THERE was once upon a time a miller who was very
well off, and had as much money and as many goods as he knew what to do with.
But sorrow comes in the night, and the miller all of a sudden became so poor
that at last he could hardly call the mill in which he sat his own. He wandered
about all day full of despair and misery, and when he lay down at night he
could get no rest, but lay awake all night sunk in sorrowful thoughts.
One morning he rose up before dawn and went outside,
for he thought his heart would be lighter in the open air. As he wandered
up and down on the banks of the mill-pond he heard a rustling in the water,
and when he looked near he saw a white woman rising up from the waves.
He realised at once that this could be none other
than the nixy of the mill-pond, and in his terror he didn't know if he should
fly away or remain where he was. While he hesitated the nixy spoke, called
him by his name, and asked him why he was so sad.
When the miller heard how friendly her tone was,
he plucked up heart and told her how rich and prosperous he had been all his
life up till now, when he didn't know what he was to do for want and misery.
Then the nixy spoke comforting words to him,
and promised that she would make him richer and more prosperous than he had
ever been in his life before, if he would give her in return the youngest
thing in his house.
The miller thought she must mean one of his puppies
or kittens, so promised the nixy at once what she asked, and returned to his
mill full of hope. On the threshold he was greeted by a servant with the news
that his wife had just given birth to a boy.
The poor miller was much horrified by these tidings,
and went in to his wife with a heavy heart to tell her and his relations of
the fatal bargain he had just struck with the nixy. `I would gladly give up
all the good fortune she promised me,' he said, `if I could only save my child.'
But no one could think of any advice to give him, beyond taking care that
the child never went near the mill-pond.
So the boy throve and grew big,
and in the meantime all prospered with the miller, and in a few years he was
richer than he had ever been before. But all the same he did not enjoy his
good fortune, for he could not forget his compact with the nixy, and he knew
that sooner or later she would demand his fulfilment of it. But year after
year went by, and the boy grew up and became a great hunter, and the lord
of the land took him into his service, for he was as smart and bold a hunter
as you would wish to see. In a short time he married a pretty young wife,
and lived with her in great peace and happiness.
One day when he was out hunting a hare sprang
up at his feet, and ran for some way in front of him in the open field. The
hunter pursued it hotly for some time, and at last shot it dead. Then he proceeded
to skin it, never noticing that he was close to the mill-pond, which from
childhood up he had been taught to avoid. He soon finished the skinning, and
went to the water to wash the blood off his hands. He had hardly dipped them
in the pond when the nixy rose up in the water, and seizing him in her wet
arms she dragged him down with her under the waves.
When the hunter did not come home in the evening
his wife grew very anxious, and when his game bag was found close to the mill-pond
she guessed at once what had befallen him. She was nearly beside herself with
grief, and roamed round and round the pond calling on her husband without
ceasing. At last, worn out with sorrow and fatigue, she fell asleep and dreamt
that she was wandering along a flowery meadow, when she came to a hut where
she found an old witch, who promised to restore her husband to her.
When she awoke next morning she determined to
set out and find the witch; so she wandered on for many a day, and at last
she reached the flowery meadow and found the hut where the old witch lived.
The poor wife told her all that had happened and how she had been told in
a dream of the witch's power to help her.
The witch counselled her to go to the pond the
first time there was a full moon, and to comb her black hair with a golden
comb, and then to place the comb on the bank. The hunter's wife gave the witch
a handsome present, thanked her heartily, and returned home.
Time dragged heavily till the time of the full
moon, but it passed at last, and as soon as it rose the young wife went to
the pond, combed her black hair with a golden comb, and when she had finished,
placed the comb on the bank; then she watched the water impatiently. Soon
she heard a rushing sound, and a big wave rose suddenly and swept the comb
off the bank, and a minute after the head of her husband rose from the pond
and gazed sadly at her. But immediately another wave came, and the head sank
back into the water without having said a word. The pond lay still and motionless,
glittering in the moonshine, and the hunter's wife was not a bit better off
than she had been before.
In despair she wandered about for days and nights,
and at last, worn out by fatigue, she sank once more into a deep sleep, and
dreamt exactly the same dream about the old witch. So next morning she went
again to the flowery meadow and sought the witch in her hut, and told her
of her grief. The old woman counselled her to go to the mill-pond the next
full moon and play upon a golden flute, and then to lay the flute on the bank.
As soon as the next moon was full the hunter's
wife went to the mill-pond, played on a golden flute, and when she had finished
placed it on the bank. Then a rushing sound was heard, and a wave swept the
flute off the bank, and soon the head of the hunter appeared and rose up higher
and higher till he was half out of the water. Then he gazed sadly at his wife
and stretched out his arms towards her. But another rushing wave arose and
dragged him under once more. The hunter's wife, who had stood on the bank
full of joy and hope, sank into despair when she saw her husband snatched
away again before her eyes.
But for her comfort she dreamt the same dream
a third time, and betook herself once more to the old witch's hut in the flowery
meadow. This time the old woman told her to go the next full moon to the mill-pond,
and to spin there with a golden spinning-wheel, and then to leave the spinning-wheel
on the bank.
The hunter's wife did as she was advised, and
the first night the moon was full she sat and spun with a golden spinning-wheel,
and then left the wheel on the bank. In a few minutes a rushing sound was
heard in the waters, and a wave swept the spinning-wheel from the bank. Immediately
the head of the hunter rose up from the pond, getting higher and higher each
moment, till at length he stepped on to the bank and fell on his wife's neck.
But the waters of the pond rose up suddenly,
overflowed the bank where the couple stood, and dragged them under the flood.
In her despair the young wife called on the old witch to help her, and in
a moment the hunter was turned into a frog and his wife into a toad. But they
were not able to remain together, for the water tore them apart, and
when the flood was over they both resumed their own shapes again, but the
hunter and the hunter's wife found themselves each in a strange country, and
neither knew what had become of the other.
The hunter determined to become a shepherd, and
his wife too became a shepherdess. So they herded their sheep for many years
in solitude and sadness.
Now it happened once that the shepherd came to
the country where the shepherdess lived. The neighbourhood pleased him, and
he saw that the pasture was rich and suitable for his flocks. So he brought
his sheep there, and herded them as before. The shepherd and shepherdess became
great friends, but they did not recognise each other in the least.
But one evening when the moon was full they sat
together watching their flocks, and the shepherd played upon his flute. Then
the shepherdess thought of that evening when she had sat at the full moon
by the mill-pond and had played on the golden flute; the recollection was
too much for her, and she burst into tears. The shepherd asked her why she
was crying, and left her no peace till she told him all her story. Then the
scales fell from the shepherd's eyes, and he recognised his wife, and she
him.
So they returned joyfully to their own home,
and lived in peace and happiness ever after.
Source : Andrew Lang "Yellow Fairy Book"