> 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.



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.



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:



'Alas! alas! if thy mother knew it,

Sadly, sadly, would she rue it.'



But the princess was very gentle and meek, so she said nothing to her

maid's ill behaviour, but got upon her horse again.



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:



'Alas! alas! if thy mother knew it,

Sadly, sadly, would she rue it.'



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.



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.



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.



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.



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.



Early the next morning, as she and Curdken went out through the gate,

she said sorrowfully:



'Falada, Falada, there thou hangest!'



and the head answered:



'Bride, bride, there thou gangest!

Alas! alas! if thy mother knew it,

Sadly, sadly, would she rue it.'



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:



'Blow, breezes, blow!

Let Curdken's hat go!

Blow, breezes, blow!

Let him after it go!

O'er hills, dales, and rocks,

Away be it whirl'd

Till the silvery locks

Are all comb'd and curl'd!



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.



The next morning, as they were going through the dark gate, the poor

girl looked up at Falada's head, and cried:



'Falada, Falada, there thou hangest!'



and the head answered:



'Bride, bride, there thou gangest!

Alas! alas! if they mother knew it,

Sadly, sadly, would she rue it.'



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:



'Blow, breezes, blow!

Let Curdken's hat go!

Blow, breezes, blow!

Let him after it go!

O'er hills, dales, and rocks,

Away be it whirl'd

Till the silvery locks

Are all comb'd and curl'd!



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.



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:



'Falada, Falada, there thou hangest!'



and the head answers:



'Bride, bride, there thou gangest!

Alas! alas! if they mother knew it,

Sadly, sadly, would she rue it.'



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:



'Blow, breezes, blow!

Let Curdken's hat go!

Blow, breezes, blow!

Let him after it go!

O'er hills, dales, and rocks,

Away be it whirl'd

Till the silvery locks

Are all comb'd and curl'd!



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.'



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.



When they had eaten and drank, and were very merry, the old king said

he would tell them a tale. So he began, and told all the story of the

princess, as if it was one that he had once heard; and he asked the

true waiting-maid what she thought ought to be done to anyone who would

behave thus. 'Nothing better,' said this false bride, 'than that she

should be thrown into a cask stuck round with sharp nails, and that

two white horses should be put to it, and should drag it from street to

street till she was dead.' 'Thou art she!' said the old king; 'and as

thou has judged thyself, so shall it be done to thee.' And the young

king was then married to his true wife, and they reigned over the

kingdom in peace and happiness all their lives; and the good fairy came

to see them, and restored the faithful Falada to life again.