Fitcher's Bird

Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm

　　Once upon a time there was a sorcerer who disguised himself as a poor man, went begging from house to house, and captured beautiful girls. No one knew where he took them, for none of them ever returned.

　　One day he came to the door of a man who had three beautiful daughters. He appeared to be a poor, weak beggar, and he carried a pack basket on his back, as though he wanted to collect some benevolent¹ offerings in it. He asked for a bit to eat, and when the oldest daughter came out to give him a piece of bread, he simply touched her, and she was forced to jump into his pack basket. Then he hurried away with powerful strides and carried her to his house, which stood in the middle of a dark forest.

　　Everything was splendid in the house, and he gave her everything that she wanted. He said, "My dear, you will like it here with me. You will have everything that your heart desires."

　　So it went for a few days, and then he said to her, "I have to go away and leave you alone for a short time. Here are the house keys. You may go everywhere and look at everything except for the one room that this little key here unlocks. I forbid you to go there on the penalty of death."

　　He also gave her an egg, saying, "Take good care of this egg. You should carry it with you at all times, for if you should loose it great misfortune would follow."

　　She took the keys and the egg, and promised to take good care of everything.

　　As soon as he had gone she walked about in the house from top to bottom examining everything. The rooms glistened² with silver and gold, and she thought that she had never seen such splendor³.

　　Finally she came to the forbidden door. She wanted to pass it by, but curiosity gave her no rest. She examined the key. It looked like any other one. She put it into the lock and twisted it a little, and then the door sprang open.

　　What did she see when she stepped inside? A large bloody⁴ basin stood in the middle, inside which there lay the cut up parts of dead girls. Nearby there was a wooden block with a glistening⁵ ax lying on it.

　　She was so terrified that the egg, which she was holding in her hand, fell into the basin. She got it out again and wiped off the blood, but it was to no avail, for it always came back. She wiped and scrubbed, but she could not get rid of the stain.

　　Not long afterward⁶ the man returned from his journey, and he immediately asked for the key and the egg. She handed them to him, shaking all the while, for he saw from the red stain that she had been in the blood chamber⁷.

　　"You went into that chamber against my will," he said, "and now against your will you shall go into it once again. Your life is finished."

　　He threw her down, dragged her by her hair into the chamber, cut off her head on the block, then cut her up into pieces, and her blood flowed out onto the floor. Then he threw her into the basin with the others.

　　"Now I will go get the second one," said the sorcerer, and, again disguised as a poor man, he went to their house begging.

　　The second sister brought him a piece of bread, and, as he had done to the first one, he captured her by merely touching⁸ her, and he carried her away. It went with her no better than it had gone with her sister. She let herself be led astray by her curiosity, opened the blood chamber and looked inside. When he returned she paid with her life.

　　Then he went and captured the third sister, but she was clever and sly. After he had given her the keys and the egg, and had gone away, she carefully put the egg aside, and then examined the house, entering finally the forbidden chamber.

　　Oh, what she saw! He two dear sisters were lying there in the basin, miserably⁹ murdered and chopped to pieces. In spite of this she proceeded to gather their parts together, placing them back in order: head, body, arms, and legs. Then, when nothing else was missing, the parts began to move. They joined together, and the two girls opened their eyes and came back to life. Rejoicing, they kissed and hugged one another.

　　When the man returned home he immediately demanded the keys and the egg, and when he was unable to detect any trace of blood on them, he said, "You have passed the test. You shall be my bride."

　　He now had no more power over her and had to do whatever she demanded.

　　"Good," she answered, "but first you must take a basketful of gold to my father and mother. You yourself must carry it there on your back. In the meanwhile I shall make preparations for the wedding."

　　Then she ran to her sisters, whom she had hidden in a closet, and said, "The moment is here when I can rescue you. The evildoer himself shall carry you home. As soon as you have arrived at home send help to me."

　　She put them both into a basket, then covered them entirely¹⁰ with gold, so that nothing could be seen of them.

　　Then she called the sorcerer in and said, "Now carry this basket away, but you are not to stop and rest underway. Take care, for I shall be watching you through my little window."

　　The sorcerer lifted the basket onto his back and walked away with it. However, it pressed down so heavily on him that the sweat ran from his face. He sat down, wanting to rest, but immediately one of the girls in the basket called out, "I am looking through my little window, and I can see that you are resting. Walk on!"

　　He thought that his bride was calling to him, so he got up again. Then he again wanted to sit down, but someone immediately called out, "I am looking through my little window, and I can see that you are resting. Walk on!"

　　Every time that he stopped walking, someone called out, and he had to walk on until, groaning¹¹ and out of breath, he brought the basket with the gold and the two girls to their parents' house.

　　At home the bride was making preparations for the wedding feast, to which she had had the sorcerer's friends invited. Then she took a skull¹² with grinning teeth, adorned¹³ it with jewelry¹⁴ and with a wreath of flowers, carried it to the attic¹⁵ window, and let it look out.

　　When everything was ready she dipped herself into a barrel of honey, then cut open the bed and rolled around in it until she looked like a strange bird, and no one would have been able to recognize her. Then she walked out of the house.

　　Underway some of the wedding guests met her, and they asked, "You, Fitcher's bird, where are you coming from?"

　　"I am coming from Fitcher's house."

　　"What is his young bride doing there?"

　　"She has swept the house from bottom to top, and now she is looking out of the attic window."

　　Finally her bridegroom met her. He was slowly walking back home, and, like the others, he asked, "You, Fitcher's bird, where are you coming from?"

　　"I am coming from Fitcher's house."

　　"What is my young bride doing there?"

　　"She has swept the house from bottom to top, and now she is looking out of the attic window."

　　The bridegroom looked up. Seeing the decorated skull, he thought it was his bride, and he waved a friendly greeting to her.

　　After he and all his guests had gone into the house, the bride's brothers and relatives arrived. They had been sent to rescue her. After closing up all the doors of the house so that no one could escape, they set it afire, and the sorcerer, together with his gang, all burned to death.

　从前有个巫师，装作穷人，挨家挨户地乞讨，而实际上他是碰到漂亮姑娘就抓。谁也说不上他把姑娘们抓到哪儿去了，因为他带走的姑娘没有一个回来过。

　　有一天，他来到一家人门口，这家人有三个漂亮的姑娘。他背着一个篮子，像是准备装人们施舍的东西，样子活像个身体虚弱、令人怜悯的乞丐。他求那家人给他点吃的，於是大女儿走了出来。巫师不用碰她，姑娘就会不自觉地跳进他的篮子，然后他就迈着大步朝密林深处自己的住所逃去。

　　他住处的一切摆设都是那么富丽堂皇，还给姑娘准备了她可能想到的每一样东西，他总是说：「亲爱的，你跟着我会过得很幸福的，因为你要甚么有甚么。」

　　过了几天，巫师对姑娘说：「我得出门办点事情，你得一个人在家呆两天。这是所有房门的钥匙。除了一间屋子外，其余你都可以看。这是那间禁室的钥匙，我不许任何人进去，否则就得死。」同时他还递给姑娘一个鸡蛋，说：「保管好鸡蛋，走到哪儿带到哪儿，要是丢了你就会倒大霉了。」

　　姑娘接过钥匙和鸡蛋，答应一切都照他的吩咐做。巫师走后，姑娘把屋子从楼下到楼上都看了个遍。所有房间都是金光闪闪的，姑娘从没见过这么多财富。最后她来到那间禁室，想走过去不看，可好奇心驱使她掏出了钥匙，想看看和其他的有甚么不同，於是将钥匙插进了锁孔。门「哗」地弹开了，她走了进去。你们想她看到了甚么？房间中央摆着一个血淋淋的大盆，里面全是砍成了碎片的人体；旁边是一块大木砧板，上面放着一把锋利闪亮的大斧子。她吓得连手里的鸡蛋都掉进盆里去了，结果上面的血斑怎么也擦不掉，她又是洗又是刮，还是没法去掉。

　　巫师不久就回来了。他要的第一件东西就是钥匙和鸡蛋。姑娘战战兢兢地将钥匙和鸡蛋递了过去，巫师从她那副表情和鸡蛋上的红点马上就知道她进过那间血腥的房间。「既然你违背了我的意愿进了那间屋子，现在我就要你违背自己的意愿再回到那里去，你死定了。」巫师说着就拽着姑娘的头发，一路拖着进了那间屠宰房，把她的头摁在砧板上砍了，把她的四肢也砍了，让血满地流淌，接着就把屍体扔进盆里和其他屍体放在一块儿。

　　「现在我该去把二姑娘弄来了。」巫师自言自语地说。他又装扮成可怜的乞丐，来到那家人家乞讨。这次是二姑娘拿了一块麵包给他，他只碰了姑娘一下就像抓大姑娘一样把她给抓住了。二姑娘的结局也不比大姑娘好，她也在好奇心的驱使下打开了屠宰室的门，看到了一切；然后在巫师回来时被同样杀害了。巫师又去抓第三个姑娘，她可比姐姐们聪明、狡猾多了。当巫师将钥匙和鸡蛋交给她，然后出门旅行时，她先是小心翼翼地把鸡蛋放稳妥，然后才开始检查各个房间，最后来到那间禁室。天哪！她都看到些甚么了？她的两位好姐姐双双躺在盆里，被残酷地谋杀了、肢解了。她开始将她们的肢体按顺序摆好：头、身体、胳膊和腿。甚么都不缺时，那些肢体开始移动，合到一起，两位姑娘睁开了眼睛，又活过来了。她们兴高采烈地互相亲吻、互相安慰。

　　巫师回来第一件事照例是要钥匙和鸡蛋。他左瞧右看找不出上面有血痕，於是说：「你经受了考验，你将是我的新娘。」这样一来，他不仅对姑娘没有任何魔力，而且不得不按照姑娘的吩咐去行事。「哦，真是太好了！」姑娘说，「你先得亲自扛一篮子金子去送给我父母，我则在家准备婚事。」说着就跑到姐姐们藏身的小房间，对她们说：「现在我可以救你们了，这坏蛋会亲自背你们回家。你们一到家就要找人来帮我。」她将两个姐姐放进篮子，上面盖上厚厚一层金子。然后对巫师说：「把篮子扛去吧。不过我会从小窗口看你一路是不是站下来偷懒。」

　　巫师扛起篮子就走，可篮子重得压弯了他的腰，汗水顺着面颊直往下淌。他刚想坐下来歇一歇，篮子里就有个姑娘在喊：「我从小窗口看到你在歇息了，马上起身走。」巫师以为是新娘子在说话，只好起身接着走。走了一会儿，他又想停下来歇息，立刻听到有人说：「我从小窗口看着你呢。你又停下来休息了，你就不能一直走回去吗？」每当他站在那里不动时，这个声音就会又喊起来，他又不得不继续前进，最后终於扛着两个姑娘和一大堆金子气喘嘘嘘地来到姑娘父母家中。

　　再说三姑娘在巫师家里一边准备婚宴一边给巫师的朋友们发请贴。她准备了一个咧嘴露牙的骷髅，给它戴上花环，装饰了一下，然后将它放到阁楼上的小窗口前，让它从那里往外看着。等这些事情都做完了，姑娘跳进一桶蜂蜜，然后把羽毛床划开，自己在上面滚，直到浑身都粘满了毛，人像只奇异的鸟，谁都认不出她了为止。她走到外面，一路上都碰到来参加婚礼的客人。他们问她：

　　「费切尔怪鸟，你怎么到的这里？」

　　「从附近的费切尔的家走来的。」

　　「年轻的新娘在干甚么？」

　　「她把楼下楼上已打扫得整齐乾净，我想，这会儿正从窗口向外张望。」

　　最后，她碰到了正慢慢向家走的新郎。他也一样问道：

　　「费切尔怪鸟，你怎么到的这里？」

　　「从附近的费切尔家走来的。」

　　「年轻的新娘在干甚么？」

　　「她把楼下楼上已打扫得整齐乾净，我想，这会儿正从窗口向外张望。」

　　新郎抬头一望，看见了那个打扮起来的骷髅，以为那就是他的新娘，便向它点头，很亲热地和它打招呼。可当他和客人们走进屋子时，被派来救新娘的兄弟和亲戚也赶到了，他们把屋子的门全部锁上，不让一个人逃出来，然后点起火来，把巫师和他的那帮人全部烧死了。

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