The Goose-Girl

In a kingdom far away, there lived a widowed queen who had a daughter as beautiful as the morning star and as gentle as a summer breeze. The time had come for the princess to marry, and she was betrothed to a prince in a distant land. This is the tale of her journey, filled with betrayal and loyalty, deception and truth, and the magical bond between a princess and her faithful horse.

The Journey Begins

The queen prepared magnificently for her daughter’s journey to her new home. She gathered treasures beyond counting: chests filled with gold and silver, precious gems, and fine garments befitting a royal bride. But most precious of all were three special gifts.

First, the queen gave her daughter a magical horse named Falada, whose mane shone like spun gold and whose eyes held the wisdom of ages. This remarkable horse could speak with human voice and possessed the power to see truth from falsehood.

Second, she provided a faithful chambermaid to serve as companion on the long journey.

Third, and most importantly, the queen pricked her own finger and let three drops of her blood fall onto a white handkerchief. “Keep this close to your heart, my child,” the queen said solemnly. “These drops of my blood will protect you from harm as long as you possess them.”

The Treacherous Servant

The princess carefully tucked the precious handkerchief into her bodice, kissed her mother farewell, and set off on her journey. She rode upon faithful Falada, while the chambermaid followed on another horse, leading a procession of servants carrying the wedding treasures.

For the first part of their journey, all went well. The chambermaid seemed dutiful and respectful, attending to the princess’s needs with apparent devotion. But as they traveled farther from the queen’s protective influence, something dark began to stir in the servant’s heart.

The chambermaid had always envied the princess’s beauty, wealth, and noble birth. Day by day, as they rode through wild countryside far from any help, this envy grew into a terrible, consuming jealousy.

The Moment of Betrayal

When they stopped by a stream to rest and drink, the princess asked her servant to fetch water in a golden cup for her to drink. But the chambermaid’s false nature finally revealed itself.

“Get your own water!” the servant snapped rudely. “I am no longer your servant to command!”

Shocked by this sudden change, the princess dismounted and knelt by the stream to drink with her own hands. As she bent over the water, the precious handkerchief containing her mother’s blood slipped from her bodice and was swept away by the current.

The moment the handkerchief disappeared into the flowing water, the princess lost her mother’s magical protection. The chambermaid, seeing this, knew her moment had come.

“Now you shall give me your royal clothes, your crown, and your horse!” the wicked servant demanded, drawing a dagger. “And you shall swear by the sky above never to tell another soul what has happened here, or I shall kill you where you stand!”

The Stolen Identity

Trembling with fear and having no choice, the princess removed her beautiful royal garments and donned the servant’s plain dress. The chambermaid dressed herself in the princess’s finery, placed the golden crown upon her own head, and prepared to mount Falada.

But the magical horse would have none of it. Falada reared and stamped, refusing to let the false princess mount.

“You wicked beast!” the chambermaid snarled. “You shall regret your defiance!”

She forced the true princess to walk beside her horse while she rode Falada, though the noble animal continued to show its displeasure with every step.

Falada’s Wisdom

As they continued their journey, Falada spoke softly to his true mistress: “Alas, Princess, if your dear mother knew of this treachery, her heart would break in two.”

The false princess heard these words and grew terrified that the talking horse would expose her deception. She made a dark plan, knowing that when they reached the prince’s kingdom, Falada must be silenced forever.

When they finally arrived at the royal palace, the prince came out to greet his bride. Seeing the chambermaid dressed in royal finery, he welcomed her warmly, while the true princess was sent to work in the kitchens as a mere servant.

The Horse’s Fate

The first thing the false princess did was to order that Falada be killed, claiming the horse had grown wild and dangerous during the journey. The true princess, heartsick at losing her last friend and protector, begged the palace knacker to do her one small favor.

“Please,” she whispered, tears streaming down her face, “when you have done the terrible deed, nail Falada’s head above the gate where I pass each morning with the geese. I ask nothing else.”

The knacker, moved by her genuine grief, agreed to this strange request.

The Goose-Girl’s Life

The prince’s father, seeing that the princess seemed to have brought along a particularly lovely servant, put the young woman to work tending the royal geese alongside a boy named Conrad. Each morning, she would drive the geese to pasture, passing beneath the gate where Falada’s head was nailed.

Every day, as she passed beneath her faithful friend, she would speak to him:

“Alas, Falada, hanging there so high, If your master saw you, she would cry.”

And the horse’s head would answer her:

“Alas, young Queen, passing by so sad, If your mother knew, her heart would be mad.”

Conrad, the goose-boy, was mystified by these daily conversations but said nothing.

The Golden Hair

As the days passed, Conrad became increasingly frustrated with his beautiful companion. Each morning, when they reached the meadow where the geese grazed, the girl would sit beneath a tree and let down her long, golden hair to comb it in the sunlight.

The hair was so beautiful that it seemed to capture and hold the very rays of the sun. Conrad, enchanted by its beauty, would try to pull out a few strands for himself. But each time he approached, the girl would sing a magical song:

“Blow, wind, blow through Conrad’s hair, Blow his little cap away, Let him chase it here and there, While I bind my hair so fair, And comb it smooth without a care.”

Immediately, a strong wind would rise and blow Conrad’s cap far across the meadow, forcing him to chase after it while she quickly braided her hair and covered it with her kerchief.

The King’s Curiosity

This strange behavior continued for many days until Conrad, tired of chasing his cap every morning, complained to the old king about his peculiar companion.

“Your Majesty,” Conrad said, “the goose-girl is very odd indeed. Each morning she speaks to the dead horse’s head above the gate as if it were alive, and each day when I try to admire her beautiful hair, the wind suddenly rises and blows my cap away.”

The old king’s interest was piqued by this tale. The next morning, he secretly followed the goose-girl and witnessed everything Conrad had described. He heard her sorrowful conversation with Falada’s head and saw the magical wind that protected her hair.

Intrigued by these mysteries, the king decided to question the girl directly.

The Truth Revealed

That evening, the king called the goose-girl before him. “Tell me, child,” he said kindly, “who are you really? There is something about you that suggests you are not what you seem.”

But the girl shook her head sadly. “I cannot tell you, Your Majesty. I have sworn by the sky above never to reveal my story to any living soul, or my life would be forfeit.”

The wise old king thought carefully. “If you cannot tell your story to a living soul,” he said gently, “then perhaps you could tell it to something else? Come, let me show you something.”

He led her to a large iron stove in the castle kitchen. “Here is an iron stove,” he said. “It is not alive, yet it can hold secrets safely. If you whispered your story into this stove, you would not be breaking your oath to any living person.”

The Secret Told

Grateful for the king’s wisdom, the goose-girl knelt beside the iron stove and poured out her entire story in a whispered voice. She told of her mother’s love, the magical handkerchief, the treacherous chambermaid, and how she came to be working as a servant in the castle where she should have been welcomed as a princess.

Unknown to her, the old king had positioned himself to listen through the stove’s chimney, and he heard every word of her tale. His heart filled with anger at the injustice and admiration for the true princess’s courage and faithfulness.

Justice and Truth

The next morning, the king summoned the false princess and told her he had an interesting tale to share. Without revealing its source, he recounted the entire story of the treacherous servant who had stolen her mistress’s identity.

“Tell me,” the king said when he finished, “what punishment would such a wicked person deserve?”

The false princess, not realizing she was condemning herself, answered proudly, “Such a villain deserves to be stripped naked, placed in a barrel studded with sharp nails, and dragged through the streets by two white horses until she is dead!”

“Then you have pronounced your own sentence,” the king declared. “For you are that treacherous servant!”

The Wedding Celebration

The false princess was punished exactly as she had suggested, while the true princess was bathed, dressed in royal garments more beautiful than any she had ever worn, and revealed to the prince as his true bride.

The prince, who had begun to wonder about his supposed bride’s coarse manners and cruel nature, was overjoyed to meet the gentle, beautiful princess he had truly been meant to marry.

Their wedding was celebrated with great magnificence throughout the kingdom. The old king told all assembled the remarkable story of the goose-girl’s trials and how truth had finally prevailed over deception.

Falada’s Final Honor

By royal decree, Falada was given a burial fit for a king among horses, with a magnificent tomb in the palace gardens. A golden statue was erected in his honor, commemorating the faithful horse who had tried to protect his mistress even beyond death.

The true princess never forgot her faithful friend’s loyalty, and every year on the anniversary of their reunion, she would visit Falada’s memorial and place fresh flowers there, telling her children and grandchildren the story of the noble horse who had helped truth triumph over lies.

The Moral of the Tale

And so the princess learned that truth, like gold, cannot be permanently buried or disguised. Though evil may seem to triumph for a time, justice will eventually prevail, and those who remain faithful and honest will find their reward.

The kingdom prospered under the rule of the prince and his true bride, and it was said that no lie could take root in their realm, for the spirit of faithful Falada watched over all, ensuring that truth would always rise to the surface, like pure water from a spring, to nourish the land with honesty and justice.

The story of the goose-girl became a cherished tale throughout the kingdom, reminding all who heard it that true nobility comes not from birth or wealth, but from the courage to remain honest and faithful, even in the darkest of times.