JORINDA AND JORINDEL - Grimm's Fairy Tales / to listen the story

There was once an old castle, that stood in the middle of a deepgloomy wood, and in the castle lived an old fairy. Now this fairycould take any shape she pleased. All the day long she flew about inthe form of an owl, or crept about the country like a cat; but atnight she always became an old woman again. When any young man camewithin a hundred paces of her castle, he became quite fixed, and couldnot move a step till she came and set him free; which she would not dotill he had given her his word never to come there again: but when anypretty maiden came within that space she was changed into a bird, andthe fairy put her into a cage, and hung her up in a chamber in thecastle. There were seven hundred of these cages hanging in the castle,and all with beautiful birds in them.

Now there was once a maiden whose name was Jorinda. She was prettierthan all the pretty girls that ever were seen before, and a shepherdlad, whose name was Jorindel, was very fond of her, and they were soonto be married. One day they went to walk in the wood, that they mightbe alone; and Jorindel said, ‘We must take care that we don’t go toonear to the fairy’s castle.’ It was a beautiful evening; the last raysof the setting sun shone bright through the long stems of the treesupon the green underwood beneath, and the turtle-doves sang from thetall birches.

Jorinda sat down to gaze upon the sun; Jorindel sat by her side; andboth felt sad, they knew not why; but it seemed as if they were to beparted from one another for ever. They had wandered a long way; andwhen they looked to see which way they should go home, they foundthemselves at a loss to know what path to take.

The sun was setting fast, and already half of its circle had sunkbehind the hill: Jorindel on a sudden looked behind him, and sawthrough the bushes that they had, without knowing it, sat down closeunder the old walls of the castle. Then he shrank for fear, turnedpale, and trembled. Jorinda was just singing,

'The ring-dove sang from the willow spray, Well-a-day! Well-a-day! He mourn'd for the fate of his darling mate, Well-a-day!'
when her song stopped suddenly. Jorindel turned to see the reason, andbeheld his Jorinda changed into a nightingale, so that her song endedwith a mournful /jug, jug/. An owl with fiery eyes flew three timesround them, and three times screamed:

'Tu whu! Tu whu! Tu whu!'
Jorindel could not move; he stood fixed as a stone, and could neitherweep, nor speak, nor stir hand or foot. And now the sun went quitedown; the gloomy night came; the owl flew into a bush; and a momentafter the old fairy came forth pale and meagre, with staring eyes, anda nose and chin that almost met one another.

She mumbled something to herself, seized the nightingale, and wentaway with it in her hand. Poor Jorindel saw the nightingale was gone—but what could he do? He could not speak, he could not move from thespot where he stood. At last the fairy came back and sang with ahoarse voice:

'Till the prisoner is fast, And her doom is cast, There stay! Oh, stay! When the charm is around her, And the spell has bound her, Hie away! away!'
On a sudden Jorindel found himself free. Then he fell on his kneesbefore the fairy, and prayed her to give him back his dear Jorinda:but she laughed at him, and said he should never see her again; thenshe went her way.

He prayed, he wept, he sorrowed, but all in vain. ‘Alas!’ he said,‘what will become of me?’ He could not go back to his own home, so hewent to a strange village, and employed himself in keeping sheep. Manya time did he walk round and round as near to the hated castle as hedared go, but all in vain; he heard or saw nothing of Jorinda.

At last he dreamt one night that he found a beautiful purple flower,and that in the middle of it lay a costly pearl; and he dreamt that heplucked the flower, and went with it in his hand into the castle, andthat everything he touched with it was disenchanted, and that there hefound his Jorinda again.

In the morning when he awoke, he began to search over hill and dalefor this pretty flower; and eight long days he sought for it in vain:but on the ninth day, early in the morning, he found the beautifulpurple flower; and in the middle of it was a large dewdrop, as big asa costly pearl. Then he plucked the flower, and set out and travelledday and night, till he came again to the castle.

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