Two Rats And Five Seeds A Grimm Tale
Once upon a time there was a lower middle class father who could no longer support his only child. Then, said the daughter, “Dear Papa, things go so badly for us that I am a burden to you. I would rather go away and see how I can earn my keep.”
So the father gave her his blessing, and with great sorrow took leave of his beloved progeny. At this time the President of a mighty country was at war with itself, and the daughter took service with the leader, and with him went out to fight for man, country, and God.
And when the young woman came before the enemy, there was a battle, and great danger, and it rained bullets until her countrymen on all sides fell, those left were about to run away, but the young woman stepped forth, and shouted, “We will not let our homeland be destroyed!”
Then the others followed her, and she pressed on and easily conquered the foes. When the President heard that he owed the victory to a mere young woman alone, he raised her above all the others, gave her great wealth and power, and he took her to his large home.
The President had a son who was extremely handsome, but he was also weird. He made a vow to take no one as his mistress or a wife who did not promise to let herself be buried alive with him if he died first.
“If she loves me with all her heart,” said the son, “of what use will life be to her after I am gone?” On his side he would do the same, and if she died first, would go to the grave with her.
This macabre oath had up to this time frightened away all comers, but the brave young woman was so charmed with his looks that she cared for nothing, but asked his father for him. “But do you know what you must promise?” asked the President.
“I must be buried with him,” she answered, “if I outlive him. But my love is so great that I do not mind the danger.” Then the President consented, and the wedding was done, sparing no expense.
The newlyweds lived for a while blissfully and happy with each other, and then the young man was attacked by a severe virus, and no physician could save him. And as he lay there dead, the young woman remembered what she had been obliged to promise, and was petrified at having to lie down alive in the dark grave, but there was no escape.
The President placed several guards at all the doors, and it was not possible to avoid her fate. The time came when the body was to be interred. The trembling and shivering maid was taken down into the family mausoleum with her now stiff groom and then the heavy, metal door was shut and locked forever more.
Near the ornate, golden coffin stood an old dining room chair on which were five candles, five loaves of moldy bread, and five bottles of cheap, red wine; when this final feast came to an end, she would die of hunger. She sat there full of pain and grief, ate every day only a little piece of bread, drank only a mouthful of wine, and woefully saw her demise drawing nearer.
The young woman gazed before her, she saw a rat creep out of a corner of the vault and approach the dead body. And as she thought it came to gnaw at it, she raised a bread cutting knife and said, “As long as I live, thou shalt not touch him,” and sliced the big rat into five pieces.
After a time a second bigger rat scurried out of the same hole, and when it saw the other lying dead and cut in pieces, it went back, but came again with five yellow seeds of grain in its mouth. The determined rat took the five pieces of the dead rat, laid them together, as they ought to go, and placed one of the yellow seeds on each wound.
Immediately, the bloody-covered parts joined together, the rat moved, and became alive again, and both of them ran away together. The yellow seeds were left lying on the ground. A desire came into the mind of the unhappy young woman who had been watching all this, to know if the wondrous power of the yellow seeds which brought the rat to life again, could not be of use to one dead husband and a most desperate widow.
She picked up the yellow seeds and laid one of them on the mouth of her dead husband, and the four others on his eyes and in his ears. At once, the blood stirred in the corpse’s veins, rose into his pale face, and colored it again. Then, he drew a breath, opened his eyes, and said, “My God, where am I?”
“You are with me, beloved husband,” she answered, and told him how everything had happened, and how she brought him back again to life.
The young woman gave him some wine and bread, and when he regained his strength, she raised him up. They went to the locked door and knocked, and called so loudly that every guard outside heard it, and told the President. He came himself and opened the door, and there he found his son and his wife strong and well, and he rejoiced with them.
The young woman, however, took the five yellow seeds with her, gave them to a minion and said, “Keep them for me, and carry them constantly with you; who knows in the future what value they might have!”
Alas, happily ever after was not meant to be for the pair. A change had taken place in her husband; after he had been restored to life, it seemed as if all love for his wife was gone. After some time, when he wanted to make a voyage over the sea, to visit his now old father, the President, and they boarded a big ship.
The man forgot the great love which he had shown by his beautiful wife, and which had been the means of rescuing him from death, and plotted to become a single man again. Once his wife was asleep, he called in the Captain of the ship and seized his wife by the head, and the Captain took her by the feet, and they threw the young woman into the depths of the ocean for all eternity.
When the terrible act was finished, he said, “Now let us return home, and say that she died on the way. I will praise you to my father that he will marry me to you, and give you all the luxury you could ever desire.” The Captain eagerly agreed as she kissed the newly-minted widow on his lips.
But the faithful minion who saw all that they did, unseen by them, unfastened a little speed boat from the big ship, got into it, sailed after his drowning mistress, and let the perpetrators go on their merry way. He dragged up the dead body, and by the help of the five yellow seeds which he carried about with him, and laid on the eyes, mouth, and ears, he brought the young woman back to life.
The drenched pair stayed up the entire night, and in their little speed boat, reached the President before the big ship did. The President was shocked when he saw them come alone, and asked what had happened to them.
When the President learned the evilness of his son he declared, “I cannot believe that he has behaved so ill, but the truth will soon come to light,” and ordered both to go into a secret room and keep themselves hidden from everyone.
Soon afterwards the big ship came sailing in with the tides, and the soulless son appeared before his father with a troubled look. The President said, “Why did you come back alone? Where is your wife?”
“Ah, honorable father,” the man replied, “I come home again in great sadness; during the trip, my beloved wife didn’t wear a mask and became ill and died. If the good captain had not given me her help, it would have gone the same with me. She was present at my dear wife’s death, and can tell you all.”
The President said, “Fear not my misbegotten son, I will make the dead alive again,” and opened the secret room, and commanded the two silent occupants to come out. When the man saw his wife, he was shocked and fell on his knees and pleaded for mercy.
“There will be no forgiveness on this day or any other. That lovely young woman was ready to die with you and gave you life again, but you murdered her in her sleep, and you and your new lover shall receive the reward that, you, the two biggest rats most certainly deserve. For a promise is a promise after all.” The President decreed.
“Honey, consider this a divorce; you can keep the yellow seeds, by the way.” The young woman said as she mockingly dabbed the tears from the man’s face with her dirty fingers and seductively kissed the minion’s blushing face.
Finally, resigned to his fate, the philandering husband was placed with his strangely stoic, would-be Jezebel into a wooden barrel which had been pierced with holes and loaded with heavy concrete weights, and sent out to sea. While wailing and screaming they sank into the cold, deep blue water meeting their Grimm end.
