Page:Grimm's household tales, volume 2 (1884).djvu/499

Rh bably written in the middle of the 14th century, but it is not known with any certainty by whom. The author may have been an Englishman or a Frenchman, but as German names of dogs occur in the stories, it is most likely that he was a German. A treatise on the writer is found in Grässe's German translation, (Dresden and Leipzig, 2 vols. 1842) where, too, the various editions and translations are carefully pointed out. We shall only concern ourselves with such of the tales as are story-like, and may originally have been derived from oral tradition, though they have undergone slight alterations for the sake of the religious application which is the main object of the book.

1. An Emperor admits into his court a poor humble man, who promises to perform six services for him. The first is to serve him well for the space of one year. He makes his lord's bed, lies armed by his door every night, and has a little dog with him which wakens him with barking whenever he is at all overcome by sleep. The second service is, that for one year he is to watch when others sleep, and sleep when others are awake. The third, that he shall know how to judge a drink. The Emperor causes vinegar, wine, and new wine to be mixed together in a glass, and given to him. He tastes it and says, "It was good, is good, and will be good." That is to say, the new wine will become good, the wine is good, and the vinegar was good. For the fourth he is to go through every kingdom and invite his master's friends. He, however, invites all the enemies, and says, "It is better thus, for they too shall become his friends," and before the feast begins he has turned their hearts. The fifth service is that he shall make a fire without smoke. He lays dried wood in the sun which in the heat kindles of its own accord, without smoke. The sixth service is this, that he shall show those who wish to go to the Holy Land, a good road by which they may safely travel there and back. He takes them all to the sea and says, "A bird is sitting there on a cliff, hatching seven eggs with great care. As long as it sits there, the sea is calm, but if the bird fly away, the sea rages so violently that no one can traverse it. The bird, however, never leaves the nest, unless another bird, which is his enemy, comes and defiles his nest, and injures the eggs, and this he constantly strives to do. He, however, can be kept away if the nest is smeared inside and out with the blood of a lamb." The Pilgrims fulfil these conditions, and travel in safety there and back. The Emperor then rewards the faithful servant. Latin edition of 1489, fol. cap. 17. German edition likewise of 1489, fol. cap. 48 (in which however he only performs five services, on the other hand in the Latin edition, Venice, 1516, in 8vo, there are again six).

2. A story which resembles the beginning of The Devil with the three Golden Hairs (No. 29), but also appears as the Saga of the