The Poor Miller and the Cat Fairy Tales

There was an old miller who had no wife or children, but only three apprentices to serve him. As they had been with him for many years, he said to them one day, “I am old, and I just want to sit behind the stove to keep warm.

You all go out, and whoever comes back with a good horse will own the mill. But there is one condition, that he must serve me until I die.”

　　The third brother was the dumbest. The two brothers thought he was too stupid and didn’t deserve to get the mill. Even he himself didn’t have any confidence. The three of them went out to the farm together.

The two brothers said to stupid Hans, “You’d better wait here. You will never get a horse in your life.” But Hans insisted on going with them.

　　At night they stayed in a cave, and the two clever brothers waited until Hans fell asleep and left, leaving Hans alone in the cave. They thought this was a clever move, but they regretted it afterwards.

　　When the sun rose, Hans woke up and found that he was sleeping in a deep cave. He looked around and exclaimed: “Oh! God, where am I?”

　　He stood up, climbed out of the cave, and walked into the forest.

　　”Now I am abandoned here, all alone, how can I get a horse?” Just as he was walking and thinking with a heavy heart, he met a little cat. The little cat politely asked him: “Hans, where are you going?”

　　”Alas, you can’t help me.”

　　”But I know what you are thinking,” said the cat. “You just want a fine horse. Come with me and be a faithful servant to me for seven years, and I will give you the finest horse you have ever seen in your life.”

　　”Aha! This is an interesting cat,” thought Hans, “but I must go and see if what she says is true.”

　　She took him to her enchanted castle, which contained nothing but some kittens, her servants, who hopped briskly up and down the stairs, looking happy and carefree.

　　In the evening they sat down to dinner, and three kittens played music before them. One played the cello, one played the violin, and the third played the trumpet, which he played with his cheeks puffed out. After dinner, the table was cleared, and the cat said, “Now, Hans, dance with me.”

　　”No,” he said, “I don’t dance with cats. I never do.”

　　”Take him to bed, then,” she ordered the other cats.

　　So one cat lit a lamp and led him to his bedroom, one took off his shoes, one took off his socks, and the last one blew out the candle. The next morning they came to help him get up again, one put on his socks, one tied his garters, one put on his shoes, one washed his face, and one wiped his face with its tail.

　　”This feels so soft,” Hans said.

　　But he still had to serve the cat, and then chop wood every day. He used a silver axe, a silver chisel and a silver saw, and a copper hammer to chop the wood into small pieces.

He stayed in the castle, eating and drinking well every day, and stayed with the cat and her servants every day, and never saw anyone else again.

　　One day she said to him, “Go to the meadow and cut some grass, and then dry it in the sun.” Then she gave him a silver sickle and a golden millstone, but told him to use them carefully and return them safely.

　　Hans went to the meadow and finished his work. He returned to the house with his sickle, grindstone and hay and asked if he should be paid.

　　”No,” said the cat, “you must do something for me first. Here is silver wood, a carpenter’s axe, angle irons, and all the necessary things, all of silver. With these you can build me a little house.”

　　Hans finished building the little house. He said he had done everything, but still had not got the horse. In fact, seven years passed very quickly, just like six months.

　　The cat asked him if he would like to go and see her horse. “Yes,” Hans said.

　　She then opened the door of the little house, and inside were twelve horses, all of them shiny and strong. Hans was delighted to see these horses.

　　Then she gave him a meal, and said, “Go home, but I cannot give you the horse now; in three days I will come to you and bring you the horse.”

　　So Hans set out, and she told him the way back to the mill. But she gave him no new clothes, so he had to keep on wearing the dirty, ragged coat that he had inherited seven years ago and that was too small for him everywhere.

　　When he got home, his two brothers were there, and each of them had a horse, but one was blind and the other was lame. They asked Hans where his horse was, “It will be here in three days.”

　　They laughed and said, “Really, Silly Hans, where are you going to find a horse? It must be a fine horse!”

　　Hans went into the living room, but the miller said he could not sit down because he was dressed in rags and dirt and would be a disgrace to others if they came in. So they gave him a mouthful of food and told him to eat outside.

At night, when everyone went to bed, the two brothers would not let him go to bed, so he had to crawl into the goose nest and spend the night on a pile of hay.

　　Three days had passed, and a coach came with six very handsome horses, which were a real delight to behold.

The servants brought a seventh horse, which was for the poor miller. A noble princess got out of the coach and went into the mill. This princess was the little cat, and Hans had served her for seven years.

　　She asked the miller where his stupid apprentice was. The miller replied that we couldn’t let him stay in the mill because he was too dirty; he was sleeping in the goose nest.

　　But the King’s daughter bade them fetch him at once, so they brought him out. He pulled at his little coat to hide himself. The servants unpacked his rich clothes, washed him, and dressed him up. When they had done, he looked the most handsome King in the world.

　　At this time, the girl wanted to see the horses brought by her brothers and found that one was blind and the other was lame. She ordered the servant to bring the seventh horse. When the miller saw the horse, he said that such a horse had never entered his yard.

　　”This is for your third apprentice,” she said.

　　”Then he should own the mill,” replied the miller.

　　But the King’s daughter said that the horses should be left there, and the mill should still belong to him. Then she took Faithful Hans into the carriage, and they drove away together.

　　They went first to the little house which he had built with his silver tools, but which was now a great palace, and everything in it was gold and silver: and then she married him, and he was rich, and had nothing to worry about as long as he lived, and no one ever said again that fools could not become important persons.