The sun rose, and she slept on, and she was still sleeping when it was
full day. Then it so happened that the King to whom this forest
belonged, was hunting in it. When his dogs came to the tree, they
sniffed, and ran barking round about it. The King said to the huntsmen,
“Just see what kind of wild beast has hidden itself in there.” The
huntsmen obeyed his order, and when they came back they said, “A
wondrous beast is lying in the hollow tree; we have never before seen
one like it. Its skin is fur of a thousand different kinds, but it is
lying asleep.” Said the King, “See if you can catch it alive, and then
fasten it to the carriage, and we will take it with us.” When the
huntsmen laid hold of the maiden, she awoke full of terror, and cried
to them, “I am a poor child, deserted by father and mother; have pity
on me, and take me with you.” Then said they, “Allerleirauh, thou wilt
be useful in the kitchen, come with us, and thou canst sweep up the
ashes.” So they put her in the carriage, and took her home to the royal
palace. There they pointed out to her a closet under the stairs, where
no daylight entered, and said, “Hairy animal, there canst thou live and
sleep.” Then she was sent into the kitchen, and there she carried wood
and water, swept the hearth, plucked the fowls, picked the vegetables,
raked the ashes, and did all the dirty work.
Allerleirauh lived there for a long time in great wretchedness. Alas,
fair princess, what is to become of thee now! It happened, however,
that one day a feast was held in the palace, and she said to the cook,
“May I go up-stairs for a while, and look on? I will place myself
outside the door.” The cook answered, “Yes, go, but you must be back
here in half-an-hour to sweep the hearth.” Then she took her oil-lamp,
went into her den, put off her fur-dress, and washed the soot off her
face and hands, so that her full beauty once more came to light. And
she opened the nut, and took out her dress which shone like the sun,
and when she had done that she went up to the festival, and every one
made way for her, for no one knew her, and thought no otherwise than
that she was a king’s daughter. The King came to meet her, gave his
hand to her, and danced with her, and thought in his heart, “My eyes
have never yet seen any one so beautiful!” When the dance was over she
curtsied, and when the King looked round again she had vanished, and
none knew whither. The guards who stood outside the palace were called
and questioned, but no one had seen her.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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