The Jew in the Thorns

Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm

Once upon a time there was a rich man who had a servant who served him diligently and honestly. Every morning he was the first one out of bed, and at night the last one to go to bed. Whenever there was a difficult job that nobody wanted to do, he was always the first to volunteer. He never complained at any of this, but was contented with everything and always happy.

When his year was over, his master gave him no wages, thinking, "That is the smartest thing to do, for it will save me something. He won't leave me, but will gladly stay here working for me."

The servant said nothing, but did his work the second year as he had done before, and when at the end of this year he again received no wages, he still stayed on without complaining. When the third year had passed, the master thought it over, then put his hand into his pocket, but pulled out nothing.

However, this time the servant said, "Master, I have served you honestly for three years. Be so good as to give me what by rights I have coming to me. I would like to be on my way and see something else of the world."

"Yes, my good servant," answered the old miser, "you have served me without complaint, and you shall be kindly rewarded."

With this he put his hand into his pocket, then counted out three hellers one at a time, saying, "There, you have a heller for each year. That is a large and generous reward. Only a few masters would pay you this much."

The good servant, who understood little about money, put his wealth into his pocket, and thought, "Ah, now that I have a full purse, why should I worry and continue to plague myself with hard work?"

So he set forth, uphill and down, singing and jumping for joy.

Now it came to pass that as he was passing by a thicket a little dwarf stepped out, and called to him, "Where are you headed, Brother Merry? You don't seem to be burdened down with cares."

"Why should I be sad?" answered the servant. "I have everything I need. Three years' wages are jingling in my pocket.

"How much is your treasure?" the dwarf asked him.

"How much? Three hellers in real money, precisely counted."

"Listen," said the dwarf, "I am a poor and needy man. Give me your three hellers. I can no longer work, but you are young and can easily earn your bread."

Now because the servant had a good heart and felt pity for the dwarf, he gave him his three hellers, saying, "In God's name, I won't miss them."

Then the dwarf said, "Because I see that you have a good heart I will grant you three wishes, one for each heller. They shall all be fulfilled."

"Aha," said the servant. "You are a miracle worker. Well, then, if it is to be so, first of all I wish for a blowpipe that will hit everything I aim at; second, for a fiddle, that when I play it, anyone who hears it will have to dance; and third, that whenever I ask a favor of anyone, it will be granted."

"You shall have all that," said the dwarf. He reached into the bush, and what do you think, there lay a fiddle and a blowpipe, all ready, just as if they had been ordered. He gave them to the servant, saying, "No one will ever be able to deny any request that you might make."

"What more could my heart desire?" said the servant to himself, and went merrily on his way.

Soon afterward he met a Jew with a long goatee, who was standing listening to a bird singing high up in the top of a tree.

"One of God's own miracles," he shouted, "that such a small creature should have such a fearfully loud voice. If only it were mine! If only someone would sprinkle some salt on its tail!"

"If that is all you want," said the servant, "then the bird shall soon be down here." He took aim, hit it precisely, and the bird fell down into a thorn hedge.

"Rogue," he said to the Jew, "Go and fetch the bird out for yourself."

"My goodness," said the Jew, "don't call me a rogue, sir, but I will be the dog and get the bird out for myself. After all, you're the one who shot it."

Then he lay down on the ground and began crawling into the thicket. When he was in the middle of the thorns, the good servant could not resist the temptation to pick up his fiddle and begin to play.

The Jew's legs immediately began to move, and he jumped up. The more the servant fiddled the better went the dance. However, the thorns ripped apart the Jew's shabby coat, combed his beard, and pricked and pinched him all over his body.

"My goodness," cried the Jew, "what do I want with your fiddling? Stop playing, sir. I don't want to dance."

But the servant did not listen to him, and thought, "You have fleeced people often enough, and now the thorn hedge shall do the same to you." He began to play all over again, so that the Jew had to jump even higher, leaving scraps from his coat hanging on the thorns.

"Oh, woe is me!" cried the Jew. "I will give the gentleman anything he asks, if only he quits fiddling, even a purse filled with gold."

"If you are so generous," said the servant, "then I will stop my music. But I must praise the singular way that you dance to it." Then he took his purse he went on his way.

The Jew stood there quietly watching the servant until he was far off and out of sight, and then he screamed out with all his might, "You miserable musician, you beer-house fiddler! Wait until I catch you alone. I will chase you until you wear the soles off your shoes. You ragamuffin, just put a groschen in your mouth, so that you will be worth six hellers." He continued to curse as fast as he could speak. As soon as he had thus refreshed himself a little, and caught his breath again, he ran into the town to the judge.

"Judge, sir," he said, "Oh, woe is me! See how a godless man has robbed me and abused me on the open road. A stone on the ground would feel sorry for me. My clothes are ripped into shreds. My body is pricked and scratched to pieces. And what little I owned has been taken away with my purse —— genuine ducats, each piece more beautiful than the others. For God's sake, let the man be thrown into prison."

The judge asked, "Was it a soldier who cut you up like that with his saber?"

"God forbid," said the Jew. "He didn't have a naked dagger, but rather a blowpipe hanging from his back, and a fiddle from his neck. The scoundrel can easily be recognized."

The judge sent his people out after him. They found the good servant, who had been walking along quite slowly. And they found the purse with the money on him as well.

When he was brought before the judge he said, "I did not touch the Jew, nor take his money. He offered it to me freely, so that I would stop fiddling, because he could not stand my music."

"God forbid!" cried the Jew. "He is reaching for lies like flies on the wall."

The judge did not believe his story, and said, "That is a poor excuse. No Jew would do that." And because he had committed robbery on the open road, the good servant was sentenced to the gallows.

As he was being led away, the Jew screamed after him, "You good-for-nothing. You dog of a musician. Now you will receive your well earned reward."

The servant walked quietly up the ladder with the hangman, but on the last rung he turned around and said to the judge, "Grant me just one request before I die."

"Yes," said the judge, "if you do not ask for your life."

"I do not ask for life," answered the servant, "but let me play my fiddle one last time."

The Jew cried out miserably, "For God's sake, do not allow it! Do not allow it!"

But the judge said, "Why should I not grant him this short pleasure? It has been promised to him, and he shall have it." In any event, he could not have refused because of the gift that had been bestowed on the servant.

The Jew cried, "Oh, woe is me! Tie me up. Tie me up tightly."

The good servant took his fiddle from his neck, and made ready. As he played the first stroke, they all began to quiver and shake: the judge, the clerks, and the court officials. The rope fell out of the hand of the one who was going to tie up the Jew.

At the second stroke they all lifted their legs. The hangman released the good servant and made ready to dance.

At the third stroke everyone jumped up and began to dance. The judge and the Jew were out in front and were the best at jumping. Soon everyone who had gathered in the marketplace out of curiosity was dancing with them, old and young, fat and thin, all together with each other. Even the dogs that had run along with the crowd stood up on their hind legs and hopped along as well. The longer he played, the higher the dancers jumped, until they were knocking their heads together and crying out terribly.

Finally the judge, quite out of breath, shouted, "I will give you your life, but just stop fiddling."

The good servant listened to this, then took his fiddle, hung it around his neck again, and climbed down the ladder. He went up to the Jew, who was lying upon the ground gasping for air, and said, "You rogue, now confess where you got the money, or I will take my fiddle off my neck and begin to play again."

"I stole it. I stole it," he cried. "But you have honestly earned it."

With that the judge had the Jew led to the gallows and hanged as a thief.

        　一个农场主有一个忠诚的仆人，这个仆人辛辛苦苦地给他干了三年的活，而他却没有给仆人付过任何工钱。最后仆人打定主意，如果农场主再不付给他工钱，他就不再干下去了。

他找到农场主说：“我为你勤勤恳恳地做了这么久的事，相信你会根据我的劳动付给我应得的工钱。”农场主是一个极其吝惜的守财奴，他知道这个仆人头脑非常简单，所以，只拿出三便士给他，也就是一年一便士的工钱。可怜的仆人竟以为这是一笔大数目的钱财，自言自语地说：“我为什么还要在这儿拚命干活，还要在生活这么差的地方待下去呢？我现在可以到外面广阔的世界里去游玩，去寻找自己的快乐呀！”说完，他把钱放进自己的钱袋里，离开了农庄，开始了他的漫游旅程。

一天，当他翻过山岭，独自又唱又跳地走在一片田野上时，他遇到了一个小矮人。小矮人问他是什么事使得他这么高兴愉快，他回答说：“嗨！为什么要愁眉苦脸呢？我身体健康，口袋里有我三年储蓄的一大笔工钱，还有什么好担心的呢？”小矮人说道：“到底有多少钱呀？”仆人回答道：“整整三便士。”小矮人试探道：“我太穷困了，真希望你能把那些钱给我。”仆人心地很善良，看到他个子这么矮，的确是个贫困的样子，对他很同情，就把自己的钱都给了他。作为回报，小矮人对他说：“你有这么一颗善良的心，我将满足你三个愿望——一便士一个，你喜欢什么就选择什么。”仆人很高兴自己交上了好运，说道：“我喜欢的东西很多，但并不是钱。第一，我要一张弓，用这张弓，任何被我瞄准的东西都会掉下来；第二，我要一架小提琴，当我演奏时，每个听到琴声的人都会跳起舞来；第三，我希望每个人都会满足我提出的要求。”小矮人说他就会有他希望的东西，说完，就像变戏法似地拿出一副弓箭和一架小提琴给了他，然后就不见了。

诚实的仆人怀着惊奇而又兴奋的心情上路了。要是说他前一阵子是十分快乐的话，那他现在可以说是一百分的快乐，他唱得比刚才更欢，跳得更起劲了。不久，他遇见了一个老守财奴，在他们相遇的地方有一棵树，树梢的嫩枝上站着一只鸟儿，鸟儿叫得正欢。守财奴说道：“哟！多么漂亮的鸟啊！要是能买到这样一只鸟，花多少钱我也愿意。”仆人听见后说道：“如果真是这样，我很快就会要它下来。”说罢，他举起他的弓，望上瞄准，那鸟儿马上掉下来落进了树下的灌木丛中。守财奴一见，也不谈钱的事，马上爬进树丛中去找鸟儿，但他刚刚爬到里面时，仆人拿起小提琴拉了起来。随着琴声的传出，守财奴开始跳起舞来，他在树丛中跳来跳去，越跳越高，树丛中的荆棘很快就钩破了他的衣裳，使他浑身的衣裳都成了破布条，身上也被划破，伤痕累累，鲜血淋漓。守财奴哭道：“哎哟！看在上帝的份上！大师，大师呀！请别再拉小提琴了，我做了什么要遭受这份罪啊？”仆人说道：“你吝啬小气，剥削了许许多多的贫穷人们，这只是你得到的报应。”说完，他拉起了另一首曲子。守财奴开始哀求他，答应给他钱，让他能停止跳舞、爬出树丛。但他却又不肯多给钱。

仆人就把琴声拉得更响了，守财奴跟着跳得越来越剧烈，出的钱也越来越多，最后他答应把钱袋里的整整一百个金币都给仆人，这些金币都是他刚刚从穷人那儿榨取来的。当仆人看到这么多钱，说道：“我就同意你的请求了。”于是，他拿起钱袋，收好提琴，高高兴兴地又踏上了旅途。

仆人一走，守财奴慢慢地从树丛中爬了出来，他浑身衣不遮体，一副凄凄惨惨的样子，不禁愤恨不已，开始考虑起怎样进行报复来，他要用奸计来对付仆人。最后他跑到法官那里，控告说有一个恶棍强迫他进行交易，骗抢了他的钱财，这个家伙的背后挂着一张弓，脖子上挎着一架小提琴。法官听了，派出巡警到处去找，说不管在哪里找到都要把他带到法庭来。巡警们不久就抓到了这个仆人，并把他带到了法庭，要对他进行审判。

守财奴开始了他的控告，说仆人骗抢了他的钱财。仆人分辩说：“不是这样，事实是我为你演奏一首曲子后你给我的报酬。”但是法官说这是不可能的事情，驳回了仆人的辩护词，判了他绞刑，草草地将这个案子结了。

仆人被带了出去，但当他站在绞刑架台子上时，他说道：“法官大人，请答应我最后一个心愿。”法官回答说：“只要你的要求不是赦免你，我都可以答应。”“我不是要求你赦免我，只是想请你允许我最后演奏一次小提琴。”守财奴一听，大叫道：“啊，不！不！看在上帝的份上，千万不要听他演奏！千万不要让他演奏！”法官却说道：“就让他演奏吧，他很快就会演奏完的。”其实，这完全是小矮人送给他的第三件礼物，没有人能够拒绝他的要求。

这时，守财奴叫道：“快把我捆起来，快把我捆起来！我不想再遭受这种痛苦。”但仆人已经拿好了小提琴，开始奏响了曲子。当琴发出第一声音调时，法官、书记员和监管人以及所有的人都开始摆动起来，此时已没有人能够去捆那个守财奴了。第二声音调传来，行刑的人放开仆人，也跳了起来。到他奏完曲子的第一小节，所有的人——法官、法庭理事和守财奴，包括所有的旁观者——都一同跳起舞来，开始他们跳得很愉快，很兴奋，但不一会儿就累坏了。演奏没停下来，他们跳舞也不能停下来。他们开始叫喊，开始乞求他不要再拉琴了，但他对他们的乞求置若罔闻，一刻也没有停止，一直到法官不仅赦免了他的死罪，而且还答应把那一百块金币归还给他，他才放下小提琴。

接着，他叫住守财奴说：“现在告诉大家，你这个流氓，无赖，你在哪儿得来的这些金币？不然的话，我就只拿你一个人来消遣。”说罢又把小提琴拿了起来，守财奴吓坏了，只好当着大家的面承认说：“我是侵吞得来的，我承认都是巧取豪夺得来的。你是公平合理挣得的。”仆人放下小提琴，走下了绞刑架，守财奴则被推了上去，取代了仆人的位置。