Donkey Cabbages

Once upon a time, there was a young huntsman who went into the forest to wait for game. He was cheerful and happy, and as he walked along, whistling on a leaf, an ugly old woman came up to him and said, "Good day, dear huntsman, you are so merry and content, but I am suffering from hunger and thirst.

Please give me a little money." The huntsman felt sorry for the poor old creature, reached into his pocket, and gave her what he could. Then he was about to go on, but the old woman stopped him and said, "Listen, dear huntsman, I will give you a gift in return for your kindness.

Go on your way now, and soon you will come to a tree where nine birds are sitting. They have a cloak in their claws and are pulling at it. Take your gun and shoot into the middle of them.

They will let the cloak fall down to you, but one bird will be hurt and fall dead. Take the cloak—it is a wishing cloak. When you throw it over your shoulders, you only have to wish to be somewhere, and you will be there in the blink of an eye.

Also take out the heart of the dead bird and swallow it whole. Then every morning when you wake up, you will find a gold coin under your pillow." The huntsman thanked the old woman and thought to himself, "Those are wonderful things she promised me, if only they come true." And indeed, when he had walked about a hundred paces, he heard a loud screeching and twittering in the branches above.

He looked up and saw a crowd of birds tearing at a piece of cloth with their beaks and claws, fighting as if each wanted it all for itself. "Well," said the huntsman, "this is amazing!

It really happened just as the old woman said!" He took his gun from his shoulder, aimed, and fired into the middle of them, so that feathers flew everywhere. The birds flew away with loud cries, but one fell down dead, and the cloak fell down too.

Then the huntsman did as the old woman had told him. He cut open the bird, found the heart, and swallowed it whole. Then he took the cloak home with him.

The next morning, when he woke up, he remembered the promise and wanted to see if it had come true. He lifted up his pillow, and the gold coin shone in his eyes. The next day he found another, and every morning after that, he found a gold coin under his pillow. He gathered a heap of gold, but finally he thought, "What good is all this gold if I stay at home? I will go out and see the world." So he said goodbye to his parents, buckled on his hunting pouch and gun, and set out into the world.

One day, he traveled through a dense forest. When he came to the end of it, he saw a fine castle on the plain ahead. An old woman was standing at a window with a wonderfully beautiful young girl.

The old woman was a witch, and she said to the girl, "There comes a man out of the forest who has a wonderful treasure inside him. We must steal it from him, my dear daughter. It is more suitable for us than for him.

He has a bird's heart, which makes a gold coin appear under his pillow every morning." She told the girl what to do to get it, and finally she threatened her with angry eyes, "If you don't do as I say, it will be worse for you!" When the huntsman came closer, he saw the girl and said to himself, "I have traveled for such a long time.

I will rest here and go into that beautiful castle. I have enough money." But the real reason was that he had seen the pretty girl.

He entered the castle and was well received and treated politely. Before long, he fell so much in love with the young witch that he thought of nothing else. He only saw things as she saw them and did whatever she wanted.

Then the old woman said, "Now we must get the bird's heart. He won't miss it." She made a drink, poured it into a cup, and gave it to the girl to give to the huntsman.

The girl did so, saying, "Now, my dearest, drink to me." So he took the cup, and when he had swallowed the drink, he coughed up the bird's heart. The girl had to secretly take it and swallow it herself, because the old woman wanted it that way.

After that, he no longer found gold under his pillow, but instead it lay under the girl's pillow, and the old woman fetched it every morning. But he was so in love and so fooled that he thought of nothing except spending time with the girl.

Then the old witch said, "We have the bird's heart, but we must also take the wishing cloak from him." The girl answered, "Let him keep that; he has already lost his wealth." The old woman became angry and said, "Such a cloak is a wonderful thing and is rarely found in this world.

I must have it!" She hit the girl several times and said that if she didn't obey, things would go badly for her. So the girl did what the old woman said. She stood at the window and looked out at the distant land as if she were very sad.

The huntsman asked, "Why are you standing there so sadly?" "Oh, my love," she answered, "over there lies the Garnet Mountain, where precious stones grow. I long for them so much that I feel sad just thinking about them. But who can get them?

Only the birds can fly and reach them, but a person never can." "Is that all you are worried about?" said the huntsman. "I will soon take that burden from your heart." With that, he wrapped her under his cloak, wished himself on the Garnet Mountain, and in the blink of an eye they were sitting there together.

Precious stones sparkled all around, and it was a joy to see them. Together they gathered the finest and most costly ones. Now, the old woman had used her sorcery to make the huntsman's eyes heavy. He said to the girl, "Let's sit down and rest a while.

I am so tired that I can't stand anymore." So they sat down, and he laid his head in her lap and fell asleep. While he slept, she unfastened the cloak from his shoulders, wrapped herself in it, picked up the garnets and stones, and wished herself back home with them.

When the huntsman woke up and saw that his sweetheart had betrayed him and left him alone on the wild mountain, he said, "Oh, what treachery there is in the world!" He sat down in sorrow, not knowing what to do.

But the mountain belonged to wild and monstrous giants who lived there. He had not sat long before he saw three of them coming toward him. So he lay down as if he were in a deep sleep.

The giants came up, and the first one kicked him with his foot and said, "What kind of earthworm is lying curled up here?" The second said, "Step on him and kill him." But the third said, "That's not worth it. Just let him live. He can't stay here.

If he climbs higher toward the summit, the clouds will catch him and carry him away." So they passed by. The huntsman had heard their words, and as soon as they were gone, he got up and climbed to the top of the mountain.

He sat there for a while, and then a cloud floated toward him, lifted him up, carried him away, and drifted through the sky for a long time. Then it sank lower and lowered itself onto a large cabbage garden surrounded by walls, so that he landed softly on cabbages and vegetables.

The huntsman looked around and said, "If only I had something to eat! I am so hungry, and my hunger will grow. But I see no apples or pears or any other fruit here, only cabbages." Finally he thought, "I can eat some of the leaves.

They don't taste very good, but they will refresh me." So he picked a nice head of cabbage and ate it. But as soon as he had swallowed a few bites, he felt very strange. Four legs grew on him, a large head, and two thick ears.

He saw with horror that he had turned into a donkey. Still, his hunger grew every minute, and the juicy leaves suited his new nature, so he ate with great enjoyment. Then he came to a different kind of cabbage.

As soon as he had eaten it, he felt another change and became a human again.

The huntsman lay down and slept off his tiredness. When he woke the next morning, he broke off one head of the bad cabbage and one of the good cabbage, and thought, "This will help me get my own back and punish the traitors." He took the cabbages, climbed over the wall, and set out to find his sweetheart's castle.

After wandering for a couple of days, he was lucky enough to find it again. He dyed his face brown so that even his own mother wouldn't have recognized him, and asked for shelter. "I am so tired," he said, "that I can go no further." The witch asked, "Who are you, countryman, and what do you want?" "I am a king's messenger," he replied, "sent to find the most delicious salad that grows under the sun.

I have been fortunate enough to find it, and I am carrying it with me. But the sun is so hot that the delicate cabbage is starting to wilt, and I don't know if I can carry it any further."

When the old woman heard about the exquisite salad, she was greedy and said, "Dear countryman, let me taste this wonderful salad." "Of course," he answered, "I have brought two heads with me, and I will give you one." He opened his pouch and handed her the bad cabbage.

The witch suspected nothing wrong. Her mouth watered for this new dish, and she went into the kitchen to cook it herself. As soon as it was ready, she couldn't wait to put it on the table. She took a couple of leaves and put them in her mouth.

But as soon as she swallowed them, she lost her human shape and ran out into the yard as a donkey. Just then, the maid came into the kitchen. She saw the salad and was about to take it upstairs, but on the way, she couldn't resist tasting it.

She ate a couple of leaves, and the magic turned her into a donkey too. She ran out to join the old woman, and the dish of salad fell to the ground. Meanwhile, the messenger sat with the beautiful girl.

When no one brought the salad, and she was longing for it, she said, "I wonder what happened to the salad." The huntsman thought, "The salad must have worked already," and said, "I will go to the kitchen and see about it." As he went down, he saw the two donkeys running around in the yard.

The salad lay on the ground. "Good," he said, "they have had their share." He picked up the remaining leaves, put them back on the dish, and carried them to the girl. "I bring you the delicate dish myself," he said, "so you don't have to wait any longer." She ate it, and like the others, she turned into a donkey and ran out into the yard.

After the huntsman had washed his face so that the transformed ones could recognize him, he went down into the yard and said, "Now you will get what you deserve for your treachery." He tied them all together with one rope and drove them to a mill.

He knocked on the window, the miller stuck his head out, and asked what he wanted. "I have three unruly animals," answered the huntsman, "that I don't want to keep anymore. Will you take them in, give them food and a stable, and take care of them as I tell you?

I will pay you what you ask." The miller said, "Why not? But how should I take care of them?" The huntsman told him to give the old donkey—the witch—three beatings and one meal a day; the younger one—the maid—one beating and three meals; and the youngest one—the girl—no beatings and three meals, because he couldn't bear to have the girl beaten.

Then he went back to the castle, where he found everything he needed.

After a couple of days, the miller came and said that the old donkey, which had received three beatings and only one meal a day, had died. "The other two," he continued, "are still alive and are fed three times a day, but they are so sad that they won't last much longer." The huntsman felt pity.

He put away his anger and told the miller to drive them back to him. When they came, he gave them some of the good salad, and they turned back into humans. The beautiful girl fell on her knees before him and said, "Ah, my love, forgive me for the wrong I did you.

My mother forced me to do it. It was against my will, for I love you dearly. Your wishing cloak hangs in a cupboard, and I will take a potion to bring up the bird's heart." But he thought otherwise and said, "Keep it. It doesn't matter.

I will take you as my true wife." So the wedding was celebrated, and they lived happily together until they died.