1. THE GOOSE-GIRL
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The king of a great land died , and left his queen to take care of their only child . This child was a daughter , who was very beautiful ; and her mother loved her dearly , and was very kind to her . And there was a good fairy too , who was fond of the princess , and helped her mother to watch over her . When she grew up , she was betrothed to a prince who lived a great way off ; and as the time drew near for her to be married , she got ready to set off on her journey to his country . Then the queen her mother , packed up a great many costly things ; jewels , and gold , and silver ; trinkets , fine dresses , and in short everything that became a royal bride . And she gave her a waiting -maid to ride with her , and give her into the bridegroom 's hands ; and each had a horse for the journey . Now the princess 's horse was the fairy 's gift , and it was called Falada , and could speak .
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When the time came for them to set out , the fairy went into her bed -chamber , and took a little knife , and cut off a lock of her hair , and gave it to the princess , and said , 'Take care of it , dear child ; for it is a charm that may be of use to you on the road .' Then they all took a sorrowful leave of the princess ; and she put the lock of hair into her bosom , got upon her horse , and set off on her journey to her bridegroom 's kingdom .
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One day , as they were riding along by a brook , the princess began to feel very thirsty : and she said to her maid , 'Pray get down , and fetch me some water in my golden cup out of yonder brook , for I want to drink .' 'Nay ,' said the maid , 'if you are thirsty , get off yourself , and stoop down by the water and drink ; I shall not be your waiting -maid any longer .' Then she was so thirsty that she got down , and knelt over the little brook , and drank ; for she was frightened , and dared not bring out her golden cup ; and she wept and said , 'Alas ! what will become of me ?' And the lock answered her , and said :
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'Alas ! alas ! if thy mother knew it ,
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Sadly , sadly , would she rue it .'
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But the princess was very gentle and meek , so she said nothing to her maid 's ill behaviour , but got upon her horse again .
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Then all rode farther on their journey , till the day grew so warm , and the sun so scorching , that the bride began to feel very thirsty again ; and at last , when they came to a river , she forgot her maid 's rude speech , and said , 'Pray get down , and fetch me some water to drink in my golden cup .' But the maid answered her , and even spoke more haughtily than before : 'Drink if you will , but I shall not be your waiting -maid .' Then the princess was so thirsty that she got off her horse , and lay down , and held her head over the running stream , and cried and said , 'What will become of me ?' And the lock of hair answered her again :
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'Alas ! alas ! if thy mother knew it ,
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Sadly , sadly , would she rue it .'
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And as she leaned down to drink , the lock of hair fell from her bosom , and floated away with the water . Now she was so frightened that she did not see it ; but her maid saw it , and was very glad , for she knew the charm ; and she saw that the poor bride would be in her power , now that she had lost the hair . So when the bride had done drinking , and would have got upon Falada again , the maid said , 'I shall ride upon Falada , and you may have my horse instead '; so she was forced to give up her horse , and soon afterwards to take off her royal clothes and put on her maid 's shabby ones .
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At last , as they drew near the end of their journey , this treacherous servant threatened to kill her mistress if she ever told anyone what had happened . But Falada saw it all , and marked it well .
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Then the waiting -maid got upon Falada , and the real bride rode upon the other horse , and they went on in this way till at last they came to the royal court . There was great joy at their coming , and the prince flew to meet them , and lifted the maid from her horse , thinking she was the one who was to be his wife ; and she was led upstairs to the royal chamber ; but the true princess was told to stay in the court below .
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Now the old king happened just then to have nothing else to do ; so he amused himself by sitting at his kitchen window , looking at what was going on ; and he saw her in the courtyard . As she looked very pretty , and too delicate for a waiting -maid , he went up into the royal chamber to ask the bride who it was she had brought with her , that was thus left standing in the court below . 'I brought her with me for the sake of her company on the road ,' said she ; 'pray give the girl some work to do , that she may not be idle .' The old king could not for some time think of any work for her to do ; but at last he said , 'I have a lad who takes care of my geese ; she may go and help him .' Now the name of this lad , that the real bride was to help in watching the king 's geese , was Curdken .
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But the false bride said to the prince , 'Dear husband , pray do me one piece of kindness .' 'That I will ,' said the prince . 'Then tell one of your slaughterers to cut off the head of the horse I rode upon , for it was very unruly , and plagued me sadly on the road '; but the truth was , she was very much afraid lest Falada should some day or other speak , and tell all she had done to the princess . She carried her point , and the faithful Falada was killed ; but when the true princess heard of it , she wept , and begged the man to nail up Falada 's head against a large dark gate of the city , through which she had to pass every morning and evening , that there she might still see him sometimes . Then the slaughterer said he would do as she wished ; and cut off the head , and nailed it up under the dark gate .
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Early the next morning , as she and Curdken went out through the gate , she said sorrowfully :
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'Falada , Falada , there thou hangest !'
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and the head answered :
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'Bride , bride , there thou gangest !
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Alas ! alas ! if thy mother knew it ,
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Sadly , sadly , would she rue it .'
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Then they went out of the city , and drove the geese on . And when she came to the meadow , she sat down upon a bank there , and let down her waving locks of hair , which were all of pure silver ; and when Curdken saw it glitter in the sun , he ran up , and would have pulled some of the locks out , but she cried :
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'Blow , breezes , blow !
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Let Curdken 's hat go !
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Blow , breezes , blow !
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Let him after it go !
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O'er hills , dales , and rocks ,
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Away be it whirl 'd
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Till the silvery locks
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Are all comb 'd and curl 'd!
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Then there came a wind , so strong that it blew off Curdken 's hat ; and away it flew over the hills : and he was forced to turn and run after it ; till , by the time he came back , she had done combing and curling her hair , and had put it up again safe . Then he was very angry and sulky , and would not speak to her at all ; but they watched the geese until it grew dark in the evening , and then drove them homewards .
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The next morning , as they were going through the dark gate , the poor girl looked up at Falada 's head , and cried :
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'Falada , Falada , there thou hangest !'
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and the head answered :
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'Bride , bride , there thou gangest !
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Alas ! alas ! if thy mother knew it ,
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Sadly , sadly , would she rue it .'
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Then she drove on the geese , and sat down again in the meadow , and began to comb out her hair as before ; and Curdken ran up to her , and wanted to take hold of it ; but she cried out quickly :
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'Blow , breezes , blow !
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Let Curdken 's hat go !
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Blow , breezes , blow !
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Let him after it go !
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O'er hills , dales , and rocks ,
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Away be it whirl 'd
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Till the silvery locks
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Are all comb 'd and curl 'd!
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Then the wind came and blew away his hat ; and off it flew a great way , over the hills and far away , so that he had to run after it ; and when he came back she had bound up her hair again , and all was safe . So they watched the geese till it grew dark .
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In the evening , after they came home , Curdken went to the old king , and said , 'I cannot have that strange girl to help me to keep the geese any longer .' 'Why ?' said the king . 'Because , instead of doing any good , she does nothing but tease me all day long .' Then the king made him tell him what had happened . And Curdken said , 'When we go in the morning through the dark gate with our flock of geese , she cries and talks with the head of a horse that hangs upon the wall , and says :
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'Falada , Falada , there thou hangest !'
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and the head answers :
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'Bride , bride , there thou gangest !
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Alas ! alas ! if thy mother knew it ,
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Sadly , sadly , would she rue it .'
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And Curdken went on telling the king what had happened upon the meadow where the geese fed ; how his hat was blown away ; and how he was forced to run after it , and to leave his flock of geese to themselves . But the old king told the boy to go out again the next day : and when morning came , he placed himself behind the dark gate , and heard how she spoke to Falada , and how Falada answered . Then he went into the field , and hid himself in a bush by the meadow 's side ; and he soon saw with his own eyes how they drove the flock of geese ; and how , after a little time , she let down her hair that glittered in the sun . And then he heard her say :
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'Blow , breezes , blow !
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Let Curdken 's hat go !
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Blow , breezes , blow !
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Let him after it go !
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O'er hills , dales , and rocks ,
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Away be it whirl 'd
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Till the silvery locks
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Are all comb 'd and curl 'd!
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And soon came a gale of wind , and carried away Curdken 's hat , and away went Curdken after it , while the girl went on combing and curling her hair . All this the old king saw : so he went home without being seen ; and when the little goose -girl came back in the evening he called her aside , and asked her why she did so : but she burst into tears , and said , 'That I must not tell you or any man , or I shall lose my life .'
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But the old king begged so hard , that she had no peace till she had told him all the tale , from beginning to end , word for word . And it was very lucky for her that she did so , for when she had done the king ordered royal clothes to be put upon her , and gazed on her with wonder , she was so beautiful . Then he called his son and told him that he had only a false bride ; for that she was merely a waiting -maid , while the true bride stood by . And the young king rejoiced when he saw her beauty , and heard how meek and patient she had been ; and without saying anything to the false bride , the king ordered a great feast to be got ready for all his court . The bridegroom sat at the top , with the false princess on one side , and the true one on the other ; but nobody knew her again , for her beauty was quite dazzling to their eyes ; and she did not seem at all like the little goose -girl , now that she had her brilliant dress on .
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