The old woman drugged the robbers' wine. As soon as they fell asleep, the two living women fled. Wind had blown the ashes away, but the peas and lentils had sprung up into seedlings: the two followed the path of plants and reached the young woman's home.
When the wedding day arrived and the guests were telling stories, the young woman said that she would tell a dream she had had, and told of her visit to the robbers' den, her bridegroom punctuating it with "My darling, you only dreamed this. Fox variant -- until she produced the finger of the dead girl and showed it to the company. In Jacobs's version, the woman, Lady Mary, went to the house out of curiosity, Mr Fox having not even suggested that she come, and she was not told of the horrors there, but found the murdered bodies of women, as in Bluebeard.
In an American variant, from the Ozarks, the heroine resolved never to marry and never did, because she had concluded men were bad; she just stayed with her own family, who were happy to have her. In this version, the Bridegroom is a heroic outlaw whose rival the historically real Mississippi bandit, Little Harp is the bloodthirsty villain.
This Bridegroom eventually kills Harp and marries the girl, Rosamond. At last she came to the cellar, and there sat a very, very old woman, who could not keep her head from shaking. You think yourself a promised bride, and that your marriage will soon take place, but it is with death that you will keep your marriage feast. Look, do you see that large cauldron of water which I am obliged to keep on the fire!
As soon as they have you in their power they will kill you without mercy, and cook and eat you, for they are eaters of men. If I did not take pity on you and save you, you would be lost. Thereupon the old woman led her behind a large cask, which quite hid her from view.
Tonight, when the robbers are all asleep, we will flee together. I have long been waiting for an opportunity to escape. The words were hardly out of her mouth when the godless crew returned, dragging another young girl along with them. They were all drunk, and paid no heed to her cries and lamentations. They gave her wine to drink, three glasses full, one of white wine, one of red, and one of yellow, and with that her heart gave way and she died. And who was she, the lost victim whose name we never learn?
There are no handsome princes or fairy godmothers in this story. The monsters are as realistic as they come. Once upon a time, I worked at an office where the staff members, most of us women, were all close. We cracked each other up in meetings; we ate takeout pho and massaman curry in the break room; we were excited about what we were creating together.
Then the company was sold to a man with lots of money and perfectly coiffed hair. And when we learned of an incident between him and another colleague, our fears were confirmed. But one day, when my supervisor was out of town, he poked his head into my workspace and asked me to come to his office. My skin prickled all over. He could fire me in a second, so I went. I remember thinking that at least his office had a window facing the other cubicles.
She was afraid that she might awaken one of them, but God helped her, and she got through safely. The old woman went upstairs with her, opened the door, and they hurried out of the murderer's den as fast as they could. The wind had blown away the trail of ashes, but the peas and lentils had sprouted and grown up, and showed them the way in the moonlight. They walked all night, arriving at the mill the next morning. Then the girl told her father everything, just as it had happened. When the wedding day came, the bridegroom appeared.
The miller had invited all his relatives and acquaintances. As they sat at the table, each one was asked to tell something. The bride sat still and said nothing. Then the bridegroom said to the bride, "Come, sweetheart, don't you know anything? Tell us something, like the others have done.
Turn back, turn back, you young bride. Then it cried out the same thing again. Darling, it was only a dream. Then I went through all the rooms. They were all empty, and there was something so eerie in there. Finally I went down into the cellar, and there sat a very old woman, shaking her head. I asked her, "Does my bridegroom live in this house?
She answered, "Alas poor child, you have gotten into a murderer's den. Your bridegroom does live here, but he intends to chop you to pieces and kill you, and then he intends to cook you and eat you. After that the old woman hid me behind a large barrel. I had scarcely hidden myself there when the robbers came home, dragging a girl with them.
They gave her three kinds of wine to drink: white, red, and yellow, which caused her heart to stop beating. After that they took off her fine clothes, and chopped her beautiful body to pieces on a table, then sprinkled salt on it. Then one of the robbers saw that there was still a ring on her ring finger. Because it was hard to get the ring off, he took an ax and chopped off the finger. The finger flew through the air behind the large barrel, and fell into my lap.
And here is the finger with the ring.
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