Children's stories, German -- Translations into English; Fairy tales; Fairy tales -- Germany
“Have you nothing else to complain of?” said the huntsman. “I will soon
remove that burden from your heart.”
With that he drew her under his mantle, wished himself on the Garnet
Mountain. In the twinkling of an eye they were sitting on it together.
Precious stones were glistening on every side, so that it was a joy to
see them. Together they gathered the finest and costliest of them.
Now, the Old Woman had, through her sorceries, contrived that the eyes
of the huntsman should become heavy. He said to the maiden, “We will
sit down and rest a while. I am so tired, that I can no longer stand on
my feet.”
Then they sat down, and he laid his head in her lap, and fell asleep.
When he was asleep, she unfastened the mantle from his shoulders, and
wrapped herself in it, picked up the garnets and stones, and wished
herself back at home with them.
But when the huntsman had had his sleep out, he awoke, and perceived
that his sweetheart had betrayed him, and left him alone on the wild
mountain. Then he said, “Oh, what treachery there is in the world!” and
sat there in care and sorrow, not knowing what to do.
But the mountain belonged to some wild and monstrous Giants, who dwelt
thereon and lived their lives there, and he had not sat long, before he
saw three of them coming toward him. The Giants came up, and the first
kicked him with his foot and said, “What sort of an earthworm is lying
curled up here?”
The second said, “Step upon him and kill him.”
But the third said, “Would that be worth your while? Let him live, he
cannot remain here. When he climbs higher, toward the summit of the
mountain, the clouds will lay hold of him and bear him away.” So saying
they passed by.
But the Huntsman had paid heed to their words, and as soon as they
were gone, he rose and climbed up to the summit of the mountain.
And when he had sat there a while, a cloud floated toward him,
caught him up, carried him away, and traveled about for a long time
in the heavens. Then it sank lower, and let itself down on a great
cabbage-garden, girt round by walls, so that he came softly to the
ground on cabbages and vegetables.
Then the huntsman looked about him, and said, “If I only had something
to eat! I am so hungry, and my hunger will grow greater. But I see here
neither apples nor pears, nor any other sort of fruit, everywhere there
is nothing but cabbages.” At length he thought, “At a pinch I can eat
some of the leaves. They do not taste particularly good, but they will
refresh me.”
With that he picked himself out a fine head of cabbage, and ate it. But
scarcely had he swallowed a couple of mouthfuls, when wonderful! he
felt quite changed.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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