A king had a daughter who was beautiful beyond measure, but so proud and cocky that no suitor was good enough for her. She rejected one after the other, and even made fun of them. Once the king arranged a great feast, and invited the marriageable men from near and far. They were all arranged in a row according to rank and status; first came the kings, then the dukes, the princes, counts and barons, and finally the noblemen. Now the king's daughter was led through the rows, but she found fault with each of them. One of them was too fat for her, 'the wine cask,' she said. The other was too long, 'long and staggering has no gait. The third was too short, 'short and fat has no skill'. The fourth too pale, 'the pale death!' The fifth too red, 'the, interest cock!' The sixth was not straight enough, 'green wood, dried behind the stove!' And so she found fault with each of them, but in particular she made fun of a good king who stood at the top, and whose chin had grown a little crooked. She cried and laughed, "He has a chin like a thrush has a beak," and from that time on he was called Thrushbeard. The old king, however, when he saw that his daughter did nothing but mock at the people and spurned all the suitors who were gathered there, became angry and swore that she should take as her husband the first best beggar who came to his door.

A few days later, a minstrel began to sing under the window in order to earn a small alms. When the king heard this, he said, "Let him come up. Then the minstrel entered in his dirty ragged clothes, sang before the king and his daughter, and when he had finished, asked for a pittance. The king said: 'Your singing has pleased me so much that I want to give you my daughter as a wife. The king's daughter was frightened, but the king said, "I have taken an oath to give you to the first beggar, and I will keep it. No objection helped, the priest was called, and she had to be married to the minstrel right away. When this was done, the king said, 'Now it is not suitable for you to stay any longer in my castle as a beggar woman, you can only go away with your husband.

The beggar man led her out by the hand, and she had to go away with him on foot. When they came to a large forest, she asked

'ah, who owns the beautiful forest?'
'It belongs to King Thrushbeard;
If you had taken it, it would have been yours.
'I poor maiden tender,
Oh, if only I had taken King Thrushbeard!

Then they came across a meadow, and she asked again

'who owns the beautiful green meadow?'
'It belongs to King Thrushbeard;
If you had taken it, it would have been yours.
'I poor maiden tender,
Oh, if only I had taken King Thrushbeard!

Then they passed through a large city, there she asked again

'who owns this beautiful big city?'
'It belongs to King Thrushbeard;
If you had taken it, it would have been yours.
'I poor maiden tender,
Oh, if only I had taken King Thrushbeard!

I don't like it at all,' said the minstrel, 'that you always wish for another husband: am I not good enough for you?' At last they came to a very small cottage, where she spoke

'oh, God, what a small house!
Whose miserable tiny house might that be?'

The minstrel answered 'this is my house and yours, where we live together'. She had to bend down to enter the low door. Where are the servants?' said the king's daughter. What servants!' answered the beggar man, 'you must do yourself what you want to have done. Just light the fire right away and put on some water, so that you can cook my meal; I am very tired. The king's daughter, however, knew nothing about lighting fires and cooking, and the beggar man had to lend a hand himself, so that it still went so well. When they had eaten the meager fare, they lay down to bed, but in the morning he drove her out very early, because she was to see to the house. For a few days they lived poorly in this way, and used up their provisions. Then the man said, "Woman, we can no longer live here and earn nothing. You shall weave baskets. He went out, cut willows, and brought them home: there she began to weave, but the hard willows stung her tender hands. I see that's not possible,' said the man, 'you'd better spin, maybe you can do it better. She sat down and tried to spin, but the hard thread soon cut her soft fingers so that the blood ran down them. You see,' said the man, 'you are not fit for any work, I have done badly with you. Now I will try it, and start a trade in pots and earthenware: you shall sit down in the market and sell the goods. Oh,' she thought, 'if people from my father's kingdom come to the market and see me sitting there and selling, how they will mock me! But it did not help, she had to submit, if they did not want to die of hunger. The first time it went well, because the people, because she was beautiful, gladly bought her goods from the woman, and paid what she demanded: yes, many gave her the money, and let her have the pots as well. Now they lived on the money they had bought for as long as it lasted, when the man again bought a lot of new dishes. She sat down with it at a corner of the market, and put it around her, and held a haggle. Suddenly a drunken hussar came chasing along, and rode straight into the pots, so that everything shattered into a thousand pieces. She began to cry and did not know what to do because of fear. Oh, what will happen to me!' she cried, 'what will my husband say? She ran home and told him about the misfortune. Who sits down at the corner of the market with earthenware?" said the man, "stop crying, I see you are not good for any proper work. So I went to our king's castle and asked if they could not use a kitchen maid, and they promised me they would take you on; in return you would get free food.

Now the king's daughter became a kitchen maid, had to help the cook and do the sourest work. She made a little pot for herself in both pockets, and in it she brought home what was left over for her to eat. It happened that the wedding of the eldest son of the king was to be celebrated, so the poor woman went upstairs, stood in front of the hall door, and wanted to watch. When the lights were lit, and each one was more beautiful than the next, and everything was full of splendor and glory, she thought with a sad heart of her fate, and cursed her pride and arrogance, which had humiliated her and plunged her into such great poverty. Sometimes servants would throw her a few pieces of the delicious food that was brought in and out, and the smell of it would rise up to her, and she would put them in her little pot and carry them home. Suddenly the king's son came in, dressed in velvet and silk, with golden chains around his neck. When he saw the beautiful woman standing in the doorway, he took her by the hand and wanted to dance with her, but she refused and was frightened, for she saw that it was King Thrushbeard who had asked for her and whom she had rejected with mockery. Her resistance was of no avail, and he dragged her into the hall. Then the ribbon on which the bags were hanging was torn, and the pots fell out, so that the soup flowed and the lumps jumped about. And when the people saw this, there was general laughter and mockery, and she was so ashamed that she would rather have wished herself a thousand fathoms under the earth. She jumped out of the door and wanted to escape, but on the stairs a man caught up with her and brought her back, and as she looked at him, it was King Thrushbeard again. He said to her kindly, 'Do not be afraid, I and the minstrel who lived with you in the wretched little house are one: for your sake I have disguised myself in this way, and the hussar who broke your pots in two was also me. All this happened in order to bend your proud mind and to punish you for your arrogance with which you mocked me. Then she wept bitterly and said 'I have done great wrong and am not worthy to be your wife'. But he said, "Take comfort, the evil days are over, now we will celebrate our wedding. Then the chambermaids came and dressed her in the most splendid clothes, and her father came and the whole court, and wished her happiness on her marriage to King Thrushbeard, and the real joy only began now. I wish you and I had been there too.