The Complete Grimm's Fairy Tales (Pantheon Books) - Jacob Grimm [23]
The King reproached the countryman because of the evil speaking of which the Jew had informed him. “Ah,” said the peasant, “what a Jew says is always false—no true word ever comes out of his mouth! That rascal there is capable of maintaining that I have his coat on.”
“What is that?” shrieked the Jew. “Is the coat not mine? Have I not lent it to you out of pure friendship, in order that you might appear before the lord King?” When the King heard that, he said: “The Jew has assuredly deceived one or the other of us, either myself or the peasant,” and again he ordered something to be counted out to him in hard talers. The peasant, however, went home in the good coat, with the good money in his pocket, and said to himself: “This time I have made it!”
The Strange Musician
THERE WAS once a wonderful musician, who went quite forlorn through a forest and thought of all manner of things, and when nothing was left for him to think about, he said to himself: “Time is beginning to pass heavily with me here in the forest, I will fetch hither a good companion for myself.” Then he took his fiddle from his back, and played so that it echoed through the trees. It was not long before a wolf came trotting through the thicket towards him. “Ah, here is a wolf coming! I have no desire for him!” said the musician; but the wolf came nearer and said to him: “Ah, dear musician, how beautifully you play! I should like to learn that, too.” “It is soon learnt,” the musician replied, “you have only to do all that I bid you.” “Oh, musician,” said the wolf, “I will obey you as a scholar obeys his master.” The musician bade him follow, and when they had gone part of the way together, they came to an old oak-tree which was hollow inside, and cleft in the middle. “Look,” said the musician, “if you will learn to fiddle, put your fore paws into this crevice.” The wolf obeyed, but the musician quickly picked up a stone and with one blow wedged his two paws so fast that he was forced to stay there like a prisoner. “Wait there until I come back again,” said the musician, and went his way.
After a while he again said to himself: “Time is beginning to pass heavily with me here in the forest, I will fetch hither another companion,” and took his fiddle and again played in the forest. It was not long before a fox came creeping through the trees towards him. “Ah, there’s a fox coming!” said the musician. “I have no desire for him.” The fox came up to him and said: “Oh, dear musician, how beautifully you play! I should like to learn that, too.” “That is soon learnt,” said the musician. “You have only to do everything that I bid you.” “Oh, musician,” then said the fox, “I will obey you as a scholar obeys his master.” “Follow me,” said the musician; and when they had walked a part of the way, they came to a footpath, with high bushes on both sides of it. There the musician stood still, and from one side bent a young hazel-bush down to the ground, and put his foot on the end of it. Then he bent down a young tree from the other side as well, and said: “Now, little fox, if you will learn something, give me your left front paw.” The fox obeyed, and the musician fastened his paw to the left bough. “Little fox,” said he, “now reach me your right paw,” and he tied it to the right bough. When he had examined whether the knots were firm enough, he let go, and the bushes sprang up again, and jerked up the little fox, so that it hung struggling in