English Folktale

Retold by The Legendary Connection

TLC#00203

There was once a man who traveled far and wide, searching for a wife. He met many women—young and old, rich and poor, beautiful and plain—but none seemed quite right for him. At last, he found a young, beautiful, and wealthy woman who had something truly unique: a right arm made of solid gold. Without hesitation, he married her, feeling like the luckiest man alive. He cherished her, but his greatest love was really for her golden arm.

They lived contentedly for some time, but one day, the woman passed away. The man mourned her death, dressing in the deepest black and looking as sorrowful as he could at her funeral. But in the quiet of the night, he could not resist his desire for the golden arm. So, he crept to her grave, dug up her body, and took the golden arm for himself. Then he hid it away at home.

The next night, he placed the golden arm under his pillow, feeling sure that no one knew what he had done. Just as he was about to drift off to sleep, a chill ran through the room. He looked up to see the ghost of his wife standing beside his bed, her eyes disapprovingly staring at him.

Trying to stay calm, he asked the ghost, “What happened to your rosy cheeks?”

In a hollow voice, she replied, “They have rotted and wasted away.”

“What happened to your red lips?” he asked next.

“They have rotted and wasted away,” she answered again.

“What happened to your beautiful golden hair?”

“It has rotted and wasted away.”

Finally, he gathered the courage to ask, “W-What happened to your Golden Arm?”

“YOU HAVE IT!”

Original Source: “English Fairy Tales.” Gutenberg.org, 2021, https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/7439/pg7439-images.html#link2H_4_0026. Accessed 17 Oct. 2024.