"The Twelve Huntsmen.” The Juniper Tree, and other Tales from Grimm, Brothers Grimm, translated by Lore Segal, Randall Jarrell, New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1973, pp. 63-70.

Tale Summary

Once upon a time there was a prince who was very much in love with his bride. He received news that his father, the king, was dying, and that he requested his presence. He gave his bride a ring as a token and said he would come back for her when he became king. When he visited, his father made him promise to fulfill his wishes and named a certain princess that he was to marry. The prince reluctantly agreed, and when his true bride heard of this she was grieved and began to waste away. Her father told her that he would get her anything she wanted, and she requested eleven girls who looked exactly like her. Once these girls were found, she had twelve hunting costumes made. They all wore them and rode to the kingdom of her former bridegroom, and she asked him if he needed any huntsmen at his service, and he was glad to have them. The king had a lion who was aware that they were all women, and told the king that he should have some peas strewn on the floor of the antechamber. He explained that men would walk on the peas easily, while women would slip on them. There was a servant there who was fond of the huntsmen and so he warned them, and the next day when the peas were on the floor, they all took care to stomp on them. The king was displeased with the lion, who then recommended that he place twelve spinning wheels in the room because women would not be able to resist stopping to admire them. The servant again warned the huntsmen, who ignored the spinning wheels the next day, making the king distrust his lion. Once while he was out with his huntsmen, news arrived that his new bride was on her way, and the true bride was so distraught to hear this that she fainted. The king was worried and went to help, but when he drew off the huntsman’s glove he saw the ring that he had given his first bride and recognized her. He promised that he belonged to her, and sent the other bride back to her kingdom.