Array The Brothers Grimm - Fairy Tales from the Brothers Grimm - A New English Version

And off set the prince with a heavy heart once more, and once more he met the faithful fox.

‘You’re a difficult man to help,’ said the fox. ‘I should really leave you to get on by yourself, but I feel sorry for you. The path we’re on leads directly to the golden castle. We’ll get there in the evening, and when it’s dark and everything’s quiet, the golden princess will go to the bathhouse to bathe. What you must do is run up as soon as you see her, and kiss her. Once you’ve done that she’ll follow you, and you can take her anywhere. But you mustn’t allow her to say goodbye to her parents. If you do that, it’ll all go wrong.’

The fox stretched out his tail, the prince sat on his back, and off they went, the wind whistling through the prince’s hair. They soon arrived at the golden castle, where everything was as the fox said it would be. The prince hid until midnight, and when everyone else was asleep, the princess went to the bathhouse. The prince ran up and kissed her, and she said she’d gladly go anywhere in the world with him, but first she must bid farewell to her mother and father. She begged him — she implored him — she wept — and although he resisted her pleas at first, she was so beautiful and in such distress that he finally gave in.

Naturally, as soon as she approached the royal bed, the king woke up. So did everyone else in the palace. The prince was seized and thrown into prison, and next morning he was brought before the king.

‘Your life is worth nothing, young man,’ said the king. ‘I’d have you put to death at once, but there’s a task that needs doing, and if you can do it I’ll spare your life. Out of my window there’s a mountain that blocks the view. Take that away within seven days and the princess is yours. Otherwise, you’ll lose your head.’

They gave the prince a shovel and he set to work at once, but when six days had gone by and he stood back and looked at what he’d done, his heart sank. He’d hardly made any difference at all.

However, he kept on shovelling all through the seventh day until the evening. At that point the fox appeared again.

‘I don’t know why I bother,’ he said. ‘You don’t deserve any help, but I’ve got a soft spot for you. Go to bed, and I’ll move the mountain.’

Next morning, when the prince woke up and looked out of the window, he saw that the mountain had vanished. Full of joy, he rushed to the king.

‘Your majesty, I’ve done it! The mountain’s gone!’

The king looked out of the window, and he couldn’t deny it: the mountain had vanished. ‘Very well,’ he said. ‘Whether I like it or not, I shall keep my word. You may take my daughter.’

So the young prince and the golden princess set off together, and soon the faithful fox had joined them.

‘You’ve got the best of all prizes right here,’ said the fox, ‘but the golden princess needs the golden horse.’

‘How can I get that?’ said the prince.

‘I’ll tell you, and listen to me this time,’ said the fox. ‘First you must take the princess to the king who sent you to fetch her. There will be great celebrations, and they’ll gladly let you have the golden horse. When they bring it out, you must mount it straight away and then shake hands with everyone and say goodbye. Make sure you shake hands with the golden princess last of all, and when you’ve got her hand in yours, swing her up behind you and gallop away at once. No one can possibly catch you, because the horse goes faster than the wind.’

Everything went as the fox had said, the celebrations, the gift of the horse, the hand-shaking, the escape. The fox went with them, and when they slowed down at last, he said, ‘You did as I told you — good. Now I’ll help you get the golden bird. When you get near the castle where the bird is kept, let the princess down from the horse. I’ll look after her while you do the rest. You must ride the horse into the courtyard, and everyone will rejoice when they see it, and they’ll bring out the golden bird for you. As soon as you have the cage in your hand, set off like the wind and come back for the princess.’

That plan worked as well. Now that the prince had all the treasures he wanted, he got ready to set off for home, but the fox said, ‘Before you go, I’d like a reward for all the help I’ve given you.’

‘Of course!’ said the prince. ‘What would you like?’

‘When we come to the forest, I’d like you to shoot me dead and cut off my head and my paws.’

‘That would be a strange form of gratitude,’ said the prince. ‘I couldn’t possibly do that.’

‘Well, if you won’t do it, I’ll have to leave you. But I’ll give you a last piece of advice: there are two things you have to beware of. Don’t buy any gallows meat, and don’t sit on the edge of a well.’

When he’d said that, the fox ran off into the forest.

The prince thought: ‘What a strange animal, to have such ideas! Who’d buy gallows meat? And I’ve never wanted to sit on the edge of a well.’

He went on his way with the beautiful princess, and before long they came to the village where his two brothers had stayed behind. There he found a crowd gathering with a lot of noise and commotion, and when he asked what was going on, he was told that two men were about to be hanged. He pushed his way through, and found that the two men were his own brothers. They had run through all their money and got up to all kinds of wickedness.

The young prince asked if there was any way they could be pardoned.

‘Well, you can buy their freedom,’ he was told, ‘but why spend good money on saving such wretches?’

He didn’t hesitate. He paid over the money and bought their freedom, and his brothers were unshackled, with strict warnings not to visit that village ever again. Then they set off, and after a brisk morning’s travelling they came to the forest where they had first met the fox. The sun was hot, and since it was pleasantly cool under the trees, the brothers said, ‘Let’s rest here a little. Look, we can get some water from the well.’

The young prince agreed. He forgot the fox’s warning and sat down on the rim of the well, suspecting nothing. In a moment the two brothers pushed him into the well, and made off with the princess, the horse and the bird, and took them to their father.

‘See, father!’ they said. ‘Not only the bird, but the golden horse and the princess from the golden castle as well! Not bad, eh?’

The king ordered a great celebration, but observant courtiers noticed that the horse refused to eat, the bird wouldn’t sing, and the princess could do nothing but sit and weep.

Meanwhile, what of the youngest brother? He didn’t drown, because the well was dry; and he didn’t break any bones, because it was full of moss. He sat at the bottom puzzling how to get out, and he was at his wits’ end when the faithful fox appeared once more. He jumped down the well and scolded the prince.

‘What did I tell you?’ he said. ‘Well, I suppose I should have expected it. Never mind, I won’t leave you down here. Get hold of my tail, and hang on tight.’

The prince did, and a minute later he clambered out after the fox and brushed himself down.

‘Now you’re not out of danger yet,’ said the fox. ‘Your brothers weren’t sure that you died in the well, so they’ve stationed guards all around the forest with orders to shoot you on sight.’

They set off, and presently the prince came across a poor man and exchanged clothes with him. In that way he managed to get to the court without being recognized. As soon as he came in, the bird started singing, the horse began to eat, and the beautiful princess stopped crying.

The king was amazed. ‘What does this mean?’ he said.