The Complete Grimm's Fairy Tales (Pantheon Books) - Jacob Grimm [264]
Next day the mother said to Three-eyes: “This time you shall go and observe if Two-eyes eats anything when she is out, and if anyone fetches her food and drink, for she must eat and drink in secret.” So Three-eyes went to Two-eyes, and said: “I will go with you and see if the goat is taken proper care of, and driven where there is food.” But Two-eyes knew what was in Three-eyes’ mind, and drove the goat into high grass and said: “We will sit down, and I will sing something to you, Three-eyes.” Three-eyes sat down and was tired with the walk and with the heat of the sun, and Two-eyes began the same song as before, and sang:
“Three-eyes, are you waking?”
but then, instead of singing:
“Three-eyes, are you sleeping?”
as she ought to have done, she thoughtlessly sang:
“Two-eyes, are you sleeping?”
and sang all the time:
“Three-eyes, are you waking?
Two-eyes, are you sleeping?”
Then two of the eyes which Three-eyes had, shut and fell asleep, but the third, as it had not been named in the song, did not sleep. It is true that Three-eyes shut it, but only in her cunning, to pretend it was asleep too, but it blinked, and could see everything very well. And when Two-eyes thought that Three-eyes was fast asleep, she used her little charm:
“Bleat, my little goat, bleat,
Cover the table with something to eat,”
and ate and drank as much as her heart desired, and then ordered the table to go away again,
“Bleat, bleat, my little goat, I pray,
And take the table quite away,”
and Three-eyes had seen everything. Then Two-eyes came to her, waked her and said: “Have you been asleep, Three-eyes? You keep watch very well! Come, we will go home.” And when they got home, Two-eyes again did not eat, and Three-eyes said to the mother: “Now, I know why that haughty thing there does not eat. When she is out, she says to the goat:
‘Bleat, my little goat, bleat,
Cover the table with something to eat,’
and then a little table appears before her covered with the best of food, much better than any we have here, and when she has eaten all she wants, she says:
‘Bleat, bleat, my little goat, I pray,
And take the table quite away,’
and all disappears. I watched everything closely. She put two of my eyes to sleep by means of a charm, but luckily the one in my forehead kept awake.” Then the envious mother cried: “Do you want to fare better than we do? The desire shall pass from you,” and she fetched a butcher’s knife, and thrust it into the heart of the goat, which fell down dead.
When Two-eyes saw that, she went out full of sadness, seated herself on the ridge of grass at the edge of the field, and wept bitter tears. Suddenly the wise woman once more stood by her side, and said: “Two-eyes, why are you weeping?” “Have I not reason to weep?” she answered. “The goat which covered the table for me every day when I spoke your charm, has been killed by my mother, and now I shall again have to bear hunger and want.” The wise woman said: “Two-eyes, I will give you a piece of good advice; ask your sisters to give you the entrails of the slaughtered goat, and bury them in the ground in front of the house, and your fortune will be made.” Then she vanished, and Two-eyes went home and said to her sisters: “Dear sisters, do give me some part of my goat; I don’t wish for what is good, but give me the entrails.” Then they laughed and said: “If that’s all you want, you can have it.” So Two-eyes took the entrails and buried them quietly in the evening, in front of the house-door, as the wise woman had counseled her to do.
Next morning, when they all awoke, and went to the house-door, there stood a strangely magnificent tree with leaves of silver, and fruit of gold hanging among them, so that in all the wide world there was nothing more beautiful or precious. They did not know how the tree could have come there during the night, but Two-eyes saw that it had