

The STRAW, The COAL, and the BEAN

THERE lived in a certain village a poor
old woman who had collected a mess of
beans, and was going to cook them. So
she made a fire on her hearth, and, in
order to make it burn better, she put in
a handful of straw. When the beans began
to bubble in the pot, one of them fell
out and lay, never noticed, near a straw
which was already there; soon a red-hot
coal jumped out of the fire and joined
the pair. The straw began first, and
said,

"Dear friends, how do you come here?"
The coal answered,

"I jumped out of the fire by great good
luck, or I should certainly have met
with my death. I should have been burned
to ashes." The bean said,

"I too have come out of it with a whole
skin, but if the old woman had kept me
in the pot I should have been cooked
into a soft mass like my comrades."

"Nor should I have met with a better
fate," said the straw; "the old woman
has turned my brothers into fire and
smoke, sixty of them she took up at once
and deprived of life. Very luckily I
managed to slip through her fingers."

"What had we better do now?" said the
coal.

"I think," answered the bean, "that as
we have been so lucky as to escape with
our lives, we will join in good
fellowship together, and, lest any more
bad fortune should happen to us here, we
will go abroad into foreign lands."

The proposal pleased the two others, and
forthwith they started on their travels.
Soon they came to a little brook, and as
there was no stepping-stone, and no
bridge, they could not tell how they
were to get to the other side. The straw
was struck with a good idea, and said,

"I will lay myself across, so that you
can go over me as if I were a bridge!"

So the straw stretched himself from one
bank to the other, and the coal, who was
of an ardent nature, quickly trotted up
to go over the new-made bridge. When,
however, she reached the middle, and
heard the water rushing past beneath
her, she was struck with terror, and
stopped, and could get no farther. So
the straw began to get burnt, broke in
two pieces, and fell in the brook, and
the coal slipped down, hissing as she
touched the water, and gave up the
ghost. The bean, who had prudently
remained behind on the bank, could not
help laughing at the sight, and not
being able to contain herself, went on
laughing so excessively that she burst.
And now would she certainly have been
undone for ever, if a tailor on his
travels had not by good luck stopped to
rest himself by the brook. As he had a
compassionate heart, he took out needle
and thread and stitched her together
again. The bean thanked him in the most
elegant manner, but as he had sewn her
up with black stitches, all beans since
then have a black seam.

 The KNAPSACK, the HAT, and the HORN

ONCE there were three brothers, and they
grew poorer and poorer, until at last
their need was so great that they had
nothing left to bite or to break. Then
they said, "This will not do; we had
better go out into the world and seek
our fortune."

So they set out, and went some distance
through many green fields, but they met
with no good fortune. One day they came
to a great wood, in the midst of which
was a hill, and when they came near to
it, they saw that it was all of silver.
Then said the eldest,

"Now here is good fortune enough for me,
and I desire no better."

And he took of the silver as much as he
could carry, turned round, and went back
home. But the other two said,

"We must have something better than mere
silver," and they would not touch it,
but went on farther. After they had gone
on a few days longer, they came to a
hill that was all of gold. The second
brother stood still and considered, and
was uncertain.

"What shall I do?" said he; "shall I
take of the gold enough to last me my
life, or shall I go farther?"

At last, coming to a conclusion, he
filled his pockets as full as they would
hold, bid good-bye to his brother, and
went home. But the third brother said to
himself,

"Silver and gold do not tempt me; I will
not gainsay fortune, who has better
things in store for me."

So he went on, and when he had journeyed
for three days, he came to a wood still
greater than the former ones, so that
there was no end to it; and in it he
found nothing to eat or to drink, so
that he was nearly starving. He got up
into a high tree, so as to see how far
the wood reached, but as far as his eyes
could see, there was nothing but the
tops of the trees. And as he got down
from the tree, hunger pressed him sore,
and he thought,

"Oh that for once I could have a good
meal!"

And when he reached the ground he saw to
his surprise a table beneath the tree
richly spread with food, and that smoked
before him.

"This time at least," said he, "I have
my wish," and without stopping to ask
who had brought the meal there, and who
had cooked it, he came close to the
table and ate with relish, until his
hunger was appeased. When he had
finished, he thought,

"It would be a pity to leave such a good
table-cloth behind in the wood," so he
folded it up neatly and pocketed it.
Then he walked on, and in the evening,
when hunger again seized him, he thought
he would put the table-cloth to the
proof, and he brought it out and said,

"Now I desire that thou shouldst be
spread with a good meal," and no sooner
were the words out of his mouth, than
there stood on it as many dishes of
delicious food as there was room for.

"Now that I see," said he, "what sort of
a cook thou art, I hold thee dearer than
the mountains of silver and of gold,"
for he perceived that it was a
wishing-cloth. Still he was not
satisfied to settle down at home with
only a wishing-cloth, so he determined
to wander farther through the world and
seek his fortune. One evening, in a
lonely wood, he came upon a begrimed
charcoal-burner at his furnace, who had
put some potatoes to roast for his
supper.

"Good evening, my black fellow," said
he, "how do you get on in this lonely
spot?"

"One day is like another," answered the
charcoal-burner: "every evening I have
potatoes; have you a mind to be my
guest?"

"Many thanks," answered the traveller,
"I will not deprive you; you did not
expect a guest; but if you do not
object, you shall be the one to be
invited."

"How can that be managed?" said the
charcoal-burner; "I see that you have
nothing with you, and if you were to
walk two hours in any direction, you
would meet with no one to give you
anything."

"For all that," answered he, "there
shall be a feast so good, that you have
never tasted the like."

Then he took out the table-cloth from
his knapsack, and spreading it on the
ground, said,

"Cloth, be covered," and immediately
there appeared boiled and roast meat,
quite hot, as if it had just come from
the kitchen. The charcoal-burner stared,
but did not stay to be asked twice, and
fell to, filling his black mouth with
ever bigger and bigger pieces. When they
had finished eating, the charcoal-burner
smiled, and said,

"Look here, I approve of your
table-cloth; it would not be a bad thing
for me to have here in the wood, where
the cooking is not first-rate. I will
strike a bargain with you. There hangs a
soldier's knapsack in the corner, which
looks old and unsightly, but it has
wonderful qualities; as I have no
further occasion for it, I will give it
to you in exchange for the
table-cloth."

"First, I must know what these wonderful
qualities are," returned the other.

"I will tell you," answered the
charcoal-burner; "if you strike it with
your hand, there will appear a corporal
and six men with swords and muskets, and
whatever you wish to have done, that
will they do."

"Well, for my part," said the other, "I
am quite willing to make the exchange."
And he gave the table-cloth to the
charcoal-burner, took down the knapsack
from its hook, slung it over his
shoulder, and took his leave. Before he
had gone far he began to want to make a
trial of his wonderful knapsack, so he
struck it a blow. At once seven soldiers
appeared before him, and the corporal
said,

"What does my lord and master please to
want?"

"March in haste to the charcoal-burner
and demand my wishing-cloth back," said
the man. They wheeled round to the left,
and were not long before they had
accomplished his desire, and taken away,
without wasting many words, the
wishing-cloth from the charcoal-burner.
Having dismissed them, he wandered on,
expecting still more wonderful luck.
About sunset he fell in with another
charcoal-burner, who was getting his
supper ready at the fire.

"Will you join me?" said this black
fellow; "potatoes and salt, without
butter; sit down to it with me."

"No," answered he, "this time you shall
be my guest." And he spread out his
table-cloth, and it was directly covered
with the most delicious victuals. So
they ate and drank together and were
merry. After the meal was over the
charcoal-burner said,

"Over there, on the bench, lies an old
worn-out hat, which has wonderful
properties: if you put it on and draw it
well over your head it is as if a dozen
field-pieces went off, one after the
other, shooting everything down, so that
no one can stand against them. This hat
is of no use to me, and I will give it
to you in exchange for the
table-cloth."

"All right," answered the other, taking
the hat and carrying it off, and leaving
the table-cloth behind him. Before he
had gone far he struck upon the
knapsack, and summoned his soldiers to
fetch back the table-cloth again.

"First one thing, and then another,"
thought he, "just as if my luck were
never to end." And so it seemed, for at
the end of another day's journey he came
up to another charcoal-burner, who was
roasting his potatoes just like the
others. He invited him to eat with him
off his wishing-cloth, to which the
charcoal-burner took such a fancy, that
he gave him for it a horn, which had
different properties still from the hat.
If a man blew on it down fell all walls
and fortresses, and finally towns and
villages in heaps. So the man gave the
table-cloth in exchange for it to the
charcoal-burner, afterwards sending his
men to fetch it back, so that at last he
had in his possession knapsack, hat, and
horn, all at one time.

"Now," said he, "I am a made man, and it
is time to go home again and see how my
brothers are faring."

When he reached home he found that his
brothers had built themselves a fine
house with their silver and gold, and
lived in clover. He went to see them,
but because he wore a half-worn-out
coat, a shabby hat, and the old knapsack
on his back, they would not recognise
him as their brother. They mocked him
and said,

"It is of no use your giving yourself
out to be our brother; he who scorned
silver and gold, seeking for better
fortune, will return in great splendour,
as a mighty king, not as a beggar-man."
And they drove him from their door. Then
he flew into a great rage, and struck
upon his knapsack until a hundred and
fifty men stood before him, rank and
file. He ordered them to surround his
brothers' house, and that two of them
should take hazel-rods, and should beat
the brothers until they knew who he was.
And there arose a terrible noise; the
people ran together and wished to rescue
the brothers in their extremity, but
they could do nothing against the
soldiers. It happened at last that the
king of the country heard of it, and he
was indignant, and sent a captain with
his troops to drive the disturber of the
peace out of the town: but the man with
his knapsack soon assembled a greater
company, who beat back the captain and
his people, sending them off with
bleeding noses. Then the king said,

"This vagabond fellow must be put down,"
and he sent the next day a larger
company against him, but they could do
nothing: for he assembled more men than
ever, and in order to bring them more
quickly, he pulled his hat twice lower
over his brows; then the heavy guns came
into play, and the king's people were
beaten and put to flight.

"Now," said he, "I shall not make peace
until the king gives me his daughter to
wife, and lets me rule the whole kingdom
in his name."

This he caused to be told to the king,
who said to his daughter,

"This is a hard nut to crack; there is
no choice but for me to do as he asks;
if I wish to have peace and keep the
crown on my head, I must give in to
him."

So the wedding took place, but the
king's daughter was angry that the
bridegroom should be a common man, who
wore a shabby hat, and carried an old
knapsack. She wished very much to get
rid of him, and thought day and night
how to manage it. Then it struck her
that perhaps all his wonder-working
power lay in the knapsack, and she
pretended to be very fond of him, and
when she had brought him into a good
humour she said,--"Pray lay aside that
ugly knapsack; it misbecomes you so much
that I feel ashamed of you."

"My dear child," answered he, "this
knapsack is my greatest treasure; so
long as I keep it I need not fear
anything in the whole world," and then
he showed her with what wonderful
qualities it was endowed. Then she fell
on his neck as if she would have kissed
him, but, by a clever trick, she slipped
the knapsack over his shoulder and ran
away with it. As soon as she was alone
she struck upon it and summoned the
soldiers, and bade them seize her
husband and bring him to the king's
palace. They obeyed, and the false woman
had many more to follow behind, so as to
be ready to drive him out of the
country. He would have been quite done
for if he had not still kept the hat. As
soon as he could get his hands free he
pulled it twice forward on his head; and
then the cannon began to thunder and
beat all down, till at last the king's
daughter had to come and to beg pardon.
And as she so movingly prayed and
promised to behave better, he raised her
up and made peace with her. Then she
grew very kind to him, and seemed to
love him very much, and he grew so
deluded, that one day he confided to her
that even if he were deprived of his
knapsack nothing could be done against
him as long as he should keep the old
hat. And when she knew the secret she
waited until he had gone to sleep; then
she carried off the hat, and had him
driven out into the streets. Still the
horn remained to him, and in great wrath
he blew a great blast upon it, and down
came walls and fortresses, towns and
villages, and buried the king and his
daughter among their ruins. If he had
not set down the horn when he did, and
if he had blown a little longer, all the
houses would have tumbled down, and
there would not have been left one stone
upon another. After this no one dared to
withstand him, and he made himself king
over the whole country.

 The MOUSE, the BIRD, and the SAUSAGE

ONCE on a time, a mouse and a bird and a
sausage lived and kept house together in
perfect peace among themselves, and in
great prosperity. It was the bird's
business to fly to the forest every day
and bring back wood. The mouse had to
draw the water, make the fire, and set
the table; and the sausage had to do the
cooking. Nobody is content in this
world: much will have more! One day the
bird met another bird on the way, and
told him of his excellent condition in
life. But the other bird called him a
poor simpleton to do so much work, while
the two others led easy lives at home.

When the mouse had made up her fire and
drawn water, she went to rest in her
little room until it was time to lay the
cloth. The sausage stayed by the
saucepans, looked to it that the
victuals were well cooked, and just
before dinner-time he stirred the broth
or the stew three or four times well
round himself, so as to enrich and
season and flavour it. Then the bird
used to come home and lay down his load,
and they sat down to table, and after a
good meal they would go to bed and sleep
their fill till the next morning. It
really was a most satisfactory life.

But the bird came to the resolution next
day never again to fetch wood: he had,
he said, been their slave long enough,
now they must change about and make a
new arrangement So in spite of all the
mouse and the sausage could say, the
bird was determined to have his own way.
So they drew lots to settle it, and it
fell so that the sausage was to fetch
wood, the mouse was to cook, and the
bird was to draw water.

Now see what happened. The sausage went
away after wood, the bird made up the
fire, and the mouse put on the pot, and
they waited until the sausage should
come home, bringing the wood for the
next day. But the sausage was absent so
long, that they thought something must
have happened to him, and the bird went
part of the way to see if he could see
anything of him. Not far off he met with
a dog on the road, who, looking upon the
sausage as lawful prey, had picked him
up, and made an end of him. The bird
then lodged a complaint against the dog
as an open and flagrant robber, but it
was all no good, as the dog declared
that he had found forged letters upon
the sausage, so that he deserved to lose
his life.

The bird then very sadly took up the
wood and carried it home himself, and
related to the mouse all he had seen and
heard. They were both very troubled, but
determined to look on the bright side of
things, and still to remain together.
And so the bird laid the cloth, and the
mouse prepared the food, and finally got
into the pot, as the sausage used to do,
to stir and flavour the broth, but then
she had to part with fur and skin, and
lastly with life!

And when the bird came to dish up the
dinner, there was no cook to be seen;
and he turned over the heap of wood, and
looked and looked, but the cook never
appeared again. By accident the wood
caught fire, and the bird hastened to
fetch water to put it out, but he let
fall the bucket in the well, and himself
after it, and as he could not get out
again, he was obliged to be drowned.


