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Our Ladys Child
Tales Collected by the Brothers Grimm
Hard by a great forest dwelt a wood-cutter with his wife, who had an only
child, a little girl three years old. They were so poor, however, that
they no longer had daily bread, and did not know how to get food for her.
One morning the wood-cutter went out sorrowfully to his work in the
forest, and while he was cutting wood, suddenly there stood before him a
tall and beautiful woman with a crown of shining stars on her head, who
said to him, "I am the Virgin Mary, mother of the child Jesus. Thou art
poor and needy, bring thy child to me, I will take her with me and be her
mother, and care for her." The wood-cutter obeyed, brought his child, and
gave her to the Virgin Mary, who took her up to heaven with her. There the
child fared well, ate sugar-cakes, and drank sweet milk, and her clothes
were of gold, and the little angels played with her. And when she was
fourteen years of age, the Virgin Mary called her one day and said, "Dear
child, I am about to make a long journey, so take into thy keeping the
keys of the thirteen doors of heaven. Twelve of these thou mayest open,
and behold the glory which is within them, but the thirteenth, to which
this little key belongs, is forbidden thee. Beware of opening it, or thou
wilt bring misery on thyself." The girl promised to be obedient, and when
the Virgin Mary was gone, she began to examine the dwellings of the
kingdom of heaven. Each day she opened one of them, until she had made the
round of the twelve. In each of them sat one of the Apostles in the midst
of a great light, and she rejoiced in all the magnificence and splendour,
and the little angels who always accompanied her rejoiced with her. Then
the forbidden door alone remained, and she felt a great desire to know
what could be hidden behind it, and said to the angels, "I will not quite
open it, and I will not go inside it, but I will unlock it so that we can
just see a little through the opening." "Oh no," said the little angels,
"that would be a sin. The Virgin Mary has forbidden it, and it might
easily cause thy unhappiness." Then she was silent, but the desire in her
heart was not stilled, but gnawed there and tormented her, and let her
have no rest. And once when the angels had all gone out, she thought, "Now
I am quite alone, and I could peep in. If I do it, no one will ever know."
She sought out the key, and when she had got it in her hand, she put it in
the lock, and when she had put it in, she turned it round as well. Then
the door sprang open, and she saw there the Trinity sitting in fire and
splendour. She stayed there awhile, and looked at everything in amazement;
then she touched the light a little with her finger, and her finger became
quite golden. Immediately a great fear fell on her. She shut the door
violently, and ran away. Her terror too would not quit her, let her do
what she might, and her heart beat continually and would not be still; the
gold too stayed on her finger, and would not go away, let her rub it and
wash it never so much.
It was not long before the Virgin Mary came back from her journey. She
called the girl before her, and asked to have the keys of heaven back.
When the maiden gave her the bunch, the Virgin looked into her eyes and
said, "Hast thou not opened the thirteenth door also?" "No," she replied.
Then she laid her hand on the girl's heart, and felt how it beat and beat,
and saw right well that she had disobeyed her order and had opened the
door. Then she said once again, "Art thou certain that thou hast not done
it?" "Yes," said the girl, for the second time. Then she perceived the
finger which had become golden from touching the fire of heaven, and saw
well that the child had sinned, and said for the third time "Hast thou not
done it?" "No," said the girl for the third time. Then said the Virgin
Mary, "Thou hast not obeyed me, and besides that thou hast lied, thou art
no longer worthy to be in heaven."
Then the girl fell into a deep sleep, and when she awoke she lay on the
earth below, and in the midst of a wilderness. She wanted to cry out, but
she could bring forth no sound. She sprang up and wanted to run away, but
whithersoever she turned herself, she was continually held back by thick
hedges of thorns through which she could not break. In the desert, in
which she was imprisoned, there stood an old hollow tree, and this had to
be her dwelling-place. Into this she crept when night came, and here she
slept. Here, too, she found a shelter from storm and rain, but it was a
miserable life, and bitterly did she weep when she remembered how happy
she had been in heaven, and how the angels had played with her. Roots and
wild berries were her only food, and for these she sought as far as she
could go. In the autumn she picked up the fallen nuts and leaves, and
carried them into the hole. The nuts were her food in winter, and when
snow and ice came, she crept amongst the leaves like a poor little animal
that she might not freeze. Before long her clothes were all torn, and one
bit of them after another fell off her. As soon, however, as the sun shone
warm again, she went out and sat in front of the tree, and her long hair
covered her on all sides like a mantle. Thus she sat year after year, and
felt the pain and the misery of the world. One day, when the trees were
once more clothed in fresh green, the King of the country was hunting in
the forest, and followed a roe, and as it had fled into the thicket which
shut in this part of the forest, he got off his horse, tore the bushes
asunder, and cut himself a path with his sword. When he had at last forced
his way through, he saw a wonderfully beautiful maiden sitting under the
tree; and she sat there and was entirely covered with her golden hair down
to her very feet. He stood still and looked at her full of surprise, then
he spoke to her and said, "Who art thou? Why art thou sitting here in the
wilderness?" But she gave no answer, for she could not open her mouth. The
King continued, "Wilt thou go with me to my castle?" Then she just nodded
her head a little. The King took her in his arms, carried her to his
horse, and rode home with her, and when he reached the royal castle he
caused her to be dressed in beautiful garments, and gave her all things in
abundance. Although she could not speak, she was still so beautiful and
charming that he began to love her with all his heart, and it was not long
before he married her.
After a year or so had passed, the Queen brought a son into the world.
Thereupon the Virgin Mary appeared to her in the night when she lay in her
bed alone, and said, "If thou wilt tell the truth and confess that thou
didst unlock the forbidden door, I will open thy mouth and give thee back
thy speech, but if thou perseverest in thy sin, and deniest obstinately, I
will take thy new-born child away with me." Then the queen was permitted
to answer, but she remained hard, and said, "No, I did not open the
forbidden door;" and the Virgin Mary took the new-born child from her
arms, and vanished with it. Next morning when the child was not to be
found, it was whispered among the people that the Queen was a man-eater,
and had killed her own child. She heard all this and could say nothing to
the contrary, but the King would not believe it, for he loved her so
much.
When a year had gone by the Queen again bore a son, and in the night the
Virgin Mary again came to her, and said, "If thou wilt confess that thou
openedst the forbidden door, I will give thee thy child back and untie thy
tongue; but if you continuest in sin and deniest it, I will take away with
me this new child also." Then the Queen again said, "No, I did not open
the forbidden door;" and the Virgin took the child out of her arms, and
away with her to heaven. Next morning, when this child also had
disappeared, the people declared quite loudly that the Queen had devoured
it, and the King's councillors demanded that she should be brought to
justice. The King, however, loved her so dearly that he would not believe
it, and commanded the councillors under pain of death not to say any more
about it.
The following year the Queen gave birth to a beautiful little daughter,
and for the third time the Virgin Mary appeared to her in the night and
said, "Follow me." She took the Queen by the hand and led her to heaven,
and showed her there her two eldest children, who smiled at her, and were
playing with the ball of the world. When the Queen rejoiced thereat, the
Virgin Mary said, "Is thy heart not yet softened? If thou wilt own that
thou openedst the forbidden door, I will give thee back thy two little
sons." But for the third time the Queen answered, "No, I did not open the
forbidden door." Then the Virgin let her sink down to earth once more, and
took from her likewise her third child.
Next morning, when the loss was reported abroad, all the people cried
loudly, "The Queen is a man-eater. She must be judged," and the King was
no longer able to restrain his councillors. Thereupon a trial was held,
and as she could not answer, and defend herself, she was condemned to be
burnt alive. The wood was got together, and when she was fast bound to the
stake, and the fire began to burn round about her, the hard ice of pride
melted, her heart was moved by repentance, and she thought, "If I could
but confess before my death that I opened the door." Then her voice came
back to her, and she cried out loudly, "Yes, Mary, I did it;" and
straight-way rain fell from the sky and extinguished the flames of fire,
and a light broke forth above her, and the Virgin Mary descended with the
two little sons by her side, and the new-born daughter in her arms. She
spoke kindly to her, and said, "He who repents his sin and acknowledges it,
is forgiven." Then she gave her the three children, untied her tongue, and
granted her happiness for her whole life.
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