White Rose and Red Rose

 

 

tale of the Brothers Grimm

translation by Renate Kaufmann
review by Ruth Salles

A poor widow lived in a small isolated hut. In front of the hut was a garden with two rose bushes. One gave white roses, the other red roses. The widow had two daughters, who looked like roses: one was called White Rose, the other Red Rose. Both were so docile and good, so hardworking and patient, that it would be difficult for there to be sisters alike in the world.

White Rose was quieter and sweeter than Red Rose. Red Rose liked to jump through the meadows and fields around it, to pick flowers and birds' eggs; Rosa Branca, however, preferred to stay with her mother, helping her with her homework or reading to her when there was nothing to do. The two girls liked each other so much that when they went out together they always went hand in hand.

White Rose said:

- We will never part.

And Rose-Red replied:

– Never, as long as we live.

And the mother added:

- What one has must share with the other.

They often walked alone in the woods, picking berries, but no animal harmed them. The hare came to eat a cabbage leaf from his hands; the doe grazed beside them, the deer leapt merrily around them, and the birds sat on the branches and sang, as only they could sing. Nothing bad happened to them; if they lingered in the woods and night fell, they would lie close together on the grass and sleep until the next morning, and the mother knew and did not care.

Once, when they slept in the woods and woke up with the sunrise, they saw a beautiful child in a bright white outfit sitting next to her. The child got up, looked at the two with affection and, without saying anything, disappeared into the bush.

When the girls looked around, they saw that they had slept very close to a cliff and that if they had taken two more steps into the darkness, they would have fallen.

Their mother told them that it must have been the angel who takes care of good children.

White Rose and Red Rose kept their mother's hut so clean it was a pleasure to see. In the summer, Rose Red took care of the house and, before her mother woke up, she put a bunch of flowers in front of her bed, where there was always a rose from each rosebush. In winter, White Rose would light the fire and hang the cauldron on the hook over the flames. The cauldron was copper, but it gleamed like gold, it was so polished.

At dusk, when the snow was falling, the mother would say:

– White Rose, go lock the door.

And the three of them would sit by the fire, the mother would put on her glasses and read a big book, and the girls, as they listened, spun. Beside him, on the ground, lay a little lamb, and behind him was a little dove perched on a perch, with its head between its wings.

One night when the three of them were together, someone knocked on the door as if wanting to enter.

the mother said:

– Red Rose, quickly open the door. It could be a traveler looking for shelter.

Red Rose opened the bolt, thinking it was a poor man, but it wasn't, it was a bear, which stuck its big black head through the crack in the door. Red Rose screamed and jumped back; the little lamb began to bleat, the dove flapped its wings, and White Rose hid behind her mother's bed. The bear, however, began to speak and said:

- Do not be afraid. I will do them no harm. I'm half frozen and I wanted to warm up a little here with you.

- My poor bear - said the mother - lie down by the fire and be careful not to burn your fur.

And she called:

– White Rose and Red Rose, come here. The bear will not harm you, he is good.

Then they came near, and the little lamb and the dove also slowly approached and were not afraid of him.

The bear said:

– Girls, take some of the snow off my fur.

They went to get the broom and swept it up very well. He stretched out by the fire and grunted, satisfied and calm. In a short time, they got used to him and played a thousand mischief with their clumsy guest. They pulled its fur, put their little feet on its back, rolled it from side to side, or beat it with a hazel wand. And when he grunted, they laughed. The bear willingly submitted to everything. Only when they exaggerated did he say:

– Mind my life, children!

And it still said:

– Rosinhas, Rosinhas, it is good to stop,

or her fiancé they will kill.

When it was time for everyone to settle down for bed, the mother said to the bear:

— You may lie, in the name of God, by the fire; so you will be protected from the cold and bad weather.

As soon as dawn broke, the girls opened the door for him, and he trotted through the snow into the woods. From then on, the bear came every night at the same time, lay down by the fire, and let the children have as much fun with him as they liked; and they got so used to him that they didn't bolt the door until their friend, the black bear, arrived.

When spring came, and everything was green outside, the bear said one morning to the White Rose:

“Now I have to go and I can't come back until the end of the summer.

White Rose asked:

– Where are you going, dear bear?

“I must go to the forest and protect my treasure from the evil dwarves. In winter, when the land is frozen, they stay down there in their burrows and can't get out, but now that the sun has melted the snow and warmed the land, they make their way and climb out, looking for the that they can steal. What falls into their hands and ends up in their burrows does not easily return to the light of day.

White Rose was very sad about the farewell. When he opened the door for the bear, the bear, on his way out, caught his fur on the bolt and lost a little piece of it. White Rose thought she saw a golden glow, but she wasn't sure. The bear hurried away and soon disappeared into the trees.

Some time later, the mother sent her daughters to the woods to gather small wood. The girls found a large fallen tree there and, next to the trunk, something was jumping to and fro in the grass, but the two could not make out what it was. Coming closer, they saw that it was a dwarf with a wrinkled old man's face and a long beard, white as snow. The end of the beard was caught in a crevice in the tree. The dwarf was jumping like a puppy on a rope, not knowing how to get free. Staring at the girls with red and flaming eyes, he shouted:

– Why are you standing there? Can't you help me?

– What have you been doing, little man? asked Rose Red.

The dwarf replied:

- You curious fool! I wanted to split the trunk, to have small firewood in the kitchen. Big firewood soon burns what little food people like us need. We are not, like you, coarse, insatiable people who swallow huge amounts. I had already wedged the tree, and everything was going to be fine. But the damned wood was too smooth and popped when I least expected it. I couldn't even pull out my beautiful white beard in time. She's been trapped, and I can't get out of here. And you still laugh, you fools? Crosses, how ugly you are!

The girls tried as hard as they could, but there was no way to let go of the beard; I was very stuck.

“I'll go get more people,” Rose Red suggested.

The dwarf grumbled:

– Are you crazy? Find more people! For me, you two are already too much. Don't you have a better idea?

– Don't be impatient. I'm going to fix it. said White Rose.

And, taking the scissors from his pocket, he cut off the end of his beard. As soon as the dwarf was free, he grabbed a sack full of gold that was tucked between the roots of the tree and, pulling it up, muttered to himself:

- Lightning breaks them. How rude! Cut my beautiful beard like that!

He put the bag on his back and walked away, not even looking at the two girls.

Some time later, White Rose and Red Rose felt like eating fish and went out to fish. When they got close to the river, they saw something like a large grasshopper, which was jumping up and down as if it wanted to jump into the water. They approached, running, and saw that it was the dwarf.

Red Rose asked:

- Where are you going? Want to dive in the river?

The dwarf shouted:

– I'm not that stupid. Can't you see the damn fish is dragging me?

The little man was fishing, but unfortunately the wind tangled his beard in the line; it was then that a big fish took the bait, and the dwarf was too weak to pull it. Instead, it was the force of the fish that dragged the little dwarf into the water. It is true that he clung to grass and bamboo, but that was of little use to him. He was forced to follow the fish's movements, in danger of being pulled into the river. The girls arrived on time. They held him firmly and tried to loosen his beard, but it was in vain; beard and thread were heavily tangled together. There was no other way but to resort to the scissors again and cut off another bit of the beard. When the dwarf saw this, he shouted:

– Stupid! What is this custom you have of spoiling a person's face? Wasn't it enough that they cut off the end of my beard the other day, and now they've taken the most beautiful piece of it? So I can't even perform in front of my people. I hope you have to walk a lot and lose the soles of your shoes!

And after picking up a bag of pearls from among the reeds, he left without another word and disappeared behind a rock.

A few more days passed, and the mother sent the two little sisters to the city to buy thread, needles and ribbons. The path passed through an open field, where there were huge rocks scattered here and there. In this, they saw a large bird that, flying in circles, descended more and more, until it landed very close to the girls, next to one of the rocks. Then there was a cry of distress. The sisters rushed there and, to their horror, saw that the eagle had seized their old acquaintance, the dwarf, and was going to take him through the air. They soon held the little man with all their strength and struggled so hard with the eagle that it released its prey.

Now recovered from the fright, the dwarf shouted in a shrill voice:

– Couldn't they have been more gentle? They pulled my beautiful coat so much that it was ripped and full of holes. Useless and clumsy ones, that's what you are!

And taking a bag of precious stones, he went into his hole under the stones. The girls, used to his ingratitude, went on their way and did their shopping in town. Back home, as they passed through the open space again, they surprised the dwarf spreading the contents of the sack in a clean place, certain that at that late hour no one was going to pass that way. The setting sun cast its rays over the glittering stones, and they sparkled so beautifully and in so many colors that the girls stopped to gaze at them.

The dwarf's gray face turned red with rage, and he shouted:

– Why are you standing there with your mouths open?

And he was about to continue with his insults when a loud grunt was heard, and a black bear appeared, coming out of the forest. Terrified, the dwarf jumped up, but the bear caught up with him before he got into his hiding place. The dwarf begged, very distressed:

- Dear lord bear, spare my life, I will give you all my treasure, look at these beautiful gems that are on the ground! Do not kill me! What good is a little fellow as weak and small as I am? Your teeth wouldn't even feel me. Those two girls over there, fat as young doves, are hotter for you. Eat them, in the name of God!

The bear paid no attention to those words and, with a single kick, knocked the evil creature down, which did not move any further.

The girls ran away, but the bear called them:

– White Rose, Red Rose, don't be afraid, wait for me to go with you.

They recognized the voice and stopped; suddenly, as he came near, his bearskin fell off, and there appeared before them a handsome young man in a golden robe.

“I am a king's son,” he said, “and this wicked dwarf had bewitched me, stealing my treasures and condemning me to roam the woods in the guise of a wild bear. Only when he died could I free myself. Now he got his comeuppance.

White Rose married the king's son, and Red Rose his brother. They shared the great treasure that the dwarf had accumulated in his lair. The old mother still lived for many years, peaceful and happy with her daughters. He took the two roses with him, planted them in front of his window, and they continue to give, every year, the most beautiful roses, white and red.

 

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