The woman stayed many years with the robbers, and Hans grew tall andstrong. His mother told him stories, and taught him to read an old bookof tales about knights which she found in the cave. When Hans was nineyears old, he made himself a strong club out of a branch of fir, hidit behind the bed, and then went to his mother and said, "Dear mother,pray tell me who is my father; I must and will know." His mother wassilent and would not tell him, that he might not become home-sick;moreover she knew that the godless robbers would not let him go away,but it almost broke her heart that Hans should not go to his father. Inthe night, when the robbers came home from their robbing expedition,Hans brought out his club, stood before the captain, and said, "I nowwish to know who is my father, and if thou dost not at once tell me Iwill strike thee down." Then the captain laughed, and gave Hans such abox on the ear that he rolled under the table. Hans got up again, heldhis tongue, and thought, "I will wait another year and then try again,perhaps I shall do better then." When the year was over, he brought outhis club again, rubbed the dust off it, looked at it well, and said,"It is a stout strong club." At night the robbers came home, drankone jug of wine after another, and their heads began to be heavy. ThenHans brought out his club, placed himself before the captain, and askedhim who was his father? But the captain again gave him such a vigorousbox on the ear that Hans rolled under the table, but it was not longbefore he was up again, and beat the captain and the robbers so withhis club, that they could no longer move either their arms or theirlegs. His mother stood in a corner full of admiration of his bravery andstrength. When Hans had done his work, he went to his mother, and said,"Now I have shown myself to be in earnest, but now I must also know whois my father." "Dear Hans," answered the mother, "come, we will go andseek him until we find him." She took from the captain the key to theentrance-door, and Hans fetched a great meal-sack and packed into itgold and silver, and whatsoever else he could find that was beautiful,until it was full, and then he took it on his back. They left the cave,but how Hans did open his eyes when he came out of the darkness intodaylight, and saw the green forest, and the flowers, and the birds, andthe morning sun in the sky. He stood there and wondered at everythingjust as if he had not been very wise. His mother looked for the way home,and when they had walked for a couple of hours, they got safely intotheir lonely valley and to their little house. The father was sittingin the doorway. He wept for joy when he recognized his wife and heardthat Hans was his son, for he had long regarded them both as dead. ButHans, although he was not twelve years old, was a head taller than hisfather. They went into the little room together, but Hans had scarcely puthis sack on the bench by the stove, than the whole house began to crackthe bench broke down and then the floor, and the heavy sack fell throughinto the cellar. "God save us!" cried the father, "what's that? Now thouhast broken our little house to pieces!" "Don't grow any grey hairs aboutthat, dear father," answered Hans; "there, in that sack, is more than iswanting for a new house." The father and Hans at once began to build anew house; to buy cattle and land, and to keep a farm. Hans ploughed thefields, and when he followed the plough and pushed it into the ground,the bullocks had scarcely any need to draw. The next spring, Hans said,"Keep all the money and get a walking-stick that weighs a hundred-weightmade for me that I may go a-travelling." When the wished-for stick wasready, he left his father's house, went forth, and came to a deep, darkforest. There he heard something crunching and cracking, looked round,and saw a fir-tree which was wound round like a rope from the bottom tothe top, and when he looked upwards he saw a great fellow who had laidhold of the tree and was twisting it like a willow-wand. "Hollo!" criedHans, "what art thou doing up there?" the fellow replied, "I got somefaggots together yesterday and am twisting a rope for them." "That iswhat I like," thought Hans, "he has some strength," and he called to him,"Leave that alone, and come with me." The fellow came down, and he wastaller by a whole head than Hans, and Hans was not little. "Thy nameis now Fir-twister," said Hans to him. Thereupon they went further andheard something knocking and hammering with such force that the groundshook at every stroke. Shortly afterwards they came to a mighty rock,before which a giant was standing and striking great pieces of itaway with his fist. When Hans asked what he was about, he answered,"At night, when I want to sleep, bears, wolves, and other vermin ofthat kind come, which sniff and snuffle about me and won't let me rest;so I want to build myself a house and lay myself inside it, so thatI may have some peace." "Oh, indeed," thought Hans, "I can make useof this one also;" and said to him, "Leave thy house-building alone,and go with me; thou shalt be called Rock-splitter." The man consented,and they all three roamed through the forest, and wherever they went thewild beasts were terrified, and ran away from them. In the evening theycame to an old deserted castle, went up into it, and laid themselves downin the hall to sleep. The next morning Hans went into the garden. Ithad run quite wild, and was full of thorns and bushes. And as he wasthus walking round about, a wild boar rushed at him; he, however, gaveit such a blow with his club that it fell directly. He took it on hisshoulders and carried it in, and they put it on a spit, roasted it,and enjoyed themselves. Then they arranged that each day, in turn,two should go out hunting, and one should stay at home, and cook ninepounds of meat for each of them. Fir-twister stayed at home the first,and Hans and Rock-splitter went out hunting. When Fir-twister was busycooking, a little shrivelled-up old mannikin came to him in the castle,and asked for some meat. "Be off, sly hypocrite," he answered, "thouneedest no meat." But how astonished Fir-twister was when the littleinsignificant dwarf sprang up at him, and belaboured him so with hisfists that he could not defend himself, but fell on the ground andgasped for breath! The dwarf did not go away until he had thoroughlyvented his anger on him. When the two others came home from hunting,Fir-twister said nothing to them of the old mannikin and of the blowswhich he himself had received, and thought, "When they stay at home,they may just try their chance with the little scrubbing-brush;" andthe mere thought of that gave him pleasure already.
The next day Rock-splitter stayed at home, and he fared just asFir-twister had done, he was very ill-treated by the dwarf because hewas not willing to give him any meat. When the others came home in theevening, Fir-twister easily saw what he had suffered, but both keptsilence, and thought, "Hans also must taste some of that soup."
Hans, who had to stay at home the next day, did his work in the kitchenas it had to be done, and as he was standing skimming the pan, the dwarfcame and without more ado demanded a bit of meat. Then Hans thought,"He is a poor wretch, I will give him some of my share, that theothers may not run short," and handed him a bit. When the dwarf haddevoured it, he again asked for some meat, and good-natured Hans gaveit to him, and told him it was a handsome piece, and that he was to becontent with it. But the dwarf begged again for the third time. "Thouart shameless!" said Hans, and gave him none. Then the malicious dwarfwanted to spring on him and treat him as he had treated Fir-twister andRock-splitter, but he had got to the wrong man. Hans, without exertinghimself much, gave him a couple of blows which made him jump down thecastle steps. Hans was about to run after him, but fell right over him,for he was so tall. When he rose up again, the dwarf had got the start ofhim. Hans hurried after him as far as the forest, and saw him slip intoa hole in the rock. Hans now went home, but he had marked the spot. Whenthe two others came back, they were surprised that Hans was so well. Hetold them what had happened, and then they no longer concealed how ithad fared with them. Hans laughed and said, "It served you quite right;why were you so greedy with your meat? It is a disgrace that you who areso big should have let yourselves be beaten by the dwarf." Thereuponthey took a basket and a rope, and all three went to the hole in therock into which the dwarf had slipped, and let Hans and his club down inthe basket. When Hans had reached the bottom, he found a door, and whenhe opened it a maiden was sitting there who was lovely as any picture,nay, so beautiful that no words can express it, and by her side sat thedwarf and grinned at Hans like a sea-cat! She, however, was bound withchains, and looked so mournfully at him that Hans felt great pity forher, and thought to himself, "Thou must deliver her out of the power ofthe wicked dwarf," and gave him such a blow with his club that he felldown dead. Immediately the chains fell from the maiden, and Hans wasenraptured with her beauty. She told him she was a King's daughter whoma savage count had stolen away from her home, and imprisoned there amongthe rocks, because she would have nothing to say to him. The count had,however, set the dwarf as a watchman, and he had made her bear miseryand vexation enough. And now Hans placed the maiden in the basket and hadher drawn up; the basket came down again, but Hans did not trust his twocompanions, and thought, "They have already shown themselves to be false,and told me nothing about the dwarf; who knows what design they may haveagainst me?" So he put his club in the basket, and it was lucky he did;for when the basket was half-way up, they let it fall again, and if Hanshad really been sitting in it he would have been killed. But now he didnot know how he was to work his way out of the depths, and when he turnedit over and over in his mind he found no counsel. "It is indeed sad,"said he to himself, "that I have to waste away down here," and as he wasthus walking backwards and forwards, he once more came to the littlechamber where the maiden had been sitting, and saw that the dwarf hada ring on his finger which shone and sparkled. Then he drew it off andput it on, and when he turned it round on his finger, he suddenly heardsomething rustle over his head. He looked up and saw spirits of the airhovering above, who told him he was their master, and asked what hisdesire might be? Hans was at first struck dumb, but afterwards he saidthat they were to carry him above again. They obeyed instantly, and itwas just as if he had flown up himself. When, however, he was above again,he found no one in sight. Fir-twister and Rock-splitter had hurried away,and had taken the beautiful maiden with them. But Hans turned the ring,and the spirits of the air came and told him that the two were on thesea. Hans ran and ran without stopping, until he came to the sea-shore,and there far, far out on the water, he perceived a little boat in whichhis faithless comrades were sitting; and in fierce anger he leapt,without thinking what he was doing, club in hand into the water, andbegan to swim, but the club, which weighed a hundredweight, dragged himdeep down until he was all but drowned. Then in the very nick of time heturned his ring, and immediately the spirits of the air came and bore himas swift as lightning into the boat. He swung his club and gave his wickedcomrades the reward they merited and threw them into the water, and thenhe sailed with the beautiful maiden, who had been in the greatest alarm,and whom he delivered for the second time, home to her father and mother,and married her, and all rejoiced exceedingly.
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