Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm
Once upon a time, a miller lived contentedly with his wife. Their prosperity grew yearly until misfortune struck, and their wealth dwindled until he scarcely owned his own mill. Distressed and sleepless with worry, he went out at dawn one morning.
As he walked across the mill dam at sunrise, he heard a ripple in the pond. Turning, he saw a beautiful woman rising from the water—the nixie. She called him kindly and asked why he was sad. The miller confessed his poverty. "Be at ease," she said. "I will make you richer and happier than ever. Promise to give me what has just been born in your house."
The miller, thinking of a puppy or kitten, agreed. Cheered, he hurried home, only to be met by a maid announcing the birth of his son. Struck with horror, he realized the nixie's trickery. He told his weeping wife, but neither they nor their relatives knew what to do.
Fortune returned to the miller's house instantly. Money multiplied, and trunks filled themselves. Yet, his heart was tormented by the promise. He forbade his son from going near the pond, warning, "If you touch the water, a hand will pull you under." Years passed with no sign of the nixie, and the miller grew easier.
The boy grew into a skilled huntsman, married a beautiful and faithful maiden, and they lived happily. One day, while hunting a deer, the huntsman found himself near the millpond. After dressing his kill, he went to wash his bloodied hands. No sooner had he touched the water than the nixie emerged, laughing, wrapped her wet arms around him, and pulled him under.
When her husband did not return by evening, his wife feared the worst. Finding his hunting bag by the pond, she cried and called for him in vain. Exhausted, she fell asleep by the water and dreamed of climbing a rocky mountain to a neat cottage where a kind old woman lived.
Upon waking, she followed her dream and found the cottage and the old woman exactly as seen. The wise woman gave her a golden comb, instructing her to comb her hair by the pond at full moon and leave the comb on the bank.
The wife did so. A wave took the comb, and her husband's head emerged, looking at her sorrowfully before a second wave covered him. Heartbroken, she dreamed of the cottage again. The next day, the old woman gave her a golden flute to play by the pond at the next full moon.
Again, she obeyed. A wave carried the flute away, and this time, half of her husband's body emerged, stretching his arms toward her before being pulled under once more.
In despair, she visited the old woman a third time and received a golden spinning wheel. At the next full moon, she spun until the spool was full and placed the wheel by the water. A powerful wave swept it away, and her husband emerged fully in a waterspout. He jumped to the bank, grabbed her hand, and they fled.
The entire pond rose with a terrible roar, flooding the land. In terror, the wife cried out to the old woman for help. Instantly, they were transformed—she into a toad, he into a frog. The flood could not kill them but carried them far apart.
When the waters receded, they regained human form but were lost in strange lands, separated by mountains and valleys. To survive, each became a shepherd, driving flocks for years, filled with sorrow and longing.
One spring day, their flocks led them toward each other. They met in a valley, comforted by the company though they did not recognize one another. They tended their sheep side by side daily.
One evening under a full moon, the shepherd played a sorrowful tune on his flute. The shepherdess wept bitterly. "Why do you cry?" he asked. She replied, "The full moon shone like this when I last played that tune, and my beloved's head emerged from the water."
He looked at her, and the veil fell from his eyes. She saw his face in the moonlight. They recognized each other, embraced, and kissed, their happiness complete at last.