Trusty John – Brothers Grimm Fairy Tales
A long time ago, there was an old king who fell gravely ill. When he realized his time was running out, he said to his people: “Send Faithful John to me.” Faithful John was a servant who had served the king for a long time and was the most loyal and trustworthy, as well as the king’s favorite.
When John came to his bedside, the king said: “My faithful John, I know I don’t have much time left. What worries me now is my son, who is still young and needs the guidance and care of the wise and kind. Other than you, I have no good friend to entrust him to. If you do not vow to teach him all he needs to know and be his godfather, I cannot rest in peace.”
Hearing this, John said: “I will never leave him. I vow to loyally assist him as I would you, even at the cost of my life.”
The king happily said: “Now I can rest assured. After I die, take him to tour every room and vault in the entire palace, including all the treasures in the house. But beware, there is one room he must never enter, the one with the portrait of the Princess of the Golden Palace. If he sees her, he will fall deeply in love and be in great peril. You must take this responsibility!”
After John swore once more, the king peacefully rested his head on the pillow and passed away.
After the king’s burial, John told the young king of his father’s dying wishes and of his own vows, saying: “I will faithfully fulfill my promise, loyal to you as I was to your father, even at the cost of my life.”
The young king weeped and said: “I will never forget your loyalty.”
When the mourning period ended, John said to his young master: “You should now see the inheritance you received. Let me take you to tour your father’s palace.”
So he led the young master to tour every corner of the palace, showing him all the wealth and splendid halls, except for the room with the portrait, as just opening the door would reveal the painting. The portrait was painted so beautifully that anyone seeing it would become deeply obsessed. There was nothing in the world more lovely and beautiful than the princess in the painting.
The young king noticed John always walked past this room without opening the door, so he asked: “Why don’t you open this room?”
John replied: “There is something frightening inside.”
But the king said: “I have seen the entire palace and wish to know what is inside.”
With that, he walked up and forcefully tried to open the door. John pulled him back and said: “On your father’s deathbed I swore to never let you enter this room, or great misfortune will befall us both.”
The young king insisted: “The greatest misfortune for me would be not going in. If I cannot see inside, I will have no peace day and night. So if you do not open it, I will not leave.”
Seeing his pleas went unheeded, John sighed heavily, took a key from a large ring, and opened the door.
John went in first, standing between the king and portrait, hoping to block it from view. But the king tiptoed and peeked over his shoulder, immediately seeing the princess’s portrait. Witnessing the glittering and glamorous beauty in the painting, the king was extremely excited and fainted directly on the floor.
John quickly propped him up and carried him to his own bed, thinking: “Alas! Calamity has befallen us. Heavens! Whatever shall we do?”
With great effort, the king finally awoke, but the first thing he said was: “Who is the maiden in the painting?”
John replied: “It is the daughter of the King of the Golden Palace.”
The king continued asking: “I love her deeply. Even if all the leaves on the trees became my tongues, they could not express my love for her! I must find her, even at peril of my life! You are my faithful friend, you must help me.”
To help fulfill the young king’s wish, John pondered for a long time before saying:
“Legend says everything around her is made of gold – tables, chairs, cups, plates, everything in her chambers is golden. She is constantly seeking new treasures. You have much gold now, so let artisans fashion it into various vessels and exotic creatures, then we can take these treasures to try our luck.”
So the king ordered all highly skilled goldsmiths to day and night hurriedly craft artworks from gold until everything was made into most beautiful treasures.
John loaded them onto a large ship. He and the king dressed like merchants so no one could recognize them.
When all was prepared, they set sail.
After continuous days and nights of sailing, they finally reached the land ruled by the King of the Golden Palace.
When the ship docked, John told the king to wait aboard while he returned. He said: “I may have a chance to bring back the Princess of the Golden Palace, so ready the ship and arrange the golden wares to decorate the entire vessel.”
He then took some gold pieces in a basket and went ashore toward the palace.
When he reached the castle gates, he saw a beautiful maiden at a well, drawing water in two golden buckets.
As the maiden turned with the shining buckets, she also noticed the stranger and asked who he was.
He walked up and said he was a merchant, then opened his basket to show her the contents.
Seeing them, the maiden excitedly cried: “My! What beautiful things!”
She put down the buckets and looked through each gold piece, saying: “The princess loves these things most, she should see them and will certainly buy them all.”
Speaking thus, she grasped his hand and led him into the palace, explaining to the guards before they let him pass, as she was one of the princess’s handmaidens.
After the princess saw the wares he brought, she was extremely excited and said: “They are too beautiful, I will take them all!”
John said: “I am but a servant of a wealthy merchant. What I have here is nothing compared to what he has aboard his ship, the most exquisite and expensive gold works you’ve never seen!”
Hearing this, the princess wanted him to bring everything ashore, but he said: “It would take many days to unload, for there are far too many pieces, even the largest room here could not hold them.”
At his words, the princess’s curiosity and desire grew stronger, and she impatiently said: “Bring me aboard your ship to see your master’s goods personally.”
John was overjoyed to lead her to the shore.
When the king saw her, his heart nearly jumped out of his throat. He immediately went up to welcome her aboard.
The moment she boarded, he led her into the cabin while John went to the stern to order the helmsman to immediately set sail, unfurl all sails, and let the ship fly like a bird in the skies.
The king presented each gold piece aboard for the princess’s inspection, including dishes, cups, bowls, and exotic creatures.
The princess happily admired each artwork, completely oblivious that the ship had set sail and left shore.
A few hours later, after examining everything, she graciously thanked the merchant and said she should head home.
But when she emerged from the cabin to the bow, she discovered the ship had long departed and was unfurling its sails, speeding on the vast open seas.
The princess screamed in horror: “Heavens! I’ve been duped, abducted, fallen into a merchant’s hands! I’d rather die!”
But the king grasped her hand and said: “I’m no merchant, but a king of royal blood like you. I used this deceitful method to take you out because I love you deeply. When I first saw your portrait I immediately fainted.”
Only then was the princess relieved. After conversing and understanding each other, she soon also fell for him and agreed to marry him.
But while they sailed the vast seas, this happened:
One day, as John sat at the bow playing his flute, he suddenly saw three crows flying toward him, continuously cawing loudly. John understood bird language, so he stopped playing and listened closely to their conversation.
The first crow said: “He went! He won the love of the Princess of the Golden Palace. Let him be!”
The second crow said: “No! He will still not get the princess this time.”
The third crow said: “He will definitely marry her this time – look how intimate they are together on the ship!”
The first crow then said: “What good will that do him? Just you watch, when they go ashore, a reddish-brown horse will run to him. Seeing that horse, he will certainly ride it. And once he mounts it, the horse will carry him up into the air and he will never see his lover again.”
The second crow followed: “Exactly! But what can be done?”
The first crow said: “There is a way! If someone rides that horse and pulls out the dagger tucked in the saddle to kill the horse, the young king will be saved. But who knows this? Even if someone did, who would tell him? Because whoever tells him this and saves the king will have their legs turn to stone from toes to knees.”
The second crow said: “Precisely! But there is more I know! Even if the horse dies, the king will still not marry the bride. Because when they enter the palace, they will see a set of wedding clothes on a chair, seemingly woven with gold and silver but actually made of sulfur and plaster. If he wears them, he will burn to death, down to his marrow.”
The third crow then asked: “Oh dear, then there is no hope?”
The second crow said: “Oh, there is a way! If someone rushes forth and grabs those clothes, throwing them into the fireplace, the young king will be saved. But what good would that do? Whoever knows this and tells someone to save the king in this way, their body will turn to stone from knees to chest, so who would do it?”
The third crow added: “There is more! Even if the clothes are burned, the king will still not marry the bride. Because after the wedding ceremony when the ball begins, as soon as the young queen starts dancing, she will drop dead and pale as a corpse. However, if someone goes forth and props her up, sucking three drops of blood from her right breast, she will not die.”
“But who would dare do this? Whoever knows this and tells someone to save the bride in this way, their entire body will turn to stone. There is no hope!” The crows then flapped their wings and flew away.
John understood everything and started worrying, but did not tell the king – for he knew the king would sacrifice all to save him. He only murmured to himself: “I must loyally fulfill my vow, ready to die to save my master.”
When they went ashore, the crows’ prophecies came true, one by one.
Suddenly a handsome reddish-brown horse emerged from the shore. The king shouted: “Look, it will surely take us to the palace!” And he moved to mount it.
In a flash, John lept onto the horse first and stabbed it dead with his dagger.
The king’s other resentful servants gossiped: “He killed the horse meant to bring the king back! Outrageous!”
But the king simply said: “Let it be. He is my faithful John. Who knows why he did it?”
When they entered the palace, they saw a set of wedding clothes on a chair, shimmering silver and gold. As the young king stepped forth to grab them, John seized them and threw them into the fire to burn.
Again the servants whispered: “Look, now he’s burned the wedding clothes!”
Yet the king still said: “Let him be. He is my faithful John.”
After the wedding, when the ball began, the moment the bride entered, John watched her face intently. Seeing her suddenly turn deathly pale and collapse, he immediately leapt forth to prop her on an armchair in the anteroom and sucked three drops of blood from her right breast, reviving her.
But the king, having witnessed it all, was furious at his audacity and ordered him locked in prison.
The next morning John was brought from prison to the gallows.
He said: “May I say one last thing before I die?”
The king permitted it.
So John recounted everything he heard from the crows at sea and his determination to save the king at all costs, finally saying: “Although now I’m wrongly judged, I have always been faithful and true.”
Hearing John’s account, the king cried loudly: “Oh! My faithful John! Please forgive me! Release him at once!”
But just as John finished speaking, he collapsed and turned into an inanimate stone statue.
The king and queen grieved bitterly over the stone figure. The king said: “Heavens! How could I have treated your loyalty in such an ungrateful way!”
He ordered the statue propped up and moved to his bedroom to stand by his bed, so he could constantly see it and mourn it.
He said to the statue: “Alas! My faithful John, if only I could revive you!”
After a year, the queen bore twin sons. As the king watched them grow, he was overjoyed.
One day while the queen was at church, the king and two sons remained in the palace.
The lively children played everywhere. The king sighed mournfully at the statue: “Oh, my faithful John, how I wish I could revive you!”
This time, the statue suddenly spoke, saying: “King, if you are willing to sacrifice your beloved children for me, I shall come back to life.”
The king resolutely said: “For you I would give anything in the world.”
“If so,” said the statue, “you need only behead your two sons and sprinkle their blood on me, and I shall revive.”
The king was shocked to hear this, but thinking of John’s sacrifice and noble character, he drew his sword, prepared to behead his children and revive John.
Just as he raised his sword, John came back to life, blocking his path, and said: “Your true heart deserves reward.”
The two children still frolicked happily as if nothing had transpired.
The king was overjoyed. When the queen returned, he decided to test her feelings. He hid John and the children away.
When the queen came in, he asked: “Did you properly pray at church?”
The queen replied: “I was always thinking of John’s loyalty.”
The king said: “My dear, we can revive John, but at the cost of our sons. Are you willing?”
The queen turned pale with shock but resolutely said: “It must be done. Without his selfless loyalty we would not be here or have our children.”
The king was euphoric that their minds aligned. He ran and released John and the children, saying: “Heaven will also be proud! He is with us again and our children are unharmed.”
He told her everything and they happily reunited, living in joy once more.
