Prevod

Once upon a time there was a king who had a daughter. He had a glass mountain made for her and declared that whoever could walk across it without falling should have his daughter for his wife. Now there was a young man who loved the princess with all his heart. He asked the king whether he might marry his daughter. “Yes,” said the king, if he could walk across the mountain without falling, he could have her. Then the princess said she would walk across with him and hold him up if he should stumble. So she set off across the mountain with him; but when they were halfway over, the princess slipped and fell, and the glass mountain opened beneath her. She plunged into it, and her bridegroom could not see where she had gone, for the mountain had closed again at once. He wept and lamented bitterly, and the king, too, was so grieved that he had the mountain broken apart, thinking he might bring her out again. But they could not find the place where she had fallen through.

Meanwhile, the princess had fallen deep down to the bottom of a great cavern. There an old fellow with a very long grey beard came towards her. He told her that if she would be his maid and do everything he commanded, she would be allowed to live; otherwise he would kill her. So she did everything he told her. In the morning he took his ladder out of his pocket, set it against the side of the mountain, and climbed out; then he pulled the ladder up after him. She had to cook his meals and make his bed and do all the work, and whenever he came home, he always brought a heap of gold and silver with him.

When she had been with him for many years and had grown quite old, he called her “Mistress Mansrot,” and she had to call him “Old Rinkrank.” One day, when he had gone out again, she made his bed and washed his dishes. Then she shut all the doors and windows tight, except for one little sliding window that let in the light; this she left open. When Old Rinkrank came home, he knocked at the door and called, “Mistress Mansrot, open the door for me!”

“No,” she said, “I shan’t open the door for you, Old Rinkrank.” Then he said, “Here stand I, poor Rinkrank, on my seventeen long legs, on my one golden foot (gilded foot). Mistress Mansrot, wash my dishes!”

“I have washed your dishes already!” she said. Then he said again, “Here stand I, poor Rinkrank, on my seventeen long legs, on my one golden foot. Mistress Mansrot, make my bed!”

“I have made your bed already,” she said. Then he said again, “Here stand I, poor Rinkrank, on my seventeen long legs, on my one golden foot. Mistress Mansrot, open the door for me!”

Then he ran all round his house and saw that the little window was open. “You must take a peep,” he thought, “and see what she is doing in there, and why she won’t open the door.” He tried to look through the little window, but his long beard kept him from getting his head through. So he pushed his beard through first, and as soon as he had done so, Mistress Mannsrot came up and pulled the window shut with a cord she had tied to it, trapping his beard fast. He began to howl pitifully, for it hurt him terribly, and begged her to let him go. But she said she would not do so until he gave her the ladder he used to climb out of the mountain. Whether he liked it or not, he had to tell her where the ladder was. Then she tied a very long cord to the sliding window, set up the ladder, and climbed out of the mountain. Once she was at the top, she pulled the window open. Then she went to her father and told him all that had happened to her. The king was overjoyed, and her bridegroom was still alive as well. So they went and dug open the mountain, and found Old Rinkrank inside with all his gold and silver. The king had Old Rinkrank put to death and carried away his gold and silver. The princess married her former bridegroom after all, and they lived in happiness and splendour, full of joy.