Fairy Tales Read online

  She weeps for so much confusion.

  If I may ask, Snow White, kiss her,

  something that would express some love.

  Snow White (kisses her):

  Then permit me this sweet token.

  See how pale you are! Forgive me

  if I take your pallor’s life with

  these kisses. See, they sponge it up,

  every bit of this tragic hue

  that would so disfigure your bliss.

  Hunter, have you nothing newer?

  Hunter:

  O, still so much, but silence now.

  An end kisses in the end, though

  a beginning is still not through.

  The Queen gives me a gracious nod

  and my words choke up in her grace.

  As one blessed, I keep my silence.

  The King, the Prince, ladies-in-waiting, and nobles appear.

  Snow White:

  O good Father, with your august

  seal press on that not yet smothered

  strife between these two burning hearts.

  Accept this kiss, and trample out

  this jealous strife into the ground

  as an emissary of peace.

  King:

  I always thought you peaceable.

  What kind of strife, my lovely child?

  Queen:

  No more strife, just a smiling word,

  a jest taking a serious mien

  that tricks you with a looming brow.

  There was some strife here, but no more.

  Love knew how to win here. Hate

  perished in such a stronger love.

  I did hate—it was just a game,

  a tantrum taken much too far,

  the bluster of a passing mood.

  No more than that. Now it’s sweet peace.

  For a while a wounded envy

  felt it had to hate. Ah, that hurt

  myself more than anyone else.

  Snow White here can affirm me.

  King:

  Is the Hunter blameless? The Prince

  here bitterly accuses him.

  Snow White:

  Pureness points to heaven no more.

  Perhaps you believe he trafficked

  in illicit love with the Queen,

  exchanging kiss and embrace, O,

  don’t believe that. You are deceived

  by the temperament of this man,

  which is as precious as a gem.

  Love must cherish him, honor crown

  him beyond doubt. Brave man, to whom

  more gratitude than gratitude

  can ever owe, I repay you.

  (To the King) Lord, everything is peaceable,

  and strife looks just like a blue sky.

  King:

  Here indeed then a miracle

  has happened during this short hour.

  Prince:

  The villain is villain no more.

  Queen:

  Hush, noble prince, it’s ignoble,

  such a weakness for minor faults,

  in the scene you keep pointing at,

  whose flowering you sought after,

  shielding him instead. Were he great,

  we’d not now be standing gathered

  so peacefully. Give me your hand,

  forget the guilt in a friend’s press.

  Prince:

  I should forget that here is this

  confounded poisonous villain,

  the green knave in the hunting clothes,

  who for but a short hour courted

  such rich favor from the Queen?

  Make me forget that I am an

  anointed prince and a ruler,

  but not this sin, which is too great

  for just any oblivion.

  Snow White:

  O, there’s no longer any sin.

  It’s no longer in this circle.

  It’s fled from us. The sinner here,

  I, as her true child, kiss her hand

  and ask of her if she might but

  sin as much in so dear a way.

  Why, Prince, why do you stir up strife?

  Have you forgotten what you swore

  only but a short time ago?

  Did you not swear love to the Queen,

  kneel for her beautiful image

  of devotion and sweet splendor?

  Show now love, it truly befits

  you best to joyfully render

  the homage here of a shy kiss.

  I, too, I thought I had been hurt,

  the one harmed, hated, and cast out.

  How stupid and stubborn I was

  alike to see an evil sin,

  to hastily trust in mistrust

  and be so blind in bitterness.

  Cast off the rash prejudice of

  condemnation and fierce justice.

  Justice is this clemency here,

  and clemency is peace enwreathed,

  part of this sweet, blessed revel

  that tosses sin into the air,

  plays with it as with the flowers.

  Be happy you can be happy.

  O, could I speak. I must too

  for such a great and blessed end.

  But I lack that gift for eloquence;

  passion is much too wild in me

  and I am so intensely filled

  by such lofty, contrary joy.

  Queen:

  Oh, but how sweet you speak, fair child!

  King:

  Take this kiss, and may all have

  a fete of royal joy this day.

  Prince, you’d be better served if you

  fell in with the general delight.

  You don’t want to be a stranger

  and apart from such faithfully

  devoted, heartfelt happiness.

  What? Why do you still look angry?

  Prince:

  Not angry, nor charming either.

  I just don’t know what I should say.

  Prince exits.

  Queen (to Snow White):

  And are you no longer tired now?

  You want to laugh again, have fun,

  and spread cheer as if it were seed?

  Snow White:

  I’m tired no more. What? Did the Prince

  run in fear from our rejoicing?

  Does this befit this noble man?

  Queen:

  Sure it befits—he’s a coward!

  Snow White:

  I don’t know if he’s a coward.

  But such conduct’s awful of him.

  Go, Hunter, bring him back here.

  Hunter exits.

  I want to scold him when he comes,

  and he’ll surely come. He just wants

  us anxiously seeking for him.

  Queen:

  Then he will still be your sweetheart.

  And then—then I say, yes indeed,

  must say something I remember, say—

  What do I say? Ah, yes, then say,

  something like this perchance, saying:

  “You fired him on with your kisses

  to that—”

  Snow White:

  Hush, O hush. Just the fairy tale

  says so, not you and never me.

  I said it just once, once like that—

  it’s over and done. Father, come.

  Lead the way inside for us all.

  All go toward the castle.

  * The Prince should be seen as shorter than the other characters, even Snow White, and wearing a checkered costume.

  THORN ROSE,

  THE SLEEPING BEAUTY

  Thorn Rose:

  You, you who stand in this circle,

  please take a good look at this man.

  He woke me from my hundred years

  of deep sleep and so he wishes

  to now take me to be his wife.

  King:

  He will wish he was not so bold.

  What has he done that’s impo
rtant?

  Thorn Rose:

  He came by this way and kissed me,

  and with this kiss he woke me up.

  First Lady-in-Waiting:

  Anybody could just as well.

  Queen:

  Surely he has freed the castle

  and lifted the spell over us,

  yet that, I would hope, should hardly

  warrant such a desire as his.

  King:

  I would hope too,

  Second Lady-in-Waiting:

  I would hope too, me too,

  Thorn Rose:

  I would hope too, me too, me too.

  King:

  Say, good stranger, could you give fair

  proof of exactly who you are too?

  Thorn Rose:

  Does he not have eyes like the sea,

  a countenance like marble,

  and a deportment like granite?

  Well, I would not like such people.

  Let him find another sweetheart.

  Third Lady-in-Waiting:

  Above all, should he not behave

  a little friendlier? He stands

  like a fence post and doesn’t move.

  Nor has his mouth opened either.

  Hey? Can you say something or not?

  Stranger:

  I will talk enough later on.

  There’s really no terrible rush.

  King:

  He awakened us from our sleep

  and seems quite still asleep himself.

  Groundskeeper:

  This service that he has performed

  is rather doubtful and he could

  have easily spared himself

  all this trouble for our sake.

  Wasn’t it lovely just to sleep?

  Were we not so much better off?

  Coachman:

  If I still slept, I’d not have to climb

  on my box now and be bothering

  with those stubborn, stamping horses.

  Cook:

  If I still slept, I would not now

  have to fight with the scullion maids.

  Scullery Maid:

  And I wouldn’t have to pluck chickens,

  Mamselle:*

  and I wouldn’t have to fluff the pillows,

  Servant:

  I would not have to shine these shoes.

  Hunter:

  The game would be asleep like me

  had this monsieur here not come around.

  Accountant:

  The books would trouble me no more.

  I never did settle accounts,

  and balances never worried me.

  Court Poet:

  If I were asleep, no verses

  would have to be labored over.

  I’d still be lying on my ear

  and dreaming of nothing but fame.

  Now I’ll wrestle around for rhymes,

  earning nothing but ingratitude.

  I would rather he had kept to

  his cuckoo nest or somewhere else

  that suited him and let us sleep.

  This was no masterpiece on his part.

  Minister:

  If only I were still asleep.

  I would not be taxing my brain

  with such difficult alliances.

  Governess:

  Must I warn the children all over

  to be on their best behavior now?

  Perhaps no one thinks of what a world

  of trouble this is going to cost me.

  Professor:

  Science and scholarship for my sake

  could have still continued slumbering

  peacefully a little while longer.

  First Lady-in-Waiting:

  Anyway, he surely claims credit

  for his having accomplished something.

  If only he had graced someone else

  with his presence sooner instead

  and had been willing to spare us it.

  Thorn Rose:

  But there he is now after all.

  King:

  Sadly, yes.

  Thorn Rose:

  Sadly, yes. Say, how’d you get here?

  Don’t you have eyes like the ocean?

  Did the waves toss you ashore here?

  Did you fall from the clouds to us?

  Stranger:

  Did I come so undesired then?

  Thorn Rose:

  So as to disturb my pleasant dream.

  Stranger:

  Isn’t reality a dream too?

  Aren’t we all, even when awake,

  going about a bit like dreamers,

  sleepwalkers in the light of day,

  who play around with caprices

  and act as if awake?

  Well, we are, but what is being awake?

  Does some god lead us by the hand?

  Would he not do so where we have gone?

  Have we any guarantee that we

  would survive without someone higher?

  Could we persist without this support

  that we therefore do not apprehend,

  because it is a riddle to us?

  All is a dream, our houses are,

  trade, industry, our food each day,

  the cities, the countries and the

  light and the sun. No one can claim

  he understands. Understanding

  is but piecemeal, never otherwise.

  King:

  Just give us details.

  Stranger:

  Just give us details. As you know,

  I felt bored at my father’s court.

  So one day I just wandered away

  to see for myself what they call life,

  and when I felt myself getting tired,

  I slept where I could on the hard ground,

  and afterward I walked once more,

  and if someone stood in my way,

  I fought for myself. Then I heard

  about you.

  Thorn Rose:

  about you. About me?

  Stranger:

  about you. About me? They said

  you slept in a tower surrounded

  by wild roses and thorns, that you

  were under a spell. Only he who

  broke through to you could rescue you.

  Thorn Rose:

  That whetted your curiosity.

  Stranger:

  Perhaps I felt like taking the risk.

  I continued on my journey

  without ever having seen you,

  just you in spirit before me,

  with me every step of the way.

  At twilight, I would spend the time

  thinking of how gentle you were and

  sweet, and how wonderful it would be

  to stir you, for me to look upon

  you a little, to draw you toward me

  tighter and tighter and you thinking

  of me, that I am good enough.

  Perhaps I stand here somewhat awkward.

  However, something happens as I

  just stand here in person, and I do.

  So I wandered on and then came here,

  walked without any long second thoughts

  into this enveloping rankness,

  which, like it knew the time had come,

  pulled away its thorns then and there

  such that I found unobstructed

  an entrance and hastened to you.

  I saw and kissed you. Then you opened

  your eyes,

  Thorn Rose:

  your eyes, because I had been surprised

  by such a bold intruder?

  Stranger:

  by such a bold intruder? Many,

  of those who weren’t as lucky as me,

  I saw lying on the ground. A few

  seemed to be smiling, as if they

  were content in death to have achieved

  this tempting prize.

  Thorn Rose:

  this tempting prize. Those poor men, O those<
br />
  valiant souls risking life with disdain,

  to whom something seemed more beautiful,

  to crumble away exemplary,

  to have conquered both love and honor,

  to exist less worthy and less brave.

  I will think about this all my life

  and the thought shall be bracing to me,

  like a flower’s fragrance. I would be

  awful if I didn’t think of it

  continually as though it were

  my own breath.

  Stranger:

  my own breath. How true, how true, and I’m

  plainly embarrassed at my success

  to stand before you—

  Thorn Rose:

  to stand before you— —where so many

  good men had to die, who fervently

  desired me just as much as you,

  who with blue-flashing eyes and blond hair,

  with unsullied courage, with their young

  breasts full of youthful compulsion

  to snatch from life its zest, competed

  for me—you alone touched what fate

  would not grant them. We struggle

  in vain when it won’t, even when

  giants take our cause. Lady Fortune!

  Pooh! For a moment there, I was

  almost becoming annoyed. Well look

  now! I am beginning to believe

  you have a right to me and it’s the right thing

  that I belong to you now.

  Queen:

  Don’t you want to think this step through?

  Think about what you’re saying here.

  Thorn Rose:

  Were I to think it over longer,

  I could spoil it for me in the end.

  No, I am entirely in agreement

  with myself, and he is my lord now.

  Still, I would rather see my hero

  otherwise, as one much more handsome,

  somewhat more pleasing and elegant,

  more charming too, and in a certain

  sense prouder. But, alas, I cannot

  say these things. I must accept him now, as

  he is, and do so sincerely.

  Stranger:

  I am your gallant servant always!

  And should I but only half please you,

  should you have to all but force yourself

  to see, to love, and to suffer me,

  let me tell you a French proverb now:

  L’appétit vient en mangeant.† I hope

  that I shall succeed in pleasing you.

  Thorn Rose:

  So be it! Now let there be music

  and let’s all be happy together.

  The sun is shining and the sky is

  looking blue, and winds are fanning us

  with uninhibitedly cool air.

  This palace is now coming to life.

  And going forward every one of us

  will cheerfully challenge ourselves

  and eagerly help where there is need,

  with our eyes looking bright and living

  happy as one and in such a way

  that all things considered we shall build

  toward a flourishing companionship.

  King:

  Because what you say, child, isn’t bad,