THERE was once a young huntsman who went to the forest in search of game. He was light-hearted and merry, and he whistled a gay tune as he went along. By and by he met an ugly old woman, who said: “Good morning, huntsman. You are well fed and happy, while I am hungry and sad. Give me an alms, I pray you.”
The huntsman pitied the poor old woman, and he put his hand in his pocket and gave her what he could afford. Then he started to go on, but the old woman stopped him, and said: “Hark you, dear huntsman, I will make you a present because of your good heart. Go on your way, and you will soon come to a tree on which sit nine birds quarreling over a cloak. Take aim with your gun, and shoot into the midst of them. They will drop the cloak, and one of the birds will fall down dead. Take the cloak with you. It is a wishing-cloak. When you throw it round your shoulders, you have only to wish yourself at a place to be there at once. Cut open the dead bird, and you will find a ring inside. Wear it on your finger, and each morning there will be a gold piece under your pillow.”
The huntsman thanked the old woman, and thought, “She promises fine things, and I hope it will all turn out as she says.”
When he had gone about a hundred paces, he heard above him, in the branches of a tree, a great chattering and screaming. He looked up and saw a group of birds pulling at a cloak with their beaks and claws. It was evident from the snatching and tugging that each bird wanted the garment for itself.
“Well,” said the huntsman, “this is extraordinary, and it is just what the old woman said I would see.”
He put his gun to his shoulder, took aim, and fired. Away went the birds with a great noise and scattering of feathers—all except one, which fell down dead, and at the same time the cloak dropped at the huntsman’s feet. He cut open the bird and found a ring inside and put it on his finger. Then he took the cloak and went home.
When he awoke the next morning he remembered the old woman’s promise and looked under his pillow. Sure enough, there lay a shining gold coin, and on the morning following he found another, and thus it was every morning. Gradually, he collected quite a heap of gold, and at last he said to himself: “What is the good of all this gold to me if I stay at home? I will go and look about in the world.”
So he took leave of his parents, shouldered his gun, and set out on his travels. One day a turn in the road brought into view a magnificent castle. An old woman and a beautiful girl were looking out from an upper window. The old woman was a witch, and the maiden was her daughter. “Here comes some one,” said she, “who has a magic ring on his finger. We must try to get it, my darling. It is better suited to us than to him. Whoever wears that ring finds a gold coin every morning under the pillow. You must get it from him or it will be the worse for you.”
She then withdrew, but the maiden remained looking out of the window. When the huntsman got nearer he saw her, and said to himself: “I am weary with traveling. I will stop at this fine castle and rest.” But he would not have felt such an urgent need of stopping if he had not seen the maiden.
He was kindly received and hospitably entertained, and he was soon so in love with the daughter of the witch that she was constantly in his thoughts, and he cared for nothing but pleasing her.
At length the witch decided on a plan for getting the ring. She concocted a drink that would make the huntsman insensible, put it in a goblet, and said to her daughter: “Carry this to the youth, and get his ring. He will not miss it.”
The maiden went to the huntsman, and said, “My dearest, here is a pleasant drink we have prepared for you.”
He took the goblet and drank what was in it, and soon it overpowered him and she secured the magic ring. After that the huntsman found no more gold under his pillow; but the maiden wore the ring every night, and the coin was under her pillow instead, and each morning the old woman used to come and get it. However, he did not trouble himself about the matter, and was content to enjoy the maiden’s company.
One day the old woman said to her daughter: “We have got the ring, but we must have his wishing-cloak, too.”
“Let us leave him that,” said the maiden. “Have we not done enough in taking away his means of getting riches?”
That made the old woman very angry, and she said, “The cloak is so rare and wonderful a thing that I am determined to have it, and I shall punish you unless you get it for me.”
The maiden seated herself at a window and looked sadly out at a distant blue mountain. Soon the huntsman joined her and asked, “Why are you so sad?”
“Alas! my sweetheart,” said she, “over there is the granite mountain, on which are great quantities of precious stones. I long for those precious stones so much that I grow melancholy whenever I think of them. But who can ever get them, except perhaps the birds, for the mountain-sides are too steep to climb.”
“If that is all your trouble,” said the huntsman, “I have a remedy for it.”
Then he drew her under his cloak and wished to be on the granite mountain, and they were there almost instantly. Precious stones glittered all around them and rejoiced their sight, and they eagerly gathered some of the largest and finest. But the witch had cast a spell on the huntsman, and a great drowsiness began to come over him. He said to the maiden, “We will sit down and rest a while, for I am so tired I can hardly stand.”
They sat down, and he laid his head on her lap, and went to sleep. Then the maiden slipped the cloak off his shoulders and put it on her own, loaded herself with the precious stones, and wished herself at home.
By and by the huntsman awoke and realized that his beloved had betrayed him and left him alone on the wild mountain. “Oh, what treachery there is in the world!” he exclaimed, and he sat there overwhelmed with grief and knew not what to do.
The mountain belonged to some savage and mighty giants, and before long he saw three of them striding toward him. He hastily lay down and pretended to be fast asleep. The first one, when he came to where the huntsman was, kicked him, and said, “What kind of an earthworm is this?”
“Tread on him and kill him,” said the second.
But the third said contemptuously: “That is not worth while. Let him alone. He will soon die here, or if he climbs higher up the mountain the clouds will carry him away.”
Then they went off, and the huntsman got up and climbed to the top of the mountain. After he had sat there for a time, a cloud came sweeping by, and it caught him up and floated away through the air with him. At last, in the dusk of evening, it made a gentle descent and deposited him in a large walled garden. He looked around and said: “I wish I had something to eat. After traveling so far I am very hungry. But here I see not a single apple or berry, or any other fruit—nothing, only cabbages, some of them green and some pink. As there is no other food to be had I will try one of the cabbages, and I think it may refresh me, even if I don’t like the taste of it.”
TO HIS HORROR HE PERCEIVED THAT HE HAD BEEN TRANSFORMED INTO A DONKEY
So he selected a tender head of green cabbage and started to eat. But he had scarcely taken a couple of bites when he felt a wondrous change come over him. His head grew big and shaggy, and his ears long and hairy, and his arms became legs, and he had hoofs instead of hands and feet. To his horror he perceived that he had been transformed into a donkey. Soon he resumed eating, for his appetite had not been appeased, and the juicy cabbages were now much to his liking. Presently he tried one of the pink cabbages. Immediately he felt a new change taking place, and soon found he had resumed his human form.
Now he lay down and slept off his fatigue. When he awoke it was morning, and he broke off a head of the green cabbage and a head of the pink cabbage, and thought: “I will take these along. They may be of use to me.”
Then he clambered over the wall and went off in search of the witch’s castle. After wandering about for a few days he was fortunate enough to find it. But before he showed himself he stained his face and disguised himself as a countryman. Even his own mother would not have known him. That done, he went to the castle and begged for a night’s lodging.
“Who are you?” asked the witch, “and what is your business?”
“I am a messenger from the king,” he replied. “His Majesty sent me to seek the most delicate cabbages that grow on earth. I have been successful in securing two heads, but the sun shines so warm I am afraid the tender leaves will wither and that I would waste my efforts to go any farther with them.”
When the old witch heard about these precious cabbages she was anxious to eat of them herself, and she became very agreeable in her manner toward the wanderer, and said, “Good countryman, let me taste the wonderful cabbages.”
“By all means,” said he. “You shall have one of them,” and he handed her the green cabbage.
She took it to the kitchen, and with her own hands prepared a salad for her household. But when it was ready for the table she could wait no longer, and put some of it in her mouth and began eating. Immediately the charm worked, and she became an old, gray donkey and ran out into the courtyard.
Presently the servant maid entered the kitchen. She saw the cabbage salad on the table and took it up to carry it to the dining-hall. But on the way, in accord with her usual habit, she tasted of it. At once she turned into a donkey, dropped the dish, and ran out to join the other donkey.
In the meantime, the disguised huntsman sat with the beautiful maiden. She asked him about the wonderful cabbage, and expressed an eager desire to eat some of it.
“I will go to the kitchen and see if it is ready,” said he.
But on the way thither he found the salad on the floor with scattered fragments of the dish that had contained it. Then he looked out of a window and saw the two donkeys running about in the courtyard. “Very good,” said he, and he put the salad in a fresh dish and carried it to the maiden.
“I have brought you this precious salad myself,” said he, “so that you will not have to wait any longer.”
Thereupon she ate some, and lost her human form, and ran out to the courtyard. The huntsman washed the stain from his face, and went out and addressed the donkeys. “Now,” said he, “you see plainly who I am, and I would have you know that I am going to punish you for your treachery.”
He tied them together with a rope, and drove them along the highway until he came to a mill. There he stopped and tapped on a window. The miller put his head out and asked what he wanted.
“I have three bad animals here,” said he, “and I want to get rid of them. If you will take them and feed and treat them as I wish, I will pay you whatever you say is fair for your trouble.”
“All right,” said the miller. “How shall I treat them?”
The huntsman said he would have the old donkey, which was the witch, well beaten three times a day and fed once. Then he pointed out the one which was the servant lass, and said, “Beat that one once and feed it three times; and this other you are not to beat at all. It is to receive good care and plenty to eat;” for he could not make up his mind to cause the fair maiden pain.
He returned to the castle and made himself very comfortable there. A few days later the miller came and told him the old gray donkey was dead. On learning this the huntsman took pity on the two other beasts, and had the miller bring them back to him. As soon as they came he gave them some of the pink cabbage to eat, and one promptly became the servant maid, and the other the beautiful daughter of the witch, just as they were before they ate of the green cabbage.
The beautiful maiden fell on her knees at the feet of the huntsman, and said: “Oh, my beloved, forgive all the wrong I have done you. My mother compelled me to do it against my will, for I love you with my whole heart. Your wishing-cloak hangs in one of the closets, and I will get your ring for you, too.”
“Keep the ring,” said he. “I intend to make you my bride, and we will enjoy our riches together.”
Soon afterward they were married, and they lived happily to the end of their lives.