In olden times, when the Lord himself still used to walk about on
this earth amongst men, it once happened that he was tired and
overtaken by the darkness before he could reach an inn. Now
there stood on the road before him two houses facing each other,
the one large and beautiful, the other small and poor. The
large one belonged to a rich man, and the small one to a poor
man.
Then the Lord thought, I shall be no burden to the rich man.
I will stay the night with him. Then the rich man heard someone
knocking at his door, he opened the window and asked the stranger
what he wanted. The Lord answered, I only ask for a night's
lodging.
Then the rich man looked at the traveler from head to foot, and
as the Lord was wearing common clothes, and did not look like
one who had much money in his pocket, he shook his head, and
said, no, I cannot take you in, my rooms are full of herbs and
seeds. And if I were to lodge everyone who knocked at my door,
I might very soon go begging myself. Go somewhere else for
a lodging, and with this he shut down the window and left the
Lord standing there.
So the Lord turned his back on the rich man, and went across
to the small house and knocked. He had hardly done so when
the poor man opened the little door and bade the traveler
come in. Pass the night with me, it is already dark, said he.
You cannot go any further to-night. This pleased the Lord,
and he went in. The poor man's wife shook hands with him,
and welcomed him, and said he
was to make himself at home and put up with what they had got.
They had not much to offer him, but what they had they would
give him with all their hearts. Then she put the potatoes on
the fire, and while they were boiling, she milked the goat,
that they might have a little milk with them. When the
cloth was laid, the Lord sat down with the man and his wife,
and he enjoyed their coarse food, for there were happy faces
at the table. When they had had supper and it was bed-time,
the woman called her husband apart and said, listen, dear
husband, let us make up a bed of straw for ourselves to-night,
and then the poor traveler can sleep in our bed and have a
good rest, for he has been walking the whole day through,
and that makes one weary. With all my heart, he answered,
I will go and offer it to him. And he went to the stranger
and invited him, if he had no objection, to sleep in their
bed and rest his limbs properly. But the Lord was unwilling
to take their bed from the two old folks. However, they
would not be satisfied, until at length he did it and lay
down in their bed, while they themselves lay on some straw
on the ground.
Next morning they got up before daybreak, and made as good a
breakfast as they could for the guest. When the sun shone in
through the little window, and the Lord had got up, he again
ate with them, and then prepared to set out on his journey.
But as he was standing at the door he turned round and said,
as you are so kind and good, you may wish three things for
yourselves and I will grant them. Then the man said, what
else should I wish for but eternal happiness, and that we
two, as long as we live, may be healthy and have every day
our daily bread. For the third wish, I do not know what to
have. And the Lord said to him, will you wish for a new
house instead of this old one. Oh, yes, said the man.
If I can have that, too, I should like it very much. And
the Lord fulfilled his wish, and changed their old house
into a new one, again gave them his blessing, and went on.
The sun was high when the rich man got up and leaned out
of his window and saw, on the opposite side of the way, a
new clean-looking
house with red tiles and bright windows where the old hut
used to be. He was very much astonished, and called his
wife and said to her, tell me, what can have happened.
Last night there was a miserable little hut standing there,
and to-day there is a beautiful new house. Run over and see
how that has come to pass.
So his wife went and asked the poor man, and he said to her,
yesterday evening a traveler came here and asked for a
night's lodging, and this morning when he took leave of
us he granted us three wishes - eternal happiness, health
during this life and our daily bread as well, and
besides this, a beautiful new house instead of our old
hut.
When the rich man's wife heard this, she ran back in haste
and told her husband how it had happened. The man said,
I could tear myself to pieces. If I had but known that.
That traveler came to our house too, and wanted to sleep
here, and I sent him away. Quick, said his wife, get on
your horse. You can still catch the man up, and then you must
ask to have three wishes granted to you also.
The rich man followed the good counsel and galloped away on
his horse, and soon came up with the Lord. He spoke to him
softly and pleasantly, and begged him not to take it
amiss that he had not let him in directly. He was looking
for the front-door key, and in the meantime the stranger had
gone away. If he returned the same way he must come and
stay with him. Yes, said the Lord. If I ever come back
again, I will do so. Then the rich man asked if might not
wish for three things too, as his neighbor had done.
Yes, said the Lord, he might, but it would not be to his
advantage, and he had better not wish for anything. But
the rich man thought that he could easily ask for something
which would add to his happiness, if he only knew that it would
be granted. So the Lord said to him, ride home, then, and
three wishes which you shall make, shall be fulfilled.
The rich man had now gained what he wanted, so he rode home,
and began to consider what he should wish for. As he
was thus
thinking he let the bridle fall, and the horse began to caper
about, so that he was continually disturbed in his meditations,
and could not collect his thoughts at all. He patted its neck,
and said, gently, lisa, but the horse only began new tricks.
Then at last he was angry, and cried quite impatiently, I wish
your neck was broken. Directly he had said the words, down the
horse fell on the ground, and there it lay dead and never
moved again. And thus was his first wish fulfilled. As he
was miserly by nature, he did not like to leave the harness
lying there. So he cut it off, and put it on his back. And
now he had to go on foot. I have still two wishes left, said
he, and comforted himself with that thought.
And now as he was walking slowly through the sand, and the
sun was burning hot at noon-day, he grew quite bad-tempered
and angry. The saddle hurt his back, and he had not yet any
idea what to wish for. If I were to wish for all the riches
and treasures in the world, said he to himself, I should still
to think of all kinds of other things later on. I know that,
beforehand. But I will manage so that there is nothing at all
left me to wish for afterwards. Then he sighed and said, ah,
if I were but that bavarian peasant, who likewise had three
wishes granted to him, and knew quite well what to do, and
in the first place wished for a great deal of beer, and in
the second for as much beer as he was able to drink, and in
the third for a barrel of beer into the bargain.
Many a time he thought he had found it, but then it seemed to
him to be, after all, too little. Then it came into his
mind, what an easy life his wife had, for she stayed at
home in a cool room and enjoyed herself. This really did vex
him, and before he was aware, he said, I just wish she was
sitting there on this saddle, and could not get off it,
instead of my having to drag it along on my back. And as the
last word was spoken, the saddle disappeared from his back,
and he saw that his second wish had been fulfilled. Then
he really did feel hot. He began to run and wanted to be quite
alone in his own room at home, to think of something really
big for his last wish. But when he arrived there and opened
the parlor-door, he
saw his wife sitting in the middle of the room on the saddle,
crying and complaining, and quite unable to get off it. So
he said, do bear it, and I will wish for all the riches on
earth for you, only stay where you are. She, however, called
him a fool, and said, what good will all the riches on earth
do me, if I am to sit on this saddle. You have wished me
on it, so you must help me off. So whether he would or not,
he was forced to let his third wish be that she should be
quit of the saddle, and able to get off it, and immediately
the wish was fulfilled. So he got nothing by it but vexation,
trouble, abuse, and the loss of his horse. But the poor
people lived contentedly, quietly, and piously until their
happy death.
