King Grisly Beard

A great king of a land
far away in the East
had a daughter who
was very beautiful, but
so proud and haughty
and conceited, that
none of the princes who
came to ask for her
hand in marriage was
good enough for her. All
she ever did was make
fun of them.
Once upon a time the
king held a great feast
and invited all her
suitors. They all sat in a
row, ranged according
to their rank -- kings
and princes and dukes
and earls and counts
and barons and knights.
When the princess
came in, as she passed
by them, she had
something spiteful to
say to each one.
The first was too
fat: 'He's as round as a
tub,' she said.
The next was too
tall: 'What a maypole!'
she said.
The next was too
short: 'What a
dumpling!' she said.
The fourth was too
pale, and she called him
'Wallface.'
The fifth was too
red, so she called him
'Coxcomb.'
The sixth was not
straight enough; so she
said he was like a green
stick that had been laid
to dry over a baker's
oven. She had some
joke to crack about
every one. But she
laughed most of all at a
good king who was
there.
'Look at him,' she
said; 'his beard is like an
old mop; he shall be
called Grisly-beard.' So
the king got the
nickname of Grisly-
beard.
But the old king was
very angry when he
saw how his daughter
behaved and how badly
she treated all his
guests. He vowed that,
willing or unwilling, she
would marry the first
man that came to the
door.
Two days later a
travelling fiddler came
by the castle. He began
to play under the
window and begged for
money and when the
king heard him, he said,
'Let him come in.'
< 2 >
So, they brought the
dirty-looking fellow in
and, when he had sung
before the king and the
princess, he begged for
a gift.
The king said, 'You
have sung so well that I
will give you my
daughter to take as
your wife.'
The princess begged
and prayed; but the king
said, 'I have sworn to
give you to the first
man who came to the
door, and I will keep my
word.'
Words and tears
were to no avail; the
parson was sent for,
and she was married to
the fiddler.
When this was over,
the king said, 'Now get
ready to leave -- you
must not stay here --
you must travel with
your husband.'
So the fiddler left
the castle, and took the
princess with him.
Soon they came to a
great wood.
'Pray,' she said,
'whose is this wood?'
'It belongs to King
Grisly-beard,' he
answered; 'hadst thou
taken him, all would
have been thine.'
'Ah! unlucky wretch
that I am!' she sighed;
'would that I had
married King Grisly-
beard!'
Next they came to
some fine meadows.
'Whose are these
beautiful green
meadows?' she said.
'They belong to King
Grisly-beard, hadst thou
taken him, they would
all have been thine.'
'Ah! unlucky wretch
that I am!' she said;
'would that I had
married King Grisly-
beard!'
Then they came to a
great city. 'Whose is
this noble city?' she
said.
'It belongs to King
Grisly-beard; hadst thou
taken him, it would all
have been thine.'
< 3 >
'Ah! wretch that I
am!' she sighed; 'why
did I not marry King
Grisly-beard?'
'That is no business
of mine,' said the
fiddler, 'why should you
wish for another
husband? Am I not
good enough for you?'
At last they came to
a small cottage. 'What a
paltry place!' she said;
'to whom does that
little dirty hole belong?'
The fiddler said,
'That is your and my
house, where we are to
live.'
'Where are your
servants?' she cried.
'What do we want
with servants?' he said;
'you must do for
yourself whatever is to
be done. Now make the
fire, and put on water
and cook my supper, for
I am very tired.'
But the princess
knew nothing of making
fires and cooking, and
the fiddler was forced
to help her.
When they had
eaten a very scanty
meal they went to bed;
but the fiddler called her
up very early in the
morning to clean the
house.
They lived like that
for two days and when
they had eaten up all
there was in the
cottage, the man said,
'Wife, we can't go on
thus, spending money
and earning nothing. You
must learn to weave
baskets.'
Then the fiddler
went out and cut
willows, and brought
them home, and she
began to weave; but it
made her fingers very
sore.
'I see this work
won't do,' he said, 'try
and spin; perhaps you
will do that better.'
So she sat down and
tried to spin; but the
threads cut her tender
fingers until the blood
ran.
'See now,' said the
fiddler, 'you are good for
nothing; you can do no
work. What a bargain I
have got! However, I'll
try and set up a trade in
pots and pans, and you
shall stand in the
market and sell them.'
< 4 >
'Alas!' she sighed, 'if
any of my father's
court should pass by
and see me standing in
the market, how they
will laugh at me!'
But her husband did
not care about that,
and said she would
have to work if she did
not want to die of
hunger.
At first the trade
went well because
many people, seeing
such a beautiful
woman, went to buy
her wares and paid their
money without even
thinking of taking away
the goods. They lived on
this as long as it lasted
and then her husband
bought a fresh lot of
pots and pans, and she
sat herself down with
it in the corner of the
market.
However, soon a
drunken soldier soon
came by and rode his
horse against her stall
and broke all her goods
into a thousand pieces.
She began to cry,
and did not know what
to do. 'Ah! what will
become of me?' she
said; 'what will my
husband say?' So she
ran home and told him
everything.
'Who would have
thought you would have
been so silly,' he said,
'as to put an
earthenware stall in the
corner of the market,
where everybody
passes? But let us have
no more crying; I see
you are not fit for this
sort of work, so I have
been to the king's
palace, and asked if
they did not want a
kitchen-maid; and they
say they will take you,
and there you will have
plenty to eat.'
So the princess
became a kitchen-maid
and helped the cook to
do all the dirtiest work.
She was allowed to
carry home some of the
meat that was left
over, and they lived on
that.
She had not been
there long before she
heard that the king's
eldest son was passing
by, on his way to get
married. She went to
one of the windows
and looked out.
Everything was ready
and all the pomp and
brightness of the court
was there. Seeing it,
she grieved bitterly for
the pride and folly that
had brought her so low.
The servants gave her
some of the rich meats
and she put them into
her basket to take
home.
< 5 >
All of a sudden, as
she was leaving, in
came the king's son in
his golden clothes. When
he saw such a beautiful
woman at the door, he
took her by the hand
and said she should be
his partner in the dance.
She trembled with fear
because she saw that
it was King Grisly-beard,
who was making fun of
her. However, he kept
hold of her, and led her
into the hall. As she
entered, the cover of
the basket came off,
and the meats in it fell
out. Everybody laughed
and jeered at her and
she was so ashamed
that she wished she
were a thousand feet
deep in the earth. She
sprang over to the door
so that she could run
away but on the steps
King Grisly-beard
overtook her, brought
her back and said:
'Fear me not! I am
the fiddler who has
lived with you in the
hut. I brought you there
because I truly loved
you. I am also the
soldier that overset
your stall. I have done
all this only to cure you
of your silly pride, and
to show you the folly of
your ill-treatment of
me. Now it is all over:
you have learnt
wisdom, and it is time
to hold our marriage
feast.'
Then the
chamberlains came and
brought her the most
beautiful robes. Her
father and his whole
court were already
there, and they
welcomed her home.
Joy was in every face
and every heart. The
feast was grand; they
danced and sang;
everyone was merry;
and I only wish that you
and I had been there.