched right in, finding everything as his brother had reported. The gray man told him exactly what he had said to the brothers and warned him. Then he asked the first question:

“How many fish are in the lake?” The mirror showed him only a single fish. At that the old man’s beard unwound once from around his arm.

“How many birds are in the kingdom?” The mirror showed him only a single bird. At that the old man’s beard unwound a second time.

“How long has my beard been white?” The mirror showed him the number one thousand. And then the beard disappeared.

The old man was suddenly youthful, and the statues of iron and stone were liberated and returned to life. The castle was transformed. The princess was no longer a toad, and the little golden fish was her page, while the other little fish were her servants. They all told Hans how grateful they were to him for rescuing them.

Hans rode to the lake with the princess in a carriage, and a beautiful ship carried them to the castle, where they celebrated their marriage. The lucky pair visited Hans’s father and his brothers, and the couple lived happily and harmoniously together with them for many years.

There was once a king with a daughter named Barbara. She was so ugly that everyone made fun of her. She lived a lonely life.

One day she was up in her room feeling sad about her bad luck. Suddenly a gnome appeared before her and gave her three plums. He said to her: “March straight down to the sea and throw one of the plums into it. Two mermaids will rise up out of the water, bright as the sun. Throw the second plum into the sea and one of the two mermaids will come on land. She will be wearing a magical belt, and you should take it off her. When you throw the third plum into the water, the other mermaid will come on land. She will be wearing a necklace that can be yours as well. As soon as you put on the belt and necklace, you will become the most beautiful woman of all, as dazzling as the sun. If you wear the necklace as a belt and vice versa, you will become invisible. Make sure you don’t take off the belt and necklace, and above all else, don’t lose them. But come what may, I will still be there to help you.”

The princess did as she was told. She went over to the sea and threw a plum into the water. Two mermaids emerged from below. They were so dazzlingly beautiful that it hurt her eyes. She threw the second plum into the water, and one of the two women came out of the water and gave her the belt she was wearing. It would turn her into a queen. But she set one condition: Barbara would have to turn over her third child, when it turned three. Barbara threw the third plum into the water. The second mermaid came on land and gave her the necklace
in exchange for the most beautiful of her children. Barbara put on the belt and necklace and was declared to be the most beautiful in the land. She became queen. Whenever she walked on the grounds, she was as radiant as the sun, and the gardens around her looked like paradise.

Barbara gave birth to her third child, and it was a little boy, just as beautiful as the first two. When the boy turned three, the nursemaid took a walk with him near the sea. Suddenly one of the mermaids rose up from the water and grabbed the child. More children were born to the queen, and the sixth was a boy, the most beautiful of them all. The king loved him more than life itself. The queen put out an order that no one was to allow the child near water. One evening an old woman appeared, and she asked for shelter. A white veil hid her face. The stranger was given a place to sleep and stayed in the corner she had been given. When everyone was asleep, she took the boy and fled with him.

The king’s messengers were sent out to search for the boy, but they returned without any news. The queen had to confess how everything had come to pass. The king was furious and had the queen thrown in the water, into the very sea where she had acquired the belt and necklace. But the water could do nothing to her, and she did not even get damp. She sank down until she reached the splendid palace in which the mermaids lived, and there she found her two boys.

When the two mermaids decided to spend some time up on the surface of the water, the mother wore the necklace as a belt and vice versa. She became invisible and fled with the two boys, who had already started to grow webbed feet. The mermaids began to create a disturbance in the waves. They stirred up such powerful storms that it seemed as if everything would perish and go under. But at the king and queen’s palace there was nothing but joy.

A castellan was once asked why he had never married, and his reply was simple: “Once a young woman appeared to me in my dreams. She was so lovely and charming that I never found her equal on earth. Her image is in my heart. I remember everything perfectly, even the details about the place where I saw her in my dreams.”

One day he was sent on a journey by his master. He found lodging in a small garden house near a castle. The night was crisp and clear, with a bright moon. He had trouble falling asleep and decided to walk around in the garden. He went down a path, at the end of which was a well. He looked down into the well for a long time, and all at once he saw on the surface of the water the young woman of his dreams.

He walked back lost in thought, and he felt as if the young woman was walking right in front of him. When he opened the door to the garden house, he was astonished to see the beautiful woman standing before him. It did not take long for the two of them to move closer, and the castellan, madly in love with her, asked for her hand. She stayed with him, almost as if she had been his wife forever. The next morning, the castellan was upset that he had kept her with him all night. She just smiled and comforted him with the words: “Don’t worry. It was all going to happen sooner or later. Your kind is not like mine, but I will stay with you. Just don’t ask me where I come from!” And then she reached into the folds of her robe and, to his surprise, handed him some pearls and jewels.

They lived happily together. The children she bore made him even happier. When she was with child for the seventh time, she became anxious. A boy was born and she took care of him with more than the usual tenderness and affection.

When the boy turned twenty-five, the woman told her husband a secret that had been burdening her for some time now. “It’s time to reveal that I am a mermaid,” she said. “I have given birth to seven children. Six of them belong to you, but I promised to return the seventh to the waters after twenty-five years passed by. It was the only way to save the other children. Now I have to take leave of a child that I love more than anything else.”

The couple talked things over and decided to send their son away, warning him to stay away from the water. And so the young man went out into the world, and he was always careful to avoid being near water. But one day he decided to set sail on a ship. He was so eager to please a beautiful young girl he had met that he failed to heed his mother’s warning. The skies were bright blue, and the lake was completely placid, like a mirror. Suddenly the water began to churn, making big waves. The little ship began rocking violently back and forth, making everyone feel as if they were done for. The young man could no longer control the ship, and he jumped into the water. Right away he was embraced by a beautiful woman and taken down into the depths.

He found himself in the arms of a beautiful mermaid, and no one had to talk him into staying, for he had fallen under the spell of her beauty. But he felt sad when he thought of his mother at home. “You can show your face once a month by lifting your head above water,” the mermaid said tenderly. “Your mother will be invited to come see you, even though we should not let her, considering that she broke all her promises.”

Before long the young man forgot about his mother, despite what the mermaid had told him. He remembered his responsibilities only after a boy was born to his wife. He was planning to go up to the surface to see his mother, but it was no longer allowed.

Over time he had many children, and a seventh was born to
him. He could no longer restrain himself, and he rose up to the surface and could see a little ship passing by above him. A young woman had just married, and she looked just like his sister. When he put his ear up to the ship, he learned that the bride was his sister’s daughter. Overwhelmed by the desire to see his loved ones again and to return to land, he let his head emerge from the water. The bride recognized him. He began to howl and then quickly disappeared. At the spot where he had been there was now a pool of blood.

One day his mother, who was still grieving over her lost son, was strolling through the garden when she saw his corpse at the fountain. She knew exactly what had happened, and her time was over as well. She took the precious body and jumped down the well with it. They were never seen again.

The mermaid had had seven children in all, and after the seventh was drowned, she was allowed to remain young and beautiful for another three hundred years.