Grimm Fairytales

Myriadafura

Once upon a time there was a king, who had a wife with ebony hair, and she was so beautiful that her equal was not to be found anywhere on earth.

It happened that she fell ill, and when she felt that she was about to die, she called the king to her and said, "If you want to remarry after my death then do not take anyone who is not as beautiful as I am, and who does not have such ebony hair as mine. That you must promise me."

After the king had promised her this, she closed her eyes and died.

For a long time the king could not be comforted, and he did not consider taking a second wife. Finally his councilors said, "There is no other way. The king must remarry, so that we will have a queen."

Then messengers were sent out far and wide to seek a bride, who in beauty was entirely the equal of the deceased queen. However, no such bride could be found in the whole world. And even if a bride this beautiful had been found, she would not have had such ebony hair. Thus the messengers returned home without success.

Now the king had a daughter who was just as beautiful as her deceased mother, and who also had such ebony hair. After she had come of age, the king looked at her one day that she resembled his deceased wife in every way, and he suddenly felt a great love for her.

Then he said to his councilors, "I will marry my daughter, Alyssum, for she is the image of my deceased wife, and nowhere else can I find a bride who is her equal."

When the councilors heard this they were horrified and said, "God has forbidden that a father should marry his daughter. Nothing good can come from sin, and the kingdom will be pulled along into ruin."

Alyssum was even more horrified when she heard her father's decision. Hoping to dissuade him from his intentions, she said to him, "Before I fulfill your wish, I must have three dresses: one as golden as the sun, one as silver as the moon, and one that glistens like the stars. Further, I must have a cloak put together from a thousand kinds of pelts and fur. Every animal in your kingdom must contribute a piece of its skin for it."

Now she thought, "That will be entirely impossible for him to achieve, and in this way I will divert my father from his wicked thoughts."

But the king did not give in, and the most skilled maidens in his kingdom had to weave the three dresses, one as golden as the sun, one as silver as the moon, and one that glistened like the stars. And his huntsmen had to capture all the animals in his entire kingdom and take a piece of skin from each one. From these a cloak of a thousand kinds of fur was made.

Finally, when everything was finished, the king had the cloak brought to him. Spreading it out, he said, "Tomorrow is our wedding day."

When Alyssum saw that there was no more hope to change her father's mind, she made the decision to run away. During the night, while everyone was asleep, she got up and took three things from among her valuables: a sapphire ring, a little golden comb, and a little diamond bracelet. She put the three dresses from the sun, moon, and stars into a nutshell, put on the cloak of all kinds of fur, blackened her white hands and face with soot. Then surrendering herself to God, she set forth. She walked the entire night until she came to a great forest. Being tired, she sat down in a hollow tree and fell asleep.

The sun came up, and she continued to sleep, and she was still asleep by broad daylight. Now it came to pass that the prince who owned these woods was hunting in them. When his dogs approached the tree they sniffed then ran around it barking.

The prince said to the huntsmen. "See what kind of wild animal is hiding there."

The huntsmen followed his command, and when they returned they said, "A strange animal, like none we have ever seen before, is lying in the hollow tree. There are a thousand kinds of fur on its skin. It is just lying there asleep."