The Miser in the Bush

There was once a rich man, who was unfortunately a miser.

A poor man worked hard under the rich man for three full years.

At the end of the third year, the rich man had still not paid any money, the poor man finally went to the rich man and asked him his wages.

However the rich man did not want to pay the poor man so much money. So he took out three pence and paid it to the man. “Three pence. One for each year that you have worked for me.” The rich man said, in a tone broking no further argument.

The poor man decided that he might as well work somewhere else. So with that thought, the poor man left the house of the rich man and without a backward glance, he kept walking.

As he walked, the man realized that he was going to start a new life. The thought excited him so much that the man was happily humming to himself as he walked. The man was looking so unnatural as he looked pleased with himself that a dwarf decided to follow the man.

“Who are you? Where are you going?” The dwarf finally asked the man.

The man shrugged smiling. “I am going to the next village in search of work.”

“You seem very happy.” The dwarf observed studying the man curiously.

“Yes.” The man said grinning. “I am happy because I have the money which I have earned for the past three years.”

“How much money do you have?” The dwarf was surprised as he asked the man.

“Three pence.” The man told the dwarf.

The dwarf all but gasped and then he stopped himself as he studied the man again. The dwarf had a sudden shrewd look as he nodded at the man. “I have no money at all. Can you please give me some money?”

The man looked surprised as the dwarf continued. “You are healthy. You can work and get back some money. However, I am very poor. Please, give me some money.” The dwarf was pleading.

The man looked at the dwarf and realized that what the dwarf had said was true. He could earn the money again. So shrugging to himself, the man handed all the three coins to the dwarf.

The dwarf looked amazed as he saw the three coins in his hands. He then looked at the man with something close to respect.

“You are a kind and honest person. You gave me all the three coins that you had. For this, I will grant you three boons. One boon for each coin that you have given me.” The dwarf was smiling at the man.

The man blinked and suddenly grinned to himself. “I wish for a bow. And not a ordinary bow. A bow which would bring down anything that I shoot with it.”

No sooner had the man spoken than a bow appeared in his hands.

Surprised, the man continued. “I want a fiddle. A special fiddle. So that if I play with the fiddle, then all the people who hear the music shall begin to dance.”

The dwarf smiled and the man found a fiddle in his hands.

The dwarf looked expectantly as the man continued. “I wish that if I ask anything from any person I meet henceforth, they should not be able to refuse me.”

The dwarf grinned as he vanished from there.

The man continued his journey, more happy than before.

As the man walked on, he saw a fat pouchy man looking at the top of a tree, where a bird was singing melodiously.

The man went closer and saw that the bird was a thrush.

The man saw the fat man at the bottom of the tree. The fat man was looking at the bird with yearning in his greedy eyes. The only thing stopping the man for getting closer to the tree were the thorns around the tree.

The man with the bow and the fiddle realized almost immediately that the fat man was exactly like the master that he had served for the past three years.

“What do you want?” The man asked the pouchy man.

“That bird.” The fat man said without a second glance. “The bird sings beautifully and I wish to own it.”

“Is that all?” The man asked as he pulled out his bow.

He shot the bird as the bird fell down unconscious at the bottom of the tree. Eagerly, the fat man went towards the bird and was right on top of the bird, when he heard another beautiful sound.

Surprised, the fat man saw his body swaying to the music as he turned and saw the man with a bow, now playing a fiddle.

As the man played the fiddle, the fat man found to his horror that he could not stop dancing. The music got faster as the man's feet hurt as he danced on the thorns near the end of the tree.

“Why...who....what...who are you?” The fat man gasped unable to stop dancing.

“You have made enough people suffer.” The man said with stern eyes. “Now it is your turn.”

“Please....please...” The fat man pleaded. “I will give you anything. Please just stop playing the fiddle.”

The man stopped playing the fiddle as the fat man almost collapsed on the ground. Sobbing he ripped open his pouch which had the money he had taken from another poor man and the fat man gave the money to the man with the fiddle.

Without a backward glance, the man with the fiddle took the money and walked away from there.

Now, after the man had left, the fat miser was burning with anger. He could not believe that a man had been so fearless, as to take money from him.

Angrily the miser thought of getting revenge on the man.

The man with the fiddle now walked on and he played the music and used the bow as and when necessary.

Then suddenly out of nowhere, he saw the guards from the kingdom surround him.

The man was watching shocked as the guards arrested him.

“What...what did I do?” The man asked as the guards were leading him away.

“You stole from a man yesterday. You beat him up and took his money.” The chief guard told the man in an emotionless tone.

“I did no such thing!” The man yelled.

But the guards heard nothing. The guards dragged the man and had him come before the jailer.

A stern looking jailer was studying the man before him.

“Did you beat this man up and steal from him?” The jailer was angry as he pointed to the man's left.

The man turned and was shocked to see the fat miser looking at him. The miser was still wearing the same clothes of yesterday, which had been torn from the thorns of the tree.

“I did not!” The man said indignantly.

“Check his pockets.” The fat miser said with a smirk. “You will find my money in his purse.”

On the orders of the jailer, the guards checked the pockets of the man and pulled out the money, which the miser had given the man.

“He gave me the money. I did not steal it!” The man yelled as the guards saw the coins.

“You shall be hanged for theft!” The jailer spoke immediately as soon as he had seen the gold coins. The jailer knew that there was no reason for the miser to give his money to the man.

The man was gagged and led away from there and was sentenced to be hanged the next day.

The next day the man was about to be hanged.

“Any last wishes?” The jailer asked the man carelessly.

“Yes, I wish to play my fiddle.” The man said.

“NO!” The miser screamed.

However the third wish of the dwarf was that people would give the man anything that he asked for. He had asked for the fiddle and nobody was able to resist the wish.

The fiddle was handed over to him.

The man started playing a tune. The entire village started dancing and after some time they all realized that none of them could stop dancing.

“Please....please...stop!” The people there begged the man.

The man stopped.

The jailer gave him hundred coins to the man to never play the fiddle again.

The man then turned to the miser.

“Did I steal this money from you?” He demanded pointing to the sack of money in the miser's hands.

“No! No!” The miser said hurriedly as he fearfully studied the fiddle. “I paid him to stop playing the fiddle.”

But then the miser was too late.

The man with the fiddle left, as the jailer ordered for the miser to be executed for his crime.

Audio Story in Youtube

- Based on the stories by the Grimm Brothers

The Prince of the Iron Stove - Part Five

 

The princess slipped near the Prince's door and she narrated the story of the iron stove and how she had come here crossing all the dangers to find him. 

The servants of the castle heard her story but the Prince had not heard anything because he had slept due to the sleeping drought.

Not knowing what to do, the princess cracked the second nut and found an even more beautiful dress inside. 

Naturally, the bride wanted this too, and this time too, the same events happened as before. 

Third time when the princess cracked the third nut an even more beautiful dress came out which was made of pure gold.

By this time, the Prince had heard from the servants of the castle that the kitchen maid slept outside his room and was telling tales about an iron stove. 

So this night, the Prince was determined to hear the story for himself and he did not take the wine that his bride had offered him.

When the princess narrated the story from outside his door he suddenly remembered everything and he jumped up from the bed and met his princess outside.

The prince realized that the false bride did not know that he had come out of the enchantment and the two of them escaped at night.

They returned the same way using the same gifts that the princess had used to come in and this time when they arrived at the toad’s house which turned into a large castle and the toads were all free from their curse.

The prince and the princess lived happily ever after.

Adapted from the Grimm Brothers’ Stories

The Prince of the Iron Stove - Part Four

Taking the three gifts with her, she first came upon the glass mountain. It was very slippery and she fell every time she tried to climb up. 

Finally, she stuck the three needles that she had got behind her foot and then she stuck the needles in the front. Using that she was able to get over the mountain.  

After that, she crossed the glass mountain and then came to the three cutting swords. 

She used the plough-wheel and rolled over the swords. 

She was very easily able to cross this barrier and then she came to a great lake. 

She crossed it and arrived at a beautiful castle.  

Outside she learnt that there was a prince who lived in the castle, who did not remember much about his past. But the Prince was to be married to the princess of the castle. 

The Princess knew that this was her Prince and she went to work in the castle as a kitchen maid.  

That was when she realized that she still had one more gift that the toads had given her. 

She cracked one of the nuts and found a beautiful royal dress inside it. 

When the princess of the castle saw the dress, she asked her to give it to her.  

The original princess agreed to this, but she had a favour - she wanted to sleep by the princess door. 

The bride-to-be granted this because she did not see any harm in this and the dress was very beautiful.

That night however, the bride gave a glass of wine to the prince and she poured some sleeping draught in the wine. 

Adapted from the Grimm Brothers’ Stories

The Prince of the Iron Stove - Part Three

 

The Prince had vanished and he had been put in a place over a mountain of glass which had many sharp swords around it.

The princess did not know any of this.

She bid her goodbye to her father and came to the forest. 

She searched everywhere but she could not find the iron stove of the prince anywhere nor could she find the prince. She realized that she had in some way broken the enchantment and that was the reason the prince was missing. She was determined to find the man she loved and kept walking and looking for the prince 

She had looked around for almost nine days and barely had enough food and that was when she climbed a tree to rest for the night.

Walking through the forests for the past few days had taught her to fear the night because she realized the dangers that came from the wild beast at midnight. She climbed a tree and stayed there and that was when she saw light far off.

She decided that she would reach for the light and stay for this night at least today. 

She got down the tree and went towards the light. 

It was a little old house. There was plenty of grass growing around the house. The Princess peeped through the window and she saw nothing other than big and little toads. She was surprised that there were really toads living in the house. 

However the house had very rich food and dishes and drinking cups made of silver.

When she knocked on the door of the old house, a little toad let her in. 

The little toad and the others were very hospitable. They made her sit down and ask her how she had ended up there.

She told them everything. Now she had realized but she had spoken more than the three words and then her Prince had asked her to say and that was the reason the iron stove and her prince had disappeared. She told the toad about that too.

The toads gave the princess food and drink and they even led to a beautiful bed made of silk when she slept for the night.

The next morning the toads told the Princess where her Prince was. They also gave her three gifts which would help her get her prince back.

The toads gave her three large needles, a plough-wheel and three nuts which she had to take good care of.

The princess thanked the toads with all her heart and set out on her journey.

Adapted from the Grimm Brothers’ Stories

The Prince of the Iron Stove - Part Two

 

The king and the princess both talked with each other and came up with a plan. They decided to send the miller's daughter to the forest with a knife. 

The miller’s daughter was very beautiful and she agreed as soon as the king approached her with the task.  

The miller's daughter went to the forest and she started scraping at the iron stove. However, she was at it for more than a day and the following night too, but there was no impression on the iron stove. 

The voice from the iron stove called in daybreak. “It seems to me as if it is day outside.”

The miller's daughter nodded. “I think so too because I can hear my father's mill rattling.” 

The voice inside the iron stove now sounded angry. “You are not the princess. You are a miller's daughter. Please go away and tell the king's daughter to come because she has promised to come.”

The second time, the king and the princess gave a gold coin to a herdsman's daughter and asked her to scrape the iron off the iron stove. 

The herdsman’s daughter was even more beautiful than the miller's daughter. She agreed to go to the forest because of the gold coin but she too could not make any impression on the iron stove in the morning. 

The voice from the iron stove called out. “It seems to be day outside.”

The herdsman's daughter noted. “It seems to me too because I can hear my father blowing his horn.” 

The voice inside the iron stove was angry. “You are a herdsman's daughter.  Please ask the king's daughter to come and do what she had promised.” 

When the princess heard this she began to cry, but she knew that she had to keep her word. She put a knife in her belt and went to the iron stove in the forest. 

As soon as she began to scrape, the iron gave way. Before two hours were up, she had made a little hole in the iron stove. 

She peeped in and that was when she saw a handsome young man all shining with gold and precious stones. 

The minute the princess saw the man she fell in love with him. She scraped the iron stove harder than before and made a hole large enough for him to get out of.

He got out and held her hand and smiled at her. “You are mine. You have set me free and I am yours.” 

He wanted to take her with him to his Kingdom, but the princess wanted to talk to her father for one last time and tell him what had happened. 

The prince agreed to this, but he asked her not to say more than three words, because if she did say more, an enchantment would stop them from meeting again. 

The princess went back to her castle. She tried to keep to the prince's condition, but she spoke more than three words to her father.

Immediately the iron stove and the prince vanished from the forests.

Adapted from Grimm Brothers’ Stories

The Prince of the Iron Stove - Part One

Once upon a time an old witch had imprisoned a prince in a large iron stove. The stove was abandoned in the woods. 

The prince also lived in the woods inside the stove, forgotten because nobody could free him.  

At last another princess came to the woods, because she had lost her way. She could not find the way back to her father's Kingdom. She wandered around the forest and that was when she came to the iron stove. 

She was frightened when she heard a voice from within the stove. “Who are you and what are you doing here?” 

Though she was terrified she answered the question. “I have lost my way and I have to get to my father's kingdom.”

Then the voice in the iron stove replied. “I will help you find your way home but you must promise me something. I am a  prince, and I am far richer than you, my princess. If I help you find your way home will you please marry me?”

The Princess did not believe that anyone could be imprisoned inside a stove. But she wanted to go back home to her father so she promised to do what the voice in the stove had asked.

The Princess was stunned because as soon as she had agreed to the condition a guide appeared right next to her. The guide said nothing but let her through the forests.

The Princess was shocked when she saw her castle.

The guide disappeared after that and the princess ran inside her castle and the king and the entire castle was thrilled to see her again.

However the Princess was very unhappy and she told the king what she had promised to the voice in the iron stove, in return to get back home.

Adapted from the Grimm Brothers’ Fairy Tales

The Golden Fish - Part Four

The father of the bride once looked when the bear hunter was sleeping and there, he found that there was a golden man on the bed. On the ground lay the bear’s skin. 

That was when the father realized that the golden man was not what he seemed and he was glad that he had not killed the husband of her daughter. 

That night the golden man dreamed that he hunted a fine stag in the forest. 

He woke up the next morning and told his wife that he had to be off to a hunt.  

“Do you have to go?” The wife asked him to stay because she was sure that some danger may befall her husband. 

The golden man felt that he had to go on a hunt and finally convinced his wife to let him go. 

He rode away into the forest and there he saw a stag just as he had seen in his dreams. 

He aimed at the stag, but the stag sprang off. He followed it the whole day and in the evening it disappeared from his sight.  

When the golden man looked around, he found himself before a little house. 

The little house belonged to a witch. 

He knocked on the door when an old woman came out. “What are you doing so late in the middle of this forest?” 

“Have you seen a stag?” The golden man asked the witch. 

“Yes, I know the stag very well.” The witch replied. 

Just then, a little dog which was inside the witch's house barked loudly. 

“Be quiet!” The golden man yelled at the dog. 

The witch grew very angry on hearing this. “Why are you shouting at my dog?” 

In anger, the witch turned the golden man into stone.

Back at his home the golden man's wife waited for him. But he did not come back 

In the fisherman's house, one of the golden lilies suddenly fell off.  

The other brother looked at it and realized that some great misfortune had befallen his brother. 

The fisherman however, stopped the second son. “If I lose you too, what will happen to me? 

The second son however, pacified the father. “I will go and I will come back successfully.”

He mounted his golden horse and rode until he came to a large forest where his brother lay in the form of a stone. 

The old witch came out and looked at the elder brother. Immediately the elder brother pulled out his bow and arrow and pointed it at the old witch. “I will shoot you if you do not restore my brother back to life.” 

The witch was afraid of the brave man and she touched the stone statue with her fingers. 

After this, the golden man became human again. 

Then the two golden men were very happy and they parted ways at the end of the forest. 

One went to his bride and the other to his father, and they lived happily till the end of their lives.

Adapted from the Grimm brothers Fairytale