The Devil with the Three Golden Hairs

There was once a poor woman who gave birth to a little son, and because he came into the world with a caul over his head, it was foretold that in his fourteenth year he would have the king’s daughter for his wife. Not long afterward the king happened to come through that village, and nobody knew he was the king. When he asked the people what news there was, they told him what everyone was saying.

“A child has just been born with a caul on,” they said. “Whatever a boy like that sets his hand to turns out well for him. And it is foretold that in his fourteenth year he will have the king’s daughter for his wife.”

The king had a wicked heart, and the prophecy angered him. He went to the parents, put on a friendly face, and said, “You poor people, let me have your child, and I will see that he is well cared for.”

At first they refused. But the stranger offered a heavy purse of gold for the boy, and they thought, “He is a luck-child; everything must turn out for the best with him.” So at last they gave in and handed the child over.

The king put him in a box and rode on with it until he came to a deep stretch of water. There he threw the box in and thought, “That is my daughter rid of a suitor nobody asked for.”

But the box did not sink. It floated like a little boat, and not one drop of water got inside. It drifted on until it came within two miles of the king’s chief city, where there was a mill, and there it caught fast against the mill dam. A miller’s lad who by good luck was standing there noticed it and pulled it in with a hook, sure that he had found a great treasure. When he opened it, there lay a beautiful boy inside, fresh and lively as could be. He carried him to the miller and his wife, and because they had no children of their own they were glad and said, “God has given him to us.” They took good care of the foundling, and he grew up honest and kind.

It happened one day that the king stepped into the mill out of a thunderstorm, and he asked the mill folk whether the tall lad was their son.

“No,” they answered, “he is a foundling. Fourteen years ago he came floating down to the mill dam in a box, and our lad pulled him out of the water.”

Then the king knew that this was none other than the luck-child he had thrown into the water, and he said, “My good people, could the boy not carry a letter to the queen for me? I will give him two gold pieces for his trouble.”

“As the king commands,” they answered, and they told the boy to make himself ready.

Then the king wrote a letter to the queen, and it read: “As soon as the boy arrives with this letter, let him be killed and buried, and let it all be done before I come home.”

The boy set out with the letter, but he lost his way, and by evening he had come into a great forest. In the darkness he saw a small light. He walked toward it and came to a cottage. When he stepped inside, an old woman was sitting by the fire, all alone. She started up at the sight of him.

“Where have you come from, and where are you going?” she said.

“I come from the mill,” he answered, “and I am going to the queen, to bring her a letter. But I lost my way in the forest, and I would gladly stay the night here.”

“You poor boy,” said the woman, “you have walked into a robbers’ house. When they come home they will kill you.”

“Let whoever likes come,” said the boy. “I am not afraid. But I am so tired that I cannot go a step farther.”

He stretched himself out on a bench and fell asleep.

Soon afterward the robbers came home and asked angrily what strange boy was lying there.

“Oh,” said the old woman, “he is an innocent child who lost his way in the forest, and I took him in out of pity. He is to carry a letter to the queen.”

The robbers broke the letter open and read it, and it said that the boy was to be put to death the moment he arrived. Then even those hard-hearted robbers felt pity for him. Their leader tore the letter up and wrote another, and this one said that as soon as the boy came he should be married to the king’s daughter at once. Then they let him lie quietly on the bench until morning, and when he woke they gave him the letter and showed him the right road.

When the queen had received the letter and read it, she did just as it said. She had a splendid wedding feast prepared, and the king’s daughter was married to the luck-child. And because the young man was handsome and pleasant, she lived happily and contentedly with him.

After some time the king came back to his castle and saw that the prophecy had come true and the luck-child was married to his daughter.

“How did this come about?” he said. “I gave a very different order in my letter.”

Then the queen handed him the letter and told him to see for himself what it said. The king read it and saw well enough that it had been exchanged for another. He asked the young man what had become of the letter entrusted to him, and why he had brought a different one instead.

“I know nothing about it,” he answered. “It must have been changed in the night, while I lay asleep in the forest.”

The king was seized with fury.

“You shall not get off so lightly,” he said. “Whoever means to have my daughter must go down into hell and fetch me three golden hairs from the devil’s head. Bring me what I ask, and you shall keep my daughter.”

In this way the king hoped to be rid of him for good. But the luck-child answered, “I will fetch the golden hairs gladly. I am not afraid of the devil.” With that he took his leave and set out on his journey.

The road brought him to a great city, where the watchman at the gate asked him what his trade was and what he knew.

“I know everything,” answered the luck-child.

“Then you can do us a favor,” said the watchman. “Tell us why our market fountain, which once ran with wine, has gone dry and gives not even water any more.”

“You shall learn that,” he answered. “Only wait until I come back.”

Then he went farther and came to another city, and there too the gatekeeper asked him what his trade was and what he knew.

“I know everything,” he answered.

“Then you can do us a favor and tell us why a tree in our city that once bore golden apples will not put out so much as a leaf now.”

“You shall learn that,” he answered. “Only wait until I come back.”

Then he went on and came to a wide river that he had to cross. The ferryman asked him what his trade was and what he knew.

“I know everything,” he answered.

“Then you can do me a favor,” said the ferryman, “and tell me why I must always be ferrying back and forth and am never set free.”

“You shall learn that,” he answered. “Only wait until I come back.”

When he was over the water he found the entrance to hell. Inside it was black and sooty, and the devil was not at home, but his grandmother sat there in a broad armchair.

“What do you want?” she said to him, and she did not look nearly so wicked as he had expected.

“I would gladly have three golden hairs from the devil’s head,” he answered, “or I cannot keep my wife.”

“That is a great deal to ask,” she said. “If the devil comes home and finds you here, it will cost you your neck. But I am sorry for you, and I will see whether I can help you.”

She changed him into an ant and said, “Creep into the folds of my skirt. You will be safe there.”

“Yes,” he answered, “that is well enough. But there are three things besides that I would like to know. Why has a fountain that once ran with wine gone dry, so that it gives not even water? Why does a tree that once bore golden apples not put out so much as a leaf? And why must a ferryman go back and forth forever and never be set free?”

“Those are hard questions,” she answered. “Only keep still and quiet, and pay close attention to what the devil says while I pull out the three golden hairs.”

When evening came, the devil came home. He had hardly stepped inside before he sensed that all was not well.

“I smell, I smell human flesh,” he said. “Something here is not right.”

Then he peered into every corner and searched, but he could find nothing. His grandmother scolded him.

“It has only just been swept,” she said, “and everything put in its place, and now you are turning it all upside down again. You are forever smelling human flesh, morning and night. Sit down and eat your supper.”

When he had eaten and drunk he was tired. He laid his head in his grandmother’s lap and asked her to pick through his hair a little. Before long he was dozing, blowing and snoring. Then the old woman took hold of a golden hair, tore it out, and laid it down beside her.

“Ouch!” cried the devil. “What are you up to?”

“I had a bad dream,” answered the grandmother, “and I caught hold of your hair.”

“What did you dream, then?” said the devil.

“I dreamed of a market fountain that once ran with wine and has gone dry, so that not even water would come out of it. What can be the cause of it?”

“Ha, if only they knew!” answered the devil. “There is a toad sitting under a stone in the well. If they killed it, the wine would flow again.”

The grandmother picked through his hair again until he fell asleep and snored so hard that the windows shook. Then she tore out the second hair.

“Ugh! What are you doing?” cried the devil angrily.

“Do not take it badly,” she answered. “I did it in my sleep.”

“What have you dreamed this time?” he asked.

“I dreamed that in a certain kingdom there stood a fruit tree that once bore golden apples and now will not put out so much as a leaf. What can the reason be?”

“Ha, if only they knew!” answered the devil. “A mouse is gnawing at the root. If they killed it, the tree would bear golden apples again. But if it gnaws much longer, the tree will wither away altogether. Now leave me in peace with your dreams. If you wake me once more, you will get a box on the ear.”

The grandmother talked him round gently and picked through his hair until he had fallen asleep and was snoring. Then she took hold of the third golden hair and tore it out. The devil shot up, roared, and would have handled her roughly, but she calmed him once more and said, “Who can help bad dreams?”

“What did you dream, then?” he asked, for he was curious in spite of himself.

“I dreamed of a ferryman who complained that he must always go back and forth and is never set free. What can be the cause of it?”

“Ha, the fool!” answered the devil. “When somebody comes and wants to be taken across, he has only to put the pole into the man’s hand. Then the other must do the ferrying, and he is free.”

Since the grandmother had pulled out the three golden hairs and the three questions were answered, she left the old serpent in peace, and he slept until day broke.

When the devil had gone out again, the old woman fetched the ant out of the folds of her skirt and gave the luck-child his human shape back.

“There are your three golden hairs,” she said. “And you will have heard what the devil said to your three questions.”

“Yes,” he answered, “I heard, and I will keep it well in mind.”

“Then you have what you came for,” she said, “and now you can go your way.”

He thanked the old woman for helping him in his need, left hell behind, and was well pleased that everything had turned out so happily.

When he came to the ferryman, the man was waiting for the answer he had been promised.

“Take me across first,” said the luck-child, “and then I will tell you how you can be set free.”

And when he had reached the far bank he gave him the devil’s advice: “The next time somebody comes and wants to be taken over, just put the pole into his hand.”

He went on and came to the city where the barren tree stood, and there too the watchman wanted his answer. So he told him what he had heard from the devil: “Kill the mouse that is gnawing at the root, and the tree will bear golden apples again.” The watchman thanked him and gave him two donkeys loaded with gold as a reward, and they followed at his heels.

At last he came to the city whose fountain had run dry. There he said to the watchman what the devil had said: “There is a toad in the well, under a stone. You must look for it and kill it, and the fountain will give wine in plenty again.” That watchman thanked him too and gave him two donkeys loaded with gold as well.

At last the luck-child came home to his wife, who was heartily glad to see him again and to hear how well everything had gone with him. To the king he brought what he had asked for, the devil’s three golden hairs, and when the king saw the four donkeys with their loads of gold he was thoroughly pleased.

“Now every condition is fulfilled,” he said, “and you may keep my daughter. But tell me, dear son-in-law, where did all that gold come from? That is a tremendous treasure!”

“I was ferried across a river,” he answered, “and I took it from the bank there. It lies about instead of sand.”

“Can I fetch some of it too?” said the king, all eagerness.

“As much as you like,” he answered. “There is a ferryman on the river. Have him take you across, and you can fill your sacks on the other side.”

The greedy king set out in all haste, and when he came to the river he beckoned to the ferryman to carry him over. The ferryman came and told him to get in, and when they reached the far bank he put the pole into the king’s hand and sprang ashore. And from that day on the king had to do the ferrying, as a punishment for his sins.

Is he ferrying still?

What else? Nobody will have taken the pole out of his hand.