Children's stories, German -- Translations into English; Fairy tales; Fairy tales -- Germany
And as such a mighty love took possession of him, he went up to her and
said, “I love you with my whole heart. Will you be my wife?”
He, too, pleased the maiden so much that she agreed and said, “Yes, I
will be your wife, and be true to you your whole life long.”
They were married. Then just as they were in the greatest happiness,
home came the father of the Bride. When he saw that his daughter’s
wedding was being celebrated, he was astonished, and said, “Where is
the Bridegroom?”
They showed him the Gold-Child, who, however, still wore his bear-skins.
Then the father said wrathfully, “A vagabond shall never have my
daughter!” and was about to kill him.
Then the Bride begged as hard as she could, and said, “He is my
husband, and I love him with all my heart!” until at last he allowed
himself to be appeased.
Nevertheless the idea never left his thoughts, so that next morning he
rose early, wishing to see whether his daughter’s husband was a common
ragged beggar. But when he peeped in, he saw a magnificent golden man
in the bed, and the cast-off bear-skins lying on the ground.
Then he went back, and thought, “What a good thing it was that I
restrained my anger! I should have committed a great crime.”
But the Gold-Child dreamed that he rode out to the chase of a splendid
stag, and when he awoke in the morning, he said to his wife, “I must go
out hunting.”
She was uneasy, and begged him to stay there, and said, “You might
easily meet with a great misfortune.”
But he answered, “I must and will go.”
Thereupon he got up, and rode forth into the forest. It was not long
before a fine stag crossed his path exactly according to his dream. He
aimed and was about to shoot it, when the stag ran away. He gave chase
over hedges and ditches for the whole day without feeling tired. In
the evening the stag vanished from his sight, and when the Gold-Child
looked round him, he was standing before a little house, wherein was a
Witch.
He knocked, and a little old woman came out and asked, “What are you
doing so late in the midst of the great forest?”
“Have you not seen a stag?”
“Yes,” answered she, “I know the stag well,” and thereupon a little dog
which had come out of the house with her, barked at the man violently.
“Will you be silent, you odious toad,” said he, “or I will shoot you
dead.”
Then the Witch cried out in a passion, “What! will you slay my little
dog?” and immediately she transformed him, so that he lay like a stone.
Meanwhile his Bride awaited him in vain, and thought, “That which I so
greatly dreaded, which lay so heavily on my heart, has come upon him!”
But at home, the other brother was standing by the Gold-Lilies, when
one of them suddenly drooped. “Alas!” said he, “my brother has met with
some great misfortune! I must away to see if I can possibly rescue him.”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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