The king of a great land died, and left his queen to take care of theironly child. This child was a daughter, who was very beautiful; and hermother loved her dearly, and was very kind to her. And there was a goodfairy too, who was fond of the princess, and helped her mother to watchover her. When she grew up, she was betrothed to a prince who lived agreat way off; and as the time drew near for her to be married, shegot ready to set off on her journey to his country. Then the queen hermother, packed up a great many costly things; jewels, and gold, andsilver; trinkets, fine dresses, and in short everything that became aroyal bride. And she gave her a waiting-maid to ride with her, and giveher into the bridegroom's hands; and each had a horse for the journey.Now the princess's horse was the fairy's gift, and it was called Falada,and could speak.

When the time came for them to set out, the fairy went into herbed-chamber, and took a little knife, and cut off a lock of her hair,and gave it to the princess, and said, 'Take care of it, dear child; forit is a charm that may be of use to you on the road.' Then they all tooka sorrowful leave of the princess; and she put the lock of hair intoher bosom, got upon her horse, and set off on her journey to herbridegroom's kingdom.

One day, as they were riding along by a brook, the princess began tofeel very thirsty: and she said to her maid, 'Pray get down, and fetchme some water in my golden cup out of yonder brook, for I want todrink.' 'Nay,' said the maid, 'if you are thirsty, get off yourself, andstoop down by the water and drink; I shall not be your waiting-maid anylonger.' Then she was so thirsty that she got down, and knelt over thelittle brook, and drank; for she was frightened, and dared not bring outher golden cup; and she wept and said, 'Alas! what will become of me?'And the lock answered her, and said:

'Alas! alas! if thy mother knew it, Sadly, sadly, would she rue it.'

But the princess was very gentle and meek, so she said nothing to hermaid's ill behaviour, but got upon her horse again.

Then all rode farther on their journey, till the day grew so warm, andthe sun so scorching, that the bride began to feel very thirsty again;and at last, when they came to a river, she forgot her maid's rudespeech, and said, 'Pray get down, and fetch me some water to drink inmy golden cup.' But the maid answered her, and even spoke more haughtilythan before: 'Drink if you will, but I shall not be your waiting-maid.'Then the princess was so thirsty that she got off her horse, and laydown, and held her head over the running stream, and cried and said,'What will become of me?' And the lock of hair answered her again:

'Alas! alas! if thy mother knew it, Sadly, sadly, would she rue it.'

And as she leaned down to drink, the lock of hair fell from her bosom,and floated away with the water. Now she was so frightened that she didnot see it; but her maid saw it, and was very glad, for she knew thecharm; and she saw that the poor bride would be in her power, now thatshe had lost the hair. So when the bride had done drinking, and wouldhave got upon Falada again, the maid said, 'I shall ride upon Falada,and you may have my horse instead'; so she was forced to give up herhorse, and soon afterwards to take off her royal clothes and put on hermaid's shabby ones.

At last, as they drew near the end of their journey, this treacherousservant threatened to kill her mistress if she ever told anyone what hadhappened. But Falada saw it all, and marked it well.

Then the waiting-maid got upon Falada, and the real bride rode upon theother horse, and they went on in this way till at last they came to theroyal court. There was great joy at their coming, and the prince flew tomeet them, and lifted the maid from her horse, thinking she was the onewho was to be his wife; and she was led upstairs to the royal chamber;but the true princess was told to stay in the court below.

Now the old king happened just then to have nothing else to do; so heamused himself by sitting at his kitchen window, looking at what wasgoing on; and he saw her in the courtyard. As she looked very pretty,and too delicate for a waiting-maid, he went up into the royal chamberto ask the bride who it was she had brought with her, that was thus leftstanding in the court below. 'I brought her with me for the sake of hercompany on the road,' said she; 'pray give the girl some work to do,that she may not be idle.' The old king could not for some time thinkof any work for her to do; but at last he said, 'I have a lad who takescare of my geese; she may go and help him.' Now the name of this lad,that the real bride was to help in watching the king's geese, wasCurdken.

But the false bride said to the prince, 'Dear husband, pray do me onepiece of kindness.' 'That I will,' said the prince. 'Then tell one ofyour slaughterers to cut off the head of the horse I rode upon, for itwas very unruly, and plagued me sadly on the road'; but the truth was,she was very much afraid lest Falada should some day or other speak, andtell all she had done to the princess. She carried her point, and thefaithful Falada was killed; but when the true princess heard of it, shewept, and begged the man to nail up Falada's head against a largedark gate of the city, through which she had to pass every morningand evening, that there she might still see him sometimes. Then theslaughterer said he would do as she wished; and cut off the head, andnailed it up under the dark gate.

Early the next morning, as she and Curdken went out through the gate,she said sorrowfully:

'Falada, Falada, there thou hangest!'

and the head answered:

'Bride, bride, there thou gangest! Alas! alas! if thy mother knew it, Sadly, sadly, would she rue it.'

Then they went out of the city, and drove the geese on. And when shecame to the meadow, she sat down upon a bank there, and let down herwaving locks of hair, which were all of pure silver; and when Curdkensaw it glitter in the sun, he ran up, and would have pulled some of thelocks out, but she cried:

'Blow, breezes, blow! Let Curdken's hat go! Blow, breezes, blow! Let him after it go! O'er hills, dales, and rocks, Away be it whirl'd Till the silvery locks Are all comb'd and curl'd!

Then there came a wind, so strong that it blew off Curdken's hat; andaway it flew over the hills: and he was forced to turn and run afterit; till, by the time he came back, she had done combing and curling herhair, and had put it up again safe. Then he was very angry and sulky,and would not speak to her at all; but they watched the geese until itgrew dark in the evening, and then drove them homewards.

The next morning, as they were going through the dark gate, the poorgirl looked up at Falada's head, and cried:

'Falada, Falada, there thou hangest!'

and the head answered:

'Bride, bride, there thou gangest! Alas! alas! if thy mother knew it, Sadly, sadly, would she rue it.'

Then she drove on the geese, and sat down again in the meadow, and beganto comb out her hair as before; and Curdken ran up to her, and wanted totake hold of it; but she cried out quickly:

'Blow, breezes, blow! Let Curdken's hat go! Blow, breezes, blow! Let him after it go! O'er hills, dales, and rocks, Away be it whirl'd Till the silvery locks Are all comb'd and curl'd!

Then the wind came and blew away his hat; and off it flew a great way,over the hills and far away, so that he had to run after it; and whenhe came back she had bound up her hair again, and all was safe. So theywatched the geese till it grew dark.

In the evening, after they came home, Curdken went to the old king, andsaid, 'I cannot have that strange girl to help me to keep the geese anylonger.' 'Why?' said the king. 'Because, instead of doing any good, shedoes nothing but tease me all day long.' Then the king made him tell himwhat had happened. And Curdken said, 'When we go in the morning throughthe dark gate with our flock of geese, she cries and talks with the headof a horse that hangs upon the wall, and says:

'Falada, Falada, there thou hangest!'

and the head answers:

'Bride, bride, there thou gangest! Alas! alas! if thy mother knew it, Sadly, sadly, would she rue it.'

And Curdken went on telling the king what had happened upon the meadowwhere the geese fed; how his hat was blown away; and how he was forcedto run after it, and to leave his flock of geese to themselves. But theold king told the boy to go out again the next day: and when morningcame, he placed himself behind the dark gate, and heard how she spoketo Falada, and how Falada answered. Then he went into the field, andhid himself in a bush by the meadow's side; and he soon saw with his owneyes how they drove the flock of geese; and how, after a little time,she let down her hair that glittered in the sun. And then he heard hersay:

'Blow, breezes, blow! Let Curdken's hat go! Blow, breezes, blow! Let him after it go! O'er hills, dales, and rocks, Away be it whirl'd Till the silvery locks Are all comb'd and curl'd!

And soon came a gale of wind, and carried away Curdken's hat, and awaywent Curdken after it, while the girl went on combing and curling herhair. All this the old king saw: so he went home without being seen; andwhen the little goose-girl came back in the evening he called her aside,and asked her why she did so: but she burst into tears, and said, 'ThatI must not tell you or any man, or I shall lose my life.'

But the old king begged so hard, that she had no peace till she had toldhim all the tale, from beginning to end, word for word. And it was verylucky for her that she did so, for when she had done the king orderedroyal clothes to be put upon her, and gazed on her with wonder, she wasso beautiful. Then he called his son and told him that he had only afalse bride; for that she was merely a waiting-maid, while the truebride stood by. And the young king rejoiced when he saw her beauty, andheard how meek and patient she had been; and without saying anything tothe false bride, the king ordered a great feast to be got ready for allhis court. The bridegroom sat at the top, with the false princess on oneside, and the true one on the other; but nobody knew her again, for herbeauty was quite dazzling to their eyes; and she did not seem at alllike the little goose-girl, now that she had her brilliant dress on.

When they had eaten and drank, and were very merry, the old king saidhe would tell them a tale. So he began, and told all the story of theprincess, as if it was one that he had once heard; and he asked thetrue waiting-maid what she thought ought to be done to anyone who wouldbehave thus. 'Nothing better,' said this false bride, 'than that sheshould be thrown into a cask stuck round with sharp nails, and thattwo white horses should be put to it, and should drag it from street tostreet till she was dead.' 'Thou art she!' said the old king; 'and asthou has judged thyself, so shall it be done to thee.' And the youngking was then married to his true wife, and they reigned over thekingdom in peace and happiness all their lives; and the good fairy cameto see them, and restored the faithful Falada to life again.