The Glass Coffin
Let no one ever say that a poor tailor cannot do great things and
win high honors. All that is needed is that he should go to the right smithy, and what is
of most consequence, that he should have good luck. A civil, smart tailor's apprentice
once went out traveling, and came into a great forest, and, as he did not know the way, he
lost himself. Night fell and nothing was left for him to do in this painful solitude, but
to seek a bed. He might certainly have found a good bed on the soft moss, but the fear of
wild beasts let him have no rest there, and at last he made up his mind to spend the night
in a tree. He sought out a high oak, climbed up to the top of it, and thanked God that he
had his goose with him, for otherwise the wind which blew over the top of the tree would
have carried him away. After he had spent some hours in the darkness, not without fear and
trembling, he saw at a very short distance the glimmer of a light, and as he thought that
a human habitation might be there, where he would be better off than on the branches of a
tree, he got carefully down and went towards the light. It guided him to a small hut that
was woven together of reeds and rushes. He knocked boldly, the door opened, and by the
light which came forth he saw a little hoary old man who wore a coat made of bits of
colored stuff sewn together. Who are you, and what do you want, asked the man in a
grumbling voice. I am a poor tailor, he answered, whom night has surprised here in the
wilderness, and I earnestly beg you to take me into your hut until morning. Go your way,
replied the old man in a surly voice, I will have nothing to do with tramps, seek for
yourself a shelter elsewhere. Having said this, he was about to slip into his hut again,
but the tailor held him so tightly by the corner of his coat, and pleaded so piteously,
that the old man, who was not so ill-natured as he wished to appear, was at last softened,
and took him into the hut with him where he gave him something to eat, and then offered
him a very good bed in a corner. The weary tailor needed no rocking, but slept sweetly
till morning, but even then would not have thought of getting up, if he had not been
aroused by a great noise. A violent sound of screaming and roaring forced its way through
the thin walls of the hut. The tailor, full of unwonted courage, jumped up, put his
clothes on in haste, and hurried out. Then close by the hut, he saw a great black bull and
a beautiful stag, which were just preparing for a violent struggle. They rushed at each
other with such extreme rage that the ground shook with their trampling, and the air
resounded with their cries. For a long time it was uncertain which of the two would gain
the victory, at length the stag thrust his horns into his adversary's body, whereupon the
bull fell to the earth with a terrific roar, and was finished off by a few strokes from
the stag. The tailor, who had watched the fight with astonishment, was still standing
there motionless, when the stag in full career bounded up to him, and before he could
escape, caught him up on his great horns. He had not much time to collect his thoughts,
for it went in a swift race over stock and stone, mountain and valley, wood and meadow. He
held with both hands to the ends of the horns, and resigned himself to his fate. It seemed
to him just as if he were flying away. At length the stag stopped in front of a wall of
rock, and gently let the tailor down. The tailor, more dead than alive, required some time
to come to himself. When he had in some degree recovered, the stag, which had remained
standing by him, pushed its horns with such force against a door in the rock, that it
sprang open. Flames of fire shot forth, after which followed a great smoke, which hid the
stag from his sight. The tailor did not know what to do, or whither to turn, in order to
get out of this desert and back to human beings again. Whilst he was standing thus
undecided, a voice sounded out of the rock, which cried to him, enter without fear, no
evil shall befall you. He hesitated, but driven by a mysterious force, he obeyed the voice
and went through the iron-door into a large spacious hall, whose ceiling, walls and floor
were made of shining polished square stones, on each of which were carved signs which were
unknown to him. He looked at everything full of admiration, and was on the point of going
out again, when he once more heard the voice which said to him, step on the stone which
lies in the middle of the hall, and great good fortune awaits you. His courage had already
grown so great that he obeyed the order. The stone began to give way under his feet, and
sank slowly down into the depths. When it was once more firm, and the tailor looked round,
he found himself in a hall which in size resembled the former. Here, however, there was
more to look at and to admire. Hollow places were cut in the walls, in which stood vases
of transparent glass and filled with colored spirit or with a bluish vapor. On the floor
of the hall two great glass chests stood opposite to each other, which at once excited his
curiosity. When he went to one of them he saw inside it a handsome structure like a castle
surrounded by farm-buildings, stables and barns, and a quantity of other good things.
Everything was small, but exceedingly carefully and delicately made, and seemed to be
carved out by a dexterous hand with the greatest precision. He might not have turned away
his eyes from the consideration of this rarity for some time, had not the voice once more
made itself heard. It ordered him to turn round and look at the glass chest which was
standing opposite. How his admiration increased when he saw therein a maiden of the
greatest beauty. She lay as if asleep, and was wrapped in her long fair hair as in a
precious mantle. Her eyes were closely shut, but the brightness of her complexion and a
ribbon which her breathing moved to and fro, left no doubt that she was alive. The tailor
was looking at the beauty with beating heart, when she suddenly opened her eyes, and
started up at the sight of him with a shock of joy. Divine providence, cried she, my
deliverance is at hand. Quick, quick, help me out of my prison. If you push back the bolt
of this glass coffin, then I shall be free. The tailor obeyed without delay, and she
immediately raised up the glass lid, came out and hastened into the corner of the hall,
where she covered herself with a large cloak. Then she seated herself on a stone, ordered
the young man to come to her, and after she had imprinted a friendly kiss on his lips, she
said, my long-desired deliverer, kind heaven has guided you to me, and put an end to my
sorrows. On the self-same day when they end, shall your happiness begin. You are the
husband chosen for me by heaven, and shall pass your life in unbroken joy, loved by me,
and rich to overflowing in every earthly possession. Seat yourself, and listen to the
story of my life. I am the daughter of a rich count. My parents died when I was still in
my tender youth, and recommended me in their last will to my elder brother, by whom I was
brought up. We loved each other so tenderly, and were so alike in our way of thinking and
our inclinations, that we both embraced the resolution never to marry, but to stay
together to the end of our lives. In our house there was no lack of company. Neighbors and
friends visited us often, and we showed the greatest hospitality to every one. So it came
to pass one evening that a stranger came riding to our castle, and, under pretext of not
being able to get on to the next place, begged for shelter for the night. We granted his
request with ready courtesy, and he entertained us in the most agreeable manner during
supper by conversation intermingled with stories. My brother liked the stranger so much
that he begged him to spend a couple of days with us, to which, after some hesitation, he
consented. We did not rise from table until late in the night, the stranger was shown to a
room, and I hastened, as I was tired, to lay my limbs in my soft bed. Hardly had I fallen
off to sleep, when the sound of faint and delightful music awoke me. As I could not
conceive from whence it came, I wanted to summon my waiting-maid who slept in the next
room, but to my astonishment I found that speech was taken away from me by an unknown
force. I felt as if a nightmare were weighing down my breast, and was unable to make the
very slightest sound. In the meantime, by the light of my night-lamp, I saw the stranger
enter my room through two doors which were fast bolted. He came to me and said, that by
magic arts which were at his command, he had caused the lovely music to sound in order to
awaken me, and that he now forced his way through all fastenings with the intention of
offering his hand and heart. My dislike of his magic arts was so great, however, that I
refused to answer him. He remained for a time standing without moving, apparently with the
idea of waiting for a favorable decision, but as I continued to keep silence, he angrily
declared he would revenge himself and find means to punish my pride, and left the room. I
passed the night in the greatest disquietude, and fell asleep only towards morning. When I
awoke, I hurried to my brother, but did not find him in his room, and the attendants told
me that he had ridden forth with the stranger to the chase at daybreak.
I at once suspected nothing good. I dressed myself quickly, ordered
my palfrey to be saddled, and accompanied only by one servant, rode full gallop to the
forest. The servant fell with his horse, and could not follow me, for the horse had broken
its foot. I pursued my way without halting, and in a few minutes I saw the stranger coming
towards me with a beautiful stag which he led by a cord. I asked him where he had left my
brother, and how he had come by this stag, out of whose great eyes I saw tears flowing.
Instead of answering me, he began to laugh loudly. I fell into a great rage at this,
pulled out a pistol and discharged it at the monster, but the ball rebounded from his
breast and went into my horse's head. I fell to the ground, and the stranger muttered some
words which deprived me of consciousness. When I came to my senses again I found myself in
this underground cave in a glass coffin. The magician appeared once again, and said he had
changed my brother into a stag, my castle with all that belonged to it, diminished in size
by his arts, he had shut up in the other glass chest, and my people, who were all turned
into smoke, he had confined in glass bottles. He told me that if I would now comply with
his wish, it would be an easy thing for him to put everything back in its former state, as
he had nothing to do but open the vessels, and everything would return once more to its
natural form. I answered him as little as I had done the first time. He vanished and left
me in my prison, in which a deep sleep came on me. Among the visions which passed before
my eyes, the most comforting was that in which a young man came and set me free, and when
I opened my eyes to-day I saw you, and beheld my dream fulfilled. Help me to accomplish
the other things which happened in those visions. The first is that we lift the glass
chest in which my castle is enclosed, on to that broad stone. As soon as the stone was
laden, it began to rise up on high with the maiden and the young man, and mounted through
the opening of the ceiling into the upper hall, from whence they then could easily reach
the open air. Here the maiden opened the lid, and it was marvellous to behold how the
castle, the houses, and the farm buildings which were enclosed, stretched themselves out
and grew to their natural size with the greatest rapidity. After this, the maiden and the
tailor returned to the cave beneath the earth, and had the vessels which were filled with
smoke carried up by the stone. The maiden had scarcely opened the bottles when the blue
smoke rushed out and changed itself into living men, in whom she recognized her servants
and her people. Her joy was still more increased when her brother, who had killed the
magician in the form of the bull, came out of the forest towards them in his human form,
and on the self-same day the maiden, in accordance with her promise, gave her hand at the
altar to the lucky tailor.
--The End-- |
