But all this was of no avail, and he thought to himself if two lie in a bed together they warm each other; so he put the body in the bed, and covering it up laid himself down by its side. After a little while the body became warm and began to move about. “See, my cousin,” he exclaimed, “have I not warmed you?” But the body got up and exclaimed, “Now I will strangle you.” “Is that your gratitude?” cried the youth. “Then you shall get into your coffin again;” and taking it up, he threw the body in, and made the lid fast. Then the six men came in again and bore it away. “Oh, deary me,” said he, “I shall never be able to shiver if I stop here all my lifetime!” At these words in came a man who was taller than all the others, and looked more horrible; but he was very old and had a long white beard. “Oh, you wretch,” he exclaimed, “now thou shalt learn what shivering means, for thou shalt die!”

“Not so quick,” answered the youth; “if I die I must be brought to it first.”

“I will quickly seize you,” replied the ugly one.

“Softly, softly; be not too sure. I am as strong as you, and perhaps stronger.”

“That we will see,” said the ugly man. “If you are stronger than I, I will let you go; come, let us try!” and he led him away through a dark passage to a smith’s forge. Then taking up an axe he cut through the anvil at one blow down to the ground. “I can do that still better,” said the youth, and went to another anvil, while the old man followed him and watched him with his long beard hanging down. Then the youth took up an axe, and, splitting the anvil in one blow, wedged the old man’s beard in it. “Now I have you; now death comes upon you!” and, taking up an iron bar, he beat the old man until he groaned, and begged him to stop and he would give him great riches. So the youth drew out the axe, and let him loose. Then the old man, leading him back into the castle, showed him three chests full of gold in a cellar. “One share of this,” said he, “belongs to the poor, another to the King, and the third to yourself.” And just then it struck twelve and the old man vanished, leaving the youth in the dark. “I must help myself out here,” said he, and groping round he found his way back to his room and went to sleep by the fire.

The next morning the King came and inquired, “Now have you learnt to shiver?” “No,” replied the youth; “what is it? My dead cousin came here, and a bearded man, who showed me a lot of gold down below; but what shivering means no one has showed me!” Then the King said, “You have won the castle, and shall marry my daughter.”

“This is all very fine,” replied the youth, “but still I don’t know what shivering means.”

So the gold was fetched, and the wedding was celebrated, but the young Prince (for the youth was a Prince now), notwithstanding his love for his bride, and his great contentment, was still continually crying, “If I could but shiver! if I could but shiver!” At last it fell out in this wise: one of the chambermaids said to the Princess, “Let me bring in my aid to teach him what shivering is.” So she went to the brook which flowed through the garden, and drew up a pail of water full of little fish; and, at night, when the young Prince was asleep, his bride drew away the covering and poured the pail of cold water and the little fish over him, so that they slipped all about him. Then the Prince woke up directly, calling out, “Oh! that makes me shiver! dear wife, that makes me shiver! Yes now I know what shivering means!”

The Wolf and the Seven Little Goats

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Once upon a time there lived an old Goat who had seven young ones, whom she loved as every mother loves her children. One day she wanted to go into the forest to fetch some food, so, calling her seven young ones together, she said, “Dear children, I am going away into the wood; be on your guard against the Wolf, for if he comes here, he will eat you all up—skin, hair, and all. He often disguises himself, but you may know him by his rough voice and his black feet.” The little Goats replied “Dear mother, we will pay great attention to what you say; you may go away without any anxiety.” So the old one bleated and ran off, quite contented upon her road.

Not long afterwards, somebody knocked at the hut-door and called out, “Open, my dear children; your mother is here and has brought you each something. But the little Goats perceived from the rough voice that it was a Wolf, and so they said, “We will not undo the door; you are not our mother; she has a gentle and loving voice; but yours is gruff; you are a Wolf.” So the Wolf went to a shop and bought a great piece of chalk, which he ate, and by that means rendered his voice more gentle. Then he came back, knocked at the hut-door, and called out, “Open, my dear children; your mother has come home, and has brought you each something.” But the Wolf had placed his black paws upon the window-sill, so the Goats saw them, and replied, “No, we will not open the door; our mother has not black feet; you are a Wolf.” So the Wolf went to a baker and said, “I have hurt my foot, put some dough on it.” And when the baker had done so, he ran to the miller, saying, “Strew some white flour upon my feet.” But the miller, thinking he was going to deceive somebody, hesitated, till the Wolf said, “If you do not do it at once, I will eat you.” This made the miller afraid, so he powdered his feet with flour. Such are men.

Now, the villain went for the third time to the hut, and knocking at the door, called out, “Open to me, my children; your dear mother is come, and has brought with her something for each of you out of the forest.” The little Goats exclaimed, “Show us first your feet, that we may see whether you are our mother.” So the Wolf put his feet up on the window-sill, and when they saw that they were white, they thought it was all right, and undid the door. But who should come in? The Wolf. They were terribly frightened, and tried to hide themselves. One ran under the table, the second got into the bed, the third into the cupboard, the fourth into the kitchen, the fifth into the oven, the sixth into the wash-tub, and the seventh into the clock-case. But the Wolf found them all out, and did not delay, but swallowed them all up one after another: only the youngest one, hid in the clock-case, he did not discover. When the Wolf had satisfied his appetite, he dragged himself out, and, lying down upon the green meadow under a tree, went fast asleep.

Soon after the old Goat came home out of the forest. Ah, what a sight she saw! The hut-door stood wide open; the table, stools, and benches were overturned; the wash-tub was broken to pieces, and the sheets and pillows pulled off the bed. She sought her children, but could find them nowhere.