76 ASHIEPATTLE: OR HANS SEEKS HIS LUCK 



broombinder's son, miller's lad, gardener's boy, drummer, 

 and merchant's son. 1 Ascending in the scale, we find 

 him four times a discharged soldier, 2 once a servant in 

 a king's household, 3 once a count, 4 once a king, and 

 nine times a king's son. 5 On three occasions he is 

 more especially described as a Dummling once when he 

 is a king's son, 6 once as the son of poor parents, 7 and 

 once without further details. 8 On one occasion only 

 he is simply a ' man.' ( It will thus be seen that only 

 in about one-fourth of the cases is the king's daughter 

 and her kingdom won by a man of royal or aristocratic 

 blood. We are clearly in a world in which, between 

 king on the one side and peasant and handicraftsman 

 on the other, there are none of the intermediate ranks 

 of mediaeval life. We miss almost completely the 

 whole range of feudal nobility, civic authorities, and 

 town patricians so characteristic of the Middle Ages. 

 We see king's sons competing merely as equals with 

 agriculturalists and simple craftsmen for brides and 

 kingdoms. The right of the plebeian majority to 

 compete for princesses is still more marked in the 



1 Die zwei Bruder, Der arme MilHerbursch, De wildc Mann, Der Trommler, 

 and Der Konig vom goldenen Berge, respectively. 



2 Sechse kommen durch die ganze Welt, Des Teufels russiger Bruder, Das blauc 

 Licht, and Die zertanzten Scliuhe. It is important to note that the hero of Die 

 Bieneiikonigin, who is the king's son described as a Dummling in Grimm, 

 appears in the Hessian version of the tale as a soldier. 



3 Die weisse Schlange. 



4 Die Gdnsehirtin am Brunnen. 



5 Das Rdthsel, Dornroschen, Das Wasser des Lebens, De beiden Kunigeskinner, 

 Die Bienerikonigin, Der Konigssohn der sich vor nichts furchtet, Der Eisenqfen, 

 Die sechs Diener and Das Eselein. He is a king in Die zwolf Bruder. 



6 Die Bienenkonigin. 



7 MdrcJien von einem der auszog das Furchten zu lernen. 



8 Die goldene Gans. 



9 Die Rale 



