The Crystal Ball (Grimm)
Division into chapters is editorial.
The enchantress and her transformed sons
An enchantress lived with her three sons who loved each other dearly. However, the old woman distrusted them and feared they wanted to steal her magical powers.
So she changed the eldest into an eagle...The second, she changed into a whale...Each of them only bore his human form for only two hours daily.
The eagle was forced to dwell in rocky mountains, often seen sweeping in great circles across the sky, while the whale lived in the deep sea, occasionally spouting water jets into the air.
The quest for the Crystal Ball begins
The third son feared his mother might transform him into a wild beast like a bear or wolf, so he secretly fled.
He had heard that a bewitched king's daughter was imprisoned in the Castle of the Golden Sun, waiting for deliverance.
Those, however, who tried to free her risked their lives; three-and-twenty youths had already died a miserable death, and now only one other might make the attempt.
Despite the danger, the fearless young man decided to seek out the Castle of the Golden Sun. He traveled for a long time without finding it, until he became lost in a great forest.
The wishing cap and magical transportation
In the forest, he encountered two giants who were quarreling over a cap. They explained that neither could defeat the other, so they asked the youth to decide who should possess it.
When the youth asked why they disputed over an old cap, the giants revealed it was a wishing cap that could instantly transport whoever wore it anywhere they desired. The clever youth proposed a race to determine the winner, put on the cap, and walked away. Forgetting about the giants, he thought of the king's daughter and sighed that he wished to be at the Castle of the Golden Sun. Instantly, he found himself standing on a high mountain before the castle gate.
The cursed princess in the Castle of the Golden Sun
The youth entered the castle and searched through all the rooms until he found the king's daughter in the last chamber. He was shocked by her appearance.
She had an ashen-gray face full of wrinkles, blear eyes, and red hair. 'Are you the King's daughter, whose beauty the whole world praises?' cried he.
The princess explained that this was not her true form and gave him a mirror that would show her real image. In the mirror, he saw the most beautiful maiden on earth, with tears rolling down her cheeks. She told him that whoever obtained the crystal ball and held it before the enchanter would destroy his power and restore her true shape. Many had already died attempting this quest.
The battle with the bull and the fiery bird
The princess explained the dangerous quest: he must descend the mountain where a wild bull would await him by a spring. If he killed the bull, a fiery bird would emerge carrying a burning egg containing the crystal ball.
The youth fought the bull and killed it with his sword. A fiery bird immediately arose and tried to fly away, but his transformed brother, the eagle, swooped down from the clouds and struck it until it dropped the egg. The egg fell on a fisherman's hut, which began to smoke and catch fire.
Then the whale brother created massive waves that streamed over the hut and extinguished the fire. The youth found the egg, which was cracked from the sudden cooling but unmelted, allowing him to extract the crystal ball safely.
Breaking the enchantment and reunion
When the youth held the crystal ball before the enchanter, the sorcerer's power was destroyed.
My power is destroyed, and from this time forth thou art the King...With this canst thou likewise give back to thy brothers their human form.
The youth hastened to the princess, who now stood in her full beauty, and they joyfully exchanged rings with each other.