hen he
led him through some dark passages to a forge, and grasping an axe he
drove one of the anvils with a blow into the earth. "I can do better
than that," cried the youth, and went to the other anvil. The old man
drew near him in order to watch closely, and his white beard hung right
down. The youth seized the axe, cleft the anvil open, and jammed in the
old man's beard. "Now I have you," said the youth; "this time it's your
turn to die." Then he seized an iron rod and belabored the old man till
he, whimpering, begged him to leave off, and he would give him great
riches. The youth drew out the axe and let him go. The old man led him
back to the castle and showed him in a cellar three chests of gold. "One
of these," said he, "belongs to the poor, one to the King, and the
third is yours." At that moment twelve struck, and the spirit vanished,
leaving the youth alone in the dark. "I'll surely be able to find a way
out," said he, and groping about he at length found his way back to the
room, and fell asleep at his fire. The next morning the King came, and
said: "Well, now you've surely learned to shudder?" "No," he answered;
"what can it be? My dead cousin was here, and an old bearded man came,
who showed me heaps of money down below there, but what shuddering is no
one has told me." Then the King spoke: "You have freed the castle from
its curse, and you shall marry my daughter." "That's all charming," he
said; "but I still don't know what it is to shudder."

Then the gold was brought up, and the wedding was celebrated, but the
young King, though he loved his wife dearly, and though he was very
happy, still kept on saying: "If I could only shudder! if I could only
shudder!" At last he reduced her to despair. Then her maid said: "I'll
help you; we'll soon make him shudder." So she went out to the stream
that flowed through the garden, and had a pail full of little gudgeons
brought to her. At night, when the young King was asleep, his wife had
to pull the clothes off him, and pour the pail full of little gudgeons
over him, so that the little fish swam all about him. Then he awoke and
cried out: "Oh! how I shudder, how I shudder, dear wife! Yes, now I know
what shuddering is."(1)

(1) Grimm.

RUMPELSTILTZKIN

There was once upon a time a poor miller who had a very beautiful
daughter. Now it happened one day that he had an audience with the King,
and in order to appear a person of some importance he told him th