Read Fairy Tales from the Brothers Grimm: A New English Version for Free Online

thought, ‘If I’m freezing down here by the fire, those poor fellows up there must be even colder.’ He put up a ladder, climbed up and untied them, one after the other, and brought all seven of them down.
    Then he put another couple of logs on the fire, and arranged the dead men around it to warm themselves; but all they did was sit there quite still, even when their clothes caught fire.
    ‘Hey, watch out,’ he said. ‘I’ll hang you up again if you’re not careful.’
    Of course, the dead men took no notice. They just continued to stare at nothing while their clothes blazed up.
    This made the boy angry. ‘I told you to be careful!’ he said. ‘I don’t want to catch fire just because you’re too lazy to pull your legs out of the flames.’
    And he hung them all up again in a row, and lay down by his fire and fell asleep.
    Next morning, he woke up to find the man demanding his fifty talers.
    ‘You got the shivers last night all right, didn’t you?’ he said.
    ‘No,’ said the boy. ‘How could I learn anything from those stupid fellows? They didn’t say a word, and they just sat there quite still while their trousers caught fire.’
    The man saw there was no chance of getting his fifty talers, so he threw his hands in the air and left. ‘What a fool!’ he said to himself. ‘I’ve never met such a dimwit in all my life.’
    The boy went on his way, still muttering to himself, ‘If only I could get the shivers! If only I could get the shivers!’
    A carter was walking along behind him, and hearing what he said, caught up with him and asked: ‘Who are you?’
    ‘Dunno,’ said the boy.
    ‘Where d’you come from, eh?’
    ‘Dunno.’
    ‘Who’s your father, then?’
    ‘I’m not allowed to say.’
    ‘And what are you muttering to yourself all the time?’
    ‘Oh,’ said the boy, ‘I want to get the shivers, but no one can teach me how.’
    ‘You’re a poor simpleton,’ said the carter. ‘Step along with me and I’ll see that you find a place to stay, at least.’
    The boy went along with him, and that evening they came to an inn where they decided to stay the night. As they went into the parlour the boy said again, ‘If only I could get the shivers! Oh, if only I could get the shivers!’
    The innkeeper heard what he said, and laughed, saying, ‘If that’s what you want, you’re in luck. There’s a chance for you very close to here.’
    ‘Sshh,’ said the innkeeper’s wife, ‘don’t talk about that. Think of all those poor fellows who lost their lives. It would be such a pity if this young man’s lovely eyes never saw the light of day again!’
    ‘But I want to get the shivers,’ said the boy. ‘That’s why I left home. What did you mean? What’s the chance you talked about? Where is it?’
    He wouldn’t stop pestering till the innkeeper told him that there was a haunted castle nearby, where anyone who wanted to learn about the shivers could do so easily if only he managed to keep watch there for three nights.
    ‘The king promised that whoever does that can have his daughter in marriage,’ he said, ‘and I swear the princess is the most beautiful girl who ever lived. What’s more there are great heaps of treasure in the castle, guarded by evil spirits. You can have the treasure too, if you stay there for three nights – there’s enough to make anyone rich. Plenty of young men have gone up there and tried, but no one’s come out again.’
    Next morning the boy went to the king and said, ‘If you let me, I’ll stay three nights in the haunted castle.’
    The king eyed him, and liked the look of him. So he said, ‘I’ll let you take three things into the castle with you, but they must be things that aren’t alive.’
    The boy said, ‘In that case, I’d like things to make a fire with, a lathe and a woodcarver’s bench with a knife.’
    The king ordered that all these things should be taken to the castle during daylight. When night fell the boy went inside and lit