of his neighbors was a noble lady, who had two beautiful daughters. He wanted to marry one of them and let the lady decide which of the two would become his wife. But the daughters did not agree. They were afraid of a man with a blue beard. He also seemed suspicious to them. He was already married several times. But nobody knew what happened to his previous wives.
Blue Beard decided to impress them. He took them, with their mother and some other young people, to one of his country houses. They stayed there a whole week.
The time was filled with parties, hunting, fishing, dancing, and joy. Nobody went to bed, but all were gathering together and joking with each other all night long. In short, everything was so good that the youngest daughter began to think that the man's beard was not so very blue after all, and that he was a very polite gentleman.
When they returned home, they got married. A month later, Blue Beard told his wife that he had to take a journey to the country for six weeks at least, about a case of great importance. He did not want her to feel lonely and told her to invite her friends over.
“Here,” said he, “are the keys to the two great closets, where I have my best clothes. These are to my silver and gold dishes. These open my chests with money, both gold and silver; these my chests of jewels. And this is the master key to all my rooms. But as for this little one here, it is the key to the little room at the end of the great hall on the ground floor. Open them all, go into each and every one of them. But I strongly prohibit you to open that little room. And, if you open it, you will feel my anger.”
She promised to do exactly as he wanted. Then he gave her a hug and went on his journey.
Her neighbors and good friends immediately came to visit the lady. They wanted to see her rich furniture and the beautiful house, but were afraid to come while her husband was there. His blue beard scared them. They ran through all the rooms, and closets, which were all so fine and rich that it seemed to them that each next one was better than the previous one.
After that, they went up into the two great rooms with the best and richest furniture. They could not praise enough the number and beauty of the beds, couches, tables, and mirrors.
All the time they praised the happiness of their friend. But she could not relax looking at all these rich things, because she wanted to open the little room on the ground floor. She wanted to open the prohibited room and went down to the little room.
When she came to the door, she stopped for some time, thinking about her husband's words. She asked herself what might happen to her if she opens it. But the temptation was so strong that she could not fight it. She then took the little key, and opened the door. At first, she could not see anything, because the windows were shut. After some moments she saw that the floor was all covered with blood, and the bodies of several dead women were lying along the walls. (These were all the Blue Beard's previous wives, who were killed by him, one after another.) She thought she would die from fear, and the key fell out of her hand.
When she came to, she picked up the key, locked the door, and went upstairs into her room to calm down. But she was too scared. Then she noticed that the key to the little room was stained with blood. She tried two or three times to clean it but nothing worked. The blood still remained, because the key was magical and she could never make it quite clean.
Blue Beard returned home the same evening. He said that surprisingly he finished his task quickly. His wife did everything to show him that she was extremely happy about it.
The next morning, he asked her for the keys. She gave him the keys back.
“What!” said he, “where is the key to my little room?”
“I think,” said she, “I left it upstairs upon the table.”
“Bring it to me now,” said Blue Beard.
Finally, she was forced to bring him the key. Blue Beard looked at it, and said to his wife, “Why is there blood on the key?”
“I do not know,” cried the poor woman.
“You do not know!” replied Blue Beard. “I know. You went into the little room, did you not? Very well, madam; you shall go back, and take your place among the ladies you saw there.”
When she heard this, she fell on her knees and begged for forgiveness, and promised that she would always do as he tells. But Blue Beard had a heart harder than any rock!
“You must die, madam,” said he, “now.”
“Since I must die,” answered she (looking upon him with her eyes full of tears), “give me some time to say my prayers.”
“I give you,” replied Blue Beard, “ten minutes, but not one moment more.”
When she was alone, she called out to her sister, and said to her, “Sister Anne” (for that was her name), “go up, I beg you, to the top of the tower, and look if my brothers are coming. They promised me to come today, and if you see them, give them a sign to hurry up.”
Her sister Anne went up to the top of the tower, and the poor wife cried out from time to time, “Anne, sister Anne, do you see anyone?”
And sister Anne said, “I see only a cloud of dust in the sun, and the green grass.”
Blue Beard screamed as loud as he could to his wife, “Come down right now, or I shall come up to you.”
“One moment longer, please,” said his wife; and then she cried out very softly, “Anne, sister Anne, do you see anybody coming?”
And sister Anne answered, “I see nothing but a cloud of dust in the sun, and the green grass.”
“Come down quickly,” cried Blue Beard, “or I will come up to you.”
“I am coming,” answered his wife; and then she cried, “Anne, sister Anne, do you see anyone coming?”
“I see,” replied sister Anne, “a great cloud of dust coming to us.”
“Are they my brothers?”
“No, my dear sister, that's just sheep.”
“Will you not come down?” cried Blue Beard.
“One moment longer,” said his wife, and then she cried out, “Anne, sister Anne, do you see nobody coming?”
“I see,” said she, “two horsemen, but they are still in a great distance.”
“Oh thank you,” replied the poor wife joyfully. “They are my brothers. I will make them a sign, as well as I can for them to hurry up.”
Then Blue Beard cried so loud that he made the whole house tremble. The sad wife came down, and fell on her knees, all in tears, with her hair about her shoulders.
“This means nothing,” said Blue Beard. “You must die!” Then, he prepared to cut her head off. The poor lady, looked at him with dying eyes and asked him for one little moment.
“No, no,” said he, “prepare to die,” and was just ready to strike.
At this moment someone knocked at the gate and Blue Beard stopped. The gate was opened, and two horsemen entered. They ran directly to Blue Beard with their swords out. He knew that his wife's brothers were soldiers; so he ran away to save himself. But the two brothers ran after him and killed him with their swords. The poor wife was almost as dead as her husband, and had not strength enough to rise and welcome her brothers.
After his death his wife became very rich. She used one part of her money to marry her sister Anne to a young gentleman who loved her for a long time. Another part she gave to her brothers, and the rest she used to marry herself to a very nice gentleman, who made her forget the hard time with Blue Beard.
noble ['nǝʊb(ǝ)l] – adj знатный; благородный
suspicious