Fairy Tales from the Brothers Grimm: A New English Version by Philip Pullman Read Free Book Online Page A

Dauntless Girl’, a fine story from Norfolk, which does share with this one the unfortunate fate of the sexton and the ghost’s revealing of the treasure in the cellar. I think the Grimms’ version is the best of all.
    High spirits colour most of the variants of this tale; the ghosts and dead men are comic rather than terrifying. Marina Warner, in
From the Beast to the Blonde
, suggests a sexual interpretation of the bucket of minnows.

FOUR
    FAITHFUL JOHANNES
    Once upon a time there was an old king who fell ill, and as he was lying in pain he thought, ‘This bed I’m lying on will be my deathbed.’ And he said, ‘Send for Faithful Johannes – I want to speak to him.’
    Faithful Johannes was his favourite servant. He had that name because he’d been true and loyal to the king all his life long. When he came into the king’s bedroom the king beckoned him close to the bed, and said, ‘My good and faithful Johannes, I’m not long for this world. The only thing that troubles me is my son. He’s a good lad, but he’s young, and he doesn’t always know what’s best for him. I won’t be able to close my eyes in peace unless you promise to be like a foster father to him, and teach him all he ought to know.’
    Faithful Johannes said, ‘I’ll do that gladly. I won’t forsake him, and I’ll serve him faithfully even if it costs me my life.’
    ‘That’s a comfort to me,’ said the king. ‘I can die peacefully now. When I’ve gone, this is what you must do: show him over the whole castle, all the vaults, the chambers, the halls, and all the treasure they contain. But keep him away from the last room in the long gallery. There’s a portrait of the Princess of the Golden Roof in there, and if he sees that picture, he’ll fall in love with her. You’ll know if that’s happened, because he’ll fall down unconscious. And then he’ll put himself into all kinds of dangers for her sake. Keep him away from all that, Johannes: that’s the last thing I ask of you.’
    Faithful Johannes gave his promise, and the old king lay back on his pillow and died.
    After the funeral, Faithful Johannes said to the young king, ‘It’s time you saw all your possessions, your majesty. Your father asked me to show you over the castle. It belongs to you now, and you need to know about all the treasures it holds.’
    Johannes took him everywhere, upstairs and downstairs, up in the attics and way below ground in the cellars. All the magnificent rooms were open to him – all but one, that is, because Faithful Johannes kept the young king away from the last room in the long gallery, where the portrait of the Princess of the Golden Roof was hung. The picture was displayed in such a way that anyone entering the room would see it at once, and it was painted so well and so vividly that the princess seemed to live and breathe. No one could imagine anything in the world more beautiful.
    The king noticed that Faithful Johannes always ushered him past that door, or tried to distract him when they were near it, and said, ‘Come on, Johannes, I can see you’re trying to stop me going in there. Why do you never open this door?’
    ‘There’s something horrifying in there, your majesty. You don’t want to see it.’
    ‘I certainly do! I’ve seen the whole castle now, and this is the last room. I want to know what’s in it!’
    And he tried to open the door by force, but Faithful Johannes held him back. ‘I promised the king your father that I wouldn’t let you see inside this room,’ he said. ‘It will bring nothing but bad luck for both of us.’
    ‘Well, you’re wrong about that,’ said the young king. ‘I’m so curious to see what’s inside, it’ll be bad luck if I can’t. I shall have no peace, day or night, till I know what’s in there. Johannes, open the door!’
    Faithful Johannes saw that he had no choice. With a heavy heart and sighing deeply, he took the key from the ring and opened the door. He went in first,