The Devil with the Three Golden Hairs is a fairy tale collected by the German brothers Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm. It follows a boy whose unusual birth comes with a prophecy that he will marry the king’s daughter. Determined to prevent this prediction from coming true, the king repeatedly tries to destroy the young man’s future. However, the young man survives each challenge and eventually discovers that courage, kindness and cleverness can overcome even the most dangerous obstacles.
The Child Born with a Lucky Sign
There was once a poor woman who gave birth to a son. The child was born with a caul, a thin membrane covering part of his head, and people predicted that he would marry the king’s daughter when he reached fourteen years of age.
Not long afterwards, the king visited the village. Nobody recognised him, and when he asked the villagers what news they had, they told him about the newborn child and the prophecy concerning his daughter.
The king was displeased. He did not want a poor boy to become his son in law, so he went to the child’s parents and pretended to be kind. He offered them a large amount of gold in exchange for their baby, promising to take care of him.
The parents hesitated at first, but the money persuaded them to agree. The king placed the child in a box, carried him away and threw the box into deep water, believing that he had escaped the prophecy.
However, the box did not sink. It floated safely along the water until it reached a mill dam near the king’s principal city. A miller’s boy noticed it, pulled it out and opened it. Inside, he found a healthy baby.
The miller and his wife had no children of their own, so they welcomed the foundling and raised him with care. The boy grew into a fine young man.
The King’s Cruel Plan
Fourteen years later, the king took shelter from a storm at the mill. He noticed the young man and asked the miller whether the youth was his son.
The miller explained that the boy was a foundling who had arrived in a box fourteen years earlier. The king immediately recognised him as the child he had tried to drown.
Determined to get rid of him once and for all, the king asked the miller to send the young man to the queen with a letter. He promised to reward him with two gold pieces for delivering it.
The king’s letter instructed the queen to have the young man killed and buried as soon as he arrived, before the king returned home.
Trusting the king, the young man set out with the letter. On the way, he lost his direction and found himself in a forest after dark. He spotted a light and approached a cottage, where an old woman sat beside the fire.
She warned him that the cottage belonged to robbers who might kill him when they returned. The young man was exhausted, however, and decided to rest.
When the robbers arrived, they discovered the sleeping stranger. The old woman explained that he was an innocent youth carrying a letter to the queen. The robbers opened it and read the king’s murderous instructions.
Although they were criminals, they felt pity for the young man. Their leader tore up the letter and wrote a new one, ordering that the bearer should be married to the king’s daughter immediately.
The next morning, the robbers gave the young man the replacement letter and showed him the correct road.
When he reached the palace, the queen read the letter and arranged a splendid wedding. The young man married the princess, and they lived together happily.
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The King Demands Three Golden Hairs
When the king returned, he discovered that his daughter had married the very young man he had tried to destroy. He demanded to know how this had happened.
The queen showed him the letter, and the king realised that someone had changed his instructions. The young man explained that the letter must have been exchanged while he slept in the forest.
The king was furious, but he devised another plan. He declared that the young man could remain married to his daughter only if he travelled to Hell and brought back three golden hairs from the Devil’s head.
The king believed that nobody could complete such a dangerous task.
The young man accepted the challenge and began his journey.
Along the way, he reached a town where a watchman asked what he knew. The young man confidently answered that he knew everything.
The watchman then asked him to discover why a fountain in the market, which had once flowed with wine, had dried up and would no longer produce even water. The young man promised to find the answer.
In another town, a gatekeeper asked him why a tree that had once produced golden apples no longer bore fruit or even grew leaves. Again, the young man promised to return with an answer.
Finally, he reached a wide river. The ferryman complained that he had to row people across continually and could never be released from his duty. The young man promised to discover why.
After crossing the river, he found the entrance to Hell.
The Devil’s Grandmother
Inside Hell, the young man found everything dark and covered in soot. The Devil was away, but his grandmother sat in a large chair.
When the young man explained that he needed three golden hairs from the Devil’s head, the old woman warned him that the task could cost him his life. Nevertheless, she took pity on him and offered to help.
She changed him into an ant and hid him in the folds of her clothing. She also instructed him to remain quiet and listen carefully.
That evening, the Devil returned home. As soon as he entered, he complained that he could smell a human being. He searched the room but could not find anyone.
His grandmother scolded him for disturbing the house and persuaded him to eat his supper. After eating, the Devil grew tired and rested his head in her lap.
When he fell asleep, his grandmother pulled out one of his golden hairs.
The Devil cried out and demanded to know what she was doing. She explained that she had been troubled by a dream.
She told him that she had dreamed about a market fountain that had stopped flowing with wine. The Devil explained that a toad was sitting beneath a stone in the well. If the people found and killed it, the fountain would flow with wine again.
When the Devil fell asleep once more, his grandmother pulled out the second golden hair. He woke angrily, but she again blamed her actions on a dream.
This time, she asked why a tree that had once produced golden apples no longer grew leaves or fruit.
The Devil explained that a mouse was gnawing at the tree’s roots. If the people killed the mouse, the tree would recover and bear golden apples again.
After the Devil had fallen asleep for the third time, his grandmother pulled out the final golden hair.
The Devil roared in anger, but she calmed him and claimed to have suffered another troubling dream. She asked why a ferryman was condemned to row endlessly across a river.
The Devil revealed the answer. The ferryman needed only to place the oar in the hands of the next person who wanted to cross. That person would become the ferryman, allowing the original one to escape.
Having obtained all three golden hairs and the answers to the three questions, the grandmother waited until morning. When the Devil left, she restored the young man to his human form and handed him the hairs.
The young man thanked her and left Hell safely.
Three Questions Answered
On his return journey, the young man reached the river first. The ferryman was waiting for the answer he had promised.
The young man told him to place the oar in the hands of the next person who wanted to be carried across. The ferryman thanked him, pleased that he had finally discovered a way to escape his endless duty.
Next, the young man returned to the town with the barren tree. He explained that a mouse was gnawing at its roots and that killing it would allow the tree to grow and produce golden apples again.
The grateful townspeople rewarded him with two donkeys laden with gold.
Finally, he reached the town with the dry fountain. He revealed that a toad was hidden beneath a stone in the well. The people needed to find and kill it before the fountain could flow with wine again.
They thanked him and rewarded him with two more donkeys laden with gold.
The young man now had the three golden hairs and four donkeys carrying gold. He returned home to his wife, who was delighted to see him safe.
He presented the three hairs to the king, fulfilling the condition imposed upon him. Seeing the four donkeys loaded with gold, the king was satisfied and allowed the young man to remain married to his daughter.
The King’s Greed Brings His Downfall
The king could not stop thinking about the great quantity of gold. He asked his son in law where it had come from.
The young man replied that he had crossed a river where gold lay along the shore instead of sand.
The greedy king immediately wanted to collect some for himself. He hurried to the river and asked the ferryman to carry him across.
When they reached the opposite bank, the ferryman placed the oar in the king’s hands and jumped out of the boat. The king was left to take his place, rowing people from one side of the river to the other.
The king had hoped to gain riches, but his greed had trapped him in the very duty from which the ferryman had longed to escape.
And according to the tale, the king may still be rowing across the river, unless someone has taken the oar from his hands.
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Moral Lesson
Greed and cruelty can lead to ruin, while kindness, courage and clever thinking can help people overcome difficult challenges.
Knowledge Check
1. What prediction was made about the boy when he was born?
He was predicted to marry the king’s daughter when he reached fourteen years of age.
2. Why did the king try to get rid of the boy?
The king wanted to prevent the prophecy that the boy would marry his daughter from coming true.
3. Who changed the king’s deadly letter and helped the young man marry the princess?
The leader of the robbers changed the letter after reading the king’s cruel instructions.
4. Why did the young man travel to Hell?
The king demanded that he bring back three golden hairs from the Devil’s head as a condition for remaining married to the princess.
5. What caused the fountain and the golden apple tree to stop producing their gifts?
A toad beneath a stone in the well caused the fountain to stop flowing with wine, while a mouse gnawing at the tree’s roots prevented it from growing and bearing golden apples.
6. How did the king become trapped as the ferryman?
The young man told the king that gold could be found across the river. When the king asked to be ferried over, the ferryman handed him the oar and escaped, leaving the king to take his place.
Source
Jacob Grimm and Wilhelm Grimm, Grimm’s Household Tales, translated by Margaret Raine Hunt, 1884, Tale 29, “The Devil with the Three Golden Hairs”.
