In a great kingdom, there ruled a powerful king who had only one daughter. To find her a brave husband, he had a Crystal Mountain built and proclaimed that whoever could cross it without falling would win his daughter’s hand. Many tried, but none succeeded. Among the brave was a young man who loved the princess. He asked the king for her hand, and the king agreed – but only if he could conquer the mountain.
The princess loved her suitor as well and decided to support him on his journey. Together they began to climb the slippery surface, but when they reached the halfway point, the princess slipped. The ground opened beneath her, and she vanished into the depths. Her fiancé tried to catch her, but it was too late – the mountain closed over her and swallowed her without a trace. The king ordered the mountain to be broken apart, but no one could find the place where the princess had disappeared.
She fell deep into the earth until she landed in a hidden cave. There a strange old man with a long gray beard and sharp eyes awaited her. “If you serve me and do everything I command, I will let you live,” he said. “Otherwise, I will take your life.” The princess had no choice but to agree.
Each morning the man pulled a folding ladder from his pocket, leaned it against a crack in the mountain, and climbed outside. Meanwhile, the princess had to sweep, cook, and tend to his house. Each evening he returned with gold and silver that he brought from somewhere beyond. Many years passed, and the princess grew older. The old man began calling her Lady of the Cave, while she called him Old Grump.
One day, while Old Grump was away, the princess cleaned the house as usual, washed the dishes, and made his bed. But this time she did not simply sit and wait – she closed all the windows and doors except for one small vent through which the light entered. When the old man returned, he knocked on the door and called:
“Lady of the Cave, open for me!”
But the princess replied:
“No, Old Grump, I will not open the door for you.”
The old man ran around the house, calling:
“Here I stand, poor Old Grump,
on my twenty ancient toes,
on my tired, tattered heel,
prepare my food, Lady of the Cave!”
But the princess answered:
“Your food is already prepared.”
Then he called:
“Here I stand, poor Old Grump,
on my twenty ancient toes,
on my tired, tattered heel,
make my bed, Lady of the Cave!”
“Your bed is already made.”
Finally, he shouted:
“Here I stand, poor Old Grump,
on my twenty ancient toes,
on my tired, tattered heel,
open the door, Lady of the Cave!”
But still the princess refused.
The old man noticed that one small opening in the rock was left unclosed. He thought he might look inside to see what the girl was doing. He tried to push his head through, but his long beard held him back. So he pushed his beard through first – and at that very moment, the princess yanked hard on the rope she had tied to the latch and trapped his beard in the gap.
The old man screamed in pain and began to beg her to let him go.
“No, not until you tell me where you hide the ladder,” the princess replied.
The old man had no choice and revealed where the ladder was hidden. As soon as he spoke, the princess released him, pulled out the ladder, and climbed up to freedom.
At once she returned to her father and told him everything that had happened. The king was overjoyed, and her fiancé, who had never stopped searching for her, finally welcomed her back. At the king’s command, the Crystal Mountain was broken open, and inside they found Old Grump together with his enormous treasure. The king had him imprisoned and gave all the gold and silver to his daughter as her dowry.
At last, the princess married her faithful fiancé, and together they lived happily ever after.
