Fairy tales for young and old

Leseprobe:

Jacob and the Bridge to Paradise


Once upon a time there was a young fellow called Jacob. He wanted to see the world, so he set off from home.
When Jacob came to the border of a foreign country, he was challenged with, “Tell us the name of our president!”
“I don’t know.”
“Sure you do, he’s often on television.”
“We never had a TV.”
“Were you that poor?”
“No, but my father always said television makes you sick and dumb, so he never bought one. But we did have a bathtub.”
“If you’ve never watched TV, what do you want in our country?”
“I want to work here, earn money and meet people.”
The border guard thought, I should let him through. He’s dumb and will work for us for little money.
He found work in the next town. One day, one of the locals asked him, “So, what do you think about our able president?”
“I can’t say anything, since I don’t know him,” replied Jacob.
“Everyone knows him, he speaks so often on TV.”
“I’ve never watched TV.”
“I don’t believe it! Hey folks, did you hear that? This guy claims he’s never seen our fine president on TV.”
“Maybe he’s an enemy of our president and doesn’t want to know him at all,” said one of the crowd of curious bystanders.
“There’s something suspicious about him!” another cried.
“Take him to the police!” shouted another. Most of those present joined in with this demand, so Jacob landed in the police station, and then in jail. People who have nothing good to say about our president are enemies of the state and need to be locked up, said the police officers and the judge.
His wealthy and influential employer, called Exploiter, waited for Jacob. After not hearing from him for three days, he sought him out and found him in jail. When Exploiter found out the reason for his conviction, he went to the judge and made the suggestion, “Let’s show him a television and see how he reacts.” Not wishing to be unjust, the judge agreed to the idea.
The judge set up a computer screen, a video player and a television, then summoned Jacob and ordered him to switch on the TV. Jacob pressed and twisted the knobs on all three devices, but nothing worked. Finally, he found the power cables, which were not connected anywhere and tried pulling on them, but none of the devices wanted to work.
“That’s enough! You really are stupid! You may go with Exploiter!”
Being called stupid vexed Jacob, but he was very glad he didn’t have to stay in the gloomy prison.
Exploiter again gave him work, food and accommodation but paid him very little. Exploiter was very happy with Jacob. Jacob was very happy with his job, because he very much liked his employer’s daughter. What’s more, the daughter returned his affections, and told her father so.
“What? You want to marry him? That idiot couldn’t even turn on a TV before he came to us. He’s no good for you!” Not wishing to back down, The daughter then burst into tears and, because she wouldn’t stop crying, her father said, “Send Jacob to me, and I’ll find out if he is worthy of you.”
When Jacob arrived, Exploiter told him, “If you bring me the full backpack from the Place of Contentment, then I’ll let you marry my daughter. Unfortunately, I’ve lost the address, but you will surely find the place.”
“What’s in this backpack?” asked Jacob.
“The backpack is full of good wishes that come true for they who open it. Don’t come back without it!” And with these words, he ushered Jacob from his house. I’m rid of him, thought Exploiter.
In good spirits, Jacob immediately began his search. In the telephone directory, he found a listing for a Hotel called ‘Place of Contentment’ and hurried there, but nobody knew anything about a backpack filled with wishes. He asked many people about the Place of Contentment, but nobody was able to help him.
One night, he dreamed of the way to the Place of Contentment. In the dream he was walking along a forest path: flowers were blooming on the way; birds were singing and the sun was shining. Jacob felt good. If he was thirsty, he could drink fresh spring water. If he was hungry, he would find ripe berries. On the third day, fog descended as he reached a place where a bridge had just collapsed. Then he heard a voice saying, “This was the Bridge of Kind Thoughts. The kind thoughts of the people on Earth are the building blocks for this bridge. There are never enough blocks, which is why nobody has yet made it to the Place of Contentment. Only by crossing this bridge can you get there!”
In the days that followed, Jacob had a very pleasant surprise – he came upon the place he had dreamed of. He could go no farther at the unfinished bridge. But Jacob had a brilliant idea. He retraced his steps to the nearest town, where he placed an ad for help in the local newspaper, seeking helpers who were prepared to spend at least one minute sending off one nice thought, so that Jacob could cross the Bridge of Kind Thoughts to the Place of Contentment. The next day Jacob received so many replies in the mail that a large laundry basket couldn’t hold them all. On each following day, the amount kept increasing. On the appointed day, Jacob was therefore able to cross the Bridge of Kind Thoughts with no difficulty, and enter into paradise. Everything there was wonderful, and he was happy all day.
There was a telescope there that allowed you to look at whatever was on your mind. Jacob looked through it and thought of Mary, the daughter of Exploiter. He saw she was still waiting for him. Her father had suggested several prospective suitors to her, but she had turned them all down.
Jacob thought of returning.
“Where is the backpack filled with good wishes?” he asked.
“There’s no such thing! People carry good wishes inside themselves. With good thoughts you can change your surroundings.” That was what Jacob wanted, so with that in mind he set out on the journey back to Mary.
When she saw him coming, she ran up to him, and happily threw her arms around his neck. “Finally, you’re back!”
Exploiter also heard his daughter’s cry of delight and discovered Jacob, but what he saw did not please him at all. When Jacob greeted him, however, his resentment vanished, and he even gave his consent to the imminent marriage. While in paradise, Jacob had acquired the ability to make everyone he looked at happy.
With his benevolent gaze and actions, he filled everyone around him with joy and so they all lived happily ever after.



Leopold and the Sun Boy


Once there was a strange time, in which the Sun got so hot near us that ponds could dry up in a day, while big cracks opened up in the earth. Sometimes a warm rain would fall to Earth, without a cloud visible in the sky.
People fell into deep despair. There was not enough drinking water for them and their animals. Nothing more grew in the fields. The trees were completely without leaves. The heat threatened all living things.
Then, one day, little Leopold decided to go to the Sun.
“I’m going to ask her to stop shining so fiercely,” he told himself.
Climbing a high mountain, Leopold shouted over and over, “Sun, Mrs. Sun!” But she gave no answer. It was getting hotter and hotter for him. Much sweat ran down brave Leopold’s face and he found it harder and harder to call out loud, because he had a very great thirst.
Coming across a cave, he went inside to rest in the shade.
“Why have you disturbed our peace?” Leopold was asked from the cave entrance.
“Sorry,” stammered little Leopold. “I didn’t mean to disturb you. I wanted to call to the Sun and ask her to stop shining down so hot, since otherwise all of the children, all the grown-ups and many animals will die.”
“Well, if that’s so,” said the dwarf, and looked the boy up and down. “If you get too close to the Sun, you will die from sheer heat. Since you have a good heart, though, I will help you. Wait here for a bit!”
Some time later, the dwarf came back from the inside of the cave. He held out a telephone receiver to Leopold and told him, “You can use this to call the Sun. All you have to do is think of the Sun and start talking.”
In front of the cave, the dwarf handed the boy the magic telephone. Leopold thought of the Sun and said, “Mrs. Sun! Dear Mrs. Sun!”
“Who’s calling me? Who is it?”
“It’s me, little Leopold.”
“I don’t see you. Where are you?”
“I’m down here on Earth, on that high mountain. I’m calling you from there. Please, dear Mrs. Sun, don’t shine so hot, since otherwise all the people and animals are going to die of sheer heat.”
“Impossible,” retorted the Sun brusquely.
“But that means my mother and father, and my brothers and sisters, will die, and so will everyone else,” sobbed Leopold.
“I have to look for my own son,” replied the Sun.
“I see, have you lost him?” asked the boy.
“No, he was taken from me! I am going to scour every last corner of the Earth each day until I find him. I know that means I’m getting too close to Earth and burning everything, I know, but I must find my son!” And tears ran down her cheeks.
“I will help you,” Leopold reassured her. “If I go looking in your stead, perhaps I’ll have more luck. What does he look like?”
“He is very blond. His long locks shine.”
“OK, I will search for your son.”
“Hopefully, you will be lucky soon, young Leopold!” she cried again, but had to hurry away to quickly return to the sky.
“Where could I look for the Sun Boy?” Leopold asked the dwarf.
“Give him a call!” Poldi thought of the missing boy and said, “Can you hear me, Sun Boy?”
“Who’s calling?”
“I’m Leopold, and I want to set you free. Where are you hiding?”
“I’m closed up inside a big mountain.”
“How did you get in there?” Leopold wished to know.
“Shh! He’s coming,” Leopold could still make out, followed by a pitiful voice, “Oh, there you are! I thought I heard you talking to someone in my sleep. Lucky for me you’re alone. I would like to think nobody could get inside my mountain. Oh, I’m so-o-o very tired.”
“Now the mountain spirit is sleeping. He’s the one who abducted me and locked me up in here. Every day I have to walk through the cave passages and light them up. But I still don’t know where this mountain actually is, or how to get out.”
In a state of great excitement, young Leopold called the Sun back and told her everything he knew. Mrs. Sun was very happy but could give no advice as to how one could find the mountain. Poldi promised, “I will ask all the people and animals; maybe I can find him. Goodbye!”
“Goodbye, able Leopold!”
“Dear dwarf, can you tell me which mountain the Sun Boy is captive in?”
“No, I don’t know. But perhaps the Dwarf King knows this. Let’s go to him.” But the Dwarf King didn’t know either.
Then a smart imp – called Hunkibunki, I think – said, “What’s the use of having a magic telephone in the dwarf kingdom? Let’s see if the mountain spirit will let something slip.”
“Right!” piped up some dwarfs.
“Yes indeed,” agreed the Dwarf King, “but how will we get the mountain spirit to tell us what we want to know?”
A deliberation began on how one might best do this. At last, little Leopold spoke up and laid out his plan to the group. All nodded their agreement, eagerly anticipating the outcome.
Poldi grabbed the receiver and thought of the mountain spirit.
“Ha ha! Did I frighten you, great and powerful mountain spirit?”
“Ha! Who dares come to me without my permission?” he snorted.
“Well, I’m so small that you can’t even see me. I can fly from you to the ends of the Earth as quick as a thought.”
“Hmm,” muttered the mountain spirit.
“For some weeks now, it has been wonderfully bright in your kingdom. Your place certainly never gets dark anymore.” The mountain spirit felt very flattered.
“But one thing is still missing from your realm.”
“What?!” cried the spirit.
“Fresh air!”
“I’ll get some in a hundred years, when I am able to leave my empire again.”
“All you have to do is open your mountain gate and let the fresh air in. Just make sure nobody gets into your kingdom uninvited.”
“Oh-ho, I’d like to see them try; when I’m on guard, nobody gets into my kingdom! Now the air seems bad to me too. I hadn’t noticed before. I’m going to let the air in,” said the mountain spirit. He went to the gate in the rock and shouted, “Open up!” A cleft immediately appeared in the rock. The lord of the mountain sat down at the fissure to keep watch.
Having overheard this conversation, the Sun Boy suddenly knew how one could get out. Clever little Leopold and the dwarfs were very satisfied with what they heard. Poldi reported back to Mother Sun, who told her relatives the winds, who started howling round the mountains, roaring “Open up” over and over.
The Sun Boy waited until the mountain spirit nodded off, then he ran to the gate in the rock, which opened with a crash, even though he hadn’t said a word. It was the south wind that passed right by that had spoken for him. It took up the Sun Boy on its wings and flew as fast as it could. Not a moment too soon, as the mountain spirit, who had been awakened by the roar, rushed to the gate. He couldn’t hold the Sun Boy anymore. In his rage, he made the mountain shake, so that huge boulders came tumbling down the slope.
When the Sun Boy reached home, the clouds poured tears of joy, and it rained, and the Earth was the same again. The small ponds filled up again, the fields turned green, and the trees got their leaves back. The people and animals had enough drinking water and were happy again. But young Leopold, who had helped so many, was the happiest of all.



Hunkibunki


Hunkibunki was a little imp who was in a hurry to be as clever as his father, so he decided to go looking for the philosopher’s stone. Not knowing where to start, he headed for a big mountain and began rummaging around the rocks lying around it. He ran eagerly from stone to stone, but they all looked similar. Some were bigger, some smaller. He didn’t know what the philosopher’s stone looked like. He thought, I’ll know it when I find it.
In his sheer eagerness, he had neither eaten nor paid attention to the route he had taken between the rocks. As dusk began and the mist descended on the mountain and the valley, the imp realized he was lost. Fearful and hungry, he called out for his father – but in vain. Finally, Hunkibunki started to weep wretchedly.
Suddenly, a dwarf holding a lantern was standing before Hunkibunki.