Fitcher’s Bird ~fairy tales by Grimm brothers Once upon a time there was a sorcerer who was a thief, and he used to go begging from house to house in the guise of a beggar. One fine day, a maiden opened the door and gave him a piece of bread. He only had to touch her to force her to jump into his basket. Then he carried her off to his house, where everything was splendid inside, and he gave her whatever she desired. Some time later he told her,“I have some business to attend outside the house.So I must take a trip. Here is an egg. Take good care of it and carry it with you wherever you go. I’m also giving you a key, and if you value your life, don’t go into the room that it opens.” Nevertheless, when he was gone, she went and opened this room, and as she entered it, she saw a large basin in the middle with dead and butchered people lying in it. She was so tremendously horrified that the egg she was carrying plopped into the basin. To be sure she quickly took it out and wiped the blood off, but the blood reappeared instantly. She wiped and scraped, but she couldn’t get rid of the stain. When the man returned from his journey, he demanded the key and the egg. He looked at both of them, and he realised right away that she had been in the bloody chamber. “Didn’t you pay attention to my instructions?” he said angrily. “Now you’ll go back into the bloody chamber against your will.” Upon saying this, he grabbed her, led her to the chamber, chopped her into pieces, and tossed her into the basin with others. After some time had passed, the man went begging again and captured the second daughter. He took her from the house, and the same thing happened to her. She opened the forbidden door, let the egg fall into the blood, and was chopped to pieces and thrown into the basin. Now the sorcerer wanted to have the third daughter as well. So he captured her and put her into his basket. After he returned home, he gave her the key and the egg before he set out on his journey. However, the third daughter was smart and cunning. She put the egg into a cupboard and then went into the secret chamber. When she found her sisters in the bloody basin, she looked all over the place for their missing parts and put them all together— head, body, arms, and legs. So the two sisters came back to life. Then their sister led them out of the chamber and hid them. When the man came home and didn’t find any blood stains on the egg, he asked the third sister to become his bride. She said yes, but she told him that before she’d marry him, he had to fill his basket full of gold and carry it to her parents on his back. In the meantime she would make preparations for the wedding. Instead, she stuck her sisters into the basket, covered them with gold, and told them that they were to get help from home. “Now carry this basket to my parents,” she said to the man, “but don’t dare to stop and rest along the way. I can see everything from my window.” So the man lifted the basket onto his back and went on his way. It was, however, so heavy that he was almost crushed to death by the weight. At one point he wanted to rest, but one of the sisters immediately cried out from the basket: “I see from my window that you’re resting! Get a move on at once!” He thought that it was his bride who was crying out, and so he immediately continued walking. Whenever he stopped along the way, he heard a voice and had to keep moving. Back at his place, the bride took a skull, decorated it with jewels and set it on the window case. Then, she invited the sorcerer’s friends to the wedding, and after that was done, she dipped herself into a barrel of honey, cut open a bed, and rolled around in the feathers so that it was impossible to recognise her because she looked so strange. And this is how she set out on her way. Soon she met some of the wedding guests, who asked: “Where are you coming from, oh, Fitcher’s bird?” “From Fitze Fitcher’s house, haven’t you heard?” “And what may the young bride be doing there?” “She’s swept the whole house from top to bottom. Just now she’s looking straight out of the window.” Soon thereafter she met the bridegroom, who was on his return home: “Where are you coming from, oh, Fitcher’s bird?” “From Fitze Fitcher’s house, haven’t you heard?” “And what may the young bride be doing there?” “She’s swept the whole house from top to bottom. Just now she’s looking straight out of the window.” The bridegroom looked and saw the decorated skull. He thought it was his bride and waved to her. However, once he and his guests were all gathered inside the house, the helpers who were sent by the sisters finally arrived. These people locked all the doors of the house and then they set fire to it. And since nobody could get out, they were all burned to death.