The Iron Stove
In the days when wishing was having, a certain King’s Son was enchanted by an old Witch, and obliged to sit in a great iron stove which stood in a wood! There he passed many years, for nobody could release him; till one day a Princess who had lost herself, and could not find her way back to her father’s kingdom, came at last, after nine days’ wandering, to the spot where the iron stove stood. As she approached it, she heard a voice say, “Whence comest thou, and whither goest thou?” “I have lost the road to my father’s kingdom, and am unable to find my home!” she replied. “I will help you, and that in a short time,” said the voice from the iron stove, “if you will consent to what I desire; I am the child of a far greater King than your father, and am willing to marry you.”
The Princess was frightened at this proposal, and exclaimed, “What can I do with an iron stove?” but nevertheless, as she was anxious to get home, she consented to what he should wish. Then the Prince told her that she must return after she had been home, and bring with her a knife to cut a hole in the stove; and then he gave her such minute directions as to her road, that in two hours she reached her father’s palace. There was great joy there when the Princess returned, and the old King fell on her neck and kissed her; but she was sore troubled, and said, “Alas! my dear father, how things have happened! I should never have reached home out of the great wild wood, had it not been for an iron stove, to which I have therefore promised to return to save it and marry it.”
The King was so frightened when he heard this, that he fell into a swoon; for she was his only daughter. When he recovered, they resolved that the miller’s daughter, a very pretty girl should take her place; and so she was led to the spot, furnished with a knife, and told to scrape a hole in the iron stove. For four-and-twenty hours she scraped and scraped; but without making the least bit of a hole; and when day broke, the voice out of the stove, exclaimed, “It seems to me like daylight.” “Yes,” replied the girl, “it seems so to me too, and methinks I hear the clapping of my father’s mill.” “Oh then, you are the miller’s daughter,” said the voice again; “well, you may go home, and send the Princess to me.”
The girl, therefore returned, and told the King the stove would not have her, but his daughter, which frightened the King again, and made the Princess weep. But the King had also in his service, a swine-herd’s daughter, prettier still than the miller’s, to whom he offered a piece of gold if she would go instead of the princess to the iron stove. Thereupon, this girl went away, and scraped for four-and-twenty hours on the iron without producing any impression; and when day broke, a voice out of the stove, exclaimed, “It seems to me like daylight.” “Yes it is so,” said the girl; “for I hear my father’s horn.”
“You are then the swine-herd’s daughter,” said the voice, “go straight back, and tell the Princess who sent you, that it must be as I said; and therefore, if she does not come to me, everything in the old kingdom shall fall to pieces, and not one stone be left upon another anywhere.”
As soon as the Princess heard this, she began to cry; but it was of no use, for her promise must be kept. So she took leave of her father; and carrying a knife with her, set out towards the iron stove in the wood. As soon as she reached it she began to scrape the iron; and before two hours had passed, she had already made a small hole. Through this she peeped, and beheld inside the stove a handsome Prince, whose dress all glittered with gold and precious stones; and she immediately fell in love with him. So she scraped away faster than before, and soon had made a hole so large that the Prince could get out. “You are mine, and I am thine,” he said, as soon as he stood on the earth; “you are my bride, because you have saved me.” Then he wanted to take her at once to his father’s kingdom; but she begged that she might once more go back to her father, to take leave of him. The Prince consented to this; but said she must not speak more than three words, and immediately return. Thereupon the Princess went home; but alas! she said many more than three words; and the iron stove consequently disappeared, and was carried far away over many icy mountains and snowy valleys; but without the Prince, who was saved, and no longer shut up in his former prison. By-and-by the Princess took leave of her father; and taking some gold with her, but not much, she went back into the wood, and sought for the iron stove, but could find it nowhere. For nine days she searched; and then her hunger became so great, that she knew not how to help herself, and thought she must perish. When evening came she climbed up a little tree, for she feared the wild beasts, which night would bring forth; and just as midnight approached she saw a little light at a distance, “Ah, there I may find help,” thought she; and getting down, she went towards the light, saying a prayer as she walked along. Soon she came to a little hut, around which much grass grew; and before the door stood a heap of wood, “Ah, how came you here,” thought she to herself, as she peeped through the window and saw nothing but fat little toads; and a table already covered with meat and wine, and plates and dishes made of silver. She took courage and knocked; and immediately a Toad exclaimed:—
“Little Toad, with crooked leg;
Open quick the door, I beg,
And see who stands without!”
As soon as these words were spoken, a little Toad came running up, and opened the door; and the princess walked in. They all bade her welcome, and told her to sit down; and then asked her whence she came, and whither she was going. She told the Toads all that had happened, and how, because she had overstepped the mark in speaking more than three words, the stove had disappeared as well as the Prince: and now she was about to search over hill and valley till she found him. When she had told her tale, the old toad cried out:—
“Little Toad, with crooked leg;
Quickly fetch for me, I beg,
The basket hanging on the peg.”
So the little Toad went and brought the basket to the old one, who laid it down, and caused meat and drink to be given to the Princess; and after that showed her a beautiful neat bed, made of silk and velvet, in which, under God’s protection, she slept soundly. As soon as day broke the Princess arose; and the old Toad gave her three needles out of the bag, to take with her, for they would be of use, since she would have to pass over a mountain of glass, three sharp swords, and a big lake before she would regain her lover. The old Toad gave her besides the three needles, a ploughwheel and three nuts; and with these the Princess set out on her way; and by-and-by approached the glass mountain which was so smooth that she placed the three needles in the heel of her shoe, and so passed over. When she came to the other side, she placed the three needles in a secure place; and soon coming to the three swords, she rolled over them by means of her ploughwheel. At last she came to the great lake; and when she passed that, she found herself near a fine large castle. Into this she entered; and offered herself as a servant, saying she was a poor girl: but had a little while back, rescued a King’s son out of an iron stove, which stood in the forest. After some delay she was hired as a kitchen-maid, at a very small wage; and soon found out that the Prince had an intention to marry another lady, because he supposed his former favourite was long since dead. One evening when she had washed and made herself neat, she felt in her pocket, and found the three nuts which the old Toad had given her. One of them she cracked, and instead of a kernel found a royal dress, which, when the Bride heard of, she said she must have, for it was no dress for a servant-maid. But the Princess said she would not sell it, but on one condition, which was, that she should be allowed to pass a night by the chamber of the Prince. This request was granted, because the Bride was so anxious to have the dress, since she had none like it; and when evening came she told her lover that the silly girl wanted to pass the night near his room. “If you are contented, so am I,” he replied; but she gave him a glass of wine, in which she put a sleeping-draught. In consequence, he slept so soundly, that the poor Princess could not awake him, although she cried the whole night, and kept repeating, “I saved you in the wild forest, and rescued you out of the iron stove; I have sought you, and travelled over a mountain of glass, and over three sharp swords, and across a wide lake, before I found you; and still you will not hear me!” The servants, however, who slept in the anteroom, heard the complaint, and told the King of it the following morning. That evening after the Princess had washed and cleaned herself, she cracked open the second nut and found in it a still more beautiful dress than the former; so that the Bride declared she must have it. But it was not to be purchased except on the same condition as the first; and the Prince allowed her to sleep where she had before. The Bride, however, gave the Prince, another sleeping-draught; and he slept too soundly to hear the poor Princess complaining and crying as before: “I saved you in the wild forest, and rescued you out of the iron stove; I have sought you, and travelled over a mountain of glass, and over three sharp swords, and across a wide lake, before I found you; and still you will not hear me!” The servants, however, in the ante room, heard the crying again; and told the Prince of it the next morning.
On the same evening, the poor scullery-maid, broke her third nut; and produced a dress starred with gold, which the Bride declared she must have at any price; and the maid petitioned for the same privilege as before. But the Prince poured out this time the sleeping-draught; and therefore, when the Princess began to cry, “Alas! my dear treasure, have you forgotten how I saved you in the great wild wood, and rescued you out of the iron stove?” the Prince heard her, and jumping up, exclaimed, “You are right, I am thine, and you are mine.” Thereupon while the night lasted, he got into a carriage with the Princess; first taking away the clothes of the false Bride, that she might not follow them. When they came to the lake, they rowed over very quickly, and passed the three sharp swords again by means of the ploughwheel. Soon they crossed the glass mountain by the aid of the three needles; and arrived at last at the little old house, which as as soon they entered, was changed into a noble castle. At the same moment all the Toads were disenchanted and returned to their natural positions; for they were the sons of the King of the country. So the wedding was performed, and the Prince and Princess remained in the castle; for it was much larger than that of her father. However, because the old King grieved at his daughter’s continual absence, they went and lived with him and joined the government of the two kingdoms in one; and so for many years they reigned in happiness and prosperity.
