Another Grimm Brothers Fairy Tale.

okok, look, this blog's life is snuffing out liao, here are the plans for it:
24-26 may, grimm brothers stories
27-30 may, four part story on a certain ruler
31 may, farewell story abt letting go.

so i'll get on with it......this one's a little long...hope u don't mind reading...

The Robber Bridegroom.

Once upon a time there lived a miller who had a beautiful daughter. He wanted to be sure that she was provided for and that she married well when she had grown up. He thought, “When the right man comes along and asks for her hand, I shall give her to him.”

Before long a young suitor came and seemed to be rich, and there seemed nothing wrong with him, so the miller promised him his daughter. But the girl didn’t care, and did not trust the man at all. Whenever she set her eyes on him, she was filled with dread.

One day he said to her, “You’re engaged to me, yet you’ve never visited me.”

The girl replied, “I don’t even know where you live.”

The bridegroom told her, “My house lies deep in the forest. Next Sunday you have to come over to my place. I’ve already invited the guests, and I’ll strew ashes on the path so that you can find your way through the woods.”

When Sunday arrived and the girl was supposed to leave, she became dreadfully frightened, without knowing exactly why, and she filled both her pockets with peas and lentils to mark the way. She entered the woods, where she found the trail of ashes, and she followed it carefully, but every step of the way she threw some peas on the ground, first to the right, then to the left. She walked almost all day long until she got to the middle of the forest, where it was really gloomy. There she saw a house standing all by itself, and she didn’t like the look of it because it seemed dark and spooky. There was not a soul in sight. Suddenly a voice from a birdcage on the wall said:

“Turn back, turn back, my pretty young bride,
In a house of murderers you’ve arrived.”

She walked all around the house, going from one room to the next, but it was completely empty. No one was around. Finally she went down to the cellar, where she found a woman as old as the hills.

“Can you tell me if my betrothed lives here?” the girl asked.

“Oh you poor child!” said the old woman. “How did you get here? This is a den of murderers. You think you’re a bride about to be married, but the only wedding you’ll celebrate is one with death. Look over here! I had to heat up this big pot of water for them. When you get into their hands, they’ll show no mercy and will chop you into pieces, cook you and eat you, for they’re cannibals. You’re lost unless I try to save you.”

The old woman hid her behind a big barrel, where no one could see her. “Be still as a mouse,” she said. “Don’t you dare move, or that’ll be the end of you. At night, when the robbers are asleep, we’ll escape. I’ve been waiting a long time for this moment.”

No sooner had she spoken those words than the wicked crew returned home, dragging another girl behind the. The men were drunk, and they felt no pity when they heard her screams and sobs. They forced her to drink three glasses of wine, one white, one red, one yellow, and the girl’s heart burst into two. The robbers tore off her fine clothes, chopped her body into pieces, and sprinkled it with salt.

The poor girl was trembling in fear in her hiding place behind the barrel. One of them caught sight of the golden ring on the finger of the murdered girl, and when he couldn’t pull it off right away, he took an axe and chopped the finger off. The finger went flying through the air and landed right in the girl’s lap. The robber took a candle and wanted to search for it, but couldn’t find it. One of the other robbers asked, “Have you looked over there behind that big barrel?” Just then the old woman called out, “Come and eat! You can search again tomorrow. That finger isn’t going to run away.”

“The old woman’s right,” the robbers said, and they stopped searching and sat down to eat. The old woman put a few drops of sleeping potion into their wine. Before long, they had retired to the cellar and were snoring away in their sleep.

When the bride heard the snores, she came out and crawled over the sleeping bodies. She was terrified that she might wake one of them up, but God guided her footsteps. The old woman went up the stairs with her, opened the door, and ran as fast as they could. The wind had scattered the ash path, but the peas and lentils had sprouted and showed the way in the moonlight. The two walked all night long. In the morning they reached the mill, and the girl told the father all that had happened.

When the day of the wedding celebration came, the groom appeared, as did all the friends and relatives invited by the miller. At dinner, everyone was asked to tell a story. The bride sat quietly and didn’t utter a word. Finally the bridegroom said to his bride, “Don’t you have anything to say? You have to tell us something.”

“Very well,” she replied. “I will tell you about a dream I had. I was walking alone in the woods and came across a house, and on the wall was a bird in a cage, singing:

“Turn back, turn back, my pretty young bride,
In a house of murderers you’ve arrived.”

My dear, I must have been dreaming all this. I walked from one room to the next, and it was so spooky. Then I went down to the cellar, and there was an old woman. I asked her, “Does my betrothed live here?’ She replied, “Oh you poor child, your betrothed lives here, but he is planning to chop you up and eat you.” My dear, I must have been dreaming all this. The old woman hid me behind a big barrel, and the robbers came home, dragging a maiden along. Her heart burst into two after drinking three glasses of wine, and they tore off her clothes, chopped her, sprinkled salt and ate her. My dear, I must have been really dreaming. One of the robbers chopped off a finger of the lady’s, and it flew high up in the air and landed in my lap. And here is the finger with the ring still on it.”

With these words, she pulled the finger out and showed it to everybody.

The robber turned white as a ghost while she was telling the story. He jumped and tried to escape, but the guests seized him and turned him over to the law. He and his band were executed for their dreadful deeds.