The True Sweethearts (Grimm)
Short summary
A young maiden suffered under her cruel stepmother who gave her impossible tasks. When ordered to pick twelve pounds of feathers in one day, the desperate girl wept until an old woman appeared and completed the work for her.
The old woman helped twice more, emptying a pond and building a magnificent castle. The stepmother died falling into the castle cellar, leaving the girl wealthy. A prince won her heart and they became betrothed under a lime tree. He left to get his father's consent but forgot her when another kissed his cheek. The heartbroken girl became a herdswoman. Years later, she attended the prince's wedding feast three nights wearing magical dresses. On the third night, she revealed herself.
Dost thou not know what I did when thou leftest me? Then she stepped up to him, and kissed him on his left cheek, and in a moment it was as if scales fell from his eyes.
They wed at once.
Detailed summary
Division into chapters is editorial.
The stepmothers impossible tasks and magical assistance
A young and beautiful girl lived with her cruel stepmother after losing her mother in childhood. Despite the girl's tireless efforts and hard work, nothing could satisfy the wicked woman, who constantly devised new ways to make her life miserable.
One day, the stepmother gave the girl twelve pounds of feathers to pick clean by evening, threatening a beating if the task remained unfinished. The girl sat down to work, but tears fell as she realized the impossibility of completing such a task in one day. Whenever she sighed in anguish, the feathers flew away, forcing her to begin anew.
Then she put her elbows on the table, laid her face in her two hands, and cried, 'Is there no one, then, on God's earth to have pity on me?'
A kind old woman appeared and offered to help. While the girl rested, the magical helper completed the feather-picking task with her withered hands. When the stepmother returned and saw the finished work, she grudgingly acknowledged it but immediately planned something harder. The next morning, she ordered the girl to empty a large pond using a spoon full of holes. Again, the old woman appeared and magically drained the pond by causing vapors to rise from the water.
The castle inheritance and meeting the prince
On the third day, the stepmother demanded that a complete castle be built on the plain by evening. The magical helper touched the gray rocks, which began moving and building themselves into a magnificent castle with silk-hung walls, crystal chandeliers, and every luxury imaginable. When the stepmother inspected the castle, she found everything perfect. However, while examining the cellar, the heavy trapdoor fell and killed her instantly.
The magnificent castle now belonged to the girl alone, filled with beautiful dresses, gold, silver, pearls, and jewels. Soon, her beauty and wealth became famous throughout the world, attracting many suitors until the king's son arrived and won her heart.
The princes departure and the girls transformation into a cowherd
The prince and the girl became betrothed while sitting under a lime tree in the castle garden. When he prepared to leave to obtain his father's consent for their marriage, she kissed him on his left cheek and made him promise to remain faithful.
Keep true to me, and never let anyone else kiss thee on this cheek. I will wait here under the lime-tree until thou returnest.
The maiden waited beneath the lime tree until sunset, but he did not return. She waited three more days, but when he still failed to appear, she concluded that some accident had befallen him. Packing her three most beautiful dresses - one embroidered with bright stars, another with silver moons, and the third with golden suns - along with jewels, she set out to search for him. After wandering far and wide without success, she hired herself to a farmer as a cowherd and buried her treasures beneath a stone.
Recognition and the three festival nights
Living as a herdswoman, she trained a little calf to kneel beside her and sang mournful verses about the prince who had forgotten his betrothed bride.
Little calf, little calf, kneel by my side,
And do not forget thy shepherd-maid,
As the prince forgot his betrothed bride,
Who waited for him 'neath the lime-tree's shade.
When news spread that the king's daughter was to marry, she saw her former betrothed riding proudly past without recognizing her. When a great three-day festival was announced at the king's court, she decided to try her last chance. On the first evening, she wore her dress with golden suns and appeared at the festival, where the prince danced with her but did not recognize her. On the second night, she wore the silver moon dress, and again he was enchanted but still did not know her. On the third night, wearing the star-spangled dress, she finally revealed her identity by kissing him on his left cheek, causing him to remember his true bride.
The reunion and return to the castle
Recognition restored, the prince immediately left the festival with his true bride and rushed back to the magic castle. The horses hurried away as if the wind had been harnessed to the carriage. When they drove past the lime tree, countless glowworms swarmed about it, and it shook its branches, sending forth fragrance. In the hall, the entire court was assembled, and the priest was waiting to marry the bridegroom to his true bride.