The Three Little Men in the Woods

Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm

There was a man whose wife died, and a woman whose husband died. The man had a daughter, and the woman also had a daughter. The girls were acquainted with each other and went for a walk together. Afterwards they came to the woman in her house.

The woman said to the man's daughter, "Listen, tell your father that I would like to marry him, and then you shall wash yourself in milk every morning and drink wine, but my own daughter shall wash herself in water and drink water."

The girl went home and told her father what the woman had said.

The man said, "What shall I do? Marriage is a joy, but also a torment."

Finally, being unable to reach a decision, he pulled off his boot and said, "Take this boot. It has a hole in its sole. Take it to the attic, hang it on the big nail, and then pour water into it. If it holds the water, then I shall again take a wife, but if the water runs through it, then I shall not."

The girl did as she was told, but the water pulled the hole shut, and the boot filled up to the top. She told her father what had happened. Then he himself went up, and when he saw that she was right, he went to the widow and wooed her, and the wedding was held.

The next morning when the two girls got up, there was milk for the man's daughter to wash in and wine for her to drink, but there was water for the woman's daughter to wash herself with and water for her to drink. On the second morning there was water for washing and water to drink for the man's daughter as well as for the woman's daughter. And on the third morning there was water for washing and water to drink for the man's daughter, and milk for washing and wine to drink for the woman's daughter, and so it continued.

The woman became her stepdaughter's worst enemy, and from one day to the next she did whatever she could to make the stepdaughter's life more miserable. Furthermore, she was envious because her stepdaughter was beautiful and kind, while her own daughter was ugly and disgusting.

Once in winter, when everything was frozen as hard as a stone, and the hills and valleys were covered with snow, the woman made a dress of paper, called her stepdaughter, and said, "Here, put this dress on and go out into the woods and fetch me a basketful of strawberries. I have a longing for some."

"Good heaven." said the girl. "Strawberries don't grow in the winter. The ground is frozen, and furthermore the snow has covered everything. And why am I to go out in this paper dress? It is so cold outside that one's breath freezes. The wind will blow through the dress, and the thorns will tear it from my body."

"Will you contradict me?" said the stepmother. "Be on your way, and do not let me see you again until you have the basketful of strawberries." Then she gave her a little piece of hard bread and said, "You can eat from this all day," while thinking, "You will freeze and starve to death out there, and I shall never see you again."

The girl obeyed and put on the paper dress and went out with the basket. There was nothing but snow far and wide, and not a green blade was to be seen. After coming into the woods she saw a small house. Three little dwarfs peeped out. She greeted them and gently knocked on the door.

They shouted, "Come in," and she went into the room and sat down on the bench by the stove to warm herself and eat her breakfast.

The dwarfs said, "Give us some of it, too."

"Gladly," she said, and broke her piece of bread in two, giving them half."

They asked, "What are you doing here in the woods in the wintertime and in your thin dress."

"Oh," she answered, "I am supposed to gather a basketful of strawberries, and am not allowed to go home until I have them."

When she had eaten her bread they gave her a broom and said, "Sweep away the snow next to the back door."

Once she was outside, the three little men said to one another, "What shall we give her for being so polite and good and sharing her bread with us."

The first one said, "I grant her that every day she shall grow more beautiful."

The second one said, "I grant her that gold pieces shall fall from her mouth every time she speaks a word."

The third one said, "I grant her that a king shall come and take her to wife."

The girl did what the dwarfs told her to, and with the broom she swept the snow away from behind the little house, and what do you think she found? Nothing other than ripe strawberries, which came up out of the snow quite dark red. Joyfully she gathered her basketful, thanked the little men, shook hands with each of them, then ran home to take her stepmother what she had demanded.

Upon entering she said, "Good-evening," and a piece of gold fell out of her mouth. Then she told what had happened to her in the woods, but with every word she spoke gold pieces fell from her mouth, and soon the whole room was covered with them.

"Just look at her arrogance," shouted the stepsister, "to throw gold about in such a manner." But she was secretly envious, and she too wanted to go into the woods to look for strawberries.

The mother said, "No, my dear little daughter, it is too cold. You could freeze to death."

However, her daughter gave no peace, so finally the mother gave in. She sewed a magnificent fur coat for her and had her put it on. She gave her buttered bread and cake for her journey.

The girl went into the woods and straight up to the little house. The three little dwarfs peeped out again, but she did not greet them. Without looking at them and without greeting them, she stumbled into the room, sat down by the stove, and began to eat her buttered bread and cake.

"Give us some of it," shouted the little men.#p#

       She replied, "There is not enough for me myself. How can I give some of it to others?"

When she was finished eating they said, "Here is a broom for you. Sweep in front of the back door."

"Sweep for yourselves," she answered. "I am not your maid."

Seeing that they were not going to give her anything, she walked out the door.

Then the little men said to one another, "What shall we give her for being so impolite and having a wicked and envious heart that will never let her give a thing to anyone?"

The first one said, "I grant that every day she shall grow uglier."

The second one said, "I grant that a toad shall jump out of her mouth with every word she says."

The third one said, "I grant that she shall die an unfortunate death."

The girl looked outside for strawberries, but finding none, she went home angrily. And when she opened her mouth to tell her mother what had happened to her in the woods, a toad jumped out of her mouth with every word she said, so that everyone was repulsed by her.

The stepmother now became even more angry, and she could think of nothing else but how she could torment the man's daughter, who nonetheless grew more beautiful every day. Finally she took a kettle, set it on the fire, and boiled yarn in it. When it was boiled, she hung it on the poor girl's shoulder, gave her an ax, and told her to go to the frozen river, chop a hole in the ice, and rinse the yarn. She obeyed, went to the river and chopped a hole in the ice. While she was chopping, a splendid carriage approached, with the king seated inside.

The carriage stopped, and the king asked, "My child, who are you, and what are you doing here?"

"I am a poor girl, and I am rinsing yarn."

The king felt compassion, and when he saw how very beautiful she was, he said to her, "Will you ride with me?"

"Gladly," she answered, for she was happy to get away from the mother and sister.

So she got into the carriage and rode away with the king. When they arrived at his palace their wedding was celebrated with great pomp, just as the little men had promised the girl.

A year later the young queen gave birth to a son, and when the stepmother heard of her good fortune, she came with her daughter to the palace, pretending that she wanted to pay her a visit. But when the king went out, and no one else was present, the wicked woman seized the queen by the head, and her daughter seized her by the feet, and lifting her out of her bed, they threw her out the window into the stream that flowed by.

After that the ugly daughter lay down in the bed, and the old woman covered her up over her head. When the king returned and wanted to speak to his wife, the old woman said, "Quiet. Quiet. You cannot talk to her now. She has a very high fever. You must let her rest today."

The king suspected no evil, and did not return until the next morning. As he then talked with his wife, and she answered him, a toad jumped out with every word, whereas previously a piece of gold had fallen out. When he asked what was the matter, the old woman said that it came from her high fever, and that she would soon lose it.

During the night the kitchen boy saw a duck swimming along the gutter, and it said, "King, what are you doing? Are you awake or are you asleep?"

Receiving no answer, it said, "What are my guests doing?"

Then the kitchen boy answered, "They are fast asleep."

She asked further, "What is my little baby doing?"

He answered, "He is sound asleep in his cradle."

Then, in the form of the queen, she went upstairs, nursed the baby, fluffed up his cover, tucked him in, and then she swam off through the gutter as a duck.

She came in the same manner for two nights. On the third night, she said to the kitchen boy, "Go and tell the king to take his sword and on the threshold to swing it over me three times."

The kitchen boy ran and told this to the king, who came with his sword and swung it over the spirit three times, and after the third time, his wife was standing before him, vigorous, alive, and healthy, as she had been before.

The king was elated, but he kept the queen hidden in a room until the Sunday when the baby was to be baptized. At the baptism he said, "What does a person deserve who drags someone out of bed and throws him into the water?"

The old woman answered, "The scoundrel deserves nothing better than to be put into a barrel stuck full of nails, and then rolled downhill into the water."

Then the king said, "You have pronounced your own sentence."

He ordered such a barrel to be brought. The old woman and her daughter were put into it, and the top was hammered shut. Then the barrel was rolled downhill until it fell into the river. #p#

从前，有个男人死了妻子，有个女人死了丈夫。这个男人有个女儿，这个女人也有个女儿。两个小姑娘互相认识，经常一起出去散步。有一天，她们散完步后一起来到女人的家里，女人对男人的女儿说：「听着，告诉你爸爸，说我愿意嫁给他，从此你天天早晨都能用牛奶洗脸，还能喝上葡萄酒，而我自己的女儿只能用水洗脸，也只能喝清水。」小姑娘回到家中，把女人的话告诉了她爸爸。男人说：「我该怎么办呢？结婚是喜事，可也会带来痛苦。」他迟迟拿不定主意，最后脱下一只靴子，说：「这只靴子的底上有个洞。你把它拎到阁楼上去，把它挂在一根大钉子上，然后往里面灌些水。要是水没有漏出来，我就再娶个妻子；可要是水漏了出来，我就不娶。」姑娘按她父亲所说的办了。可是水使得洞胀拢了，靴子里灌满了水也没有漏出来。她把结果告诉了她父亲，父亲又亲自上来察看，看到情况果然如此，便去向那寡妇求婚，然后举行了婚礼。

第一天早晨，两个姑娘起来后，在男人的女儿的面前果然放着洗脸的牛奶和喝的葡萄酒，而在女人的女儿的面前放着的只有洗脸的清水和喝的清水。第二天早晨，男人的女儿和女人的女儿的面前都放着洗脸的清水和喝的清水。到了第三天早晨，男人的女儿的面前放着洗脸用的清水和喝的清水，而女人的女儿的面前却放着洗脸用的牛奶和喝的葡萄酒。以后天天都是这样。那女人成了她继女的死敌，对她一天坏似一天，她还万分嫉妒她的继女，因为她的继女美丽可爱，而她自己的女儿又丑又令人讨厌。

冬天到了，一切都冻得像石头一样硬，山顶和山谷都被大雪覆盖着。一天，女人用纸做了件衣服，把她的继女叫过来，说：「听着，你穿上这件衣服，到森林里去给我採一篮草莓，我很想吃。」「天哪！」姑娘说，「冬天怎么会有草莓呢？地上都结了冰，大雪把一切都盖住了，再说，我怎么能穿着这身纸衣服出去呢？外面冷得连呼出的气都能冻起来。风会往这衣服里面吹，荆棘也会把它挂破的。」「你敢跟我顶嘴？」继母说，「你快给我去！要是没有採到一篮草莓，你就别想回来！」然后她又给姑娘一小块硬梆梆的麵包，说：「这是你一天的口粮，」心里却在想：「你在外面不会冻死也会饿死的，别想再回来烦我。」

姑娘只好顺从地穿上纸衣服，提着篮子走了出去。外面一片冰天雪地，连一棵绿草都找不到。她来到森林里后，看到一座小房子，里面有三个小矮人在向外张望。她向他们问好，然后轻轻地敲了敲门。他们叫「进来」，她便走进屋，坐在炉子旁的长凳上烤火，吃她的早饭。小矮人们说：「也分一点给我们吧。」「好的，」她说着便把麵包掰成两半，给了他们一半。他们问：「你大冬天穿着这身薄薄的衣服到森林里来干吗？」「唉，」她回答，「我得採一篮草莓，否则我就回不了家了。」等她吃完麵包后，他们递给她一把扫帚，说：「去帮我们把后门的雪扫掉吧。」可等她出去后，三个小矮人却商量了起来：「她这么可爱，又把麵包分给了我们，我们送她甚么好呢？」第一个矮人说：「我送给她的礼物是：她一天比一天更美丽。」第二个矮人说：「我送给她的礼物是：她一开口说话就吐出金子来。」第三个矮人说：「我送给她的礼物是：一个国王娶她当王后。」

姑娘这时正按照他们的吩咐，用扫帚把小屋后面的雪扫掉。她看到了甚么？雪下面露出了红彤彤的草莓！她高兴极了，赶紧装了满满一篮子，谢了小矮人，还和他们一一握手道别，然后带着她继母垂涎的东西跑回家去了。谁知，她进门刚说了声「晚上好」，嘴里就掉出来一块金子！於是，她把自己在森林里遇到的事情讲了出来，而且每讲一句，嘴里就掉出来一块金子，弄得家里很快就堆满了金子。「瞧她那副德行！」继母的女儿嚷道，「就这样乱扔金子！」她心里嫉妒得要命，也渴望着到森林里去採草莓。她母亲却说：「不行，我的好女儿，外面太冷了，你会冻死的。」可是她女儿缠着不放，她最后只好让步。她给女儿缝了件皮袄，硬要她穿上；然后又给她抹了黄油的麵包和蛋糕，让她带着路上吃。

这个姑娘进了森林之后，迳直向小屋走去。三个小矮人又在屋里向外张望，可是她根本不和他们打招呼，既不看他们，也不和他们说话，大摇大摆地走进屋，一屁股坐到炉子旁，吃起自己的麵包和蛋糕来。「分一点给我们吧，」小矮人们说；可是她却回答：「这都不够我自己吃的，怎么能分给别人呢？」等她吃完，他们又说：「这里有把扫帚，把后门的雪扫乾净。」她回答：「我又不是你们的佣人。」看到他们不会给她任何礼物了，她便自己冲出了屋子。三个小矮人商量道：「像她这种坏心肠的小懒鬼，又不肯施舍给别人东西，我们该送她甚么呢？」第一个矮人说：「我让她长得一天比一天丑！」第二个矮人说：「我让她一开口说话就从嘴里跳出一只癞蛤蟆！」第三个矮人说：「我让她不得好死！」姑娘在屋外找草莓，可一个也找不到，只好气鼓鼓地回家去了。她开口给母亲讲自己在森林里的遭遇，可是，她每讲一句话，嘴里就跳出来一只癞蛤蟆，把大家都吓坏了。#p#

      这一来继母更是气坏了，千方百计地盘算着怎么折磨丈夫的女儿，可是这姑娘却长得一天比一天更美。终於，继母取出一只锅子，架在火堆上，在里面煮线团。线团煮过之后，她把它捞出来，搭在姑娘的肩膀上，然后又给姑娘一把斧头，让她去结冰的小河，在冰面上凿一个洞，在洞里漂洗线团。姑娘顺从地来到河边，走到河中央凿冰。她正凿着，岸上驶来了一辆华丽的马车，里面坐着国王。马车停了下来，国王问：「姑娘，你是谁？在这里干甚么？」「我是个可怜的女孩，在这里漂洗线团。」国王很同情她，而且又看到她长得这么美丽，便对她说：「你愿意和我一起走吗？」「当然愿意啦。」她回答，因为她非常高兴能离开继母和继母的女儿。姑娘坐到国王的马车上，和国王一起回到宫中。他俩立刻就举行了婚礼，正像三个小矮人许诺过的一样。一年后，年轻的王后生下了一个儿子。她的继母早已听说她交上了好运，这时也带着亲生女儿来到王宫，假装是来看王后的。可是看到国王刚出去，而且旁边又没有别人，这坏心肠的女人就抓住王后的头，她的女儿抓住王后的脚，把她从床上抬下来，从窗口把她扔进了外面的大河里。然后，继母的丑女儿躺在床上，老婆子从头到脚把她盖了起来。当国王回到房间，想和他的妻子说话的时候，老婆子叫了起来：「嘘，唬，不要打搅她，她现在正在发汗。今天不要打搅她。」国王丝毫没有怀疑，一直等到第二天早晨才过来。他和妻子说话，谁知她刚开口，嘴里就跳出来一只癞蛤蟆，而不像从前那样掉出金子来。国王问这是怎么回事，老婆子便说这是发汗发出来的，很快就会好的。但是当天夜里，王宫里的小帮工看见一只鸭子从下水道里游了出来，而且听见它说：

「国王，你在做甚么？

你是睡着了还是醒着？」

看到小帮工没有回答，它又说：

「我的两位客人在做甚么？」

小帮工说：

「她们睡熟了。」

鸭子又问：

「我的小宝宝在做甚么？」

小帮工回答：

「他在摇篮里睡得好好的。」

鸭子变成了王后的模样，上去给孩子喂奶，摇着他的小床，给他盖好被子，然后又变成鸭子，从下水道游走了。她这样一连来了两个晚上，第三天晚上，她对小帮工说：「你去告诉国王，让他带上他的宝剑，站在门槛上，在我的头上挥舞三下。」小帮工赶紧跑去告诉国王，国王提着宝剑来了，在那幽灵的头顶上挥舞了三下。他刚舞到第三下，她的妻子就站在了他的面前，像以前一样健康强壮。国王高兴极了，可他仍然把王后藏进密室，等着礼拜天婴儿受洗的日子到来。洗礼结束之后，他说：「要是有人把别人从床上拖下来，并且扔进河里，这个人该受到甚么样的惩罚？」老婆子说：「对这样坏心肠的人，最好的惩罚是把他装进里面插满了钉子的木桶，从山坡上滚到河里去。」「那么，」国王说，「你已经为自己做出了判决。」国王命令搬来一只这样的木桶，把老婆子和她的女儿装进去，并且把桶盖钉死，把桶从山坡上滚了下去，一直滚到河心。