The Poor Miller's Boy and the Cat (Grimm)
Short summary
An old miller with three apprentices promised his mill to whoever brought him the best horse. The two clever apprentices abandoned Hans in a cave, thinking him too foolish to succeed.
Lost in the forest, Hans met a tabby-cat who offered him a deal: serve her for seven years and receive a magnificent horse. Hans accepted and was taken to an enchanted castle where cat servants attended to his every need.
For seven years, Hans faithfully chopped wood with silver tools, mowed meadows, and built a small house. When he returned to the mill in his old ragged clothes, the other apprentices mocked him with their lame and blind horses.
In the morning when he awoke, the three days had passed, and a coach came with six horses and they shone so bright that it was delightful to see them!
A princess emerged from the coach - the tabby-cat transformed. She gifted Hans the finest horse, the mill, and married him, making him rich for life.
Detailed summary
Division into chapters is editorial.
The millers challenge and Hans abandoned by his companions
An old miller lived alone in his mill with three apprentices who had served him for several years. Having no wife or children, the aging miller decided it was time to retire. He announced to his apprentices that whichever of them brought him the finest horse would inherit the mill and care for him until his death.
The third apprentice was Hans, whom the others considered foolish and treated as a drudge.
Meeting the tabby cat and the seven-year bargain
The third of the boys was, however, the drudge, who was looked on as foolish by the others; they begrudged the mill to him, and afterwards he would not have it.
All three apprentices set out together to find horses. When they reached the village, the two clever ones told Hans he might as well stay behind since he would never obtain a horse. Despite their mockery, Hans continued with them. That night they found shelter in a cave, where they all lay down to sleep.
The two sharp ones waited until Hans had fallen asleep, then they got up, and went away leaving him where he was. And they thought they had done a very clever thing.
When Hans awoke at sunrise, he found himself alone in the deep cavern. Confused and abandoned, he climbed out and wandered into the forest, wondering how he would ever obtain a horse. As he walked in despair, he encountered a small tabby cat who spoke to him kindly.
Life in the enchanted castle serving the cat
Come with me, and be my faithful servant for seven years long, and then I will give you one more beautiful than any you have ever seen in your whole life.
Though skeptical, Hans agreed to serve the cat. She led him to her enchanted castle, where numerous cats served as her attendants. These magical cats performed all manner of tasks - they leaped nimbly up and down stairs, played musical instruments including bassoon, fiddle, and trumpet, and were perpetually merry and happy.
The cats attended to Hans's every need - they lit him to his bedroom, removed his shoes and stockings, and even blew out his candle. In the morning, they helped him dress and one dried his face with her tail, which felt remarkably soft. Hans worked diligently for the cat, chopping wood daily with tools made of silver and copper. He lived comfortably in the castle, eating good food and drink, seeing only the tabby cat and her servants.
The cat assigned Hans various tasks: mowing her meadow with a silver scythe and golden whetstone, then building a small house using silver timber and tools. Despite completing all these tasks, Hans still had no horse, though the seven years passed as quickly as six months.
The magnificent horses and Hanss return home
Nevertheless the seven years had gone by with him as if they were six months. The cat asked him if he would like to see her horses? Yes, said Hans.
When the cat opened the door of the small house Hans had built, twelve magnificent horses stood inside, so bright and shining that his heart rejoiced at the sight. The cat fed Hans well and told him to return home, promising to follow in three days with his horse. She had never given him new clothes during his service, so Hans departed in his old, dirty smock-frock that had become too small after seven years.
When Hans reached the mill, the other two apprentices had already returned, each with a horse - one blind, the other lame. They mocked Hans when he said his horse would arrive in three days. The miller, ashamed of Hans's ragged appearance, refused to let him sit at the table and made him sleep in the goose-house on hard straw.
The cats true identity revealed and Hanss reward
On the third day, a magnificent coach arrived drawn by six shining horses, with a servant bringing a seventh horse for Hans.
And a magnificent princess alighted from the coach and went into the mill, and this princess was the little tabby-cat whom poor Hans had served for seven years.
The princess demanded to see Hans, and when the servants dressed him in splendid garments, no king could have looked more handsome. After examining the inferior horses brought by the other apprentices, she declared that the seventh horse belonged to Hans, meaning he should inherit the mill. However, she told him to keep the mill while taking her faithful Hans away in her coach. The small house he had built with silver tools had become a great castle filled with silver and gold. She married Hans, making him rich beyond measure for the rest of his life.