Household Tales | Page 3

(Der faule Heinz) 165 The Griffin (Der Vogel Greif) 166 Strong Hans (Der starke Hans) 167 The Peasant in Heaven (Das B��rle im Himmel) 168 Lean Lisa (Die hagere Liese) 169 The Hut in the Forest (Das Waldhaus) 170 Sharing Joy and Sorrow (Lieb und Leid teilen) 171 The Willow-Wren (Der Zaunk?nig) 172 The Sole [The Flounder] (Die Scholle) 173 The Bittern and Hoopoe (Rohrdommel und Wiedehopf) 174 The Owl (Die Eule) 175 The Moon (Der Mond) 176 The Duration of Life (Die Lebenszeit) 177 Death's Messengers (Die Boten des Todes) 178 Master Pfriem (Meister Pfriem) 179 The Goose-Girl at the Well (Die G?nsehirtin am Brunnen) 180 Eve's Various Children (Die ungleichen Kinder Evas) 181 The Nixie of the Mill-Pond (Die Nixe im Teich) 182 The Little Folks' Presents (Die Geschenke des kleinen Volkes) 183 The Giant and the Tailor (Der Riese und der Schneider) 184 The Nail (Der Nagel) 185 The Poor Boy in the Grave (Der arme Junge im Grab) 186 The True Sweetheart [The True Bride] (Die wahre Braut) 187 The Hare and the Hedgehog (Der Hase und der Igel) 188 The Spindle, the Shuttle, and the Needle (Spindel, Weberschiffchen und Nadel) 189 The Peasant and the Devil (Der Bauer und der Teufel) 190 The Crumbs on the Table (Die Brosamen auf dem Tisch) 191 The Sea-Hare (Das Meerh?schen) 192 The Master Thief (Der Meisterdieb) 193 The Drummer (Der Trommler) 194 The Ear of Corn (Die Korn?hre) 195 The Grave Mound (Der Grabh��gel) 196 Old Rinkrank (Oll Rinkrank) 197 The Crystal Ball (Die Kristallkugel) 198 Maid Maleen (Jungfrau Maleen) 199 The Boot of Buffalo Leather (Der Stiefel von B��ffelleder) 200 The Golden Key (Der goldene Schl��ssel)
Children's Legends
Legend 1 St. Joseph in the Forest (Der heilige Joseph im Walde) Legend 2 The Twelve Apostles (Die zw?lf Apostel) Legend 3 The Rose (Die Rose) Legend 4 Poverty and Humility Lead to Heaven (Armut und Demut f��hren zum Himmel) Legend 5 God's Food (Gottes Speise) Legend 6 The Three Green Twigs (Die drei gr��nen Zweige) Legend 7 Our Lady's Little Glass (Muttergottesgl?schen) Legend 8 The Aged Mother (Die alte M��tterchen) Legend 9 The Heavenly Wedding (Die himmlische Hochzeit) Legend 10 The Hazel Branch (Die Haselrute)
1 The Frog-King, or Iron Henry
In old times when wishing still helped one, there lived a king whose daughters were all beautiful, but the youngest was so beautiful that the sun itself, which has seen so much, was astonished whenever it shone in her face. Close by the King's castle lay a great dark forest, and under an old lime-tree in the forest was a well, and when the day was very warm, the King's child went out into the forest and sat down by the side of the cool fountain, and when she was dull she took a golden ball, and threw it up on high and caught it, and this ball was her favorite plaything.
Now it so happened that on one occasion the princess's golden ball did not fall into the little hand which she was holding up for it, but on to the ground beyond, and rolled straight into the water. The King's daughter followed it with her eyes, but it vanished, and the well was deep, so deep that the bottom could not be seen. On this she began to cry, and cried louder and louder, and could not be comforted. And as she thus lamented some one said to her, "What ails thee, King's daughter? Thou weepest so that even a stone would show pity." She looked round to the side from whence the voice came, and saw a frog stretching forth its thick, ugly head from the water. "Ah! old water-splasher, is it thou?" said she; "I am weeping for my golden ball, which has fallen into the well."
"Be quiet, and do not weep," answered the frog, "I can help thee, but what wilt thou give me if I bring thy plaything up again?" "Whatever thou wilt have, dear frog," said she---"My clothes, my pearls and jewels, and even the golden crown which I am wearing."
The frog answered, "I do not care for thy clothes, thy pearls and jewels, or thy golden crown, but if thou wilt love me and let me be thy companion and play-fellow, and sit by thee at thy little table, and eat off thy little golden plate, and drink out of thy little cup, and sleep in thy little bed---if thou wilt promise me this I will go down below, and bring thee thy golden ball up again."
"Oh yes," said she, "I promise thee all thou wishest, if thou wilt but bring me my ball back again." She, however, thought, "How the silly frog does talk! He lives in the water with the other frogs, and croaks, and can be no companion to any human