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.