Once upon a time there
was a poor husbandman who had many children and little to give them in the
way either of food or clothing. They were all pretty, but the prettiest of
all was the youngest daughter, who was so beautiful that there were no bounds
to her beauty.
So once--it was late
on a Thursday evening in autumn, and wild weather outside, terribly dark,
and raining so heavily and blowing so hard that the walls of the cottage shook
again--they were all sitting together by the fireside, each of them busy with
something or other, when suddenly some one rapped three times against the
window- pane. The man went out to see what could be the matter, and when he
got out there stood a great big white bear.
"Good-evening to you,"
said the White Bear.
"Good-evening," said
the man.
"Will you give me your
youngest daughter?" said the White Bear; "if you will, you shall be as rich
as you are now poor.
Truly the man would have
had no objection to be rich, but he thought to himself: "I must first ask
my daughter about this," so he went in and told them that there was a great
white bear outside who had faithfully promised to make them all rich if he
might but have the youngest daughter.
She said no, and would
not hear of it; so the man went out again, and settled with the White Bear
that he should come again next Thursday evening, and get her answer. Then
the man persuaded her, and talked so much to her about the wealth that they
would have, and what a good thing it would be for herself, that at last she
made up her mind to go, and washed and mended all her rags, made herself as
smart as she could, and held herself in readiness to set out. Little enough
had she to take away with her.
Next Thursday evening
the White Bear came to fetch her. She seated herself on his back with her
bundle, and thus they departed. When they had gone a great part of the way,
the White Bear said: "Are you afraid?"
"No, that I am not,"
said she.
" Keep tight hold of
my fur, and then there is no danger," said he.
And thus she rode far,
far away, until they came to a great mountain. Then the White Bear knocked
on it, and a door opened, and they went into a castle where there were many
brilliantly lighted rooms which shone with gold and silver, likewise a large
hall in which there was a well-spread table, and it was so magnificent that
it would be hard to make anyone understand how splendid it was. The White
Bear gave her a silver bell, and told her that when she needed anything she
had but to ring this bell, and what she wanted would appear. So after she
had eaten, and night was drawing near, she grew sleepy after her journey,
and thought she would like to go to bed. She rang the bell, and scarcely had
she touched it before she found herself in a chamber where a bed stood ready
made for her, which was as pretty as anyone could wish to sleep in. It had
pillows of silk, and curtains of silk fringed with gold, and everything that
was in the room was of gold or silver, but when she had lain down and put
out the light a man came and lay down beside her, and behold it was the White
Bear, who cast off the form of a beast during the night. She never saw him,
however, for he always came after she had put out her light, and went away
before daylight appeared.
So all went well and
happily for a time, but then she began to be very sad and sorrowful, for all
day long she had to go about alone; and she did so wish to go home to her
father and mother and brothers and sisters. Then the
"There might be a cure
for that," said the White Bear, "if you would but promise me never to talk
with your mother alone, but only when the others are there too; for she will
take hold of your hand," he said, "and will want to lead you into a room to
talk with you alone; but that you must by no means do, or you will bring great
misery on both of us."
So one Sunday the White
Bear came and said that they could now set out to see her father and mother,
and they journeyed thither, she sitting on his back, and they went a long,
long way, and it took a long, long time; but at last they came to a large
white farmhouse, and her brothers and sisters were running about outside it,
playing, and it was so pretty that it was a pleasure to look at it.
"Your parents dwell here
now," said the White Bear; "but do not forget what I said to you, or you will
do much harm both to yourself and me."
"No, indeed," said she,
"I shall never forget;" and as soon as she was at home the White Bear turned
round and went back again.
There were such rejoicings
when she went in to her parents that it seemed as if they would never come
to an end. Everyone thought that he could never be sufficiently grateful to
her for all she had done for them all. Now they had everything that they wanted,
and everything was as good as it could be. They all asked her how she was
getting on where she was. All was well with her too, she said; and she had
everything that she could want. What other answers she gave I cannot say,
but I am pretty sure that they did not learn much from her. But in the afternoon,
after they had dined at midday, all happened just as the White Bear had said.
Her mother wanted to talk with her alone in her own chamber. But she remembered
what the White Bear had said, and would on no account go. "What we have to
say can be said at any time," she answered. But somehow or other her mother
at last persuaded her, and she was forced to tell the whole story. So she
told how every night a man came and lay down beside her when the lights were
all put out, and how she never saw him, because he always went away before
it grew light in the morning, and how she continually went about in sadness,
thinking how happy she would be if she could but see him, and how all day
long she had to go about alone, and it was so dull and solitary. "Oh!" cried
the mother, in horror, "you are very likely sleeping with a troll! But I will
teach you a way to see him. You shall have a bit of one of my candles, which
you can take away with you hidden in your breast. Look at him with that when
he is asleep, but take care not to let any tallow drop upon him."
So she took the candle,
and hid it in her breast, and when evening drew near the White Bear came to
fetch her away. When they had gone some distance on their way, the White Bear
asked her if everything had not happened just as he had foretold, and she
could not but own that it had. "Then, if you have done what your mother wished,"
said he, "you have brought great misery on both of us." "No," she said, "I
have not done anything at all." So when she had reached home and had gone
to bed it was just the same as it had been before, and a man came and lay
down beside her, and late at night, when she could hear that he was sleeping,
she got up and kindled a light, lit her candle, let her light shine on him,
and saw him, and he was the handsomest prince that eyes had ever beheld, and
she loved him so much that it seemed to her that she must die if she did not
kiss him that very moment. So she did kiss him; but while she was doing it
she let three drops of hot tallow fall upon his shirt, and he awoke. "What
have you done now?" said he; "you have brought
She wept and lamented,
but all in vain, for go he must. Then she asked him if she could not go with
him. But no, that could not be. "Can you tell me the way then, and I will
seek you--that I may surely be allowed to do!"
"Yes, you may do that,"
said he; "but there is no way thither. It lies east of the sun and west of
the moon, and never would you find your way there."
When she awoke in the
morning both the Prince and the castle were gone, and she was lying on a small
green patch in the midst of a dark, thick wood. By her side lay the self-same
bundle of rags which she had brought with her from her own home. So when she
had rubbed the sleep out of her eyes, and wept till she was weary, she set
out on her way, and thus she walked for many and many a long day, until at
last she came to a great mountain. Outside it an aged woman was sitting, playing
with a golden apple. The girl asked her if she knew the way to the Prince
who lived with his stepmother in the castle which lay east of the sun and
west of the moon, and who was to marry a princess with a nose which was three
ells long. "How do you happen to know about him?" inquired the old woman;
"maybe you are she who ought to have had him." "Yes, indeed, I am," she said.
"So it is you, then?" said the old woman; "I know nothing about him but that
he dwells in a castle which is east of the sun and west of the moon. You will
be a long time in getting to it, if ever you get to it at all; but you shall
have the loan of my horse, and then you can ride on it to an old woman who
is a neighbour of mine: perhaps she can tell you about him. When you have
got there you must just strike the horse beneath the left ear and bid it go
home again; but you may take the golden apple with you."
So the girl seated herself
on the horse, and rode for a long, long way, and at last she came to the mountain,
where an aged woman was sitting outside with a gold carding- comb. The girl
asked her if she knew the way to the castle which lay east of the sun and
west of the moon; but she said what the first old woman had said: "I know
nothing about it, but that it is east of the sun and west of the moon, and
that you will be a long time in getting to it, if ever you get there at all;
but you shall have the loan of my horse to an old woman who lives the nearest
to me: perhaps she may know where the castle is, and when you have got to
her you may just strike the horse beneath the left ear and bid it go home
again." Then she gave her the gold carding-comb, for it might, perhaps, be
of use to her, she said.
So the girl seated herself
on the horse, and rode a wearisome long way onward again, and after a very
long time she came to a great mountain, where an aged woman was sitting, spinning
at a golden spinning-wheel. Of this woman, too, she inquired if she knew the
way to the Prince, and where to find the castle which lay east of the sun
and west of the moon. But it was only the same thing once again. "Maybe it
was you who should have had the Prince," said the old woman. "Yes, indeed,
I should have been the one," said the girl. But this old crone knew the way
no better than the others--it was east of the sun and west of the moon, she
knew that, "and you will be a long time in getting to it, if ever you get
to it at all," she said; "but you may have the loan of my horse, and I think
you had better ride to the East Wind, and ask him: perhaps he may know where
the castle is, and will blow you thither. But when you have got to him you
must just strike the horse beneath the left ear, and he will come home again."
And then she gave her the golden spinning-wheel, saying: "Perhaps you may
find that you have a use for it."
The girl had to ride
for a great many days, and for a long and wearisome time, before she got there;
but at last she did arrive, and then she asked the East Wind if he could tell
her the way to the Prince who dwelt east of the sun and west of the moon.
"Well," said the East Wind, "I have heard tell of the Prince, and of his castle,
but I do not know the way to it, for I have never blown so far; but, if you
like, I will go with you to my brother the West Wind: he may know that, for
he is much stronger than I am. You may sit on my back, and then I can carry
you there." So she seated herself on his back, and they did go so swiftly!
When they got there, the East Wind went in and said that the girl whom he
had brought was the one who ought to have had the Prince up at the castle
which lay east of the sun and west of the moon, and that now she was travelling
about to find him again, so he had come there with her, and would like to
hear if the West Wind knew whereabouts the castle was. "No," said the West
Wind; "so far as that have I never blown; but if you like I will go with you
to the South Wind, for he is much stronger than either of us, and he has roamed
far and wide, and perhaps he can tell you what you want to know. You may seat
yourself on my back, and then I will carry you to him.".
So she did this, and
journeyed to the South Wind, neither was she very long on the way. When they
had got there, the West Wind asked him if he could tell her the way to the
castle that lay east of the sun and west of the moon, for she was the girl
who ought to marry the Prince who lived there. "Oh, indeed!" said the South
Wind, "is that she? Well," said he, "I have wandered about a great deal in
my time, and in all kinds of places, but I have never blown so far as that.
If you like, however, I will go with you to my brother, the North Wind; he
is the oldest and strongest of all of us, and if he does not know where it
is no one in the whole world will be able to tell you. You may sit upon my
back, and then I will carry you there." So she seated herself on his back,
and off he went from his house in great haste, and they were not long on the
way. When they came near the North Wind's dwelling, he was so wild and frantic
that they felt cold gusts a long while before they got there. "What do you
want?" he roared out from afar, and they froze as they heard. Said the South
Wind: "It is I, and this is she who should have had the Prince who lives in
the castle which lies east of the sun and west of the moon. And now she wishes
to ask you if you have ever been there, and can tell her the way, for she
would gladly find him again."
"Yes," said the North
Wind, "I know where it is. I once blew an aspen leaf there, but I was so tired
that for many days afterward I was not able to blow at all. However, if you
really are anxious to go there, and are not afraid to go with me, I will take
you on my back, and try if I can blow you there."
"Get there I must," said
she; "and if there is any way of going I will; and I have no fear, no matter
how fast you go."
"Very well then," said
the North Wind; "but you must sleep here to-night, for if we are ever to get
there we must have the day before us."
The North Wind woke her
betimes next morning, and puffed himself up, and made himself so big and so
strong that it was frightful to see him, and away they went, high up through
the air, as if they would not stop until they had reached the very end of
the world. Down below there was such a storm! It blew down woods and houses,
and when they were above the sea the ships were wrecked by hundreds. And thus
they tore on and on, and a long time went by, and then yet more time passed,
and still they were above the sea, and the North Wind grew tired, and more
tired, and at last so utterly weary that he was scarcely able to blow any
longer, and he sank and sank, lower and lower, until at last he went so low
that the waves dashed against the heels of the poor girl he was carrying.
"Art thou afraid?" said the North Wind. "I have no fear," said she; and it
was true. But they were not very, very far from land, and there was just enough
strength left in the North Wind to enable him to throw her on to the shore,
immediately under the windows of a castle which lay east of the sun and west
of the moon; but then he was so weary and worn out that he was forced to rest
for several days before he could go to his own home again.
"Well, if I may go to
the Prince who is here, and be with him to-night, you shall have it," said
the girl who had come with the North Wind. "You may do that," said the Princess,
for she had made up her mind what she would do. So the Princess got the golden
apple, but when the girl went up to the Prince's apartment that night he was
asleep, for the Princess had so contrived it. The poor girl called to him,
and shook him, and between whiles she wept; but she could not wake him. In
the morning, as soon as day dawned, in came the Princess with the long nose,
and drove her out again. In the daytime she sat down once more beneath the
windows of the castle, and began to card with her golden carding-comb; and
then all happened as it had happened before. The Princess asked her what she
wanted for it, and she replied that it was not for sale, either for gold or
money, but that if she could get leave to go to the Prince, and be with him
during the night, she should have it. But when she went up to the Prince's
room he was again asleep, and, let her call him, or shake him, or weep as
she would, he still slept on, and she could not put any life in him. When
daylight came in the morning, the Princess with the long nose came too, and
once more drove her away. When day had quite
"Yes," said the Princess,
"I will gladly consent to that."
But in that place there
were some Christian folk who had been carried off, and they had been sitting
in the chamber which was next to that of the Prince, and had heard how a woman
had been in there who had wept and called on him two nights running, and they
told the Prince of this. So that evening, when the Princess came once more
with her sleeping-drink, he pretended to drink, but threw it away behind him,
for he suspected that it was a sleeping-drink. So, when the girl went into
the Prince's room this time he was awake, and she had to tell him how she
had come there. "You have come just in time," said the Prince, "for I should
have been married to-morrow; but I will not have the long-nosed Princess,
and you alone can save me. I will say that I want to see what my bride can
do, and bid her wash the shirt which has the three drops of tallow on it.
This she will consent to do, for she does not know that it is you who let
them fall on it; but no one can wash them out but one born of Christian folk:
it cannot be done by one of a pack of trolls; and then I will say that no
one shall ever be my bride but the woman who can do this, and I know that
you can." There was great joy and gladness between them all that night, but
the next day, when the wedding was to take place, the Prince said, "I must
see what my bride can do." "That you may do," said the stepmother.
"I have a fine shirt
which I want to wear as my wedding shirt, but three drops of tallow have got
upon it which I want to have washed off, and I have vowed to marry no one
but the woman who is able to do it. If she cannot do
Well, that was a very
small matter, they thought, and agreed to do it. The Princess with the long
nose began to wash as well as she could, but, the more she washed and rubbed,
the larger the spots grew. "Ah! you can't wash
So the other trolls had
to come and wash, but, the more they did, the blacker and uglier grew the
shirt, until at length it was as black as if it had been up the chimney. "Oh,"
cried the Prince, "not one of you is good for anything at all! There is a
beggar-girl sitting outside the window, and I'll be bound that she can wash
better than any of you! Come in, you girl there!" he cried. So she came in.
"Can you wash this shirt clean?" he cried. "Oh! I don't know," she said; "but
I will try." And no sooner had she taken the shirt and dipped it in the water
than it was white as driven snow, and even whiter than that. "I will marry
you," said the Prince.
Then the old troll-hag
flew into such a rage that she burst, and the Princess with the long nose
and all the little trolls must have burst too, for they have never been heard
of since. The Prince and his bride set free all the Christian folk who were
imprisoned there, and took away with them all the gold and silver that they
could carry, and moved far away from the castle which lay east of the sun
and west of the moon.
Source : From the Blue
Fairy Book by Andrew Lange; Lange's source - Asbjornsen and Moe.