Prevod

Once upon a time there was a king whose wife had golden hair, and she was so beautiful that her equal could not be found anywhere on earth. It happened that she fell ill, and when she felt that she would soon die, she called the king to her and said, "If you wish to marry again after my death, you must take no one who is not as beautiful as I am and who does not have hair like mine. You must promise me this!" After the king had given her his promise, she closed her eyes and died.

For a long time the king could not be comforted and had no thought of taking a second wife. At last his councillors said, "There is no other way: the king must marry again, so that we may have a queen." Messengers were sent far and wide to seek a bride whose beauty would equal that of the late queen in every way. But none could be found in the whole world, and even if they had found one as beautiful, there was still no one with such golden hair. So the messengers returned home empty-handed.

Now the king had a daughter who was just as beautiful as her dead mother and had the same golden hair. When she was grown, the king looked at her one day and saw that she resembled his late wife in every way, and suddenly he felt a fierce love for her. Then he said to his councillors, "I mean to marry my daughter, for she is the very image of my dead wife, and nowhere else can I find a bride who resembles her." When the councillors heard this, they were horrified and said, "God has forbidden a father to marry his daughter. Nothing good can come of such a sin, and the kingdom will be dragged into ruin with it." The daughter was still more horrified when she learned of her father's decision, but she hoped she might yet turn him from his purpose. So she said to him, "Before I grant your wish, I must first have three dresses: one as golden as the sun, one as silver as the moon, and one as radiant as the stars. I also require a mantle pieced together from a thousand kinds of fur and pelts, and every animal in your kingdom must give a piece of its skin for it." But she thought, "It is quite impossible to procure such things, and in this way I shall turn my father from his wicked thoughts." The king, however, would not relent, and the most skilful maidens in his kingdom had to weave the three dresses, one as golden as the sun, one as silver as the moon, and one as radiant as the stars. His huntsmen had to catch all the animals in the kingdom and strip a piece of skin from each, and from these a mantle of a thousand kinds of fur was made. At last, when everything was ready, the king had the mantle brought in, spread it out before her, and said, "Tomorrow shall be our wedding day!"

When the king's daughter saw that there was no longer any hope of changing her father's heart, she resolved to flee. In the night, while everyone was asleep, she rose and took three of her treasures: a golden ring, a little golden spinning wheel, and a little golden reel. She put the three dresses of sun, moon, and stars into a nutshell, put on the mantle of all kinds of fur, and blackened her face and hands with soot. Then she commended herself to God and set out, walking all night until she came to a great forest. And because she was tired, she settled inside a hollow tree and fell asleep.

The sun rose, and she slept on, and she was still asleep when it was broad daylight. Now it happened that the king to whom this forest belonged was hunting there. When his dogs came to the tree, they sniffed about, ran round it, and barked. The king said to the huntsmen, "Go and see what sort of beast is hiding there." The huntsmen obeyed, and when they returned, they said, "There is a strange animal lying in the hollow tree, unlike anything we have ever seen. Its skin is made of a thousand kinds of fur, and it lies there sleeping." The king said, "See whether you can catch it alive, then tie it onto the cart and bring it along." When the huntsmen took hold of the girl, she awoke in terror and cried out to them, "I am a poor child, abandoned by father and mother. Have pity on me and take me with you!" Then they said, "Allerleirauh, you will do for the kitchen. Come along with us; you can sweep up the ashes there." So they put her on the cart and drove home to the royal castle. There they showed her a little cubbyhole beneath the stairs, where no daylight ever came, and said, "Little furry creature, here you may live and sleep." Then she was sent to the kitchen, where she carried wood and water, tended the fire, plucked the poultry, picked over the vegetables, swept up the ashes, and did all the dirty work.

For a long time Allerleirauh lived there in great misery. Ah, you beautiful king's daughter, what is to become of you! But once, when a feast was being held in the castle, she said to the cook, "May I go upstairs for a little while and watch? I will stand outside the door." The cook answered, "Yes, go along, but in half an hour you must be back here to gather up the ashes!" Then she took her little oil lamp, went into her cubbyhole, took off the fur mantle, and washed the soot from her face and hands, so that her full beauty shone forth once more. Then she opened the nutshell and took out the dress that gleamed like the sun. When she had done this, she went upstairs to the feast, and everyone stepped aside for her, for no one knew her, and they could only suppose that she was a king's daughter. The king came to meet her, offered her his hand, and danced with her, thinking in his heart, "Never have my eyes beheld anyone so beautiful." When the dance was over, she curtsied, and when the king looked round, she had vanished, and no one knew where she had gone. The guards standing outside the castle were called and questioned, but none of them had seen her.

She had run to her cubbyhole, quickly taken off her dress, blackened her face and hands, and put on the fur mantle, and was Allerleirauh once more. When she came into the kitchen and was about to set to work sweeping up the ashes, the cook said, "Leave that until tomorrow, and cook the king's soup for me. I want to go upstairs and have a little look myself. But mind you don't let a hair fall into it, or you will get nothing more to eat!" Then the cook went away, and Allerleirauh made the king's soup, preparing a bread soup as well as she could. When it was ready, she fetched her golden ring from the cubbyhole and laid it in the bowl into which the soup was served. When the dancing was over, the king had the soup brought to him and ate it, and it tasted so good that he thought he had never eaten a better soup. But when he reached the bottom, he saw a golden ring lying there and could not understand how it had come to be there. So he ordered the cook to appear before him. The cook was frightened when he heard the order and said to Allerleirauh, "You must have let a hair fall into the soup. If you have, you will get a beating!" When he came before the king, the king asked who had made the soup. The cook answered, "I made it." The king said, "That is not true, for it was made differently, and far better than usual." The cook replied, "I must confess that I did not make it. It was the little furry creature." The king said, "Go and have her brought up."

When Allerleirauh came, the king asked, "Who are you?" "I am a poor child who no longer has a father or mother." He asked further, "What use are you in my castle?" She answered, "I am good for nothing but having boots thrown at my head." He asked again, "Where did you get the ring that was in the soup?" She answered, "I know nothing of the ring." So the king could learn nothing and had to send her away again.

Some time later there was another feast, and Allerleirauh asked the cook's permission to watch, just as she had before. He answered, "Yes, but come back in half an hour and make the king the bread soup he likes so much." Then she ran to her cubbyhole, quickly washed herself, took the dress as silver as the moon out of the nutshell, and put it on. She went upstairs looking like a king's daughter, and the king came to meet her and was delighted to see her again. As the dancing was just beginning, they danced together. But when the dance was over, she vanished once more so quickly that the king could not see where she went. She hurried to her cubbyhole, turned herself back into the little furry creature, and went into the kitchen to make the bread soup. While the cook was upstairs, she fetched the golden spinning wheel and put it in the bowl, so that the soup was poured over it. Then it was brought to the king, who ate it and found it just as good as before. He sent for the cook, who once again had to confess that Allerleirauh had made the soup. Allerleirauh was brought before the king again, but she answered that she was there only to have boots thrown at her head, and that she knew nothing at all about the little golden spinning wheel. When the king held a feast for the third time, things went much as they had before. The cook did say, "You are a witch, little furry creature, and you always put something in the soup that makes it so good, so that the king likes it better than anything I cook." But because she begged him so, he let her go for the allotted time. Now she put on the dress that shone like the stars and entered the hall in it. The king danced with the beautiful maiden again and thought she had never been so lovely. While they were dancing, he slipped a golden ring onto her finger without her noticing, and he had given orders that the dance should last a very long time. When it ended, he tried to hold her fast by the hands, but she tore herself free and darted so swiftly into the crowd that she vanished from his sight. She ran as fast as she could to her cubbyhole beneath the stairs, but because she had stayed too long, more than half an hour, she had no time to take off the beautiful dress and merely threw the fur mantle over it. In her haste she did not blacken herself all over with soot either, but left one finger white. Allerleirauh now ran into the kitchen and made the king's bread soup, and when the cook had gone, she put the golden reel into it. When the king found the reel at the bottom, he sent for Allerleirauh. Then he caught sight of the white finger and saw the ring he had slipped onto it during the dance. He seized her by the hand and held her fast, and when she tried to pull free and run away, the fur mantle fell open a little, and the starry dress gleamed beneath it. The king grasped the mantle and tore it off. Then her golden hair came tumbling out, and she stood there in all her splendour and could hide herself no longer. And when she had wiped the soot and ashes from her face, she was more beautiful than anyone ever seen on earth. But the king said, "You are my dear bride, and we shall never part again!" Then the wedding was celebrated, and they lived happily until the day they died.