The Jew Among Thorns

Once upon a time there was a rich man who had a servant who worked for him diligently and honestly. Every morning he was the first out of bed and the last to rest at night. Whenever there was a difficult job that no one wanted to do, he was always the first to try. He never complained, was happy with everything, and always cheerful.

After a year, his master gave him no wages, for he thought to himself, "That is the cleverest way; I will save something, and he will not leave but stay quietly in my service." The servant said nothing but worked the second year as he had the first. When at the end of that year he still received no wages, he made himself happy and stayed on.

When the third year was over, the master thought about it, put his hand in his pocket, but pulled nothing out. Then the servant said, "Master, for three years I have served you honestly. Please give me what I have earned, for I want to leave and see a bit more of the world."

"Yes, my good fellow," answered the old miser, "you have served me industriously, so you shall be cheerfully rewarded." And he put his hand into his pocket, but counted out only three farthings, saying, "There, you have a farthing for each year. That is large and generous pay, such as you would have received from few masters."

The honest servant, who did not understand much about money, put his fortune into his pocket and thought, "Ah, now that I have my purse full, why should I trouble myself any longer with hard work?" So on he went, up hill and down dale, and sang and jumped to his heart's content.

As he was passing a thicket, a little man stepped out and called to him, "Where are you going, merry brother? I see you do not carry many cares." "Why should I be sad?" answered the servant. "I have enough; three years' wages are jingling in my pocket." "How much is your treasure?" the dwarf asked. "How much? Three farthings, all told." "Look here," said the dwarf, "I am a poor, needy man. Give me your three farthings; I can work no longer, but you are young and can easily earn your bread."

The servant had a good heart and felt pity for the old man, so he gave him the three farthings, saying, "Take them in heaven's name; I will not be any the worse for it."

Then the little man said, "Since I see you have a good heart, I grant you three wishes, one for each farthing; they shall all be fulfilled."

"Aha!" said the servant, "you are one of those who can work wonders! Well, then, if it is to be so, I wish, first, for a gun that will hit everything I aim at; secondly, for a fiddle that when I play it, will make everyone who hears it dance; thirdly, that if I ask a favor of anyone, he cannot refuse it."

"All that you shall have," said the dwarf. He put his hand into the bush, and there lay a fiddle and gun, all ready, just as if they had been ordered. He gave them to the servant and said, "Whatever you may ask at any time, no man in the world shall be able to deny you."

"My goodness! What more could I want?" said the servant to himself, and went merrily on. Soon after, he met a Jew with a long beard like a goat's, who was standing listening to the song of a bird sitting high up in a tree. "Good heavens!" he was exclaiming, "that such a small creature should have such a terribly loud voice! If only it were mine! If only someone would sprinkle some salt on its tail!"

"If that is all," said the servant, "the bird shall be down soon." He took aim, pulled the trigger, and down fell the bird into the thorn-bushes. "Go, you rascal," he said to the Jew, "and fetch the bird out yourself!"

"Oh!" said the Jew, "leave out the rascal, my master, and I will do it at once. I will get the bird out myself, since you really have hit it." Then he lay down on the ground and began to crawl into the thicket.

When he was stuck in the thorns, the good servant's mood tempted him to take up his fiddle and play. In a moment the Jew's legs began to move and jump into the air. The more the servant fiddled, the better the dance went. But the thorns tore his shabby coat, combed his beard, and pricked and plucked him all over. "Oh dear!" cried the Jew, "what do I want with your fiddling? Leave the fiddle alone, master; I do not want to dance."

But the servant did not listen and thought, "You have fleeced people often enough; now the thorn-bushes shall do the same to you." He began to play again, so that the Jew had to jump higher than ever, and scraps of his coat were left hanging on the thorns. "Oh, woe is me!" cried the Jew. "I will give the gentleman whatever he asks if only he stops fiddling—a purse full of gold."

"If you are so generous," said the servant, "I will stop my music. But I must say this to your credit: you dance so well that it is quite an art." He took the purse and went his way.

The Jew stood still and watched until the servant was far off and out of sight. Then he screamed with all his might, "You miserable musician, you tavern fiddler! Wait till I catch you alone; I will hunt you until the soles of your shoes fall off! You ragamuffin! Just put five farthings in your mouth, and then you may be worth three halfpence!" And he went on cursing as fast as he could speak. After he had refreshed himself a little in this way and got his breath back, he ran into town to the judge.

"My lord judge," he said, "I have come to make a complaint. See how a rascal has robbed and ill-treated me on the highway! A stone on the ground might pity me: my clothes torn, my body pricked and scratched, my little all gone with my purse—good coins, each piece better than the last. For heaven's sake, throw the man into prison!"

"Was it a soldier," said the judge, "who cut you with his sword?" "Nothing of the sort!" said the Jew. "It was no sword he had, but a gun hanging on his back and a fiddle at his neck. The wretch can easily be recognized."

So the judge sent his people after the man, and they found the good servant, who had been walking slowly along. They also found the purse with the money on him. As soon as he was brought before the judge, he said, "I did not touch the Jew, nor take his money. He gave it to me of his own free will, so that I would stop fiddling because he could not bear my music." "Heaven defend us!" cried the Jew. "His lies are as thick as flies on the wall!"

The judge did not believe the servant's tale and said, "This is a bad defense; no Jew would do that." And because he had committed robbery on the highway, he sentenced the good servant to be hanged. As he was being led away, the Jew screamed after him, "You vagabond! You dog of a fiddler! Now you are going to receive your well-earned reward!"

The servant walked quietly with the hangman up the ladder. But on the last step, he turned around and said to the judge, "Grant me just one request before I die." "Yes, if you do not ask for your life," said the judge.

"I do not ask for life," answered the servant, "but as a last favor, let me play once more on my fiddle." The Jew raised a great cry, "Murder! Murder! For goodness' sake, do not allow it!

Do not allow it!" But the judge said, "Why should I not let him have this short pleasure? It has been granted to him, and he shall have it." However, he could not have refused because of the gift that had been given to the servant.

Then the Jew cried, "Oh, woe is me! Tie me, tie me fast!" while the good servant took his fiddle from his neck and made ready. As he gave the first scrape, they all began to quiver and shake—the judge, his clerk, the hangman, and his men—and the cord fell from the hand of the one who was going to tie the Jew fast.

At the second scrape, all raised their legs, and the hangman let go of the good servant and made himself ready to dance. At the third scrape, they all leaped up and began to dance; the judge and the Jew were the best at jumping.

Soon everyone who had gathered in the marketplace out of curiosity was dancing with them—old and young, fat and thin, one with another. The dogs, too, that had run there got up on their hind legs and capered about.

The longer he played, the higher the dancers sprang, so that they knocked against each other's heads and began to shriek terribly.

At last the judge cried, quite out of breath, "I will give you your life if you will only stop fiddling." The good servant took pity, hung his fiddle around his neck again, and stepped down the ladder. Then he went up to the Jew, who was lying on the ground gasping for breath, and said, "You rascal, now confess where you got the money, or I will take my fiddle and play again."

"I stole it, I stole it!" cried the Jew. "But you have honestly earned it." So the judge had the Jew taken to the gallows and hanged as a thief.