It was not long before the Virgin Mary came back from her journey. She called the girl before her, and
asked to have the keys of heaven back. When the maiden gave her the bunch,
the Virgin looked into her eyes and said, “Hast
thou not opened the thirteenth door also?” “No,” she replied. Then she laid
her hand on the girl’s heart, and felt how it beat and beat, and saw right well
that she had disobeyed her order and had opened the door. Then she said once
again, “Art thou certain that thou hast not done it?”
“Yes,” said the girl, for the second time. Then she perceived the finger which had become
golden from touching the fire of heaven, and saw well that the child had
sinned, and said for the third time “Hast thou not done it?” “No,” said the
girl for the third time. Then said
the Virgin Mary, “Thou hast not obeyed me, and besides that thou hast lied,
thou art no longer worthy to be in heaven.”
Then the girl fell into a deep sleep, and when she awoke she
lay on the earth below, and in the midst of a wilderness. She wanted to cry
out, but she could bring forth no sound. She sprang up and wanted to run away,
but whithersoever she turned herself, she was continually held back by thick
hedges of thorns through which she could not break. In the desert, in which she was imprisoned, there stood an old hollow
tree, and this had to be her dwelling-place. Into this she crept when night
came, and here she slept. Here, too, she found a shelter from storm and rain,
but it was a miserable life, and bitterly did she weep when she remembered how
happy she had been in heaven, and how the angels had played with her. Roots and
wild berries were her only food, and for these she sought as far as she could
go.
In the autumn she picked up the fallen nuts and leaves, and
carried them into the hole. The nuts were her food in winter, and when snow and
ice came, she crept amongst the leaves like a poor little animal that she might
not freeze. Before long her clothes were all torn, and one bit of them after
another fell off her. As soon, however, as the sun shone warm again, she went
out and sat in front of the tree, and her long hair covered her on all sides
like a mantle. Thus she sat year after year, and felt the pain and the misery
of the world. One day, when the
trees were once more clothed in fresh green, the King of the country was hunting in the forest, and followed a
roe, and as it had fled into the thicket which shut in this part of the forest,
he got off his horse, tore the bushes asunder, and cut himself a path with his
sword. When he had at last forced his way through, he saw a wonderfully beautiful maiden sitting under the tree; and
she sat there and was entirely covered with her golden hair down to her very
feet. He stood still and looked at her full of surprise, then he spoke to her
and said, “Who art thou? Why art thou sitting here in the wilderness?” But she
gave no answer, for she could not open her mouth. The King continued, “Wilt thou go with me to my castle?” Then
she just nodded her head a little. The King took her in his arms, carried her
to his horse, and rode home with her, and when he reached the royal castle
he caused her to be dressed in beautiful garments, and gave her all things in
abundance. Although she could not speak,
she was still so beautiful and charming that he began to love her with all his
heart, and it was not long before he married her. After a year or so had
passed, the Queen brought a son into the world. Thereupon the Virgin Mary appeared to her in the night when she lay in her
bed alone, and said, “If thou wilt tell
the truth and confess that thou didst unlock the forbidden door, I will open
thy mouth and give thee back thy speech, but if thou perseverest in thy sin,
and deniest obstinately, I will take thy new-born child away with me.” Then
the queen was permitted to answer, but she remained hard, and said, “No, I did
not open the forbidden door;” and the Virgin Mary took the new-born child from
her arms, and vanished with it. Next
morning when the child was not to be found, it was whispered among the people
that the Queen was a man-eater, and had killed her own child. She heard all
this and could say nothing to the contrary, but the King would not believe it,
for he loved her so much. When a year
had gone by the Queen again bore a son, and in the night the Virgin Mary again came to her, and
said, “If thou wilt confess that thou openedst the forbidden door, I will give
thee thy child back and untie thy tongue; but if you continuest in sin and
deniest it, I will take away with me this new child also.” Then the Queen again
said, “No, I did not open the forbidden door;” and the Virgin took the child
out of her arms, and away with her to heaven. Next morning, when this child also had disappeared, the people
declared quite loudly that the Queen had devoured it, and the King’s
councillors demanded that she should be brought to justice. The King, however, loved her so dearly that
he would not believe it, and commanded the councillors under pain of death not
to say any more about it. The
following year the Queen gave birth to a beautiful little daughter, and for the
third time the Virgin Mary appeared to her in the night and said, “Follow
me.” She took the Queen by the hand and led her to heaven, and showed her there
her two eldest children, who smiled at her, and were playing with the ball of
the world. When the Queen rejoiced thereat, the Virgin Mary said, “Is thy heart not yet softened? If thou wilt own that thou openedst the
forbidden door, I will give thee back thy two little sons.” But for the
third time the Queen answered, “No, I did not open the forbidden door.” Then
the Virgin let her sink down to earth once more, and took from her likewise her
third child. Next morning, when the
loss was reported abroad, all the people cried loudly, “The Queen is a
man-eater. She must be judged,” and the King was no longer able to restrain
his councillors. Thereupon a trial was held, and as she could not answer, and
defend herself, she was condemned to be burnt alive. The wood was got
together, and when she was fast bound to the stake, and the fire began to burn round about her, the hard ice of pride melted,
her heart was moved by repentance, and she thought, “If I could but confess
before my death that I opened the door.” Then her voice came back to her,
and she cried out loudly, “Yes, Mary, I did it;” and straight-way rain fell from
the sky and extinguished the flames of fire, and a light broke forth above her,
and the Virgin Mary descended with the two little sons by her side, and the
new-born daughter in her arms. She spoke kindly to her, and said, “He who
repents his sin and acknowledges it, is forgiven.” Then she gave her the three
children, untied her tongue, and granted her happiness for her whole life.
Temptation plot, Grimm brothers, Our lady’s child,
By a great forest dwelt a wood-cutter with his wife and an only
child. One morning there stood before him the Virgin Mary, She took her up to
heaven with her. When she was fourteen years of age, the Virgin Mary called her
one day and said, “Dear child, I am about to make a long journey, so take into
thy keeping the keys of the thirteen doors of heaven. Twelve of these thou
mayest open, and behold the glory which is within them, but the thirteenth, to
which this little key belongs, is forbidden thee. Beware of opening it, or thou
wilt bring misery on thyself.”
She sought out the key, and when she had got it in her hand,
she put it in the lock, and when she had put it in, she turned it round as
well. Then the door sprang open; she touched the light a little with her
finger, and her finger became quite golden.
It was not long before the Virgin Mary came back from her
journey. She called the girl before her, and asked to have the keys of heaven
back…..
