the brothers Grimm original stories

the 3 little men in the woods

There was once a man whose wife died, and a woman whose husband

died, and the man had a daughter, and the woman also had a

daughter. The girls were acquainted with each other, and went

out walking together, and afterwards came to the woman in her

house. Then said she to the man's daughter, listen, tell your

father that I would like to marry him, and then you shall

wash yourself in milk every morning, and drink wine, but my own

daughter shall wash herself in water and drink water. The girl

went home, and told her father what the woman had said. The

man said, what shall I do. Marriage is a joy and also a torment.

At length as he could come to no decision, he pulled off his boot,

and said, take this boot, it has a hole in the sole of it. Go with

it up to the loft, hang it on the big nail, and then pour water into

it. If it hold the water, then I will again take a wife, but if it

run through, I will not. The girl did as she was bid, but the water

drew the hole together and the boot became full to the top. She

informed her father how it had turned out. Then he himself went up,

and when he saw that she was right, he went to the widow and wooed

her, and the wedding was celebrated.

The next morning, when the two girls got up, there stood before

the man's daughter milk for her to wash in and wine for her to

drink, but before the woman's daughter stood water to wash

herself with and water for drinking. On the second morning, stood

water for washing and water for drinking before the man's

daughter as well as before the woman's daughter. And on the third

morning stood water for washing and water for drinking before the

man's daughter, and milk for washing and wine for drinking, before

the woman's daughter, and so it continued. The woman became her

step-daughter's bitterest enemy, and day by day did her best to

treat her still worse. She was also envious because her

step-daughter was beautiful and lovable, and her own daughter ugly

and repulsive.

Once, in winter, when everything was frozen as hard as a stone,

and hill and vale lay covered with snow, the woman made a frock

of paper, called her step-daughter, and said, here, put on this

dress and go out into the wood, and fetch me a little basketful of

strawberries - I have a fancy for some. Good heavens, said the

girl, no strawberries grow in winter. The ground is frozen, and

besides the snow has covered everything. And why am I to go in

this paper frock. It is so cold outside that one's very breath

freezes. The wind will blow through the frock, and the thorns