The Hand With the Knife

 8. The Hand With the Knife (Die Hand mit dem Messer)

There was once a little girl who had three brothers who were everything to her mother, but she was always ignored, beaten, and sent out early every morning to dig peat on the dry heathland, which she needed for cooking and burning. In addition, she was given an old and blunt tool with which to do the hard work.

But the little girl had an admirer who was an elf that lived near her mother's house in a hill, and whenever she passed the hill he would put out his hand out of the rock, and hold out a very sharp knife, which was of special power and cut through everything. With this knife she quickly cut out the peat and went home happily with the necessary load, and when she passed the rock she knocked twice on it, and the hand reached out and took the knife.

But when the mother noticed how quickly and easily she always brought the peat home, she told the brothers that someone else would have to help her, otherwise it wouldn't be possible. So the brothers crept after her and saw how she was getting the magic knife, then caught up with her and forced it away from her. Then they returned to the rock and knocked on it as she usually did, and when the good elf put out his hand, they cut it off with his own knife. The bleeding arm withdrew, and, as the elf believed his beloved had done it out of treachery, he has never been seen since.

My Notes

• This story only appeared in the original 1812 edition of the Grimms' collection and was removed from later editions.