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Grimm's Fairy Stories by Gebrüder Grimm
page 36 of 166 (21%)
it. "Now I have you; now death comes upon you!" and taking up an iron
bar he beat the old man until he groaned, and begged him to stop, and he
would give him great riches. So the youth drew out the axe, and let him
loose. Then the old man, leading him back into the castle, showed him
three chests full of gold in a cellar. "One share of this," said he,
"belongs to the poor, another to the King, and a third to yourself." And
just then it struck twelve and the old man vanished, leaving the youth
in the dark. "I must help myself out here," said he, and groping round
he found his way back to his room and went to sleep by the fire.

The next morning the King came and inquired, "Now have you learnt to
shiver?" "No," replied the youth; "what is it? My dead cousin came here,
and a bearded man, who showed me a lot of gold down below; but what
shivering means, no one has showed me!" Then the King said, "You have
won the castle, and shall marry my daughter."

"That is all very fine," replied the youth, "but still I don't know what
shivering means."

So the gold was fetched, and the wedding was celebrated, but the young
Prince (for the youth was a Prince now), notwithstanding his love for
his bride, and his great contentment, was still continually crying, "If
I could but shiver! if I could but shiver!" At last it fell out in this
wise: one of the chambermaids said to the Princess, "Let me bring in my
aid to teach him what shivering is." So she went to the brook which
flowed through the garden, and drew up a pail of water full of little
fish; and, at night, when the young Prince was asleep, his bride drew
away the covering and poured the pail of cold water and the little
fishes over him, so that they slipped all about him. Then the Prince
woke up directly, calling out, "Oh! that makes me shiver! dear wife,
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