A woman was walking across the field with her daughter and stepdaughter to cut fodder. Then the good Lord came to them as a poor man and asked, 'Where does the road lead to the village?' 'If you know it if you want,” said the mother, “look for it yourself,” and the daughter added, “if you are worried that you won’t find it, take a signpost with you.” But the stepdaughter said, “poor man, I will guide you, Come with me." Then God was angry with the mother and daughter, turned his back on them and cursed them so that they should become black as night and ugly as sin. But God was merciful to the poor stepdaughter and went with her, and when they were near the village, he spoke a blessing over them and said, "Choose three things that I will grant you." Then the girl said, "I would like to become as beautiful and pure as the sun;" she was white and fair as day. "Then I want a purse ha ben, which would never be empty:" God also gave it to her, but said, "Don't forget the best." She said, "I wish for the third eternal kingdom of heaven after my death." That was also granted to her, and so she left dear God from her.
When the stepmother came home with her daughter and saw that they were both jet black and ugly, but the stepdaughter was white and beautiful, the wickedness in her heart rose still higher, and she thought of nothing but how they would harm her could. But the stepdaughter had a brother named Reginer whom she loved very much and told him everything that had happened. Now Reginer once said to her, "Dear sister, I want to paint you so that I can constantly see you, because my love for you is so great that I would like to always look at you." see the picture.” He now copied his sister and hung the picture up in his room; but he lived in the king's palace, because he was his coachman. Every day he would stand before it and thank God for the happiness of his dear sister. But now the very king with whom he served had lost his wife, and she was so beautiful that none could be found to resemble her, and the king was deeply saddened. But the court servants noticed that the coachman stood in front of the beautiful picture every day, begrudged him and reported it to the king. So the latter had the picture brought to him, and when he saw that it resembled his deceased wife in every way and was only more beautiful, he fell madly in love with it. He summoned the coachman and asked who the picture represented. The coachman said it was his sister, so the king resolved to take no other than her to wife, gave him carriage and horses and splendid gold clothes, and sent him off to fetch his chosen bride. When Reginer got the message, his sister was happy, but the black woman was jealous of the luck, was angry beyond measure and said to her mother, "What good are all your arts now, since you can't give me such luck after all." "Shut up," said the old woman, "I'll turn it over to you." And with her witchcraft she blinded the coachman's eyes so that he was half blind, and stopped the ears of the white woman so that she was half deaf. Then they got into the carriage, first the bride in the beautiful royal clothes, then the stepmother with her daughter, and Reginer sat on the box to drive. After they had been on the road for a while, the coachman called
"Cover up, my little sister,
that rain doesn't wet you
that the wind does not pollinate you
that you come to the king nicely."
The bride asked, "What does my dear brother say?" "Oh," said the old woman, "he said you should take off your golden dress and give it to your sister." So she took it off and put it on the black woman, who gave her in return a bad gray coat. So they drove on: after a while the brother called again
"Cover up, my little sister,
that rain doesn't wet you
that the wind does not pollinate you
and you come to the king nicely."
The bride asked, "What does my dear brother say?" "Oh," said the old woman, "he said you should take off your gold cap and give it to your sister." sat in her bare hair. So they drove on: again after a while the brother called
"Cover up, my little sister,
that rain doesn't wet you
that the wind does not pollinate you
and you come to the king nicely."
The bride asked, "What does my dear brother say?" "Oh," said the old woman, "he said you would like to take a look out of the carriage." But they were just driving on a bridge over deep water. When the bride got up and bent down out of the carriage, they both pushed her out so that she fell into the middle of the water. As she sank, at the same instant, a snow-white duck rose out of the water and swam down the river. The brother didn't notice anything and drove the car on until they came to the court. So he brought the black woman to the king as his sister and thought she really was it, because it was dull before his eyes and he could see the gold clothes shimmering. The king, seeing the baseless ugliness of his supposed bride, became very angry and ordered the coachman to be thrown into a pit full of vipers and snakes. But the old witch knew how to enchant the king and to blind his eyes with her arts, so that he kept her and her daughter, so that he found her quite tolerable and he actually married her.
One evening, while the black bride was sitting on the king's lap, a white duck swam to the gutter in the kitchen and said to the kitchen boy
"Little boy, light the fire
that I may warm my feathers."
The kitchen boy did that and made her a fire on the hearth: then the duck came and sat down next to it, shook itself and straightened its feathers with its beak. As she sat and enjoyed herself, she asked
"What is my brother Reginer doing?"
The kitchen boy answered
"Is trapped in the pit
in otters and in snakes.”
she continued
"What is the black witch doing in the house?"
The kitchen boy answered
"She's warm
into the king's arm."
said the duck
"God have mercy!"
and swam out the gutter stone.
The following evening she came again and asked the same questions, and the third evening again. The kitchen boy couldn't bring himself to do it any longer, went to the king and discovered everything to him. But the king wanted to see it for himself, went there the next evening, and when the duck stuck his head in through the gutter stone, he took his sword and cut her neck, and she suddenly became the most beautiful girl and resembled him exactly Picture her brother took of her. The king was full of joy; and as she stood there all wet, he had costly clothes brought and clothed her with them. Then she told him how she had been deceived by cunning and deceit, and at last thrown down into the river; and her first request was that her brother be brought out of the serpent's den. And when the king had complied with this request, he went into the chamber where the old witch was sitting and asked, "What does she deserve who does such and such?" and related what had happened. She was so blinded that she noticed nothing and said, "She deserves to be stripped naked and placed in a barrel with nails, and that a horse be harnessed to the barrel and the horse sent all over the world." That all happened her and her black daughter. But the king married the white and beautiful bride and rewarded the faithful brother by making him a rich and respected man.