The Six Servants

Once upon a time there lived an old Queen who was a sorceress, and her daughter was the most beautiful maiden under the sun. The old woman, however, thought only about how to lure people to their doom, and whenever a suitor appeared, she said that whoever wanted to marry her daughter must first complete a task or die. Many had been dazzled by the daughter's beauty and had taken the risk, but they could never do what the old woman ordered, and then no mercy was shown: they had to kneel down and have their heads cut off.

A certain King's son had also heard of the maiden's beauty and said to his father, "Let me go there, I want to ask for her hand in marriage." "Never," answered the King, "if you go, it will be your death." At this, the son lay down and became deathly sick, and for seven years he lay there, and no doctor could heal him.

When the father saw that all hope was lost, he said with a heavy heart, "Go there and try your luck, for I know no other way to cure you." When the son heard that, he rose from his bed, was well again, and joyfully set out on his way.

And as he was riding across a heath, he saw from afar something like a great heap of hay lying on the ground, and when he came closer, he saw that it was the stomach of a man who had laid himself down there, but the stomach looked like a small mountain.

When the fat man saw the traveler, he stood up and said, "If you need anyone, take me into your service." The prince answered, "What can I do with such a big man?" "Oh," said the Stout One, "this is nothing; when I really stretch myself out, I am three thousand times fatter." "If that's so," said the prince, "I can use you.

Come with me." So the Stout One followed the prince, and after a while they found another man lying on the ground with his ear pressed to the turf. "What are you doing there?" asked the prince. "I am listening," replied the man.

"What are you listening to so carefully?" "I am listening to what is happening in the world, for nothing escapes my ears; I even hear the grass growing." "Tell me," said the prince, "what do you hear at the court of the old Queen who has the beautiful daughter?" He answered, "I hear the whizz of the sword that is cutting off a suitor's head." The prince said, "I can use you.

Come with me." They went on, and then saw a pair of feet and part of a pair of legs, but could not see the rest of the body. When they had walked a long way, they came to the body, and at last to the head as well.

"Why," said the prince, "what a tall fellow you are!" "Oh," replied the Tall One, "that is nothing yet; when I really stretch my limbs, I am three thousand times as tall, and taller than the highest mountain on earth.

I will gladly enter your service if you will take me." "Come with me," said the prince, "I can use you." They went on and found a man sitting by the road who had tied a cloth over his eyes.

The prince said to him, "Do you have weak eyes that you cannot look at the light?" "No," replied the man, "but I must not remove the bandage, for whatever I look at with my eyes splits to pieces, my glance is so powerful.

If you can use that, I would be glad to serve you." "Come with me," replied the prince, "I can use you." They journeyed on and found a man lying in the hot sun, trembling and shivering all over his body, so that not a limb was still.

"How can you shiver when the sun is shining so warmly?" said the prince. "Alas," replied the man, "I am of a quite different nature. The hotter it is, the colder I am, and the frost pierces through all my bones; and the colder it is, the hotter I am.

In the midst of ice, I cannot stand the heat, nor in the midst of fire, the cold." "You are a strange fellow," said the prince, "but if you will enter my service, follow me." They traveled on and saw a man standing who had a long neck and looked about him, and could see over all the mountains.

"What are you looking at so eagerly?" said the prince. The man replied, "I have such sharp eyes that I can see into every forest and field, and hill and valley, all over the world." The prince said, "Come with me if you will, for I still need someone like you."

And now the prince and his six servants came to the town where the old Queen lived. He did not tell her who he was, but said, "If you will give me your beautiful daughter, I will perform any task you set me." The sorceress was delighted to get such a handsome young man into her net, and said, "I will set you three tasks, and if you can perform them all, you shall be husband and master of my daughter." "What is the first?" "You shall fetch me my ring which I have dropped into the Red Sea." So the prince went to his servants and said, "The first task is not easy.

A ring is to be fetched out of the Red Sea. Come, find a way to do it." Then the man with the sharp eyes said, "I will see where it lies," and looked down into the water and said, "It is sticking there on a pointed stone." The Tall One carried them there, and said, "I would soon get it out if I could only see it." "Oh, is that all!" cried the Stout One, and lay down and put his mouth to the water.

All the waves fell into it as if it were a whirlpool, and he drank up the whole sea until it was as dry as a meadow. The Tall One stooped down a little and brought out the ring with his hand.

Then the prince rejoiced when he had the ring, and took it to the old Queen. She was astonished and said, "Yes, it is the right ring. You have safely performed the first task, but now comes the second. Do you see the meadow in front of my palace?

Three hundred fat oxen are grazing there, and these you must eat, skin, hair, bones, horns and all, and down in my cellar lie three hundred casks of wine, and these you must drink up as well.

If one hair of the oxen or one little drop of wine is left, your life will be forfeited to me." "May I invite no guests to this meal?" asked the prince, "no dinner is good without company." The old woman laughed wickedly and replied, "You may invite one for company, but no more."

The prince went to his servants and said to the Stout One, "You shall be my guest today and eat your fill." Thereupon the Stout One stretched himself out and ate the three hundred oxen, leaving not a single hair, and then asked if he was to have nothing but his breakfast.

He drank the wine straight from the casks without needing a glass, and he licked the last drop from his fingernails. When the meal was over, the prince went to the old woman and told her the second task was also performed.

She wondered at this and said, "No one has ever done so much before, but one task remains," and she thought to herself, "You shall not escape me, and you will not keep your head on your shoulders!

Tonight," she said, "I will bring my daughter to you in your chamber, and you shall put your arms around her, but when you sit there together, beware of falling asleep. When midnight strikes, I will come, and if she is no longer in your arms, you are lost." The prince thought, "The task is easy; I will certainly keep my eyes open." Nevertheless he called his servants, told them what the old woman had said, and remarked, "Who knows what treachery lurks behind this?

Foresight is a good thing. Keep watch and make sure the maiden does not leave my room again." When night fell, the old woman came with her daughter and gave her into the prince's arms, and then the Tall One wound himself around the two in a circle, and the Stout One placed himself by the door so that no living creature could enter.

There the two sat, and the maiden spoke not a word, but the moon shone through the window on her face, and the prince could behold her wondrous beauty. He did nothing but gaze at her, and was filled with love and happiness, and his eyes never grew weary.

This lasted until eleven o'clock, when the old woman cast such a spell over all of them that they fell asleep, and at the same moment the maiden was carried away.

Then they all slept soundly until a quarter to twelve, when the magic lost its power and they all awoke again. "Oh, misery and misfortune!" cried the prince, "now I am lost!" The faithful servants also began to lament, but the Listener said, "Be quiet, I want to listen." Then he listened for a moment and said, "She is on a rock three hundred leagues from here, bewailing her fate.

You alone, Tall One, can help her; if you stand up, you will be there in a couple of steps." "Yes," answered the Tall One, "but the one with the sharp eyes must go with me, so we can destroy the rock." Then the Tall One took the one with the bandaged eyes on his back, and in the blink of an eye they were on the enchanted rock.

The Tall One immediately took the bandage from the other's eyes, and he only had to look around, and the rock shattered into a thousand pieces. Then the Tall One took the maiden in his arms, carried her back in a second, then fetched his companion just as quickly, and before it struck twelve they were all sitting as before, quite merry and happy.

When twelve struck, the old sorceress came creeping in with a malicious face, which seemed to say, "Now he is mine!" for she believed that her daughter was on the rock three hundred leagues away.

But when she saw her in the prince's arms, she was alarmed and said, "Here is one who knows more than I do!" She dared not oppose him and was forced to give him her daughter.

But she whispered in her ear, "It is a disgrace to you to have to obey common people, and that you are not allowed to choose a husband to your own liking."

At this, the proud heart of the maiden was filled with anger, and she plotted revenge. The next morning she had three hundred great bundles of wood gathered together, and said to the prince that although the three tasks were performed, she would still not be his wife until someone was ready to sit in the middle of the wood and bear the fire.

She thought that none of his servants would let themselves be burned for him, and that out of love for her he would place himself on it, and then she would be free. But the servants said, "Every one of us has done something except the Frosty One; he must get to work," and they put him in the middle of the pile and set fire to it.

Then the fire began to burn and burned for three days until all the wood was consumed, and when the flames had gone out, the Frosty One was standing amid the ashes, trembling like an aspen leaf, and saying, "I never felt such a frost during the whole of my life; if it had lasted much longer, I would have been frozen numb!"

Since no other excuse could be found, the beautiful maiden was now forced to take the unknown youth as a husband. But when they drove to church, the old woman said, "I cannot bear the disgrace," and sent her warriors after them with orders to cut down all who opposed them and bring back her daughter.

But the Listener had sharpened his ears and heard the secret talk of the old woman. "What shall we do?" he said to the Stout One. But he knew what to do and spat out once or twice behind the carriage some of the seawater he had drunk, and a great sea arose in which the warriors were caught and drowned.

When the sorceress saw that, she sent her armored knights; but the Listener heard the rattling of their armor and removed the bandage from one eye of Sharp-eyes, who looked rather fixedly at the enemy's troops, and they all shattered like glass.

Then the prince and the maiden went on their way undisturbed, and when they had been blessed in church, the six servants took their leave and said to their master, "Your wishes are now satisfied; you no longer need us. We will go our way and seek our fortunes."

Half a league from the palace of the prince's father was a village near which a swineherd tended his herd, and when they came there, the prince said to his wife, "Do you know who I really am?

I am no prince, but a swineherd, and the man there with that herd is my father. We two will have to get to work and help him." Then he dismounted with her at the inn and secretly told the innkeepers to take away her royal clothes during the night.

So when she awoke in the morning, she had nothing to wear, and the innkeeper's wife gave her an old gown and a pair of woolen stockings, and at the same time seemed to think it a great gift, and said, "If it were not for the sake of your husband, I would have given you nothing at all!" Then the princess believed that he really was a swineherd, and tended the herd with him, and thought to herself, "I have deserved this for my haughtiness and pride." This lasted for a week, and then she could bear it no longer, for she had sores on her feet.

And now came a couple of people who asked if she knew who her husband was. "Yes," she answered, "he is a swineherd, and has just gone out with cords and ropes to try to drive a little bargain." But they said, "Just come with us, and we will take you to him," and they took her up to the palace, and when she entered the hall, there stood her husband in royal robes.

But she did not recognize him until he took her in his arms, kissed her, and said, "I suffered much for you, and now you, too, have had to suffer for me." And then the wedding was celebrated, and he who has told you all this wishes that he, too, had been present at it.