9. Interpretations of Fairy Tales

On the third day, the old woman said to herself: Now I must be much more clever! She cooked him another dream soup and sent him out with the horses. When he fell asleep from the dream soup, she turned the horses into three golden eggs, which she placed under her own seat and sat on them. The prince awoke, the horses were gone, and he blew the third whistle, and—now think how clever it all seems—the fox came running. The fox said, “This time it's a bit more difficult, but we'll do it. I'll go to the chicken coop and make a great racket. The old woman will jump out, and at that moment you touch the three golden eggs under her seat; and when you touch them, they will be transformed. And so it came to pass. The fox went to the chicken coop, made a great noise there, the old woman jumped up, ran out, the prince touched the golden eggs, and when the old woman came back, the three horses were there. Now the old woman had no choice but to ask the prince, “What will you have as your reward?” She thought he would want something very special. He said, “I only want the foal that was born tonight, along with the saddle that is on the floor, covered with chicken droppings, and an old bridle.” He got what he asked for. The horse was still small. He had to carry it on his back. When evening came, the little horse said, “Now you can sleep for a while; I want to go to a spring and drink some water.” In the morning it came back. On the second day it could already run at tremendous speed. The second night was the same as the first. And on the third day, it led him to the place where his wife had been enchanted. There, his wife was placed on the little horse, and—this is a passage that is deeply revealing of the occult origin of the fairy tale to anyone who knows the story—the prince said, “How fast will we now fly through the air?” And his wife replied: “With the speed of thought.” When the unlawful owner noticed this, he also mounted his magic horse to follow them. Then the horse asked him, “At what speed shall we travel through the air?” And he said, “At the speed of will or thought!” It rushed after them, came closer and closer, and when it was very close, the horse said to the one in front that it should wait. “I will wait until you are very close,” was the reply. At that moment, the other horse reared up and threw the robber off, joining the first horse, and the queen was freed. Now the king's son could return with his wife, and they lived happily ever after in their land. And if the story has not faded from memory, they are still alive today.