The Juniper Tree and Other Tales by The Brothers Grimm Read Free Book Online Page B

outside the gates, and many soldiers with drums and trumpets inside them. And once he was in the palace, everything was made of pure marble and gold, with velvet hangings and great golden tassels. Then the doors of the throne room opened. All the court was assembled there, and his wife sat on a tall throne made of gold and diamonds, with a great golden crown on her head, holding a sceptre made of pure gold and jewels. On both sides of her stood six maids of honour lined up in a row, each a head taller than the next.
    So he came in, and said, “Oh, wife, are you king now?”
    “Yes,” said his wife. “I’m king.”
    He stood there looking at her, and when he had gazed his fill he said, “Well, wife, I’m sure you are happy to be king, and now we’ll wish for nothing more.”
    “You’re wrong, husband,” said his wife, and she was very restless. “This isn’t good enough for me, and I can’tbear it any longer. Go to see the flounder and tell him I may be king, but I want to be emperor too.”
    “Oh, wife,” said the fisherman, “why do you want to be emperor?”
    “Husband,” said his wife, “just go to the flounder and tell him that’s what I want.”
    “But wife,” said the fisherman, “he can’t make you emperor. I don’t want to say such a thing to the flounder . There’s only one emperor in the whole empire, so the flounder can’t make you emperor, he simply cannot do it!”
    “What?” said his wife. “I’m king, and you’re my husband , so why don’t you go off at once? This minute! If he can make kings, he can make emperors. I want to be emperor, I must be emperor, so off you go!”
    The fisherman had to do as she said, but as he walked away he felt afraid, and he thought as he went along: This isn’t right, and it can’t turn out well. Wanting to be emperor is too outrageous, and the flounder will be getting tired of these wishes.
    By now he had reached the shore. The sea was black and thick, and beginning to foam up from the depths below, with bubbles rising, and such a whirlwind passed over the waves that they turned and swirled, and terror seized upon the man. So there he stood, and he said:

    “Mannie, mannie, timpty tee,
    Flounder swimming in the sea,
    My wife Mistress Ilsebill
    Wants a wish against my will.”
    “What does she want this time?” asked the flounder.
    “Oh, flounder,” said the fisherman, “my wife wants to be emperor.”
    “Go home,” said the flounder. “She’s emperor already.”
    So the man went home, and when he arrived the whole palace was made of polished marble, with alabaster statues and gold ornaments. Soldiers were marching up and down outside the entrance, blowing trumpets and beating drums. Inside, barons and counts and dukes were scurrying around as if they were mere servants, and they opened doors made of pure gold for him. When he went through the doors, he saw his wife sitting on a throne a good two miles high, made of a single piece of gold. She was wearing a great golden crown three ells high, holding her sceptre in one hand and the imperial orb in the other, and on both sides of her stood her gentlemen in waiting in two rows, each taller than the last, from the smallest dwarf to the biggest giant two miles tall. And many princes and dukes stood before her. So the fisherman went in, and he said, “Well, wife, are you emperor?”
    “Yes,” said she, “I’m emperor.”
    So he stood there looking her up and down, and after he had been looking at her like that for a while he said, “Well, I suppose that now you’re emperor you are happy.”
    “Husband,” she said, “what are you standing about for? Yes, so I’m emperor, and I want to be pope as well, so off you go to the flounder!”
    “Oh, wife,” said the fisherman, “what more can you wish for? You can’t be pope, there’s only one pope in all Christendom—the flounder can’t make you pope.”
    “Husband,” said his wife. “I want to be pope, so off you go! I must be