The King of the Golden Mountain

by The Brothers Grimm

　　There was a certain merchant who had two children, a boy and a girl;they were both young, and could not walk. And two richly-laden ships ofhis sailed forth to sea with all his property on board, and just as hewas expecting to win much money by them, news came that they had gone tothe bottom, and now instead of being a rich man he was a poor one, andhad nothing left but one field outside the town. In order to drive hismisfortune a little out of his thoughts, he went out to this field, and ashe was walking forwards and backwards in it, a little black mannikin stoodsuddenly by his side, and asked why he was so sad, and what he was takingso much to heart. Then said the merchant, "If thou couldst help me I wouldwillingly tell thee." "Who knows?" replied the black dwarf. "Perhaps,I can help thee." Then the merchant told him that all he possessed hadgone to the bottom of the sea, and that he had nothing left but thisfield. "Do not trouble thyself," said the dwarf. "If thou wilt promiseto give me the first thing that rubs itself against thy leg when thouart at home again, and to bring it here to this place in twelve years'time, thou shalt have as much money as thou wilt." The merchant thought,"What can that be but my dog?" and did not remember his little boy, so hesaid yes, gave the black man a written and sealed promise, and went home.

　　When he reached home, his little boy was so delighted that he held by abench, tottered up to him and seized him fast by the legs. The fatherwas shocked, for he remembered his promise, and now knew what he hadpledged himself to do; as however, he still found no money in his chest,he thought the dwarf had only been jesting. A month afterwards he wentup to the garret, intending to gather together some old tin and to sellit, and saw a great heap of money lying. Then he was happy again, madepurchases, became a greater merchant than before, and felt that thisworld was well-governed. In the meantime the boy grew tall, and at thesame time sharp and clever. But the nearer the twelfth year approachedthe more anxious grew the merchant, so that his distress might be seenin his face. One day his son asked what ailed him, but the father wouldnot say. The boy, however, persisted so long, that at last he told himthat without being aware of what he was doing, he had promised him to ablack dwarf, and had received much money for doing so. He said likewisethat he had set his hand and seal to this, and that now when twelveyears had gone by he would have to give him up. Then said the son,"Oh, father, do not be uneasy, all will go well. The black man has nopower over me." The son had himself blessed by the priest, and when thetime came, father and son went together to the field, and the son made acircle and placed himself inside it with his father. Then came the blackdwarf and said to the old man, "Hast thou brought with thee that whichthou hast promised me?" He was silent, but the son asked, "What dostthou want here?" Then said the black dwarf, "I have to speak with thyfather, and not with thee." The son replied, "Thou hast betrayed andmisled my father, give back the writing." "No," said the black dwarf,"I will not give up my rights." They spoke together for a long timeafter this, but at last they agreed that the son, as he did not belongto the enemy of mankind, nor yet to his father, should seat himself in asmall boat, which should lie on water which was flowing away from them,and that the father should push it off with his own foot, and then theson should remain given up to the water. So he took leave of his father,placed himself in a little boat, and the father had to push it off withhis own foot. The boat capsized so that the keel was uppermost, and thefather believed his son was lost, and went home and mourned for him.

　　The boat, however, did not sink, but floated quietly away, and the boysat safely inside it, and it floated thus for a long time, until at lastit stopped by an unknown shore. Then he landed and saw a beautiful castlebefore him, and set out to go to it. But when he entered it, he found thatit was bewitched. He went through every room, but all were empty until hereached the last, where a snake lay coiled in a ring. The snake, however,was an enchanted maiden, who rejoiced to see him, and said, "Hast thoucome, oh, my deliverer? I have already waited twelve years for thee; thiskingdom is bewitched, and thou must set it free." "How can I do that?" heinquired. "To-night come twelve black men, covered with chains who willask what thou art doing here; keep silent; give them no answer, and letthem do what they will with thee; they will torment thee, beat thee,stab thee; let everything pass, only do not speak; at twelve o'clock,they must go away again. On the second night twelve others will come;on the third, four-and-twenty, who will cut off thy head, but at twelveo'clock their power will be over, and then if thou hast endured all, andhast not spoken the slightest word, I shall be released. I will come tothee, and will have, in a bottle, some of the water of life. I will rubthee with that, and then thou wilt come to life again, and be as healthyas before." Then said he, "I will gladly set thee free." And everythinghappened just as she had said; the black men could not force a single wordfrom him, and on the third night the snake became a beautiful princess,who came with the water of life and brought him back to life again. Soshe threw herself into his arms and kissed him, and there was joy andgladness in the whole castle. After this their marriage was celebrated,and he was King of the Golden Mountain.

　　They lived very happily together, and the Queen bore a fine boy. Eightyears had already gone by, when the King bethought him of his father;his heart was moved, and he wished to visit him. The Queen, however,would not let him go away, and said, "I know beforehand that it willcause my unhappiness;" but he suffered her to have no rest until sheconsented. At their parting she gave him a wishing-ring, and said,"Take this ring and put it on thy finger, and then thou wilt immediatelybe transported whithersoever thou wouldst be, only thou must promise menot to use it in wishing me away from this place and with thy father."That he promised her, put the ring on his finger, and wished himselfat home, just outside the town where his father lived. Instantly hefound himself there, and made for the town, but when he came to thegate, the sentries would not let him in, because he wore such strangeand yet such rich and magnificent clothing. Then he went to a hillwhere a shepherd was watching his sheep, changed clothes with him,put on his old shepherd's-coat, and then entered the town withouthindrance. When he came to his father, he made himself known to him,but he did not at all believe that the shepherd was his son, and saidhe certainly had had a son, but that he was dead long ago; however,as he saw he was a poor, needy shepherd, he would give him something toeat. Then the shepherd said to his parents, "I am verily your son. Doyou know of no mark on my body by which you could recognize me?" "Yes,"said his mother, "our son had a raspberry mark under his right arm." Heslipped back his shirt, and they saw the raspberry under his right arm,and no longer doubted that he was their son. Then he told them that hewas King of the Golden Mountain, and a king's daughter was his wife,and that they had a fine son of seven years old. Then said the father,"That is certainly not true; it is a fine kind of a king who goes aboutin a ragged shepherd's-coat." On this the son fell in a passion, andwithout thinking of his promise, turned his ring round, and wished bothhis wife and child with him. They were there in a second, but the Queenwept, and reproached him, and said that he had broken his word, and hadbrought misfortune upon her. He said, "I have done it thoughtlessly,and not with evil intention," and tried to calm her, and she pretendedto believe this; but she had mischief in her mind.

　　Then he led her out of the town into the field, and showed her thestream where the little boat had been pushed off, and then he said,"I am tired; sit down, I will sleep awhile on thy lap." And he laid hishead on her lap, and fell asleep. When he was asleep, she first drew thering from his finger, then she drew away the foot which was under him,leaving only the slipper behind her, and she took her child in her arms,and wished herself back in her own kingdom. When he awoke, there he layquite deserted, and his wife and child were gone, and so was the ringfrom his finger, the slipper only was still there as a token. "Home tothy parents thou canst not return," thought he, "they would say thatthou wast a wizard; thou must be off, and walk on until thou arrivestin thine own kingdom." So he went away and came at length to a hillby which three giants were standing, disputing with each other becausethey did not know how to divide their father's property. When they sawhim passing by, they called to him and said little men had quick wits,and that he was to divide their inheritance for them. The inheritance,however, consisted of a sword, which had this property that if any onetook it in his hand, and said, "All heads off but mine," every head wouldlie on the ground; secondly, of a cloak which made any one who put it oninvisible; thirdly, of a pair of boots which could transport the wearerto any place he wished in a moment. He said, "Give me the three thingsthat I may see if they are still in good condition." They gave him thecloak, and when he had put it on, he was invisible and changed into afly. Then he resumed his own form and said, "The cloak is a good one,now give me the sword." They said, "No, we will not give thee that; ifthou were to say, All heads off but mine,' all our heads would be off,and thou alone wouldst be left with thine." Nevertheless they gave it tohim with the condition that he was only to try it against a tree. Thishe did, and the sword cut in two the trunk of a tree as if it had been ablade of straw. Then he wanted to have the boots likewise, but they said,"No, we will not give them; if thou hadst them on thy feet and wert towish thyself at the top of the hill, we should be left down here withnothing." "Oh, no," said he, "I will not do that." So they gave himthe boots as well. And now when he had got all these things, he thoughtof nothing but his wife and his child, and said as though to himself,"Oh, if I were but on the Golden Mountain," and at the same moment hevanished from the sight of the giants, and thus their inheritance wasdivided. When he was near his palace, he heard sounds of joy, and fiddles,and flutes, and the people told him that his wife was celebrating herwedding with another. Then he fell into a rage, and said, "False woman,she betrayed and deserted me whilst I was asleep!" So he put on his cloak,and unseen by all went into the palace. When he entered the dining-halla great table was spread with delicious food, and the guests were eatingand drinking, and laughing, and jesting. She sat on a royal seat in themidst of them in splendid apparel, with a crown on her head. He placedhimself behind her, and no one saw him. When she put a piece of meat on aplate for herself, he took it away and ate it, and when she poured out aglass of wine for herself, he took it away and drank it. She was alwayshelping herself to something, and yet she never got anything, for plateand glass disappeared immediately. Then dismayed and ashamed, she aroseand went to her chamber and wept, but he followed her there. She said,"Has the devil power over me, or did my deliverer never come?" Then hestruck her in the face, and said, "Did thy deliverer never come? It ishe who has thee in his power, thou traitor. Have I deserved this fromthee?" Then he made himself visible, went into the hall, and cried, "Thewedding is at an end, the true King has returned." The kings, princes, andcouncillors who were assembled there, ridiculed and mocked him, but he didnot trouble to answer them, and said, "Will you go away, or not?" On thisthey tried to seize him and pressed upon him, but he drew his sword andsaid, "All heads off but mine," and all the heads rolled on the ground,and he alone was master, and once more King of the Golden Mountain.