The White Wolf

Once upon a time, there was a king who had three daughters. They were all beautiful, but the youngest was the prettiest of them all. One day, their father had to travel to a faraway part of his kingdom.

Before he left, his youngest daughter made him promise to bring her back a wreath of wild flowers. When the king was ready to return home, he remembered he wanted to bring gifts for each of his daughters.

He went to a jeweler’s shop and bought a beautiful necklace for the oldest princess. Then he went to a rich merchant’s and bought a dress embroidered with gold and silver thread for the second princess.

But in all the flower shops and markets, he could not find the wreath of wild flowers that his youngest daughter wanted. So he started his journey home without it. His path led him through a thick forest.

When he was about four miles from his palace, he saw a white wolf sitting by the roadside, and on the wolf’s head was a wreath of wild flowers.

The king called to his coachman and ordered him to get down and fetch the wreath from the wolf’s head. But the wolf heard the order and said, ‘My lord and king, I will give you the wreath, but you must give me something in return.’

‘What do you want?’ asked the king. ‘I will gladly give you rich treasure for it.’

‘I do not want treasure,’ replied the wolf. ‘Just promise to give me the first living thing that meets you on your way to your castle. In three days, I will come and fetch it.’

The king thought to himself, ‘I am still far from home; I am sure to meet a wild animal or a bird on the road. It will be safe to promise.’ So he agreed, and took the wreath home. But all along the road, he met no living creature until he entered the palace gates, where his youngest daughter was waiting to welcome him.

That evening, the king was very sad, remembering his promise. When he told the queen what had happened, she too wept bitterly. The youngest princess asked them why they were so sad. Her father told her what he had promised for the wreath of wild flowers: in three days, a white wolf would come and take her away, and they would never see her again. But the queen thought hard and came up with a plan.

In the palace, there was a servant girl who was the same age and height as the princess. The queen dressed her in a beautiful dress belonging to her daughter and planned to give her to the white wolf, hoping he would not notice the difference.

On the third day, the wolf strode into the palace yard and up the great stairs to the room where the king and queen were sitting.

‘I have come to claim your promise,’ he said. ‘Give me your youngest daughter.’

They led the servant girl to him, and he said, ‘You must climb onto my back, and I will take you to my castle.’ With that, he swung her onto his back and left the palace.

When they reached the place where he had met the king and given him the wreath, he stopped and told her to get off so they could rest a little.

They sat down by the roadside. ‘I wonder,’ said the wolf, ‘what would your father do if this forest belonged to him?’

The girl answered, ‘My father is poor, so he would cut down the trees, saw them into planks, and sell the planks. Then we would never be poor again and would always have enough to eat.’

Then the wolf knew she was not the real princess. He swung her back onto his back and carried her to the castle. He strode angrily into the king’s chamber and spoke.

‘Give me the real princess at once. If you try to trick me again, I will bring such a storm over your palace that the walls will fall in, and you will all be buried in the ruins.’

The king and queen wept, but they saw no way out. They sent for their youngest daughter, and the king said, ‘Dearest child, you must go with the white wolf, for I promised you to him, and I must keep my word.’

So the princess got ready to leave. First, she went to her room to fetch her wreath of wild flowers. Then the white wolf swung her onto his back and carried her away. When they came to the place where he had rested with the servant girl, he told her to get off so they could rest by the roadside. He turned to her and said, ‘I wonder what your father would do if this forest belonged to him?’

The princess answered, ‘My father would cut down the trees and turn it into a beautiful park with gardens. He and his courtiers would come and walk among the glades in the summer time.’

‘This is the real princess,’ said the wolf to himself. Aloud, he said, ‘Climb onto my back again, and I will take you to my castle.’

When she was seated, he ran through the woods, and ran and ran until he stopped in front of a large courtyard with massive gates.

‘This is a beautiful castle,’ said the princess as the gates swung open. ‘If only I were not so far from my father and mother.’

But the wolf answered, ‘In a year, we will visit your father and mother.’

At these words, the white furry skin slipped from his back, and the princess saw that he was not a wolf at all, but a handsome young man, tall and stately. He took her hand and led her up the castle stairs.

One day, after half a year, he came into her room and said, ‘My dear, you must get ready for a wedding. Your eldest sister is getting married, and I will take you to your father’s palace. When the wedding is over, I will come and fetch you. I will whistle outside the gate. When you hear me, no matter what your father or mother say, leave the dancing and feasting and come to me at once. If I have to leave without you, you will never find your way back alone through the forests.’

When the princess was ready to leave, she found that he had put on his white fur skin and turned back into the wolf. He swung her onto his back and took her to her father’s palace, where he left her while he returned home alone. That evening, he came back, stood outside the palace gate, and gave a long, loud whistle. In the middle of dancing, the princess heard the sound. She went to him at once, and he swung her onto his back and carried her back to his castle.

Again, after half a year, the prince came into her room as the white wolf and said, ‘Dear heart, get ready for your second sister’s wedding. I will take you to your father’s palace today, and we will stay together until tomorrow morning.’

So they went to the wedding. That evening, when they were alone, he shed his fur skin and became a prince again. They did not know that the princess’s mother was hidden in the room. When she saw the white skin lying on the floor, she crept out and sent a servant to fetch the skin and burn it in the kitchen fire. The moment the flames touched the skin, there was a loud clap of thunder, and the prince disappeared out of the palace gate in a whirlwind, returning to his palace alone.

The princess was heartbroken and spent the night weeping bitterly. The next morning, she set out to find her way back to the castle, but she wandered through the woods and forests and could find no path or track to guide her. For fourteen days, she roamed in the forest, sleeping under trees and living on wild berries and roots. At last, she reached a small house. She opened the door and went in. There she found the wind sitting alone in the room. She spoke to the wind and said, ‘Wind, have you seen the white wolf?’

The wind answered, ‘All day and night I have been blowing around the world, and I have just come home. I have not seen him.’

But he gave her a pair of shoes that would let her walk a hundred miles with each step. She walked through the air until she reached a star. She said, ‘Tell me, star, have you seen the white wolf?’

The star answered, ‘I have been shining all night and I have not seen him.’

But the star gave her a pair of shoes that would let her walk two hundred miles at a stride. She put them on and walked to the moon. She said, ‘Dear moon, have you not seen the white wolf?’

The moon answered, ‘All night I have been sailing through the heavens, and I have just come home. I did not see him.’

But he gave her a pair of shoes that would let her cover four hundred miles with each stride. So she went to the sun and said, ‘Dear sun, have you seen the white wolf?’

The sun answered, ‘Yes, I have seen him. He has chosen another bride, for he thought you had left him and would never return. He is preparing for the wedding. But I will help you. Here is a pair of shoes that will let you walk on glass or ice and climb the steepest places. And here is a spinning wheel that can spin moss into silk. When you leave me, you will reach a glass mountain. Put on the shoes I gave you, and you will climb it easily. At the top, you will find the white wolf’s palace.’

The princess set out and soon reached the glass mountain. At the top, she found the white wolf’s palace, just as the sun had said.

No one recognized her, for she had disguised herself as an old woman with a shawl wrapped around her head. Great preparations were going on for the wedding, which was to be the next day. The princess, still disguised as an old woman, took out her spinning wheel and began to spin moss into silk. As she spun, the new bride passed by. Seeing the moss turn into silk, she said, ‘Little mother, I wish you would give me that spinning wheel.’

The princess answered, ‘I will give it to you if you let me sleep tonight on the mat outside the prince’s door.’

The bride replied, ‘Yes, you may sleep on the mat outside the door.’

So the princess gave her the spinning wheel. That night, she wrapped the shawl around her so no one would recognize her, and lay down on the mat outside the white wolf’s door. When everyone in the palace was asleep, she began to tell the whole story.

She told how she was one of three sisters, the youngest and prettiest, and how her father had betrothed her to a white wolf. She told how she had gone to one sister’s wedding and then to the other sister’s wedding with her husband, and how her mother had ordered the servant to throw the white fur skin into the kitchen fire.

Then she told of her wanderings through the forest, how she had sought the white wolf weeping, and how the wind, star, moon, and sun had helped her reach his palace. When the white wolf heard the whole story, he knew it was his first wife, who had sought him and found him after such great dangers.

But he said nothing, waiting until the next day, when many guests—kings and princes from far countries—came to his wedding. When all the guests were assembled in the banquet hall, he spoke: ‘Listen to me, kings and princes, for I have something to tell you. I lost the key to my treasure chest, so I ordered a new one. But I have since found the old key. Now, which key is better?’

All the kings and royal guests answered, ‘Surely the old key is better than the new one.’

‘Then,’ said the wolf, ‘if that is so, my former bride is better than my new one.’

He sent for the new bride and gave her in marriage to one of the princes present. Then he turned to his guests and said, ‘And here is my former bride.’ The beautiful princess was led into the room and seated beside him on his throne. ‘I thought she had forgotten me and would never return. But she has sought me everywhere, and now we are together once more, we shall never part again.’