Journeys Through Bookland Volume Ii Part 5

"I bring nothing. Have you anything to give?"

Grethel said, "I will go with you, Hans."

Hans tied a rope round Grethel, led her home, put her in the stall and made the rope fast; then he went to his mother.

"Good evening, mother."

"Good evening, Hans. Where have you been?"

"To Grethel's."

"What did you take her?"

"I took nothing."

"What did Grethel give you?"

"She gave nothing; she came with me."

"And where have you left her, then?"

"I tied her with a rope, put her in the stall, and threw her some gra.s.s."

"Then you have acted stupidly, Hans; you should have looked at her with friendly eyes."

"To behave better, do nothing," thought Hans; and then he went into the stall, and made sheep's eyes at Grethel.

And after that Grethel became Hans's wife.

The Brothers Grimm, Jakob and Wilhelm, were very learned German scholars who lived during the first half of the nineteenth century. They were both professors at the University of Gottingen, and published many important works, among them a famous dictionary. In their own country it is, of course, these learned works which have given them much of their fame, but in other countries they are chiefly known for their Fairy Tales.

Most of these they did not themselves write; they simply collected and rewrote. They would hear of some old woman who was famous for telling stories remembered from childhood, and they would present themselves at her cottage to bribe or wheedle her into telling them her tales. Perhaps the promise that her words should appear in print would be enough to induce her to talk; perhaps hours would be wasted in trying to make her grow talkative, without success. At any rate, the Grimm brothers finally collected enough of these stories to make a big, fat book.

THE POPPYLAND EXPRESS

St. Louis Star Sayings

The first train leaves at 6 p. m.

For the land where the poppy blows.

The mother is the engineer, And the pa.s.senger laughs and crows.

The palace car is the mother's arms; The whistle a low, sweet strain.

The pa.s.senger winks and nods and blinks And goes to sleep on the train.

At 8 p. m. the next train starts For the poppyland afar.

The summons clear falls on the ear, "All aboard for the sleeping car!"

But "What is the fare to poppyland?

I hope it is not too dear."

The fare is this--a hug and a kiss, And it's paid to the engineer.

So I ask of Him who children took On His knee in kindness great: "Take charge, I pray, of the trains each day That leave at six and eight.

"Keep watch of the pa.s.sengers," thus I pray, "For to me they are very dear; And special ward, O gracious Lord, O'er the gentle engineer."

BLUEBEARD

Once upon a time there lived a great lord who had many beautiful homes and who was fairly rolling in wealth. He had town houses and castles in the country, all filled with rich furniture and costly vessels of gold and silver. In spite of all his riches, however, n.o.body liked the man, because of his ugly and frightful appearance. Perhaps people could have endured his face if it had not been for a great blue beard that frightened the women and children until they fled at his very approach.

Now, it so happened that there was living near one of his castles a fine lady of good breeding who had two beautiful daughters. Bluebeard, for such was the name by which he was known through all the country, saw the two daughters and determined to have one of them for his wife. So he proposed to the mother for one, but left it to her to decide which of the daughters she would give him.

Neither of the daughters was willing to marry him, for neither could make up her mind to live all her life with such a hideous blue beard, however rich the owner might be. Moreover, they had heard, and the report was true, that the man had been married several times before, and no one knew what had become of his wives.

In order to become better acquainted with the women, Bluebeard invited them and their mother to visit him at one of his castles in the country.

They accepted the invitation, and for nine delightful days they hunted and fished over his vast estates, and for nine wonderful evenings they feasted and danced in his magnificent rooms.

Everything went so much to their liking, and Bluebeard himself was so gracious, that the younger girl began to think that after all his beard was not so very blue; and so, soon after their return to town, the mother announced that the younger daughter was ready to marry him. In a few days the ceremony was performed, and Bluebeard took his wife to one of his castles, where they spent a happy month.

At the end of that time Bluebeard told his wife that he was obliged to make a long journey and would be away from home about six weeks. He added that he hoped his wife would enjoy herself, and that he wished her to send for her friends if she wanted them, and to spend his money as freely as she liked in their entertainment.

"Here," he said, "are the keys of my two great storerooms, where you will find everything you need for the house; here are the keys of the sideboards, where you will find all the gold and silver plate for the table; here are the keys of my money chests, where you will find gold and silver in abundance [Ill.u.s.tration: a key] and many caskets containing beautiful jewels which you have not yet seen; and here is a pa.s.s key which will open all the rooms in the castle excepting one.

"But here is a little key which fits the lock in the door of the little room at the end of the long gallery on the first floor. This little room you must not enter. Open everything else, go everywhere you like, treat everything as though it was your own; but I strictly forbid you to enter the little room. If you even so much as put the key in the lock you may expect to suffer direfully from my anger."

The young wife promised faithfully to observe her husband's wishes to the letter, and he, pleased with the readiness with which she consented to obey him, kissed her fondly, sprang into his carriage and departed on his journey.

[Ill.u.s.tration: SHE SLIPPED SILENTLY AWAY]

No sooner had Bluebeard left than the friends of his wife began to arrive. Many of them did not wait for an invitation, but came as soon as they heard that her husband had gone with his terrible blue beard. Then was there great merrymaking all over the house, and it was overrun from top to bottom with the excited guests, for all were consumed with the desire to see the treasures the castle contained. These were truly wonderful. Rich tapestries hanging on the walls, great mirrors that reflected the whole image of a person from head to foot, wonderful pictures in frames of pure gold, gold and silver vessels of graceful shape and elegant design, cabinets filled with curiosities, lights gleaming with crystals, caskets filled with sparkling diamonds and other precious stones without number, all served to charm and delight the guests so that they had little time to think about their hostess.

The wife, however, soon wearied of the splendor of her home, for she kept continually thinking about the little room at the end of the long gallery on the first floor. The more she thought about it the more curious she became, and finally, forgetting her good manners, she left her guests, slipped silently away from them, and in her excitement nearly fell the whole length of the secret stairway that led to the long gallery. Her courage did not fail her till she reached the door of the little room. Then she remembered how false she was to her trust, and hesitated. Her conscience, however, was soon silenced by her curiosity, and with a beating heart and trembling hand she pushed the little key into the lock, and the door flew open.

The shutters of the window in the little room were closed, and at first she could see nothing; but as her eyes became accustomed to the dim light she saw that clotted blood covered the floor, and that hanging from the walls by their long hair were the b.l.o.o.d.y heads of Bluebeard's other wives, while on the floor lay their dead bodies.

When the young wife realized at what she was looking, the key fell from her shaking hand, her heart stopped beating, and she almost fell to the floor in horror and amazement. Recovering herself after a while, she stooped and picked up the key, locked the door and hurried back to her chamber. In vain she tried to compose herself and meet her guests again.

She was too frightened to control herself, and when she looked at the little key of that awful little room at the end of the long gallery on the first floor, she saw that it was stained with blood. She wiped the key and wiped it, but the blood would not come off. She washed it, and scrubbed it with sand and freestone and brick dust, but the blood would not come off; or, if she did succeed in cleaning one side and turned the key over, there was blood on the other side, for it was a magic key which a fairy friend of Bluebeard's had given him.

That night the wife was terrified to hear Bluebeard returning, though she tried to welcome him with every show of delight and affection. He explained his sudden change of plans by saying that he had met a friend on the road who told him that it was unnecessary for him to make the long journey, as the business he was intending to transact had been all done.