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Once upon a time there was a miller who had a beautiful daughter, and when she was grown, he wished to see her well provided for and happily married. He thought, “If a respectable suitor comes and asks for her hand, I shall give her to him.” Before long a suitor came who seemed very rich, and as the miller could find no fault with him, he promised him his daughter. But the girl did not love him as a bride ought to love her bridegroom, nor did she trust him: whenever she looked at him or thought of him, she felt a dread in her heart. One day he said to her, “You are my bride, yet you never come to visit me.” The girl answered, “I do not know where your house is.” Then the bridegroom said, “My house is out in the dark forest.” She made excuses, saying she would never be able to find her way there.

The bridegroom said, “Next Sunday you must come out to see me. I have already invited the guests, and so that you can find your way through the forest, I shall mark the path with ashes.” When Sunday came and the girl was to set out, she felt terribly afraid, though she scarcely knew why, and so that she could mark her way, she filled both her pockets with peas and lentils. At the entrance to the forest she found the trail of ashes and followed it, but at every step she scattered a few peas on the ground to her right and left. She walked almost the whole day until she reached the heart of the forest, where it was darkest. There stood a lonely house, which she did not like the look of, for it seemed so gloomy and sinister. She went inside, but there was no one there, and all was utterly still. Suddenly a voice cried, “Turn back, turn back, young bride so fair, a murderers’ house is where you are.”

The girl looked up and saw that the voice came from a bird in a cage hanging on the wall. Once more it cried, “Turn back, turn back, young bride so fair, a murderers’ house is where you are.”

Then the beautiful bride went on from room to room and searched the whole house, but every room was empty, and not a soul was to be found. At last she came down to the cellar, where a very old woman sat shaking her head. “Can you tell me,” said the girl, “whether my bridegroom lives here?” “Ah, you poor child,” answered the old woman, “what a place you have come to! You are in a den of murderers. You think you are a bride who will soon be married, but it is Death you will be wedding. Look, I have had to put a great kettle of water on the fire. Once they have you in their power, they will chop you to pieces without mercy, cook you, and eat you, for they are cannibals. Unless I take pity on you and save you, you are lost.”

Then the old woman led her behind a large barrel, where she could not be seen. “Be as quiet as a little mouse,” she said. “Do not stir or move, or you are done for. Tonight, when the robbers are asleep, we shall escape. I have long been waiting for a chance.” Scarcely had she done this when the wicked band came home. They were dragging another young woman with them, and they were drunk and paid no heed to her cries and lamentations. They gave her three glasses of wine to drink, one white, one red, and one yellow, and at this her heart burst. Then they tore off her fine clothes, laid her on a table, chopped her beautiful body into pieces, and sprinkled salt over them. The poor bride behind the barrel shook and trembled, for she could see all too well what fate the robbers had intended for her. One of them noticed a gold ring on the murdered girl’s little finger, and when it would not slip off at once, he took an axe and chopped off the finger. But the finger flew up over the barrel and fell straight into the bride’s lap. The robber took a candle and went to look for it, but could not find it. Then another said, “Have you looked behind the big barrel?” But the old woman called, “Come and eat, and leave the searching until tomorrow. The finger will not run away.”

Then the robbers said, “The old woman is right,” and gave up their search and sat down to eat. The old woman slipped a sleeping draught into their wine, so that before long they lay down in the cellar and were asleep and snoring. When the bride heard this, she came out from behind the barrel and had to step over the sleepers, who lay in rows on the floor, terribly afraid that she might wake one of them. But God helped her to get safely through. The old woman went upstairs with her, opened the door, and they hurried away from the murderers’ den as fast as they could. The wind had blown away the scattered ashes, but the peas and lentils had sprouted and come up, and in the moonlight they showed the way. They walked all night until they reached the mill in the morning. There the girl told her father everything that had happened.

When the day appointed for the wedding came, the bridegroom appeared, but the miller had invited all his relatives and friends. As they sat at table, each was asked to tell a story. The bride sat silent and said nothing. Then the bridegroom said to her, “Well, my love, do you know no stories? Tell us something too.” She answered, “Then I shall tell you a dream. I was walking alone through a forest and at last came to a house. There was not a soul inside, but on the wall was a bird in a cage, which cried, ‘Turn back, turn back, young bride so fair, a murderers’ house is where you are.’

“And it cried the same thing once again. My love, it was only a dream. Then I went through all the rooms, and they were all empty, and it was so eerie there. At last I went down into the cellar, where a very old woman sat shaking her head. I asked her, ‘Does my bridegroom live in this house?’ She answered, ‘Ah, you poor child, you have come to a den of murderers. Your bridegroom lives here, but he means to chop you to pieces and kill you, and then cook you and eat you.’ My love, it was only a dream. But the old woman hid me behind a large barrel, and scarcely was I hidden there when the robbers came home, dragging a young woman with them. They gave her three kinds of wine to drink, white, red, and yellow, and at this her heart burst. My love, it was only a dream. Then they stripped off her fine clothes, chopped her beautiful body into pieces on a table, and sprinkled it with salt. My love, it was only a dream. And one of the robbers saw that there was still a ring on her ring finger, and because it was hard to pull off, he took an axe and chopped off the finger. But the finger flew into the air and over the big barrel and fell into my lap. And here is the finger with the ring.” With these words she drew it out and showed it to everyone present.

The robber, who had turned as white as chalk during her story, sprang up and tried to escape, but the guests seized him and handed him over to the authorities. Then he and his whole band were put to death for their wicked deeds.