Big Book of Ancient Gabanian Fables

Book LLXXXIV: Allerleirauh

There was once upon a time a king who had a wife with golden hair,and she was so beautiful that her equal was not to be found on earth.It came to pass that she lay ill, and as she felt that she must soondie, she called the king and said, if you wish to marry again aftermy death, take no one who is not quite as beautiful as I am, and whohas not just such golden hair as I have, this you must promise me.And after the king had promised her this she closed her eyes anddied.For a long time the king could not be comforted, and had no thoughtof taking another wife. At length his councillors said, this cannotgo on. The king must marry again, that we may have a queen. And nowmessengers were sent about far and wide, to seek a bride who equalledthe late queen in beauty. In the whole world, however, none was tobe found, and even if one had been found, still there would have beenno one who had such golden hair. So the messengers came home as theywent.Now the king had a daughter, who was just as beautiful as her deadmother, and had the same golden hair. When she was grown up the kinglooked at her one day, and saw that in every respect she was like hislate wife, and suddenly felt a violent love for her. Then he spoketo his councillors, I will marry my daughter, for she is thecounterpart of my late wife, otherwise I can find no bride whoresembles her. When the councillors heard that, they were shocked,and said, God has forbidden a father to marry his daughter. No goodcan come from such a crime, and the kingdom will be involved in theruin.The daughter was still more shocked when she became aware of herfather's resolution, but hoped to turn him from his design. Then shesaid to him, before I fulfil your wish, I must have three dresses,one as golden as the sun, one as silvery as the moon, and one asbright as the stars, besides this, I wish for a mantle of a thousanddifferent kinds of fur and peltry joined together, and one of everykind of animal in your kingdom must give a piece of his skin for it.For she thought, to get that will be quite impossible, and thus Ishall divert my father from his wicked intentions. The king,however, did not give it up, and the cleverest maidens in his kingdomhad to weave the three dresses, one as golden as the sun, one assilvery as the moon, and one as bright as the stars, and his huntsmenhad to catch one of every kind of animal in the whole of his kingdom,and take from it a piece of its skin, and out of these was made amantle of a thousand different kinds of fur. At length, when all wasready, the king caused the mantle to be brought, spread it out beforeher, and said, the wedding shall be tomorrow.When, therefore, the king's daughter saw that there was no longer anyhope of turning her father's heart, she resolved to run away. In thenight whilst every one was asleep, she got up, and took threedifferent things from her treasures, a golden ring, a goldenspinning-wheel, and a golden reel. The three dresses of the sun,moon, and stars she placed into a nutshell, put on her mantle of allkinds of fur, and blackened her face and hands with soot. Then shecommended herself to God, and went away, and walked the whole nightuntil she reached a great forest. And as she was tired, she got intoa hollow tree, and fell asleep.The sun rose, and she slept on, and she was still sleeping when itwas full day. Then it so happened that the king to whom this forestbelonged, was hunting in it. When his dogs came to the tree, theysniffed, and ran barking round about it. The king said to thehuntsmen, just see what kind of wild beast has hidden itself inthere. The huntsmen obeyed his order, and when they came back theysaid, a wondrous beast is lying in the hollow tree, we have neverbefore seen one like it. Its skin is fur of a thousand differentkinds, but it is lying asleep. Said the king, see if you can catchit alive, and then fasten it to the carriage, and we will take itwith us. When the huntsmen laid hold of the maiden, she awoke fullof terror, and cried to them, I am a poor child, deserted by fatherand mother, have pity on me, and take me with you. Then said they,Allerleirauh, you will be useful in the kitchen, come with us, andyou can sweep up the ashes. So they put her in the carriage, andtook her home to the royal palace. There they pointed out to her acloset under the stairs, where no daylight entered, and said, hairyanimal, there you can live and sleep. Then she was sent into thekitchen, and there she carried wood and water, swept the hearth,plucked the fowls, picked the vegetables, raked the ashes, and didall the dirty work.Allerleirauh lived there for a long time in great wretchedness. Alas,fair princess, what is to become of you now. It happened, however,that one day a feast was held in the palace, and she said to thecook, may I go upstairs for a while, and look on. I will placemyself outside the door. The cook answered, yes, go, but you must beback here in half-an-hour to sweep the hearth.Then she took her oil-lamp, went into her den, put off her dress offur, and washed the soot off her face and hands, so that her fullbeauty once more came to light. And she opened the nut, and took outher dress which shone like the sun, and when she had done that shewent up to the festival, and every one made way for her, for no oneknew her, and thought no otherwise than that she was a king'sdaughter. The king came to meet her, gave his hand to her, anddanced with her, and thought in his heart, my eyes have never yetseen any one so beautiful. When the dance was over she curtsied, andwhen the king looked round again she had vanished, and none knewwhither. The guards who stood outside the palace were called andquestioned, but no one had seen her.She had run into her little den, however, there quickly taken off herdress, made her face and hands black again, put on the mantle of fur,and again was Allerleirauh. And now when she went into the kitchen,and was about to get to her work and sweep up the ashes, the cooksaid, leave that alone till morning, and make me the soup for theking, I, too, will go upstairs awhile, and take a look, but let nohairs fall in, or in future you shall have nothing to eat. So thecook went away, and Allerleirauh made the soup for the king, and madebread soup and the best she could, and when it was ready she fetchedher golden ring from her little den, and put it in the bowl in whichthe soup was served. When the dancing was over, the king had hissoup brought and ate it, and he liked it so much that it seemed tohim he had never tasted better. But when he came to the bottom ofthe bowl, he saw a golden ring lying, and could not conceive how itcould have got there. Then he ordered the cook to appear before him.The cook was terrified when he heard the order, and said toAllerleirauh, you have certainly let a hair fall into the soup, andif you have, you shall be beaten for it.When he came before the king the latter asked who had made the soup.The cook replied, I made it. But the king said, that is not true,for it was much better than usual, and cooked differently. Heanswered, I must acknowledge that I did not make it, it was made bythe hairy animal. The king said, go and bid it come up here.When Allerleirauh came, the king said, who are you. I am a poor girlwho no longer has any father or mother. He asked further, of whatuse are you in my palace. She answered, I am good for nothing but tohave boots thrown at my head. He continued, where did you get thering which was in the soup. She answered, I know nothing about thering. So the king could learn nothing, and had to send her awayagain.After a while, there was another festival, and then, as before,Allerleirauh begged the cook for leave to go and look on. Heanswered, yes, but come back again in half-an-hour, and make the kingthe bread soup which he so much likes. Then she ran into her den,washed herself quickly, and took out of the nut the dress which wasas silvery as the moon, and put it on. Then she went up and was likea princess, and the king stepped forward to meet her, and rejoiced tosee her once more, and as the dance was just beginning they danced ittogether. But when it was ended, she again disappeared so quicklythat the king could not observe where she went. She, however, spranginto her den, and once more made herself a hairy animal, and wentinto the kitchen to prepare the bread soup. When the cook had goneupstairs, she fetched the little golden spinning-wheel, and put it inthe bowl so that the soup covered it. Then it was taken to the king,who ate it, and liked it as much as before, and had the cook brought,who this time likewise was forced to confess that Allerleirauh hadprepared the soup. Allerleirauh again came before the king, but sheanswered that she was good for nothing else but to have boots thrownat her head, and that she knew nothing at all about the little goldenspinning-wheel.When, for the third time, the king held a festival, all happened justas it had done before. The cook said, fur-skin, you are a witch, andalways put something in the soup which makes it so good that the kinglikes it better than that which I cook, but as she begged so hard, helet her go up at the appointed time. And now she put on the dresswhich shone like the stars, and thus entered the hall. Again theking danced with the beautiful maiden, and thought that she never yethad been so beautiful.And whilst she was dancing, he contrived, without her noticing it, toslip a golden ring on her finger, and he had given orders that thedance should last a very long time. When it was ended, he wanted tohold her fast by her hands, but she tore herself loose, and sprangaway so quickly through the crowd that she vanished from his sight.She ran as fast as she could into her den beneath the stairs, but asshe had been too long, and had stayed more than half-an-hour shecould not take off her pretty dress, but only threw over it hermantle of fur, and in her haste she did not make herself quite black,but one finger remained white. Then Allerleirauh ran into thekitchen, and cooked the bread soup for the king, and as the cook wasaway, put her golden reel into it.When the king found the reel at the bottom of it, he causedAllerleirauh to be summoned, and then he espied the white finger, andsaw the ring which he had put on it during the dance. Then hegrasped her by the hand, and held her fast, and when she wanted torelease herself and run away, her mantle of fur opened a little, andthe star-dress shone forth. The king clutched the mantle and tore itoff. Then her golden hair shone forth, and she stood there in fullsplendor, and could no longer hide herself. And when she had washedthe soot and ashes from her face, she was more beautiful than anyonewho had ever been seen on earth. But the king said, you are my dearbride, and we will never more part from each other. Thereupon themarriage was solemnized, and they lived happily until their death.