The Brothers Grimm - The Juniper Tree (Translated by Maria Tatar) lyrics

A long time ago, as many as two thousand years ago, there was a rich man who had a beautiful and pious wife. They loved each other dearly, but they had no children, even though they longed for them. Day and night the wife prayed for a child, but still they had no children. Now in front of the house there was a garden, and in the garden there grew a juniper tree. Once in the wintertime, the wife was peeling an apple under the tree, and while she was peeling it, she cut her finger. Blood dripped on the snow. "Ah," said the woman, and she sighed deeply. "If only I had a child as red as blood and as white as snow!" Having said that, she began to feel better, for she had a feeling that something would come of it. Then she went back in the house. A month went by, and the snow was gone. Two months pa**ed, and everything was green. Three months went by, and the flowers sprouted from the ground. Four months pa**ed, and all the trees in the woods grew tall, with their green branches intertwining. The woods resounded with the singing of birds, and the blossoms were falling from the trees. And so the fifth month went by. And when the woman was under the juniper tree, her heart leaped for joy because it smelled so sweet. She fell to her knees and was beside herself with joy. When the sixth month had pa**ed, the fruit grew large and firm, and she became quite still. In the seventh month she picked the juniper berries and so gorged herself that she became sad and ill. After the eighth month went by, she called her husband and, weeping, said to him: "If I die, bury me under the juniper tree." After that she felt better and was happy until the ninth month had pa**ed. Then she bore a child as white as snow and as red as blood. When she saw the child she was so happy that she died. Her husband buried her under the juniper tree, and he wept day after day. After a while he felt better, but he still wept from time to time. Eventually he stopped and then he took a second wife. The man had a daughter with his second wife. The child from the first marriage was a little boy, as red as blood and as white as snow. Whenever the woman looked at her daughter, she felt love for her, but whenever she looked at the little boy, she was sick at heart. It seemed that wherever he went, he was always in the way, and she kept wondering how she could get the entire family fortune for her daughter. The devil got hold of her so that she began to hate the little boy, and she slapped him around and pinched him here and cuffed him there. The poor child lived in terror, and when he came home from school, he had no peace at all. One day the woman went to the pantry. Her little daughter followed her and said: "Mother, give me an apple." "All right, my child," said the woman, and she give her a beautiful apple from a chest that had a big heavy lid with a sharp iron lock on it. "Mother," said the little girl, "Can't brother have one too?" This irritated the woman, but she said: "Yes, he can have one when he gets back from school." When she looked out the window and saw the boy coming home, it was as if the devil had taken hold of her, and she snatched the apple out of her daughter's hand and said: "You can't have one before your brother." Then she tossed the apple into the chest and shut it. The little boy walked in the door, and the devil got her to speak sweetly to him and say: "My son, would you like an apple?" But she gave him a look full of hate. "Mother," said the little boy, "How dreadful you look! Yes, give me an apple." Then she felt as if she had to keep leading him on. "Come over here," she said, and she lifted the lid. "Now pick out an apple." And when the little boy bent down, the devil prompted her, and bam! She slammed the lid down so hard that the boy's head flew off and fell into the chest with the apples. Then she was overcome with fear and thought: "How am I going to get out of this?" She went to her room and took a white kerchief from her dresser drawer. She put the boy's head back on his neck and tied the scarf around it so that you couldn't see anything was wrong. Then she sat him down on a chair in front of the door and put an apple in his hand. Later on Little Marlene came into the kitchen to see her mother, who was standing by the fire, stirring a pot of hot water round and round. "Mother," said Little Marlene, "brother is sitting by the door and looks pale. He has an apple in his hand, and when I asked him to give me the apple, he didn't answer. It was very scary." "Go back to him," the mother said, "and if he doesn't answer, slap his face." And so Little Marlene went back to him and said: "Brother, give me the apple." But he wouldn't answer. So she gave him a slap, and his head went flying off. She was so terrified that she began to howl and weep. Then she ran to her mother and said: "Mother, I've knocked my brother's head off!" And she cried so hard that she couldn't stop. "Little Marlene," said her mother, "what a dreadful thing you've done! But don't breathe a word to anyone, for there's nothing we can do. We'll cook him up in a stew." And so the mother took the little boy and chopped him up. Then she put the pieces into a pot and cooked him up into a stew. Little Marlene stood nearby and wept so hard that the stew didn't need salt because of all her tears. When the father came home, he sat down at the table and said: "Where's my son?" The mother brought in a huge dish of stew, and Little Marlene wept so hard that she couldn't stop. "Where's my son?" the father asked again. "Oh," said the mother, "he went off to the country to visit his mother's great uncle. He plans to stay there a while." "What's he going to do there? He didn't even say good-bye to me." "Well, he really wanted to go and he asked if he could stay for six weeks. They'll take good care of him." "Oh, that makes me so sad," said the husband. "It's not right. He should have said good-bye." Then he began eating and said: "Little Marlene, why are you crying? Your brother will be back soon." Then he said: "Oh, wife, this stew tastes so good! Give me some more." The more he ate the more he wanted. "Give me some more," he said. "No one else will get any. Somehow I feel as if it's all mine." And he kept eating and threw the bones under the table until he had eaten everything. Meanwhile, Little Marlene went to her dresser and got her best silk kerchief. She picked up all the bones from beneath the table, tied them up in her silk kerchief, and carried them outside. Then she wept bitter tears. She put the bones down in the green gra** under the juniper tree. When she had put them down, she suddenly felt much better and stopped crying. The juniper tree began stirring. Its branches parted and came back together again as though it were clapping its hands for joy. A mist arose from the tree, and in the middle of the mist burned a flame, and from the flame a beautiful bird emerged and began singing gloriously. It soared up in the air, then vanished. The tree was as it had been before, but the kerchief with the bones was gone. Little Marlene was as happy and relieved as if her brother were still alive. She returned home feeling happy and sat down at the table to eat. Meanwhile the bird flew away, perched on a goldsmith's house, and began singing: "My mother, she slew me, My father, he ate me, My sister, Little Marlene, Gathered up my bones, Tied them up in silk, And put them under the juniper tree. Tweet, tweet, what a fine bird I am!" The goldsmith was sitting in his shop, making a gold chain. He heard the bird singing on his roof and found its song very beautiful. He got up and, when he walked across the threshold, he lost a slipper. Still, he kept right on going out into the middle of the street with only one sock and one slipper on. He was also wearing his apron, and in one hand he had the gold chain, in the other his tongs. The sun was shining brightly on the street. He stopped to look at the bird and said: "Bird, you sing so beautifully. Sing me that song again." "No," said the bird. "I never sing the second time for nothing. Give me that golden chain, and I'll sing it for you again." "Here," said the goldsmith. "Here's the golden chain. Now sing the song again." The bird came flying down. Taking the golden chain in its right claw, it perched in front of the goldsmith and began singing: "My mother, she slew me, My father, he ate me, My sister, Little Marlene, Gathered up my bones, Tied them up in silk, And put them under the juniper tree. Tweet, tweet, what a fine bird I am!" Then the bird flew off to a shoemaker's house, perched on the roof, and sang: "My mother, she slew me, My father, he ate me, My sister, Little Marlene, Gathered up my bones, Tied them up in silk, And put them under the juniper tree. Tweet, tweet, what a fine bird I am!" When the shoemaker heard the song, he ran out the door in his shirtsleeves and looked up at the roof. He had to put his hand over his eyes to keep the sun from blinding him. "Bird," he said, "You sing so beautifully." Then he called into the house: "Wife, come out here for a moment. There's a bird up there. See it? How beautifully it sings!" He called his daughter and her children, apprentices, hired hand and maid. They all came running out into the street to look at the bird and see how beautiful it was. It had red and green feathers, and around its neck was pure gold, and the eyes in its head sparkled like stars. "Bird," said the shoemaker, "sing that song again." "No," said the bird, "I never sing the second time for nothing. You have to give me something." "Wife," said the man, "go up to the attic. On the top shelf you'll find a pair of red shoes. Get them for me." His wife went and got the shoes. "Here," said the man. "Now sing that song again." The bird came flying down. Taking the shoes in its left claw, it flew back up on the roof and sang: "My mother, she slew me, My father, he ate me, My sister, Little Marlene, Gathered up my bones, Tied them up in silk, And put them under the juniper tree. Tweet, tweet, what a fine bird I am!" When the bird had finished the song, it flew away. It had the chain in its right claw and the shoes in its left, and it flew far away to a mill. The mill went "clickety-clack, clickety-clack, clickety-clack." Inside the mill sat twenty of the miller's men, hewing a stone, "hick hack hick hack hick hack." And the mill kept going "clickety-clack, clickety-clack, clickety-clack." And so the bird went and perched on a linden tree outside the mill and sang: "My mother, she slew me," and one of the men stopped working, "My father, he ate me," and two more stopped working and listened, "My sister, Little Marlene," then four men stopped working, "Gathered up my bones, Tied them up in silk," now only eight kept hewing, "And put them under . . ." now only five, ". . . the juniper tree." now only one. "Tweet, tweet, what a fine bird I am!" The last one stopped to listen to the final words. "Bird," he said, "you sing so beautifully! Let me hear the whole thing too. Sing that song again." "I never sing the second time for nothing. If you give me the millstone, I'll sing the song again." "If it belonged to me alone," he said. "I would give it to you." "If the bird sings again," the others said, "it can have the millstone." Then the bird swooped down, and the miller's men, all twenty of them, set the beam to and raised up the stone. "Heave-ho-hup, heaveho-hup, heave-ho-hup." And the bird stuck its neck through the hole, put the stone on as if it were a collar, flew back to the tree, and sang: "My mother, she slew me, My father, he ate me, My sister, Little Marlene, Gathered up my bones, Tied them up in silk, And put them under the juniper tree. Tweet, tweet, what a fine bird I am!" When the bird had finished its song, it spread its wings. In its right claw was the chain, in its left claw the shoes, and round its neck was the millstone. Then it flew away, far away to the house of its father. The father, mother, and Little Marlene were sitting at the table in the parlor, and the father said: "How happy I feel! My heart feels so easy." "Not me," said the mother. "I feel frightened, as if a big storm were on its way." Meanwhile, Little Marlene just sat there weeping. The bird flew up and, when it landed on the roof, the father said: "How happy I'm feeling. And outside the sun is shining so brightly! I feel as if I'm about to see an old friend again." "I don't," said the woman. "I'm so scared that my teeth are chattering, and I feel as if there's fire running through my veins." She tore at her bodice to loosen it, while little Marlene sat there weeping. She held her apron up to her eyes and wept so hard that it was completely soaked with tears. The bird swooped down to the juniper tree, perched on a branch, and sang: "My mother, she slew me . . ." The mother stopped up her ears and closed her eyes, for she didn't want to see or hear anything, but the roaring in her ears was like the wildest of storms, and her eyes burned and flashed like lightning. "My father, he ate me . . . " "Oh, Mother," said the man, "there's a beautiful bird out there, and it's singing so gloriously. The sun is shining so warmly, and the air smells like cinnamon." "My sister, Little Marlene . . ." Little Marlene put her head in her lap and just kept crying and crying. But the husband said: "I'm going outside. I've got to see this bird close up." "Oh, don't go," said the wife. "It feels as if the whole house is shaking and about to go up in flames!" But the husband went out and looked at the bird. "Gathered up my bones, Tied them up in silk, And put them under the juniper tree. Tweet, tweet, what a fine bird I am!" After finishing its song, the bird dropped the golden chain, and it fell right around the man's neck, fitting him perfectly. He went inside and said: "Just see what a fine bird is out there! It gave me this beautiful golden chain, as beautiful as it is." But the woman was so terrified that she fell full length on the floor, and the cap she was wearing came off her head. And the bird sang once again: "My mother, she slew me . . . " "Oh, if only I were a thousand feet under the ground so that I wouldn't have to hear this!" "My father, he ate me . . ." Then the woman fell down again as if dead. "My sister, Little Marlene . . . " "Oh," said Little Marlene, "I want to go outside and see if the bird will give me something too." And she went out. "Gathered up my bones, Tied them up in silk," And the bird tossed her the shoes. "And put them under the juniper tree. Tweet, tweet, what a fine bird I am!" Little Marlene felt lighthearted and happy. She put on the new red shoes and came dancing and skipping into the house. "Oh," she said, "I was so sad when I went out, and now I feel so cheerful. What a fine bird is out there. It gave me a pair of red shoes." The woman jumped to her feet and her hair stood straight on end like tongues of flame. "I have a feeling that the world is coming to an end. Maybe I'd feel better if I went outside." As she went out the door, bam\ the bird dropped the millstone on her head and crushed her to d**h; The father and Little Marlene heard the crash and went outside. Smoke, flames, and fire were rising up from the spot, and when they vanished, little brother was standing there. He took his father and Little Marlene by the hand, and the three of them were overjoyed. Then they went into the house, sat down at the table, and ate.