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A German Mythological Tale
recorded in 1812 by the Brothers Grimm
The Forest
Once upon a time there was a king who had a large forest near his castle; All kinds of game ran around in it. At one time he sent a hunter out to shoot a deer, but he never came back. “Perhaps a misfortune has befallen him,” said the king, and the following day he sent two other hunters out to look for him; but they stayed away too.
Then on the third day he sent for all his hunters and said: “Roam through the entire forest and don’t stop until you have found all three of them!” But none of them came home again, and none of the pack of dogs they had taken with them were seen again. From that time on, no one wanted to venture into the forest anymore, and it lay there in deep silence and solitude, and only occasionally could an eagle or hawk fly over it. This lasted many years; Then a strange hunter reported to the king, sought supplies and offered to go into the dangerous forest. But the king didn’t want to give his consent and said: “It’s not safe there, I’m afraid you’re no better off than the others and you won’t come out again.” The hunter answered: “Sir, I will risk it at my own risk; I know nothing of fear.” So the hunter went into the forest with his dog.
The Wild Man
It didn’t take long before the dog got on the trail of a game and wanted to go after it; But he had barely walked a few steps when he found himself in front of a deep pool, unable to go any further, and a naked arm reached out of the water, grabbed him and pulled him down. When the hunter saw this, he went back and fetched three men who had to come with buckets and scoop out the water. When they could see the bottom, there was a wild man lying there, his body as brown as rusty iron and his hair hanging over his face down to his knees. They bound him with ropes and led him away to the castle. There was great astonishment at the wild man; But the king had him put in an iron cage in his courtyard and forbade him to open the door of the cage under penalty of life, and the queen had to keep the key herself. From now on everyone could safely go into the forest again.
The King’s Son
The king had an eight-year-old son who was once playing in the courtyard and while playing, his golden ball fell into his cage. The boy ran over and said: “Give me my ball!” “Not until you open the door for me,” answered the man. “No,” said the boy, “I won’t do that, the king has forbidden it,” and ran away. The next day he came back and demanded his ball. The wild man said: “Open my door!” But the boy didn’t want to. On the third day the king had gone hunting when the boy came again and said: “Even if I wanted to, I can’t open the door, I don’t have the key.” Then the wild man said: “it’s lying under your mother’s pillow, you can get it there.” The boy, who wanted his ball back, threw all concerns to the wind and brought the key. The door opened heavily and the boy caught his finger. When it was open, the wild man came out, gave him the golden ball and hurried away. The boy was frightened, he screamed and called after him: “Oh, wild man, don’t go away, otherwise I’ll get beaten.” The wild man turned around, picked him up, placed him on his neck and walked quickly into the forest. When the king came home, he noticed the empty cage and asked the queen how it happened. She didn’t know anything about it, looked for the key, but it was gone. She called to the boy, but no one answered. The king sent people to search for him in the field, but they did not find him. He could easily guess what had happened, and there was great sadness in the royal court.
Back to the Forest
When the wild man returned to the dark forest, he lifted the boy from his shoulders and said to him: “You won’t see your father and mother again, but I want to keep you with me, because you have freed me, and I have pity on you. If you do everything I tell you, you will have plenty of treasure and gold, more than anyone in the world.” He made the boy a bed of moss on which he fell asleep; and the next morning the man led him to a well and said: “You see, the gold fountain is bright and clear like crystal. You should sit by it and make sure that nothing falls into it, otherwise it will be dishonored. Every evening I come and see if you have obeyed my commandment.” The boy sat down at the edge of the well, saw how sometimes a golden fish and sometimes a golden snake appeared in it, and was careful that nothing fell into it.
Golden Finger
Once, as he sat there, his finger hurt so badly that he involuntarily put it in the water. He quickly pulled it out again, but saw that it was all gold-plated, and no matter how hard he tried to wipe the gold off, it was all in vain. In the evening Iron John came back, looked at the boy and said: “What happened to the well?” “Nothing, nothing,” he answered, holding his finger behind his back so that he shouldn’t see it. But the man said: “You dipped your finger in the water. It may work this time, but be careful not to let anything fall in again!” Early in the morning he was already sitting by the well and watching over it. His finger hurt him again and he ran it over his head when unfortunately a hair fell down into the well. He quickly took it out, but it was already completely gilded. Iron John came and already knew what had happened. “You have let a hair fall into the well,” he said, “I will forgive you again; but if it happens a third time, the well will be dishonored and you can no longer stay with me.”
Golden Hair
On the third day the boy sat at the well and didn’t move his finger, no matter how much it hurt him. But the time was long for him and he looked at his face that stood on the surface of the water. And as he bent over more and more and wanted to look himself in the eyes, his long hair fell down from his shoulders into the water. He quickly straightened himself up, but all his hair was golden and shone like a sun. You can imagine how frightened the poor boy was. He took his handkerchief and tied it around his head so that the man should not see it. When he came, he already knew everything and said: “Untie the cloth!” Then the golden hair oozed out, and the boy could apologize however he wanted, but it didn’t help him. “You have not passed the test and can no longer stay here. Go out into the world and you will experience what poverty does. But because you do not have an evil heart and I mean well towards you, I will allow you one thing . If you are in trouble, go to the forest and call: ‘Iron John!’, then I will come and help you. My power is great, greater than you think, and I have gold and silver in abundance.”
Cast Out
Then the king’s son left the forest and walked over paved and unpaved paths until he finally came to a large city. He looked for work there, but he couldn’t find any and hadn’t learned anything that could help him. Finally he went into the castle and asked if they wanted to keep him. The courtiers didn’t know why they needed him, but they liked him and invited him to stay.
The Kitchen
Finally the cook took him into service and said he could carry wood and water and sweep up the ashes. Once, when no one else was at hand, the cook asked him to carry the food to the royal table, but since he didn’t want to let his golden hair show, he kept his hat on. Something like this had never happened to the king before, and he said: “When you come to the royal table, you must take off your hat!” “Oh, sir,” he replied, “I can’t, I have a bad grind on my head.” Then the king summoned the cook, scolded him and asked how he could have taken such a boy into his service; He was supposed to drive him away straight away. But the cook took pity on him and swapped him for the gardener’s boy.
The Garden
Now the boy had to plant and water, hoe and dig in the garden and endure wind and bad weather. Once in the summer, when he was working alone in the garden, the day was so hot that he took off his hat and wanted the air to cool him. As the sun shone on the hair, it glittered and flashed so that the rays fell into the king’s daughter’s bedroom and she jumped up to see what was there. Then she saw the boy and called to him: “Boy, bring me a bouquet of flowers!” He hurriedly put on his hat, broke off wild flowers and tied them together. As he was climbing the stairs with it, the gardener met him and said: “How can you bring the king’s daughter a bouquet of bad flowers? Quickly get others and choose the most beautiful and rare ones!” “Oh no,” answered the boy, “the wild ones smell stronger and she will like them better.”
The Girl with the Golden Hair
When he came into her room, the king’s daughter said: “Take off your little hat, it is not appropriate for you to keep it in front of me.” He answered again: “I’m not allowed, I have a grindy head.” But she reached for the little hat and pulled it off, and his golden hair rolled down to her shoulders, making it magnificent to look at. He wanted to jump away, but she held his arm and gave him a handful of ducats. He went away with it, but paid no attention to the gold, but brought it to the gardener and said: “I’ll give it to your children, so they can play with it.” The next day the king’s daughter called to him again to bring her a bouquet of field flowers, and when he came in with it, she immediately grabbed his little hat and wanted to take it away from him; but he held it with both hands. She gave him another handful of ducats, but he didn’t want to keep them and gave them to the gardener as toys for his children. The third day was no different: she couldn’t take his hat away from him and he didn’t want her gold.
War Arrives
Not long afterwards the country was engulfed in war. The king gathered his people and did not know whether he could resist the enemy, who was overwhelmingly powerful and had a large army. Then the gardener’s boy said: “I have grown up and want to go to war; just give me a horse!” The others laughed and said: “When we are gone, find one for yourself; we will leave one for you in the stable.” When they had moved out, he went into the stable and pulled out the horse; it was lame in one foot and was walking hunkepuus, hunkepuus. Nevertheless, he sat up and rode away into the dark forest. When he got to the edge, he called “Iron John” three times so loudly that it rang through the trees.
The Iron Horse
Immediately afterwards the wild man appeared and said: “What do you require?” “I need a strong horse because I want to go to war.” “You shall have this and much more.” Then the wild man went back into the forest, and it didn’t take long before a groom came out of the forest and brought over a horse that was snorting from its nostrils and could hardly be tamed. And behind them followed a band of warriors, all armoured in iron, and their swords flashed in the sun. The youth handed over his three-legged horse to the groom, mounted the other and rode ahead of the crowd. When he approached the battlefield, a large number of the king’s people had already fallen, and not much was missing before the rest had to give way.
Success in battle
Then the youth rushed forward with his iron band, attacked the enemies like a storm and struck down everything that opposed him. They wanted to flee, but the young man was on their backs and would not let go until there was no man left. But instead of returning to the king, he led his band back to the forest in a detour and called out Iron John. “What do you want ?” asked the wild man. “Take back your horse and your band and give me back my three-legged horse!” Everything he asked for happened, and he rode home on his three-legged horse.
The King is Confused
When the king returned to his castle, his daughter went to meet him and wished him luck in his victory. “It is not I who have won the victory,” he said, “but a foreign knight who came to my aid with his band.” The daughter wanted to know who the strange knight was, but the king did not know and said: “He pursued the enemies and I never saw him again.” She asked the gardener about the boy; But he laughed and said: “He has just come home on his three-legged horse, and the others mocked and shouted: ‘Here comes our Hunkepuus again.’ They also asked: ‘Behind which hedge have you been lying and sleeping?’ But he said: ‘I have done the best, and without me things would have been bad.’ Then he was laughed at even more.”
The Golden Apples and the Three Horses
The king said to his daughter: “I will announce a great festival that will last three days, and you will throw a golden apple; perhaps the unknown will come.” When the festival was announced, the young man went out to the forest and called Iron John. “What do you demand ?” asked he. “That I may catch the king’s daughter’s golden apple.” “It’s as good as if you already had it,” said Iron John, “you should also have red armour and ride on a proud fox.” When the day came, the youth rushed up, placed himself among the knights and was recognized by no one. The king’s daughter came forward and threw a golden apple to the knights, but no one caught it but he alone; but as soon as he had it he ran away. On the second day, Iron John equipped him as a white knight and gave him a white horse. Once again he caught the apple alone, but didn’t linger for a moment, but ran away with it. The king was angry and said: “That is not permitted; he must appear before me and give his name.” He gave the order that if the knight who had caught the apple ran away again, he should be followed, and if he did not return willingly, he should be hit and stabbed. On the third day he received black armour and a black horse from Iron John and caught the apple again. But as he ran away with it, the king’s men pursued him, and one came so close to him that he wounded his leg with the point of his sword. However, he escaped from them; but his horse jumped so violently that the helmet fell from his head, and they could see that he had golden hair. They rode back and reported everything to the king.
The Revelation
The next day the king’s daughter asked the gardener about his boy. “He is working in the garden; the strange owl was also at the party and only came back yesterday evening; he also showed my children three golden apples that he had won.” The king summoned him before him, and he appeared with his little hat on his head again. But the king’s daughter went up to him and took it from him, and his golden hair fell over his shoulders, and it was so beautiful that everyone was amazed. “Were you the knight who came to the festival every day, always in a different colour, and who caught the three golden apples?” asked the king. “Yes,” he answered, “and there are the apples,” took them out of his pocket and handed them to the king. “If you want more proof, you can see the wound that your people inflicted on me when they pursued me. But I am also the knight who helped you to defeat your enemies.” “If you can do such deeds, then you are not a gardener’s boy. Tell me, who is your father?” “My father is a mighty king, and I have gold in abundance and as much as I desire.” “I see,” said the king, “I owe you thanks. Can I do something to please you?” “Yes,” he answered, “you can do that, give me your daughter as my wife.”
Then the maiden laughed and said: “Ha! He beats around no bush! But I could tell from his golden hair that he’s no gardener’s boy,” then went and kissed him.
The Wedding
His father and mother came to the wedding and were very happy, for they had already given up all hope of seeing their dear son again. And as they sat at the wedding table, the music suddenly stopped, the doors opened, and a proud king entered with a large entourage.
He went to the young man, hugged him and said: “I am Iron John and was cursed to become a wild man, but you have redeemed me.
All the treasures that I own shall be yours.”
