The Griffin 怪鸟格莱弗

There was once upon a time a King, but where he reigned and what
he was called, I do not know. He had no son, but an only daughter
who had always been ill, and no doctor had been able to cure her.
Then it was foretold to the King that his daughter should eat herself
well with an apple. So he ordered it to be proclaimed throughout
the whole of his kingdom, that whosoever brought his daughter an
apple with which she could eat herself well, should have her to wife,
and be King. This became known to a peasant who had three sons,
and he said to the eldest, "Go out into the garden and take a basketful
of those beautiful apples with the red cheeks and carry them to the court;
perhaps the King's daughter will be able to eat herself well with them,
and then thou wilt marry her and be King." The lad did so, and set
out.

When he had gone a short way he met a little iron man who asked him
what he had there in the basket, to which replied Uele, for so was
he named, "Frogs' legs." On this the little man said, "Well, so
shall it be, and remain," and went away. At length Uele arrived at
the palace, and made it known that he had brought apples which
would cure the King's daughter if she ate them. This delighted the
King hugely, and he caused Uele to be brought before him; but,
alas! when he opened the basket, instead of having apples in it he
had frogs' legs which were still kicking about. On this the King
grew angry, and had him driven out of the house. When he got
home he told his father how it had fared with him. Then the father
sent the next son, who was called Seame, but all went with him just
as it had gone with Uele. He also met the little iron man,
who asked what he had there in the basket. Seame said, "Hogs'
bristles," and the iron man said, "well, so shall it be, and remain."
When Seame got to the King's palace and said he brought apples
with which the King's daughter might eat herself well, they did not
want to let him go in, and said that one fellow had already been
there, and had treated them as if they were fools. Seame, however,
maintained that he certainly had the apples, and that they ought
to let him go in. At length they believed him, and led him to the
King. But when he uncovered the basket, he had but hogs' bristles.
This enraged the King most terribly, so he caused Seame to be whipped
out of the house. When he got home he related all that had befallen
him, then the youngest boy, whose name was Hans, but who was
always called Stupid Hans, came and asked his father if he might go
with some apples. "Oh!" said the father, "thou wouldst be just the
right fellow for such a thing! If the clever ones can't manage it,
what canst thou do?" The boy, however, did not believe him, and
said, "Indeed, father, I wish to go." "Just get away, thou stupid fellow,
thou must wait till thou art wiser," said the father to that, and
turned his back. Hans, however, pulled at the back of his smock-
frock and said, "Indeed, father, I wish to go." "Well, then, so far
as I am concerned thou mayst go, but thou wilt soon come home
again!" replied the old man in a spiteful voice. The boy, however,
was tremendously delighted and jumped for joy. "Well, act like a
fool! thou growest more stupid every day!" said the father again.
Hans, however, did not care about that, and did not let it spoil his
pleasure, but as it was then night, he thought he might as well wait
until the morrow, for he could not get to court that day. All night
long he could not sleep in his bed, and if he did doze for a moment,
he dreamt of beautiful maidens, of palaces, of gold, and of silver, and
all kinds of things of that sort. Early in the morning, he went forth on
his way, and directly afterwards the little shabby-looking man in his iron
clothes, came to him and asked what he was carrying in the basket.
Hans gave him the answer that he was carrying apples with which
the King's daughter was to eat herself well. "Then," said the little man,
"so shall they be, and remain." But at the court they would none of
them let Hans go in, for they said two had already been there who
had told them that they were bringing apples, and one of them had
frogs' legs, and the other hogs' bristles. Hans, however, resolutely
maintained that he most certainly had no frogs' legs, but some of the
most beautiful apples in the whole kingdom. As he spoke so pleasantly,
the door-keeper thought he could not be telling a lie, and asked him
to go in, and he was right, for when Hans uncovered his basket in the
King's presence, golden-yellow apples came tumbling out. The King
was delighted, and caused some of them to be taken to his daughter,
and then waited in anxious expectation until news should be brought
to him of the effect they had. But before much time had passed by,
news was brought to him: but who do you think it was who came? it
was his daughter herself! As soon as she had eaten of those apples, she
was cured, and sprang out of her bed. The joy the King felt cannot be
described! but now he did not want to give his daughter in marriage to
Hans, and said he must first make him a boat which would go quicker
on dry land than on water. Hans agreed to the conditions, and went
home, and related how it had fared with him. Then the father sent Uele
into the forest to make a boat of that kind. He worked diligently, and
whistled all the time. At mid-day, when the sun was at the highest, came
the little iron man and asked what he was making? Uele gave him for
answer, "Wooden bowls for the kitchen." The iron man said, "So it shall
be, and remain." By evening Uele thought he had now made the boat, but
when he wanted to get into it, he had nothing but wooden bowls. The
next day Seame went into the forest, but everything went with him just
as it had done with Uele. On the third day Stupid Hans went. He worked
away most industriously, so that the whole forest resounded with the heavy
strokes, and all the while he sang and whistled right merrily. At mid-day,
when it was the hottest, the little man came again, and asked what he
was making? "A boat which will go quicker on dry land than on the
water," replied Hans, " and when I have finished it, I am to have the
King's daughter for my wife." "Well," said the little man, "such an one
shall it be, and remain." In the evening, when the sun had turned into
gold, Hans finished his boat, and all that was wanted for it. He got into
it and rowed to the palace. The boat went as swiftly as the wind. The
King saw it from afar, but would not give his daughter to Hans yet, and
said he must first take a hundred hares out to pasture from early morning
until late evening, and if one of them got away, he should not have his
daughter. Hans was contented with this, and the next day went with his
flock to the pasture, and took great care that none of them ran away.
Before many hours had passed came a servant from the palace, and
told Hans that he must give her a hare instantly, for some visitors had
come unexpectedly. Hans, however, was very well aware what that
meant, and said he would not give her one; the King might set some
hare soup before his guest next day. The maid, however, would not
believe in his refusal, and at last she began to get angry with him. Then
Hans said that if the King's daughter came herself, he would give her a
hare. The maid told this in the palace, and the daughter did go herself.
In the meantime, however, the little man came again to Hans, and asked
him what he was doing there? He said he had to watch over a hundred
hares and see that none of them ran away, and then he might marry the
King's daughter and be King. "Good," said the little man, "there is a
whistle for thee, and if one of them runs away, just whistle with it, and
then it will come back again." When the King's daughter came, Hans
gave her a hare into her apron; but when she had gone about a hundred
steps with it, he whistled, and the hare jumped out of the apron, and
before she could turn round was back to the flock again. When the
evening came the hare-herd whistled once more, and looked to see if
all were there, and then drove them to the palace. The King wondered
how Hans had been able to take a hundred hares to graze without losing
any of them; he would, however, not give him his daughter yet, and said
he must now bring him a feather from the Griffin's tail. Hans set out at
once, and walked straight forwards. In the evening he came to a castle,
and there he asked for a night's lodging, for at that time there were no
inns. The lord of the castle promised him that with much pleasure, and
asked where he was going? Hans answered, "To the Griffin." "Oh! to
the Griffin! They tell me he knows everything, and I have lost the key of
an iron money-chest; so you might be so good as to ask him where it is."
"Yes, indeed," said Hans, "I will do that." Early the next morning he went
onwards, and on his way arrived at another castle in which he again stayed
the night. When the people who lived there learnt that he was going to the
Griffin, they said they had in the house a daughter who was ill, and that
they had already tried every means to cure her, but none of them had
done her any good, and he might be so kind as to ask the Griffin what
would make their daughter healthy again? Hans said he would willingly
do that, and went onwards. Then he came to a lake, and instead of a
ferry-boat, a tall, tall man was there who had to carry everybody across.
The man asked Hans whither he was journeying? "To the Griffin," said
Hans. "Then when you get to him," said the man, "just ask him why I am
forced to carry everybody over the lake." "Yes, indeed, most certainly
I'll do that," said Hans. Then the man took him up on his shoulders, and
carried him across. At length Hans arrived at the Griffin's house, but the
wife only was at home, and not the Griffin himself. Then the woman
asked him what he wanted? Thereupon he told her everything;--that he
had to get a feather out of the Griffin's tail, and that there was a castle
where they had lost the key of their money-chest, and he was to ask the
Griffin where it was?--that in another castle the daughter was ill, and
he was to learn what would cure her?--and then not far from thence
there was a lake and a man beside it, who was forced to carry people
across it, and he was very anxious to learn why the man was obliged
to do it. Then said the woman, "But look here, my good friend, no
Christian can speak to the Griffin; he devours them all; but if you like,
you can lie down under his bed, and in the night, when he is quite fast
asleep, you can reach out and pull a feather out of his tail, and as for
those things which you are to learn, I will ask about them myself." Hans
was quite satisfied with this, and got under the bed. In the evening, the
Griffin came home, and as soon as he entered the room, said, "Wife, I
smell a Christian." "Yes," said the woman, "one was here to-day, but
he went away again;" and on that the Griffin said no more.
In the middle of the night when the Griffin was snoring loudly, Hans
reached out and plucked a feather from his tail. The Griffin woke up
instantly, and said, "Wife, I smell a Christian, and it seems to me that
somebody was pulling at my tail." His wife said, "Thou hast certainly
been dreaming, and I told thee before that a Christian was here to-day,
but that he went away again. He told me all kinds of things that in
one castle they had lost the key of their money-chest, and could find
it nowhere." "Oh! the fools!" said the Griffin; "the key lies in the wood-
house under a log of wood behind the door." "And then he said that in
another castle the daughter was ill, and they knew no remedy that would
cure her." "Oh! the fools!" said the Griffin; "under the cellar-steps a toad
has made its nest of her hair, and if she got her hair back she would be well."
"And then he also said that there was a place where there was a lake and
a man beside it who was forced to carry everybody across." "Oh, the fool!"
said the Griffin; "if he only put one man down in the middle, he would never
have to carry another across." Early the next morning the Griffin got up and
went out. Then Hans came forth from under the bed, and he had a
beautiful feather, and had heard what the Griffin had said about the
key, and the daughter, and the ferry-man. The Griffin's wife repeated
it all once more to him that he might not forget it, and then he went
home again. First he came to the man by the lake, who asked him
what the Griffin had said, but Hans replied that he must first carry
him across, and then he would tell him. So the man carried him across,
and when he was over Hans told him that all he had to do was to set one
person down in the middle of the lake, and then he would never have to
carry over any more. The man was hugely delighted, and told Hans that
out of gratitude he would take him once more across, and back again.
But Hans said no, he would save him the trouble, he was quite satisfied
already, and pursued his way. Then he came to the castle where the
daughter was ill; he took her on his shoulders, for she could not walk,
and carried her down the cellar-steps and pulled out the toad's nest from
beneath the lowest step and gave it into her hand, and she sprang off his
shoulder and up the steps before him, and was quite cured. Then were
the father and mother beyond measure rejoiced, and they gave Hans gifts
of gold and of silver, and whatsoever else he wished for, that they gave
him. And when he got to the other castle he went at once into the wood-
house, and found the key under the log of wood behind the door, and took
it to the lord of the castle. He also was not a little pleased, and gave Hans
as a reward much of the gold that was in the chest, and all kinds of things
besides, such as cows, and sheep, and goats. When Hans arrived before
the King, with all these things--with the money, and the gold, and the silver
and the cows, sheep and goats, the King asked him how he had come by them.
Then Hans told him that the Griffin gave every one whatsoever he wanted.
So the King thought he himself could make such things useful, and set out
on his way to the Griffin; but when he got to the lake, it happened that he
was the very first who arrived there after Hans, and the man put him down
in the middle of it and went away, and the King was drowned. Hans, however,
married the daughter, and became King.