Children's stories, German -- Translations into English; Fairy tales; Fairy tales -- Germany
But Two-Eyes knew what was in One-Eye’s mind, and drove the goat into
high grass and said, “Come, One-Eye, we will sit down, and I will sing
something to you.”
One-Eye sat down, and was tired with the unaccustomed walk and the heat
of the sun, and Two-Eyes sang constantly:
“_One-Eye, wakest thou?
One-Eye, sleepest thou?_”
until One-Eye shut her one eye, and fell asleep. As soon as Two-Eyes
saw that One-Eye was fast asleep, and could discover nothing, she said:
“_Bleat, bleat, my little Goat, bleat,
Cover the table with something to eat!_”
and seated herself at her table, and ate and drank until she was
satisfied. Then she again cried:
“_Bleat, bleat, my little Goat, I pray,
And take the table quite away!_”
and in an instant all was gone.
Two-Eyes now awakened One-Eye, and said, “One-Eye, you want to take
care of the goat, and yet go to sleep while you are doing it! In the
meantime, the goat might run all over the world. Come, let us go home
again.”
So they went home, and again Two-Eyes let her little dish stand
untouched, and One-Eye could not tell her mother why she would not eat
it, and to excuse herself said, “I fell asleep when I was out.”
Next day, the mother said to Three-Eyes, “This time you shall go and
watch if Two-Eyes eats anything when she is out, and if any one fetches
her food and drink, for she must eat and drink in secret.”
So Three-Eyes went to Two-Eyes, and said, “I will go with you and see
if the goat is taken proper care of, and driven where there is food.”
But Two-Eyes knew what was in Three-Eyes’ mind, and drove the goat into
high grass and said, “We will sit down, and I will sing something to
you, Three-Eyes.”
Three-Eyes sat down and was tired with the walk and with the heat of
the sun, and Two-Eyes began the same song as before, and sang:
“_Three-Eyes, are you waking?_”
but then, instead of singing,
“_Three-Eyes, are you sleeping?_”
as she ought to have done, she thoughtlessly sang:
“_Two-Eyes, are you sleeping?_”
and sang all the time,
“_Three-Eyes, are you waking?
Two-Eyes, are you sleeping?_”
Then two of the eyes which Three-Eyes had, shut and fell asleep, but
the third, as it had not been named in the song, did not sleep. It is
true that Three-Eyes shut it, but only in her cunning, to pretend it
was asleep too. But it blinked, and could see everything very well. And
when Two-Eyes thought that Three-eyes was fast asleep, she used her
little charm:
“_Bleat, bleat, my little Goat, bleat,
Cover the table with something to eat!_”
and ate and drank as much as her heart desired, and then ordered the
table to go away again:
“_Bleat, bleat, my little Goat, I pray,
And take the table quite away!_”
and Three-Eyes had seen everything.
Then Two-Eyes came to her, waked her and said, “Have you been asleep,
Three-Eyes? You are a good caretaker! Come, we will go home.”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account