Hello there!
Thank you so much for joining me for another reading of another couple of the Grimm's Fairy Tales.
This will be The Twelve Dancing Princesses and Clever Harms.
As perhaps you know,
The original volume of the Grimm's Fairy Tales contained more than 200 different stories collected up by the brothers Grimm,
Wilhelm and Jakob Grimm,
In Germany and published in the early 1800s.
I personally have now read more than 50 of the Grimm's Fairy Tales and,
As you'll know if you've heard some of them,
They are indeed often rather grim by our modern standards,
But also very familiar and popular still to this day.
So,
Before we get into the stories here,
Let's just take a moment to have a nice deep exhale,
Letting go of the day,
Letting go of whichever baggage we might be bringing along with us into this moment.
For right now,
There's nowhere else we have to go,
Nothing else we have to be doing,
So we can just relax,
Get ourselves comfortable and enjoy another couple of the Grimm's Fairy Tales.
The Twelve Dancing Princesses.
There was a king who had 12 beautiful daughters.
They slept in 12 beds,
All in one room.
And when they went to bed,
The doors were shut and locked up.
But every morning,
Their shoes were found to be quite worn through,
As if they had been danced in all night.
And yet,
Nobody could find out how it happened,
Or where they had been.
Then,
The king made it known to all the land that if any person could discover the secret and find out where it was that the princesses danced in the night,
He should have the one he liked best for his wife,
And should be king after his death.
But whoever tried and did not succeed after three days and nights should be put to death.
A king's son soon came.
He was well entertained,
And in the evening was taken to the chamber next to the one where the princesses lay in their 12 beds.
There,
He was to sit and watch where they went to dance.
And in order that nothing might pass without his hearing it,
The door of his chamber was left open.
But the king's son soon fell asleep.
And when he awoke in the morning,
He found that the princesses had all been dancing,
For the soles of their shoes were full of holes.
The same thing happened the second and third night.
So the king ordered his head to be cut off.
After him came several others.
But they had all the same luck,
And all lost their lives in the same manner.
Now,
It chanced that an old soldier,
Who had been wounded in battle and could fight no longer,
Passed through the country where this king reigned.
And as he was traveling through a wood,
He met an old woman who asked him where he was going.
I hardly know where I am going,
Or what I had better do,
Said the soldier.
But I think I should like very well to find out where it is that the princesses dance.
And then in time,
I might be a king.
Well,
Said the old dame,
That is no very hard task.
Only take care not to drink any of the wine which one of the princesses will bring to you in the evening.
And as soon as she leaves,
You pretend to be fast asleep.
Then she gave him a cloak and said,
As soon as you put that on,
You will become invisible.
And you will then be able to follow the princesses wherever they go.
When the soldier heard all this good counsel,
He determined to try his luck.
So he went to the king and said he was willing to undertake the task.
He was as well received as the others had been.
And the king ordered fine royal robes to be given him.
And when the evening came,
He was led to the outer chamber.
Just as he was going to lie down,
The eldest of the princesses brought him a cup of wine.
But the soldier threw it all away secretly,
Taking care not to drink a drop.
Then he laid himself down on his bed and in a little while began to snore very loud,
As if he was fast asleep.
When the twelve princesses heard this,
They laughed heartily.
And the eldest said,
This fellow too might have done a wiser thing than lose his life in this way.
Then they rose up and opened their drawers and boxes and took out all their fine clothes and dressed themselves at the glass and skipped about as if they were eager to begin dancing.
But the youngest said,
I don't know how it is.
While you were so happy,
I feel very uneasy.
I am sure some mischance will befall us.
You,
Simpleton,
Said the eldest,
You are always afraid.
Have you forgotten how many king's sons have already watched in vain?
And as for this soldier,
Even if I had not given him his sleeping draught,
He would have slept soundly enough.
When they were all ready,
They went and looked at the soldier,
But he snored on and did not stir hand or foot.
So they thought they were quite safe.
And the eldest went up to her own bed and clapped her hands.
And the bed sank into the floor and a trap door flew open.
The soldier saw them going down through the trap door one after another,
The eldest leading the way.
And thinking he had no time to lose,
He jumped up,
Put on the cloak which the old woman had given him and followed them.
But in the middle of the stairs,
He trod on the gown of the youngest princess.
And she cried out to her sisters,
All is not right.
Someone took hold of my gown.
You silly creature,
Said the eldest.
It is nothing but a nail in the wall.
Then down they all went.
And at the bottom,
They found themselves in a most delightful grove of trees.
And the leaves were all of silver and glittered and sparkled beautifully.
The soldier wished to take away some token of the place.
So he broke off a little branch and there came a loud noise from the tree.
Then the youngest daughter said again,
I am sure all is not right.
Did not you hear that noise?
That never happened before.
But the eldest said,
It is only our princes who are shouting for joy at our approach.
Then they came to another grove of trees where all the leaves were of gold.
And afterwards to a third where the leaves were all glittering diamonds.
And the soldier broke a branch from each and every time there was a loud noise which made the youngest sister tremble with fear.
But the eldest still said it was only the princes who were crying for joy.
So they went on till they came to a great lake.
And at the side of the lake,
There lay 12 little boats with 12 handsome princes in them who seemed to be waiting there for the princesses.
One of the princesses went into each boat and the soldier stepped into the same boat with the youngest.
As they were rowing over the lake,
The prince who was in the boat with the youngest princess and the soldier said,
I do not know why it is,
But though I am rowing with all my might,
We do not get on so fast as usual and I am quite tired.
The boat seems very heavy today.
It is only the heat of the weather,
Said the princess.
I feel it very warm too.
So,
On the other side of the lake stood a fine illuminated castle from which came the merry music of horns and trumpets.
There they all landed and went into the castle and each prince danced with his princess.
And the soldier,
Who was all the time invisible,
Danced with them too.
And when any of the princesses had a cup of wine set by her,
He drank it all up so that when she put the cup to her mouth,
It was empty.
At this too,
The youngest sister was terribly frightened,
But the eldest always silenced her.
They danced on till three o'clock in the morning and then all their shoes were worn out so that they were obliged to leave off.
The princes rowed them back again over the lake,
But this time the soldier placed himself in the boat with the eldest princess and on the opposite shore they took leave of each other,
The princesses promising to come again the next night.
When they came to the stairs,
The soldier ran on before the princesses and laid himself down.
And as the twelve sisters slowly came up,
Very much tired,
They heard him snoring in his bed.
So they said,
Now all is quite safe.
Then they undressed themselves,
Put away their fine clothes,
Pulled off their shoes and went to bed.
In the morning,
The soldier said nothing about what had happened,
But determined to see more of this strange adventure and went again the second and third night.
And everything happened just as before.
The princesses danced each time till their shoes were worn to pieces and then returned home.
However,
On the third night,
The soldier carried away one of the golden cups as a token of where he had been.
As soon as the time came when he was to declare the secret,
He was taken before the king with the three branches and the golden cup.
And the twelve princesses stood listening behind the door to hear what he would say.
And when the king asked him,
Where do my twelve daughters dance at night?
He answered,
With twelve princes in a castle underground.
And then he told the king all that had happened and showed him the three branches and the golden cup which he had brought with him.
Then the king called for the princesses and asked them whether what the soldier said was true.
And when they saw that they were discovered and that it was of no use to deny what had happened,
They confessed it all.
And the king asked the soldier which of them he would choose for his wife.
And he answered,
I am not very young,
So I will have the eldest.
And they were married that very day and the soldier was chosen to be the king's heir.
Clever Hans.
The mother of Hans said,
Wither away Hans.
Hans answered to Gretel,
Behave well Hans.
Oh,
I'll behave well.
Goodbye,
Mother.
Goodbye,
Hans.
Hans comes to Gretel.
Good day,
Gretel.
Good day,
Hans.
What do you bring that is good?
I bring nothing.
I want to have something given me.
Gretel presents Hans with a needle.
Hans says,
Goodbye,
Gretel.
Goodbye,
Hans.
Hans takes the needle,
Sticks it into a hay cart and follows the cart home.
Good evening,
Mother.
Good evening,
Hans.
Where have you been?
With Gretel.
What did you take her?
Took nothing.
Had something given me.
What did Gretel give you?
Gave me a needle.
Where is the needle,
Hans?
Stuck in the hay cart.
That was ill done,
Hans.
You should have stuck the needle in your sleeve.
Never mind.
I'll do better next time.
Wither away,
Hans,
To Gretel,
Mother.
Behave well,
Hans.
Oh,
I'll behave well.
Goodbye,
Mother.
Goodbye,
Hans.
Hans comes to Gretel.
Good day,
Gretel.
Good day,
Hans.
What do you bring that is good?
I bring nothing.
I want to have something given to me.
Gretel presents Hans with a knife.
Goodbye,
Gretel.
Goodbye,
Hans.
Hans takes the knife,
Sticks it in his sleeve and goes home.
Good evening,
Mother.
Good evening,
Hans.
Where have you been?
With Gretel.
What did you take her?
Took her nothing.
She gave me something.
What did Gretel give you?
Gave me a knife.
Where is the knife,
Hans?
Stuck it in my sleeve.
That's ill done,
Hans.
You should have put the knife in your pocket.
Never mind.
We'll do better next time.
Wither away,
Hans,
To Gretel,
Mother.
Behave well,
Hans.
Oh,
I'll behave well.
Goodbye,
Mother.
Goodbye,
Hans.
Hans comes to Gretel.
Good day,
Gretel.
Good day,
Hans.
What good thing do you bring?
I bring nothing.
I want something given me.
Gretel presents Hans with a young goat.
Goodbye,
Gretel.
Goodbye,
Hans.
Hans takes the goat,
Ties its legs and puts it in his pocket.
When he gets home,
It is suffocated.
Good evening,
Mother.
Good evening,
Hans.
Where have you been?
With Gretel.
What did you take her?
Took nothing.
She gave me something.
What did Gretel give you?
She gave me a goat.
Where is the goat,
Hans?
Put it in my pocket.
That was ill done,
Hans.
You should have put a rope around the goat's neck.
Never mind.
We'll do better next time.
Wither away,
Hans,
To Gretel,
Mother.
Behave well,
Hans.
Oh,
I'll behave well.
Goodbye,
Mother.
Goodbye,
Hans.
Hans comes to Gretel.
Good day,
Gretel.
Good day,
Hans.
What good thing do you bring?
I bring nothing.
I want something given me.
Gretel presents Hans with a piece of bacon.
Goodbye,
Gretel.
Goodbye,
Hans.
Hans takes the bacon,
Ties it to a rope and drags it away behind him.
The dogs come and devour the bacon.
When he gets home,
He has the rope in his hand and there is no longer anything hanging onto it.
Good evening,
Mother.
Good evening,
Hans.
Where have you been?
With Gretel.
What did you take her?
I took her nothing.
She gave me something.
What did Gretel give you?
Gave me a bit of bacon.
Where is the bacon,
Hans?
I tied it to a rope.
Brought it home.
Dogs took it.
That was ill done,
Hans.
You should have carried the bacon on your head.
Never mind.
We'll do better next time.
Wither away,
Hans.
To Gretel,
Mother.
Behave well,
Hans.
I'll behave well.
Goodbye,
Mother.
Goodbye,
Hans.
Hans comes to Gretel.
Good day,
Gretel.
Good day,
Hans.
What good thing do you bring?
I bring nothing,
But would have something given.
Gretel presents Hans with a calf.
Goodbye,
Gretel.
Goodbye,
Hans.
Hans takes the calf,
Puts it on his head,
And the calf kicks his face.
Good evening,
Mother.
Good evening,
Hans.
Where have you been?
With Gretel.
What did you take her?
I took her nothing,
But had something given me.
What did Gretel give you?
A calf.
Where have you the calf,
Hans?
I set it on my head,
And it kicked my face.
That was ill done,
Hans.
You should have led the calf and put it in the stall.
Never mind.
We'll do better next time.
Wither away,
Hans.
To Gretel,
Mother.
Behave well,
Hans.
I'll behave well.
Goodbye,
Mother.
Goodbye,
Hans.
Hans comes to Gretel.
Good day,
Gretel.
Good day,
Hans.
What good thing do you bring?
I bring nothing,
But would have something given.
Gretel says to Hans,
I will go with you.
Hans takes Gretel,
Ties her to a rope,
Leads her to the rack,
And binds her fast.
Then Hans goes to his mother.
Good evening,
Mother.
Good evening,
Hans.
Where have you been?
With Gretel.
What did you take her?
I took her nothing.
What did Gretel give you?
She gave me nothing.
She came with me.
Where have you left Gretel?
I led her by the rope,
Tied her to the rack,
And scattered some grass for her.
That was ill done,
Hans.
You should have cast friendly eyes on her.
Never mind.
We'll do better.
Hans went into the stable,
Cut out all the calves and sheep's eyes,
And threw them in Gretel's face.
Then Gretel became angry,
Tore herself loose,
And ran away,
And was no longer the bride of Hans.
