There was a man who had a bunch of money and land. But, he wasn't happy because he didn't have children. He went into the town and people mocked him because he didn't have kids. He got angry and said, "I will have a child, even if it be a hedgehog." His wife had a child that was part hedgehog and part boy and she blamed her husband for bringing them bad luck. They named him Hans the Hedgehog.
He went to get christened but couldn't go into a normal bed because of his spikes. So, they put him on top of straw on the stove. They could not do anything with him without getting pricked, so he just laid there for 8 years. He father was tired of him and wished he would die, but he did not.
There was a fair in town and the peasant's wife asked him to bring her meat and white rolls. The servant asked for a pair of slippers and some stockings with clocks. The hedgehog asked for bagpipes. He went to the store, and came back with all of the things everybody requested. And when Hans the Hedgehog had the bagpipes, he said, "Dear father, do go to the forge and get the cock shod, and then I will ride away and never come back again." His father was so happy he was going to get rid of him.
The hedgehog got on and rose away but took pigs and donkeys with him, intending to keep them in the forest. He got to the forest and made the chicken fly into a tree with him, where they sat and watched the animals grow big without his father knowing. He played his bagpipes in the tree.
One day a King was walking by and heard the music. He looked around and was confused because all he saw was the chicken and hedgehog, and he didn't know where the music was coming from. Hans came down from the tree and said he would show the way if the King would write a bond and promise him whatever he first met in the royal courtyard as soon as he arrived at home.
The King thought he could easily do that because Hans wouldn't understand, so he could write whatever he wanted. The King wrote something and when he was finished, Hans the Hedgehog showed him home.
(Illustration by Otto Ubbelohde)
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