Funny

Der Bärenhäuter

Bearskin
by The Brothers Grimm

translated by Margaret Taylor (1884)

THERE was once a young fellow who enlisted as a soldier, conducted
himself bravely, and was always the foremost when it rained bullets. So
long as the war lasted, all went well, but when peace was made, he
received his dismissal, and the captain said he might go where he liked.
His parents were dead, and he had no longer a home, so he went to his
brothers and begged them to take him in, and keep him until war broke
out again. The brothers, however, were hard-hearted and said, “What can
we do with thee? thou art of no use to us; go and make a living for
thyself.” The soldier had nothing left but his gun; he took that on his
shoulder, and went forth into the world. He came to a wide heath, on
which nothing was to be seen but a circle of trees; under these he sat
sorrowfully down, and began to think over his fate. “I have no money,”
thought he, “I have learnt no trade but that of fighting, and now that
they have made peace they don’t want me any longer; so I see beforehand
that I shall have to starve.” All at once he heard a rustling, and when
he looked round, a strange man stood before him, who wore a green coat
and looked right stately, but had a hideous cloven foot. “I know already
what thou art in need of,” said the man; “gold and possessions shall
thou have, as much as thou canst make away with do what thou wilt, but
first I must know if thou art fearless, that I may not bestow my money
in vain.” “A soldier and fear – how can those two things go together?”
he answered; “thou canst put me to the proof.” “Very well, then,”
answered the man, “look behind thee.” The soldier turned round, and saw a
large bear, which came growling towards him. “Oho!” cried the soldier,
“I will tickle thy nose for thee, so that thou shalt soon lose thy fancy
for growling,” and he aimed at the bear and shot it through the muzzle;
it fell down and never stirred again. “I see quite well,” said the
stranger, “that thou art not wanting in courage, but there is still
another condition which thou wilt have to fulfil.” “If it does not
endanger my salvation,” replied the soldier, who knew very well who was
standing by him. “If it does, I’ll have nothing to do with it.” “Thou
wilt look to that for thyself,” answered Greencoat; “thou shalt for the
next seven years neither wash thyself, nor comb thy beard, nor thy hair,
nor cut thy nails, nor say one paternoster. I will give thee a coat and
a cloak, which during this time thou must wear. If thou diest during
these seven years, thou art mine; if thou remainest alive, thou art
free, and rich to boot, for all the rest of thy life.” The soldier
thought of the great extremity in which he now found himself, and as he
so often had gone to meet death, he resolved to risk it now also, and
agreed to the terms. The Devil took off his green coat, gave it to the
soldier, and said, “If thou hast this coat on thy back and puttest thy
hand into the pocket, thou wilt always find it full of money.” Then he
pulled the skin off the bear and said, “This shall be thy cloak, and thy
bed also, for thereon shalt thou sleep, and in no other bed shalt thou
lie, and because of this apparel shalt thou be called Bearskin.” After
this the Devil vanished.

The soldier put the coat on, felt at once in the pocket, and found
that the thing was really true. Then he put on the bearskin and went
forth into the world, and enjoyed himself, refraining from nothing that
did him good and his money harm. During the first year his appearance
was passable, but during the second he began to look like a monster. His
hair covered nearly the whole of his face, his beard was like a piece
of coarse felt, his fingers had claws, and his face was so covered with
dirt that if cress had been sown on it, it would have come up. Whosoever
saw him, ran away, but as he everywhere gave the poor money to pray
that he might not die during the seven years, and as he paid well for
everything he still always found shelter. In the fourth year, he entered
an inn where the landlord would not receive him, and would not even let
him have a place in the stable, because he was afraid the horses would
be scared. But as Bearskin thrust his hand into his pocket and pulled
out a handful of ducats, the host let himself be persuaded and gave him a
room in an outhouse. Bearskin was, however, obliged to promise not to
let himself be seen, lest the inn should get a bad name.

As Bearskin was sitting alone in the evening, and wishing from the
bottom of his heart that the seven years were over, he heard a loud
lamenting in a neighboring room. He had a compassionate heart, so he
opened the door, and saw an old man weeping bitterly, and wringing his
hands. Bearskin went nearer, but the man sprang to his feet and tried to
escape from him. At last when the man perceived that Bearskin’s voice
was human he let himself be prevailed on, and by kind words bearskin
succeeded so far that the old man revealed the cause of his grief. His
property had dwindled away by degrees, he and his daughters would have
to starve, and he was so poor that he could not pay the innkeeper, and
was to be put in prison. “If that is your only trouble,” said Bearskin,
“I have plenty of money.” He caused the innkeeper to be brought thither,
paid him and put a purse full of gold into the poor old man’s pocket
besides.
When the old man saw himself set free from all his troubles he did
not know how to be grateful enough. “Come with me,” said he to Bearskin;
“my daughters are all miracles of beauty, choose one of them for
thyself as a wife. When she hears what thou hast done for me, she will
not refuse thee. Thou dost in truth look a little strange, but she will
soon put thee to rights again.” This pleased Bearskin well, and he went.
When the eldest saw him she was so terribly alarmed at his face that
she screamed and ran away. The second stood still and looked at him from
head to foot, but then she said, “How can I accept a husband who no
longer has a human form? The shaven bear that once was here and passed
itself off for a man pleased me far better, for at any rate it wore a
hussar’s dress and white gloves. If it were nothing but ugliness, I
might get used to that.” The youngest, however, said, “Dear father, that
must be a good man to have helped you out of your trouble, so if you
have promised him a bride for doing it, your promise must be kept.” It
was a pity that Bearskin’s face was covered with dirt and with hair, for
if not they might have seen how delighted he was when he heard these
words. He took a ring from his finger, broke it in two, and gave her one
half, the other he kept for himself. He wrote his name, however, on her
half, and hers on his, and begged her to keep her piece carefully, and
then he took his leave and said, “I must still wander about for three
years, and if I do not return then, thou art free, for I shall be dead.
But pray to God to preserve my life.”

The poor betrothed bride dressed herself entirely in black, and when
she thought of her future bridegroom, tears came into her eyes. Nothing
but contempt and mockery fell to her lot from her sisters. “Take care,”
said the eldest, “if thou givest him thy hand, he will strike his claws
into it.” “Beware!” said the second. “Bears like sweet things, and if he
takes a fancy to thee, he will eat thee up.” “Thou must always do as he
likes,” began the elder again, “or else he will growl.” And the second
continued, “But the wedding will be a merry one, for bears dance well.”
The bride was silent, and did not let them vex her. Bearskin, however,
travelled about the world from one place to another, did good where he
was able, and gave generously to the poor that they might pray for him.

At length, as the last day of the seven years dawned, he went once
more out on to the heath, and seated himself beneath the circle of
trees. It was not long before the wind whistled, and the Devil stood
before him and looked angrily at him; then he threw Bearskin his old
coat, and asked for his own green one back. “We have not got so far as
that yet,” answered Bearskin, “thou must first make me clean.” Whether
the Devil liked it or not, he was forced to fetch water, and wash
Bearskin, comb his hair, and cut his nails. After this, he looked like a
brave soldier, and was much handsomer than he had ever been before.

When the Devil had gone away, Bearskin was quite lighthearted. He
went into the town, put on a magnificent velvet coat, seated himself in a
carriage drawn by four white horses, and drove to his bride’s house. No
one recognized him, the father took him for a distinguished general,
and led him into the room where his daughters were sitting. He was
forced to place himself between the two eldest, they helped him to wine,
gave him the best pieces of meat, and thought that in all the world
they had never seen a handsomer man. The bride, however, sat opposite to
him in her black dress, and never raised her eyes, nor spoke a word.
When at length he asked the father if he would give him one of his
daughters to wife, the two eldest jumped up, ran into their bedrooms to
put on splendid dresses, for each of them fancied she was the chosen
one. The stranger, as soon as he was alone with his bride, brought out
his half of the ring, and threw it in a glass of wine which he reached
across the table to her. She took the wine, but when she had drunk it,
and found the half ring lying at the bottom, her heart began to beat.
She got the other half, which she wore on a ribbon round her neck,
joined them, and saw that the two pieces fitted exactly together. Then
said he, “I am thy betrothed bridegroom, whom thou sawest as Bearskin,
but through God’s grace I have again received my human form, and have
once more become clean.” He went up to her, embraced her, and gave her a
kiss. In the meantime the two sisters came back in full dress, and when
they saw that the handsome man had fallen to the share of the youngest,
and heard that he was Bearskin, they ran out full of anger and rage.
One of them drowned herself in the well, the other hanged herself on a
tree. In the evening, some one knocked at the door, and when the
bridegroom opened it, it was the Devil in his green coat, who said,
“Seest thou, I have now got two souls in the place of thy one!”

In German.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 
Karoleen – Photographer © 2005-2011 All Rights Reserved.
Contact me at mail@karoleen.se .

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1 kommentar

  1. […] sig i under en skyddande filt. Min absoluta favoritsaga är Bearskin som jag skrivit om tidigare här. Den är verkligen en bra representation av Bröderna Grimms sagor, hemsk och romantisk på samma […]

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