Soon after this the false bride said to the Prince: “Dearest husband,
I pray you grant me a favor.” He answered: “That I will.” “Then let the
slaughterer cut off the head of the horse I rode here upon, because it
behaved very badly on the journey.” But the truth was she was afraid
lest the horse should speak and tell how she had treated the Princess.
She carried her point, and the faithful Falada was doomed to die.
When the news came to the ears of the real Princess she went to the
slaughterer, and secretly promised him a piece of gold if he would do
something for her. There was in the town a large dark gate, through
which she had to pass night and morning with the geese; would he “kindly
hang up Falada’s head there, that she might see it once again?” The
slaughterer said he would do as she desired, chopped off the head, and
nailed it firmly over the gateway.
Early next morning, as she and Curdken were driving their flock through
the gate, she said as she passed under:
“Oh! Falada, ‘tis you hang there”;
and the head replied:
“‘Tis you; pass under, Princess fair:
If your mother only knew,
Her heart would surely break in two.”
Then she left the tower and drove the geese into a field. And when they
had reached the common where the geese fed she sat down and unloosed
her hair, which was of pure gold. Curdken loved to see it glitter in the
sun, and wanted much to pull some hair out. Then she spoke:
“Wind, wind, gently sway,
Blow Curdken’s hat away;
Let him chase o’er field and wold
Till my locks of ruddy gold,
Now astray and hanging down,
Be combed and plaited in a crown.”
Then a gust of wind blew Curdken’s hat away, and he had to chase it over
hill and dale. When he returned from the pursuit she had finished
her combing and curling, and his chance of getting any hair was gone.
Curdken was very angry, and wouldn’t speak to her. So they herded the
geese till evening and then went home.
The next morning, as they passed under the gate, the girl said:
“Oh! Falada, ‘tis you hang there;”
and the head replied:
“‘Tis you; pass under, Princess fair:
If your mother only knew,
Her heart would surely break in two.”
Then she went on her way till she came to the common, where she sat down
and began to comb out her hair; then Curdken ran up to her and wanted to
grasp some of the hair from her head, but she called out hastily:
“Wind, wind, gently sway,
Blow Curdken’s hat away;
Let him chase o’er field and wold
Till my locks of ruddy gold,
Now astray and hanging down,
Be combed and plaited in a crown.”
Then a puff of wind came and blew Curdken’s hat far away, so that he had
to run after it; and when he returned she had long finished putting
up her golden locks, and he couldn’t get any hair; so they watched the
geese till it was dark.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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