The poor miller's son and the kitten. In a mill lived an old miller. He had neither wife nor children. And three miller's sons were working for him. As they had been with him for many years, one day he said to them, I am old and want to sit behind the stove. Get out! And whoever brings me the best horse home, I want to give him the mill. And he shall take care of me until my death. But the third of the boys was the little servant. He was thought to be mad by the others. They did not give him the mill. And he did not even want them. Then they all left together. And when they came to the village, the two said to the silly Hans, You can only stay here. You will not get a penny for your life. But Hans went with them. And when it was night, they came to a cave. There they lay to sleep. The two smart ones waited until Hans was asleep. Then they got up, got going and left Hans lying down and thought they had done it quite fine. When the sun came up and Hans woke up, he was lying in a deep cave. He looked around everywhere and cried, Oh God, where am I? Then he got up and climbed up the cave, went into the forest and thought, I am completely abandoned here. How can I get to a horse now? As he thought about it, a little colorful kitten came up to him. It said very kindly, Hans, where do you want to go? Oh, you can't help me after all. I know what your desire is, said the kitten. You want to have a pretty gall. Come with me and be my faithful servant for seven years. So I want to give you one more beautiful than you have ever seen one. Well, that's a wonderful cat, Hans thought, but let's see if what she says is true. Then they took him with them to their desired castle and there were lots of kittens serving them. They jumped up and down the stairs and were funny and good things. In the evening, when they sat down at the table, three had to make music. One played the bass, the other the violin, the third put on the trumpet and blew the cymbals as loud as she could. When they had eaten, the table was carried away and the cat said, come on, Hans, and dance with me. No, he answered, I don't dance with a cat, I've never done that before. So bring him to bed, she said to the kittens. Then one shone in his bedroom, one took off his shoes, one the socks and finally one blew out the light. The next morning they came back and helped him out of bed. One put on his socks, one tied his shoelaces, one took off his shoes, one whistled and one dried his face with his tail. That's quite gentle, Hans said. But he also had to serve the cat and chop wood every day. In addition, he got an ax of silver and the chisel and saw of silver and the hammer was of copper. Well, he made it small, stayed in the house, had his good food and drink, but saw no one but the colourful cat and her fellows. One day she said to him, go and mow my meadow and dry the grass and gave him a scythe of silver and a whetstone of gold, but told him to deliver everything properly. So Hans went and did what he was told. After the work was done, he carried out scythe, whetstone and hay and asked if she didn't want to give him his wages. No, said the cat, you should first do me a favour. There is wood of silver, chisel, angle iron and whatever is necessary, everything is of silver. First build me a little house out of it. So Hans finished the house and said he had done everything and had no horse yet, but the seven years had passed him like a half. Asked the cat if he wanted to see her horse. Yes, said Hans. Then she opened the house for him and as she opened the door, twelve horses stood there. They were so magnificent that his heart was happy about it. Now she gave him food and drink and said, go home, I won't give you your horse, but in three days I'll bring it to you. So Hans opened up and she showed him the way to the mill. But she didn't even give him a new dress, but he had to keep his old lumpy coat, which had become too short for him in the seven years. When he came home, the two other millers were also back. Everyone had brought their horse, but one was blind, the other lame. They asked, Hans, where is your horse? In three days it will come. They laughed and said, yes, you, Hans, where do you want to get a horse? That will be something right. Hans went into the house. The miller said, but he shouldn't come to the table, he would be so torn and bruised, one would have to be ashamed. Then they gave him a little food and as they went to sleep in the evening, the two others didn't want to give him a bed and he finally had to crawl into the goose stables and lie down on hard straw. In the morning, when he woke up, the three days were already over and a carriage came with six horses. They shone, it was beautiful, and a servant brought a seventh. That was for the poor miller. But out of the carriage came a magnificent princess and went into the mill. And the princess was the little colorful kitten that the poor Hans had served for seven years. She asked the miller where the miller, the little servant, was. Then the miller said, we can't take him into the mill, he is so torn and lies in the goose stables. Then the princess said, you should get him right away. So they got him out and he had to pack his little kitten to cover himself. Then the servant cut out magnificent clothes and had to wash and dress him and when he was done, he couldn't look more handsome than a king. Then the princess asked the horses to see which the other millers had brought. One was blind, the other lame. Then she had the servant bring the seventh horse. As the miller said, he wouldn't have come to the yard like that. And that is for the third miller, she said. He must have the mill, said the miller. But the princess said, since he was the horse, he should keep his mill too. And takes her faithful Hans, puts him in the carriage and drives off with him. They first go to the little house that he made with the silver tools. There is a big castle and everything in it is of silver and gold. And there she married him and he was rich, so rich that he had enough for his lifetime. That's why no one should say that whoever is stupid can't be right.