Household Tales · Chapters

Chapters explained

Chapter companions for Household Tales by Jacob Grimm.

Chapter 1
The Frog-King, or Iron Henry
A princess loses her golden ball in a well and reluctantly promises a frog that he can be her companion in exchange for retrieving it. The frog appears at the castle and, at the king's insistence, she fulfills her promise. When she finally throws the frog against the wall in anger, he transforms into a handsome prince, explaining he was bewitched. They marry and travel to his kingdom, accompanied by his faithful servant Henry, whose heart had been bound with iron bands that break with joy.
Chapter 2
Cat and Mouse in Partnership
A cat convinces a mouse to live together and store a pot of fat in a church for winter. The cat repeatedly lies about being a godmother to sneak away and eat the fat, first licking off the top, then half, then all. When winter comes and the mouse discovers the empty pot, the cat eats the mouse as well.
Chapter 3
Our Lady's Child
A poor woodcutter gives his three-year-old daughter to the Virgin Mary, who raises her in heaven. When the girl is fourteen, Mary entrusts her with the keys to thirteen doors, forbidding her to open the thirteenth. Overcome by curiosity, the girl opens the forbidden door, sees the Trinity, and her finger turns gold. She lies about it three times, and Mary casts her out into a wilderness where she lives miserably for years. A king finds her, marries her, and they have three children. Each time Mary appears and demands confession, the queen denies opening the door, and Mary takes each child. Finally, as the queen is about to be burned at the stake, she confesses, and Mary returns her children and restores her speech.
Chapter 4
The Story of the Youth Who Went Forth to Learn What Fear Was
A young man, considered stupid by his family, sets out to learn what it means to shudder. Through a series of encounters—including a fake ghost, a haunted castle with playing cats and a dead man, and a bearded fiend—he remains fearless. He eventually marries the king's daughter, and only learns to shudder when his wife pours cold water and gudgeons over him while he sleeps.
Chapter 5
The Wolf and the Seven Little Kids
An old goat leaves her seven kids at home, warning them about the wolf. The wolf tricks them by disguising his voice and paws, and eats six of them. The mother goat returns, finds the youngest hidden in the clock-case, and together they cut open the sleeping wolf's stomach, rescuing the kids. They fill the wolf's stomach with stones, and when he goes to drink, he falls into a well and drowns.
Chapter 6
Faithful John
A king falls in love with a portrait of the princess of the Golden Dwelling. With the help of his faithful servant John, he devises a plan to win her by posing as merchants and luring her onto their ship. During the voyage, John overhears three ravens prophesy three deadly threats to the king's happiness, each of which can only be averted at the cost of John being turned to stone. John chooses to save his master, performing each act and eventually being petrified. Later, the king, in grief, learns he can revive John only by sacrificing his own two sons. The queen agrees, and after John is restored, the children are also brought back to life, and all live happily.
Chapter 7
The Good Bargain
A peasant sells his cow for seven thalers, but loses the money to frogs who refuse to return it. He then sells a cow's meat to a dog, expecting payment in three days, but the butcher drives him away. He appeals to the King, who offers him his daughter's hand, but the peasant declines. The King then promises him five hundred thalers, but the peasant gives away the sum to a soldier and a Jew. After a series of deceptions, the King rewards him with money from the treasury, and the peasant outwits the Jew who tries to betray him.
Chapter 8
The Wonderful Musician
A solitary musician, seeking companionship in the forest, lures a wolf, a fox, and a hare with his fiddle, only to trick and trap each one. The animals eventually free themselves and pursue him for revenge, but a woodcutter, drawn by the music, protects the musician, scaring the beasts away.
Chapter 9
The Twelve Brothers
A king and queen have twelve sons. The king, fearing a daughter will lose her inheritance, orders the sons killed if a girl is born. The queen warns them, and they flee into the forest, vowing to kill any girl they meet. Years later, their sister learns of them and sets out to find them. She discovers them, and they accept her. She later unknowingly turns them into ravens by picking twelve lilies. To break the spell, she must remain silent and not laugh for seven years. She marries a king but is falsely accused by his mother and sentenced to be burned. At the last moment, the seven years end, her brothers return as humans, save her, and the wicked mother-in-law is executed.
Chapter 10
The Pack of Ragamuffins
A cock and hen go to a hill to eat nuts, then build a nutshell carriage. After a dispute, they harness a duck to pull it. They pick up a pin and needle as passengers. At an inn, they promise the host an egg and a duck in exchange for lodging, but after feasting, they flee at dawn, leaving the pin in a towel, the needle in a chair cushion, and an eggshell on the hearth. The host is injured by these items and vows never to host such ragamuffins again.
Chapter 11
Little Brother and Little Sister
A brother and sister flee their cruel stepmother, who is a witch. The brother drinks from a bewitched brook and turns into a roebuck. They live in the forest until the King discovers the sister during a hunt and marries her. The stepmother, driven by envy, kills the Queen and replaces her with her own ugly daughter. The Queen's ghost returns to nurse her child, and the King learns the truth.
Chapter 12
Rapunzel
A childless couple's longing for a child leads the husband to steal rampion from an enchantress's garden. The enchantress bargains for their newborn daughter, whom she names Rapunzel. At twelve, Rapunzel is imprisoned in a tower with no door, accessible only by her long hair. A prince hears her singing, discovers the enchantress's method, and climbs up to meet her. They fall in love and plan her escape, but Rapunzel accidentally reveals the prince's visits. The enchantress cuts Rapunzel's hair, banishes her to a desert, and tricks the prince into climbing to her, then blinds him with thorns when he jumps. Years later, the blind prince wanders into the desert where Rapunzel now lives with their twins. Her tears restore his sight, and they return to his kingdom to live happily.
Chapter 13
The Three Little Men in the Wood
A widower marries a widow, and the stepmother treats her stepdaughter cruelly while favoring her own daughter. The stepdaughter is sent into the winter forest to find strawberries, where she meets three dwarfs who reward her kindness with gifts of beauty, gold from her mouth, and a king for a husband. The stepsister goes but is rude and receives curses of ugliness, toads from her mouth, and a miserable death. The stepdaughter marries the king, but the stepmother and stepsister later throw her into a river. She transforms into a duck, is restored by the king, and the wicked women are punished.
Chapter 14
The Three Spinners
A lazy girl who refuses to spin is taken to the palace by the Queen, who promises her marriage to the prince if she spins three rooms full of flax. In despair, the girl receives help from three strange women with deformities caused by spinning. They spin the flax quickly in exchange for an invitation to the wedding. At the feast, the prince is horrified by their appearance and, learning their deformities came from spinning, forbids his bride ever to touch a spinning wheel.
Chapter 15
Hänsel and Grethel
A poor woodcutter, urged by his wife, abandons his children Hänsel and Grethel in the forest. Hänsel leaves a trail of pebbles to find their way home, but a second abandonment with a breadcrumb trail fails when birds eat the crumbs. Lost, they discover a house made of bread and sugar, owned by a witch who plans to fatten and eat them. Grethel outwits the witch, pushes her into the oven, and frees Hänsel. They take the witch's jewels, cross a river with a duck's help, and return home to find their stepmother dead, living happily ever after.
Chapter 16
The Three Snake-Leaves
A poor youth leaves home, serves a king at war, and single-handedly wins a battle. He marries the king's beautiful daughter, who has vowed that if she dies first, her husband must be buried alive with her. When she dies, he is entombed with her, but he revives her using three magical snake-leaves he sees bring a dead snake back to life. Afterward, his wife's love turns cold; she conspires with a skipper to throw him into the sea. His faithful servant rescues him with the same leaves, and the king exposes the treachery, sentencing the wife and skipper to death.
Chapter 17
The White Snake
A servant gains the ability to understand animal language after tasting a piece of a white snake from the king's secret dish. He uses this power to prove his innocence when accused of stealing the queen's ring, then sets out to see the world. Along the way, he saves three fishes, avoids trampling ants, and feeds three young ravens. He later seeks the king's daughter's hand in marriage and, with the help of the grateful animals, completes three impossible tasks—retrieving a ring from the sea, gathering scattered millet seed, and obtaining a golden apple from the Tree of Life—winning the princess's love and living happily ever after.
Chapter 18
The Straw, the Coal, and the Bean
A straw, a coal, and a bean escape from an old woman's hearth and decide to travel together. They come to a brook, and the straw offers to serve as a bridge. The coal becomes frightened midway, causing the straw to burn and break, and both fall into the water. The bean laughs so hard it bursts, but a passing tailor sews it back together with black thread, which is why beans now have a black seam.
Chapter 19
The Fisherman and His Wife
A fisherman catches an enchanted flounder who grants wishes. His wife's insatiable greed drives her to demand increasingly grand desires—from a cottage to a castle, kingship, emperorship, and finally the papacy—until the flounder reverses all gifts, leaving them back in their original hovel.
Chapter 20
The Valiant Little Tailor
A little tailor kills seven flies with one blow, embroiders 'Seven at one stroke!' on his belt, and sets out into the world. Through cunning and trickery, he defeats two giants, captures a unicorn and a wild boar, and wins the king's daughter and half the kingdom. When the queen discovers his true identity and plots to get rid of him, he overhears the plan and frightens the servants away, remaining king for life.
Chapter 21
Cinderella
A young girl, after her mother's death, is mistreated by her stepmother and stepsisters. With the help of a magical hazel tree and birds, she attends a royal festival, wins the heart of the prince, and ultimately marries him, while her stepsisters are punished for their cruelty.
Chapter 22
The Riddle
A king's son and his faithful servant encounter a witch, survive a poisoning attempt, and inadvertently kill twelve murderers through a poisoned raven. The prince then poses a riddle to a proud princess, who tries to cheat but is caught, leading to their marriage.
Chapter 23
The Mouse, the Bird, and the Sausage
A mouse, a bird, and a sausage live together happily, each with a specific chore. The bird becomes discontented after another bird mocks its hard work, and insists on swapping roles. The sausage goes to fetch wood but is eaten by a dog. The mouse tries to cook like the sausage but dies in the pot. The bird, distraught, accidentally starts a fire, drops a bucket into a well, and drowns.
Chapter 24
Mother Holle
A widow favors her own ugly and idle daughter over her pretty and industrious stepdaughter, forcing the stepdaughter to do all the work. After the stepdaughter drops her blood-stained shuttle into a well and jumps in after it, she finds herself in a magical meadow. She helps a baker's oven and an apple tree, then enters the service of Mother Holle, an old woman whose bed-making causes snow on earth. The girl serves diligently and is rewarded with a shower of gold. When she returns home, her stepmother and stepsister become greedy and send the lazy daughter to seek the same fortune. The lazy daughter refuses to help the oven and apple tree, serves Mother Holle poorly, and is rewarded with a shower of pitch that sticks to her for life.
Chapter 25
The Seven Ravens
A man curses his seven sons into ravens after they fail to fetch water for their newborn sister's baptism. Years later, the sister learns of her brothers' fate and sets out to rescue them. She journeys to the end of the world, receives a drumstick from the morning star to open the Glass Mountain, but loses it. She cuts off her finger to open the door, enters, and uses a ring to prove her identity, breaking the curse and restoring her brothers to human form.
Chapter 26
Little Redcap
Little Redcap, a beloved girl, is sent by her mother to bring cake and wine to her ill grandmother. Along the way, she is tricked by a wolf who distracts her with flowers, then races ahead to devour the grandmother and later Little Redcap herself. A huntsman rescues them by cutting open the sleeping wolf, filling it with stones, and killing it. In a second encounter, Redcap and her grandmother outwit another wolf, drowning it in a trough of sausage water.
Chapter 27
The Bremen Town-Musicians
Four aging domestic animals—a donkey, a hound, a cat, and a cock—flee their masters who plan to kill them because they are no longer useful. They decide to travel to Bremen to become town musicians. On the way, they discover a robbers' house in the forest and devise a plan to scare the robbers away by stacking themselves and making a loud, chaotic noise. The robbers flee, and the animals take over the house. When a robber returns to investigate, the animals attack him, and he reports a terrifying scene to his captain. The robbers never return, and the four animals live happily in the house.
Chapter 28
The Singing Bone
Two brothers set out to kill a wild boar that is terrorizing the land, with the reward being the king's daughter in marriage. The younger, pure-hearted brother receives a magic spear from a little man and kills the boar, but his envious elder brother murders him and takes credit. Years later, a shepherd finds a bone from the victim, which sings the truth when made into a horn, leading to the elder brother's execution and the younger's proper burial.
Chapter 29
The Devil with the Three Golden Hairs
A poor woman gives birth to a luck-child with a caul, prophesied to marry the king's daughter at fourteen. The king, angered, throws the child into water, but he is rescued by a miller and raised. Years later, the king sends the youth with a letter ordering his death, but robbers alter it to command his marriage to the princess. The king then demands the devil's three golden hairs as a condition. The youth journeys to hell, where the devil's grandmother helps him obtain the hairs and answers to three riddles. He returns with gold, marries the princess, and tricks the greedy king into becoming the ferryman forever.
Chapter 30
The Louse and the Flea
A louse and a flea brew beer in an eggshell; the louse falls in and burns herself, triggering a chain reaction of grief and destruction that escalates through the door, broom, cart, ash-heap, tree, girl, and spring, culminating in a flood that drowns everything.
Chapter 31
The Girl Without Hands
A miller, driven by poverty, unwittingly promises his daughter to the devil in exchange for wealth. The pious girl endures the loss of her hands to escape the devil's claim and sets out into the world. She finds refuge in a royal garden, marries a king, and bears a son, but the devil forges letters that lead to her banishment. After seven years of separation and suffering, her hands are miraculously restored, and she is reunited with her husband and child, living happily ever after.
Chapter 32
Clever Hans
Hans repeatedly visits Grethel, receiving gifts but misusing them due to his literal and foolish interpretations of his mother's advice. Each time, he follows her instructions incorrectly, leading to comedic failures. Eventually, Grethel agrees to go with him, but Hans ties her up and throws animal eyes at her, causing her to flee and later become his bride.
Chapter 33
The Three Languages
A count sends his seemingly stupid son to three masters, but the son learns only the languages of dogs, birds, and frogs. Disowned and nearly killed, he survives and uses his knowledge to free a castle from bewitched dogs guarding a treasure. He later travels to Rome, where frogs foretell his destiny, and he is chosen as pope when doves alight on his shoulders.
Chapter 34
Clever Elsie
Clever Elsie, a girl considered wise by her parents, is courted by Hans who demands she be truly clever. During a trip to the cellar to fetch beer, she imagines a future child being killed by a pickaxe left above the barrel, and begins to weep. One by one, the maid, a boy, her mother, and her father join her in lamenting this hypothetical tragedy. Hans, impressed by her elaborate worry, marries her anyway. Later, when sent to cut corn, Elsie eats and falls asleep instead. Hans surrounds her with a fowler's net with bells while she sleeps. Upon waking, the bells confuse her about her own identity, and when she goes home and Hans says Elsie is inside, she believes she is not herself and flees the village, never to be seen again.
Chapter 35
The Tailor in Heaven
While God and the saints are away, Saint Peter guards heaven's gate but is persuaded by a lame tailor to let him in. The tailor disobeys orders, explores heaven, and sits on God's throne. Seeing an old woman stealing veils on earth, he throws God's golden footstool at her in anger. When God returns and discovers the missing stool, he confronts the tailor, rebukes his judgmental act, and expels him from heaven.
Chapter 36
The Wishing-Table, the Gold-Ass, and the Cudgel in the Sack
A tailor drives out his three sons after each is deceived by a lying goat. Each son apprentices to a trade and receives a magical gift: a self-covering table, a gold-dropping ass, and a cudgel that beats thieves. The first two sons lose their gifts to a thieving innkeeper, but the third son uses his cudgel to recover them. The sons return home, enrich their family, and live in joy, while the goat hides in a fox's den.
Chapter 37
Thumbling
A poor peasant and his wife wish for a child, even if only as small as a thumb. Their wish is granted, and they name him Thumbling. Despite his tiny size, Thumbling proves clever and resourceful. He helps his father by driving a cart to the forest while sitting in the horse's ear. Two strangers see him and buy him from his father. Thumbling escapes by hiding in a mouse hole, then spends the night in a snail shell. He encounters thieves and tries to help them rob a pastor's house, but his loud cries alert the maid, causing the thieves to flee. Thumbling then sleeps in the hay, is eaten by a cow, and later swallowed by a wolf. He convinces the wolf to go to his parents' house, where his father kills the wolf and rescues Thumbling. He is reunited with his parents, who vow never to sell him again.
Chapter 38
The Wedding of Mrs. Fox
Old Mr. Fox feigns death to test his wife's fidelity. Mrs. Fox's maid, the cat, receives a series of suitors, each lacking the nine tails of the late Mr. Fox, until a young fox with nine tails appears. Mrs. Fox agrees to marry him, but in the first story, old Mr. Fox rises and drives them out. In the second story, after old Mr. Fox's actual death, various beasts woo Mrs. Fox but fail to meet her standards until a young fox with red stockings and a pointed mouth succeeds, and they marry.
Chapter 39
First Story
A child shares her milk and bread with a grateful snake, which brings her treasures. When the mother kills the snake, the child falls ill and dies.
Chapter 40
Second Story
An orphan girl spinning on the town walls encounters a snake that brings her a delicate golden crown. When she takes the crown, the snake returns, finds it gone, and dies of grief after striking its head against the wall.
Chapter 41
The Elves
This chapter features three stories about helpful elves. In the first, a poor shoemaker receives secret help from elves who craft beautiful shoes overnight, making him prosperous. He and his wife repay them by making clothes, and the elves leave. In the second, a poor servant girl helps elves by cleaning their cave and is rewarded with gold. In the third, an elf child is taken by a mother who wants to keep it, but the elf mother retrieves it, and the child grows up to be honest.
Chapter 42
First Story
A child shares her milk and bread with a grateful snake, which brings her treasures. When the mother kills the snake, the child falls ill and dies.
Chapter 43
Second Story
An orphan girl spinning on the town walls encounters a snake that brings her a delicate golden crown. When she takes the crown, the snake returns, finds it gone, and dies of grief after striking its head against the wall.
Chapter 44
Third Story
A child calls out to a snake, asking if it has seen her little sister named Red-stockings. The snake replies that it has not, and the child responds that she has not either, declaring they are alike.
Chapter 45
The Robber Bridegroom
A miller promises his beautiful daughter in marriage to a seemingly wealthy suitor, but the maiden feels a secret horror toward him. She visits his house in the dark forest, guided by ashes, but marks her path with peas and lentils. There, she discovers it is a murderers' den, where an old woman hides her behind a hogshead. The robbers bring home another girl, murder her, and cut off her finger, which lands in the bride's bosom. The old woman drugs the robbers, and the bride escapes with her. At the wedding feast, she tells her story as a dream, producing the severed finger as proof, and the bridegroom and his gang are executed.
Chapter 46
Herr Korbes
A cock and a hen build a carriage and set off for the house of Herr Korbes, picking up a cat, millstone, egg, duck, pin, and needle along the way. When they arrive, Herr Korbes is absent, and each object hides in a specific spot. Upon his return, the objects attack him one by one, culminating in the millstone falling on him and killing him, suggesting he was a wicked man.
Chapter 47
The Godfather
A poor man with many children dreams that he should ask the first stranger he meets to be his child's godfather. The stranger gives him a glass of water that can heal the sick depending on where Death stands by the patient. The man becomes a famous healer but eventually visits the godfather's strange house, where he sees bizarre sights that the godfather dismisses as ordinary things. When the man reveals he saw the godfather with long horns, the godfather angrily denies it, and the man flees in fear.
Chapter 48
Frau Trude
A disobedient and inquisitive girl ignores her parents' warnings and visits the wicked Frau Trude. Upon arriving, she describes terrifying visions—a black man, a green man, a bloodred man, and finally the devil himself. Frau Trude reveals she is a witch, turns the girl into a block of wood, and burns her in the fire.
Chapter 49
Godfather Death
A poor man with twelve children rejects God and the Devil as godfather for his thirteenth child, choosing Death instead. Death makes the boy a famous physician who can tell if a patient will live or die based on Death's position at the bedside. The physician twice defies Death by saving a king and then a princess, leading Death to extinguish his own life-candle.
Chapter 50
Thumbling as Journeyman
Thumbling, a tiny tailor's son, ventures into the world with a needle-sword. He leaves home after being carried up the chimney by steam, works for a master but is mistreated, then joins robbers to steal the king's treasure. He cleverly evades capture, declines to be their captain, and takes only a small coin. After working at an inn, maids trick him into being swallowed by a cow, then chopped into sausage meat, and finally smoked in a black pudding. He escapes, is swallowed by a fox, and promises his father's fowls in exchange for freedom. He returns home, gives his father the coin, and the father gives the fox the chickens.
Chapter 51
Fitcher's Bird
A wizard kidnaps three sisters, one by one, by tricking them into his basket. The first two sisters succumb to curiosity and enter a forbidden room where they are murdered and dismembered. The third sister, clever and crafty, enters the room, reassembles her sisters, and brings them back to life. She then tricks the wizard into carrying her sisters home in a basket of gold, disguises herself as a bird, and orchestrates the wizard's death by burning his house down with the help of her kinsmen.
Chapter 52
The Juniper-Tree
A childless woman wishes for a child as red as blood and white as snow, gives birth to a son, and dies. Her husband remarries, and the stepmother, driven by jealousy and greed, murders the boy by decapitating him with a chest lid. She tricks her daughter Marlinchen into believing the boy is dead, then cooks the boy into a stew that the father unknowingly eats. Marlinchen collects the bones and buries them under a juniper tree, from which a magical bird emerges. The bird sings a haunting song revealing the murder, and rewards the father and Marlinchen with gifts while dropping a millstone on the stepmother, killing her. The boy is restored to life, and the family is reunited.
Chapter 53
Old Sultan
A farmer plans to shoot his aged dog, Old Sultan, because he has lost his teeth and is no longer useful. The dog, overhearing this, seeks help from his friend the wolf, who devises a plan to make the farmer grateful. The wolf pretends to steal the farmer's child, and Old Sultan rescues it, earning the farmer's gratitude and a comfortable life. Later, the wolf tries to persuade the dog to help him steal a sheep, but Old Sultan remains loyal to his master and warns the farmer, who beats the wolf. The wolf challenges the dog to a fight, but Old Sultan, aided only by a three-legged cat, frightens off the wolf and a boar through a misunderstanding, leading to a reconciliation.
Chapter 54
The Six Swans
A king loses his way in a forest and is forced by a witch to marry her daughter. The new queen, a witch herself, transforms the king's six sons into swans using enchanted shirts. The boys' sister escapes and learns from her brothers that she can break the spell by remaining silent and not laughing for six years while sewing six shirts of starwort. She is discovered by a king, who marries her despite her muteness. His wicked mother frames her three times for killing her own children, leading to a death sentence. On the final day of the six years, she completes the shirts, freeing her brothers, and reveals her innocence. The wicked stepmother is executed, and the family lives happily.
Chapter 55
Briar-Rose
A king and queen finally have a daughter after a frog prophesies her birth. At the feast, twelve of thirteen Wise Women bestow gifts, but the uninvited thirteenth curses the princess to die at fifteen from a spindle prick. The twelfth Wise Woman softens the curse to a hundred-year sleep. Despite the king burning all spindles, the princess pricks her finger on her fifteenth birthday, falling asleep along with the entire castle, which becomes surrounded by an impenetrable thorn hedge. After a hundred years, a prince arrives as the hedge opens, finds Briar-Rose, and awakens her with a kiss. The whole court revives, and the prince and princess marry.
Chapter 56
Fundevogel (Bird-Foundling)
A forester finds a baby boy in a tree, rescued from a bird of prey, and raises him alongside his daughter Lina. The children grow up loving each other deeply. The old cook plots to boil Fundevogel alive while the forester is away, but Lina overhears and warns him. They flee together, transforming into a rosebush, then a church, and finally a fishpond and duck to evade capture. The cook pursues them but is drowned by the duck. The children return home safely.
Chapter 57
King Thrushbeard
A proud princess mocks all her suitors, especially a king with a crooked chin whom she calls 'King Thrushbeard.' Her father, angered by her haughtiness, swears she will marry the first beggar who comes to the palace. A fiddler appears, and the king forces her to marry him. She lives in poverty, struggling with menial tasks, and eventually becomes a kitchen maid. At a royal wedding, she is humiliated when her hidden jars of leftovers spill, but the groom reveals himself as King Thrushbeard in disguise, who orchestrated her downfall to cure her pride. He forgives her, and they celebrate their wedding.
Chapter 58
Little Snow-White
A queen gives birth to a daughter as white as snow, as red as blood, and as black as ebony, but dies soon after. The king remarries a beautiful but vain and cruel woman who cannot bear anyone more beautiful than herself. When Snow-White surpasses her in beauty, the stepmother orders a huntsman to kill her, but he lets her escape into the forest. Snow-White finds refuge with seven dwarfs, but the stepmother, using a magic mirror to track her, attempts to kill her three times—with a poisoned lace, a poisoned comb, and a poisoned apple. The third attempt succeeds until a prince finds her, revives her, and marries her. At the wedding, the stepmother is forced to dance in red-hot iron slippers until she dies.
Chapter 59
The Knapsack, the Hat, and the Horn
Three impoverished brothers set out to seek their fortune. The eldest takes silver from a hill and returns home; the second takes gold and does the same. The youngest continues and acquires a magical wishing-cloth, then a knapsack that summons soldiers, a hat that commands cannons, and a horn that destroys walls. He returns home to find his brothers have rejected him, uses the knapsack to subdue them, then demands the king's daughter in marriage. His wife steals the knapsack and hat, but he uses the horn to destroy the kingdom and makes himself king.
Chapter 60
Rumpelstiltskin
A poor miller boasts to the King that his daughter can spin straw into gold. The King locks her in a room full of straw and demands she spin it into gold or die. A mysterious little man appears and spins the straw into gold in exchange for her necklace, then her ring, and finally a promise of her first child. The King marries her, and when the child is born, the little man returns to claim it. The Queen is given three days to guess his name; with the help of a messenger who overhears the little man singing his name, she guesses 'Rumpelstiltskin,' and the little man destroys himself in rage.
Chapter 61
Sweetheart Roland
A stepdaughter, threatened by her witch stepmother, escapes with her sweetheart Roland after the witch accidentally kills her own daughter. Using a magic wand, the girl transforms herself and Roland to evade the witch, ultimately causing the witch's death through a magical dance. Roland later forgets her due to another's influence, but the faithful maiden, after a period of servitude, is recognized by Roland at his intended wedding, leading to their reunion and marriage.
Chapter 62
The Golden Bird
A youth, aided by a magical Fox, undertakes a series of tasks to obtain a Golden Bird, a Golden Horse, and a beautiful princess. After being betrayed by his brothers and thrown into a well, he is rescued by the Fox, ultimately reunites with the princess, and the Fox is revealed to be her enchanted brother.
Chapter 63
The Dog and the Sparrow
A mistreated dog leaves his cruel master and meets a sparrow who helps him find food. After the dog is killed by a careless wagoner, the sparrow exacts a brutal revenge, destroying the wagoner's wine, horses, and home, and ultimately causing his death.
Chapter 64
Frederick and Catherine
Frederick and Catherine, a married couple, face a series of comedic mishaps due to Catherine's well-meaning but foolish actions. She loses a sausage to a dog, spills the beer, and ruins the flour while trying to clean up. Later, she trades their hidden gold for cheap pots, then loses the butter and cheese while chasing thieves. She brings the house door along, and their pursuit ends when she drops it from a tree, scaring the thieves away. They recover their gold, but Catherine's subsequent attempt to cut corn results in her cutting her own clothes to pieces.
Chapter 65
The Two Brothers
Two twin brothers, sons of a poor broom-maker, accidentally eat the heart and liver of a golden bird, which grants them a daily gold piece. Their envious goldsmith uncle convinces their father they are in league with the Evil One, so the father abandons them in the forest. A huntsman takes them in, teaches them hunting, and they become skilled huntsmen. They set out into the world, encounter magical animals, and eventually separate. One brother rescues a princess and becomes king, while the other is turned to stone by a witch. The free brother rescues his twin, but jealousy leads him to kill his brother, who is revived by a life-giving root. They reconcile, and the true husband is identified by a necklace on his lion.
Chapter 66
The Little Peasant
A poor peasant tricks a miller and his wife, escapes death by rolling a barrel into water, and ultimately becomes the sole heir of the entire village.
Chapter 67
The Queen Bee
Two kings' sons go on adventures and fall into a disorderly life, but their youngest brother, Simpleton, sets out to find them. Despite being mocked, he shows kindness to ants, ducks, and bees, sparing them from harm. They arrive at an enchanted castle where a little grey man sets three tasks to break the spell. Simpleton, aided by the grateful creatures, completes the tasks: gathering a thousand pearls with the ants, retrieving a key from a lake with the ducks, and identifying the youngest princess by the bee's choice. The enchantment ends, Simpleton marries the princess, and becomes king.
Chapter 68
The Three Feathers
A king, nearing death, sets three contests among his three sons to determine who will inherit the kingdom. The two clever sons mock their simple youngest brother, but he succeeds in each task with the help of a magical toad, winning a beautiful carpet, a ring, and a beautiful wife. Despite the older brothers' attempts to cheat, the simpleton ultimately wins the crown and rules wisely.
Chapter 69
The Golden Goose
Dummling, the youngest and most despised son, goes into the forest to cut wood after his two older brothers injure themselves. He shares his meager food with a little grey-haired old man, who transforms it into a fine meal and rewards him by revealing a golden goose at the roots of a tree. Dummling takes the goose to an inn, where the innkeeper's three daughters become stuck to it one after another. The parson, sexton, and two laborers also become stuck when they try to intervene. Dummling leads this comical procession to a king's city, where the sight makes the solemn princess laugh. He marries her and eventually inherits the kingdom.
Chapter 70
Allerleirauh
A widowed king, bound by a promise to marry only a woman as beautiful as his late queen with golden hair, develops an unnatural desire for his own daughter. To escape his advances, the princess demands three impossible dresses and a mantle of a thousand furs, then flees into the forest disguised as a hairy creature. She is taken to a neighboring king's palace as a kitchen maid, where she secretly attends three festivals wearing the magnificent dresses. The king falls in love with her, and after discovering her identity through a ring and a golden reel, he marries her.
Chapter 71
The Hare’s Bride
A mother sends her daughter to chase away a hare that eats their cabbages. After three requests, the girl finally agrees to sit on the hare's tail and is taken to his hut, where he prepares a wedding feast with animal guests. The bride, feeling sad and alone, refuses to participate, weeps, and eventually escapes by leaving a straw doll in her place. The hare discovers the deception and departs sorrowfully.
Chapter 72
The Twelve Huntsmen
A prince betrothed to a maiden is forced by his dying father to marry another princess. The forsaken bride, with her father's help, gathers eleven maidens who resemble her, disguises them all as huntsmen, and enters the service of her former betrothed. Despite the king's lion revealing their secret, the maidens pass tests of strength and restraint. Eventually, during a hunt, the true bride faints upon hearing of the king's impending marriage, and the king recognizes her by the ring he had given her. He acknowledges her as his true wife and sends away the other bride.
Chapter 73
The Thief and His Master
Hans, seeking a trade for his son, is misled by a clerk into believing thieving is divinely sanctioned. He places his son with a master-thief under a wager: if Hans cannot recognize his son after a year, he must pay two hundred thalers. With the help of a dwarf, Hans succeeds, and the son returns home. The son then demonstrates his thieving and shape-shifting abilities by transforming into a greyhound and a horse, but the master-thief pursues him. A series of transformations and contests ensue, culminating in the son becoming a fox and killing the master-thief.
Chapter 74
Jorinda and Joringel
A young couple, Jorinda and Joringel, wander into a forest near a witch's castle. The witch turns Jorinda into a nightingale and traps her among thousands of caged birds. Joringel, unable to free her, eventually dreams of a bloodred flower with a pearl that breaks enchantments. After searching for nine days, he finds the flower, uses it to enter the castle, and rescues Jorinda by touching her cage and the witch, breaking the spell.
Chapter 75
The Three Sons of Fortune
A dying father gives each of his three sons a seemingly worthless gift: a cock, a scythe, and a cat. He advises them to seek countries where these items are unknown to make their fortunes. The eldest son sells his cock to an island where people have no way to tell time at night, receiving an ass-load of gold. The second son sells his scythe to an island where they shoot down corn with cannons, earning a horse-load of gold. The third son sells his cat to an island overrun with mice, receiving a mule-load of gold. However, when the cat's mewing frightens the king and his court, they burn down the palace to get rid of it.
Chapter 76
How Six Men Got on in the World
A discharged soldier, skilled in arts, gathers five extraordinary companions: a strong man who uproots trees, a huntsman who can shoot a fly's eye from two miles away, a blower who can turn windmills, a runner who outpaces birds, and a man whose hat controls frost. They compete for the King's daughter in a race, survive the King's attempts to kill them by fire, and ultimately win the kingdom's treasure through strength and cunning, living contentedly thereafter.
Chapter 77
The Wolf and the Man
The fox demonstrates to the wolf the strength of man by showing him three examples: an old soldier, a schoolboy, and a hunter. The wolf, despite warnings, attacks the hunter and is severely wounded by gunshot and a hanger, learning a painful lesson about human power.
Chapter 78
The Wolf and the Fox
A fox, forced to serve a greedy wolf, repeatedly procures food for him but the wolf's gluttony leads to beatings and ultimately his death when he gets stuck in a cellar.
Chapter 79
The Fox and His Cousin
The she-wolf invites the fox to be godfather to her cub, trusting his cleverness. The fox feigns honesty, then tricks her into raiding a sheepfold where she is caught and scalded by peasants. He pretends to be injured and convinces her to carry him home, then mocks her and escapes.
Chapter 80
The Fox and the Cat
The cat meets the fox in the forest and politely greets him. The fox, arrogant and boastful, mocks the cat for knowing only one art—climbing a tree to escape hounds—while he claims mastery of a hundred arts and a sackful of cunning. When a hunter and four dogs appear, the cat quickly climbs a tree to safety, but the fox, unable to escape, is seized and killed by the dogs. The cat remarks that the fox's many arts failed him, whereas her single skill saved her life.
Chapter 81
The Pink
A queen, childless, is promised a son with the power of wishing. The son is born, but the cook steals him and frames the queen, who is imprisoned in a tower. The son grows up, discovers the truth, and with the help of a maiden, transforms the cook into a poodle. He returns home, reveals his identity, rescues his mother, and the cook is punished. The queen dies peacefully, the king dies of grief, and the son marries the maiden.
Chapter 82
Clever Grethel
A cook named Grethel, proud of her appearance and fond of wine, eats both fowls she was roasting for her master and an expected guest. When the master returns with the guest, she tricks the guest into fleeing by claiming the master intends to cut off his ears, then tells her master that the guest stole the chickens. The master chases the guest with a knife, each misunderstanding the other's cries.
Chapter 83
The Old Man and His Grandson
A very old man, weakened by age, is mistreated by his son and daughter-in-law, who make him eat alone from a wooden bowl after he breaks his earthenware one. Their young son, observing this, begins making a wooden trough for his parents to use when they are old, prompting them to realize their cruelty and welcome the grandfather back to the family table.
Chapter 84
The Water-Nix
A little brother and sister fall into a well and are captured by a water-nix, who forces them to perform impossible tasks. They escape on a Sunday while the nix is at church, using a brush, a comb, and a looking-glass to create obstacles that delay their pursuer, ultimately fleeing to safety.
Chapter 85
The Death of the Little Hen
The little hen finds a large nut kernel but tries to eat it alone, causing it to lodge in her throat. She sends the little cock for water, but a chain of requests delays him, and she chokes to death. The cock, distraught, organizes a funeral procession with animals, but a series of accidents leads to the drowning of all participants, and the cock dies of grief beside the hen's grave.
Chapter 86
Brother Lustig
Brother Lustig, a discharged soldier, encounters St. Peter in disguise and shares his meager provisions. St. Peter, a skilled healer, revives a sick peasant and later a dead princess, but refuses payment. Brother Lustig, greedy and foolish, takes the gold and later tries to revive another princess on his own, failing because he cannot arrange the bones correctly. St. Peter intervenes, and after a series of events, Brother Lustig tricks his way into Heaven by hiding in his knapsack.
Chapter 87
Gambling Hansel
Gambling Hansel, a compulsive gambler who has lost everything, hosts the Lord and St. Peter for a night. Despite losing their money to gambling, he is granted three wishes: a deck of cards and dice that always win, and a tree that traps anyone who climbs it. He uses these to win half the world, traps Death in the tree for seven years, and after being killed, is rejected from Heaven and Purgatory but admitted to Hell. There he gambles with Lucifer, wins his devils, and threatens Heaven with a pole until he is let in, only to be thrown down, his soul scattering among living gamblers.
Chapter 88
Hans in Luck
After seven years of faithful service, Hans receives a lump of gold as his wages and sets off for home. Along the way, he trades the gold for a horse, then the horse for a cow, the cow for a pig, the pig for a goose, and finally the goose for a grindstone. When the grindstone falls into a well, Hans is overjoyed to be free of his burdens and returns home to his mother lighthearted and content.
Chapter 89
Hans Married
A young peasant named Hans is set up by his uncle to marry a rich peasant's daughter through clever deception about his wealth. The uncle instructs Hans to sit by a hot stove with milk, bread, and a coin to appear prosperous. The wooer, wearing patched trousers, convinces the bride's father that Hans has 'patches' (land) and money. After the wedding, Hans shows his wife his patched smock-frock, claiming each patch is his land. The chapter ends with a first-person account of attending the wedding in absurd attire made of snow, cobwebs, and glass.
Chapter 90
The Gold-Children
A poor fisherman catches a golden fish that grants him a castle and riches on the condition he never reveals the source. His wife's curiosity causes him to break the promise twice, losing everything each time. On the third catch, the fish instructs him to cut it into pieces, which results in golden lilies, golden foals, and two golden children. The sons grow up and travel; one returns home ashamed after being mocked, while the other ventures into a forest, marries a beautiful maiden, and is turned to stone by a witch. His brother senses the danger through the wilting lily, rescues him, and they live happily.
Chapter 91
The Fox and the Geese
A fox encounters a flock of fat geese and intends to eat them one by one. The geese beg for mercy and ask for a final prayer before their death. The fox agrees, and the geese begin a long, collective prayer that continues without end, leaving the story unfinished.
Chapter 92
The Poor Man and the Rich Man
The Lord, walking among men, seeks lodging for the night. The rich man turns him away, but the poor man and his wife welcome him warmly. In gratitude, the Lord grants the poor couple three wishes: eternal happiness, health and daily bread, and a new house. The rich man, seeing the transformation, pursues the Lord and secures three wishes for himself, but his greed and impatience lead him to waste them—first wishing his horse dead, then wishing his wife stuck on a saddle, and finally using the last wish to free her, gaining nothing but trouble.
Chapter 93
The Singing, Springing Lark
A father promises a lion his youngest daughter in exchange for a singing lark. The daughter willingly goes to the lion, who is an enchanted prince. They marry and live happily until he forgets her under a spell. She embarks on a seven-year quest, aided by the sun, moon, and winds, to break the spell and reclaim her husband.
Chapter 94
The Goose-Girl
A princess traveling to marry a distant prince is betrayed by her waiting-maid, who forces her to exchange clothes and horses, swears her to secrecy, and takes her place. The princess becomes a goose-girl, but her talking horse Falada and her golden hair reveal her true identity. The old king discovers the truth, and the false bride is punished while the princess marries the prince.
Chapter 95
The Young Giant
A thumb-sized boy is taken by a giant, suckled for six years, and grows into a giant of immense strength. He returns home, but his parents reject him. He then works as a smith's apprentice and later as a head-servant on a farm, where he performs superhuman feats and demands blows as wages, terrifying his employers.
Chapter 96
The Gnome
A king's three daughters vanish after eating an apple from a forbidden tree. Three huntsmen set out to find them. The two elder brothers fail a test set by a gnome, but the youngest, called Stupid Hans, beats the gnome and learns the princesses are trapped in an underground well guarded by dragons. He descends, slays the dragons, and rescues the princesses, but his brothers betray him by cutting the rope as he is being pulled up, leaving him for dead. He escapes with the help of elves and a magic flute, exposes his brothers' treachery, and marries the youngest princess.
Chapter 97
The King of the Golden Mountain
A merchant, ruined by the loss of his ships, promises his firstborn son to a black dwarf in exchange for wealth. As the twelve-year deadline approaches, the son confronts the dwarf and is set adrift in a boat. He lands on an enchanted shore, breaks a curse by enduring torment in silence, and marries a princess, becoming King of the Golden Mountain. Years later, he visits his parents but breaks a promise by using a wishing-ring to summon his wife and child. His wife, feeling betrayed, steals the ring and returns to her kingdom. The king acquires magical items (a sword, cloak, and boots) from giants, returns to find his wife about to remarry, and uses the cloak to disrupt the wedding feast.
Chapter 98
The Raven
A queen curses her young daughter into a raven, who flies into a dark forest. A man encounters the raven and learns he can free her by resisting food and drink from an old woman for three days. He fails each day, falling asleep, and the raven leaves him a ring, food, and a letter directing him to the golden castle of Stromberg. After a long journey, he meets a giant who helps him find the castle. He uses a magic ring to gain entry and ultimately frees the princess, leading to their marriage.
Chapter 99
The Peasant's Wise Daughter
A poor peasant and his daughter receive land from the King, but when the father finds a golden mortar and gives it to the King without the pestle, he is imprisoned. The daughter's wisdom helps her solve the King's riddle, leading to their marriage. Later, she uses her cleverness to help a peasant reclaim his foal, but when the King discovers her involvement, he banishes her. She takes the King himself as her dearest possession, and they reconcile.
Chapter 100
Old Hildebrand
A peasant's wife conspires with the village parson to spend a day together by tricking the peasant into a pilgrimage. The peasant's gossip reveals the deception, and the peasant hides in an egg-basket to catch them in the act, ultimately driving the parson away.
Chapter 101
The Three Little Birds
A king overhears three girls making wishes about marrying him and his ministers. He marries the eldest, and his ministers marry the other two. The queen's sisters, jealous of her having children, throw her three newborns into the river, claiming they were born as animals. The king imprisons the queen. A fisherman rescues the children and raises them. Years later, the eldest son sets out to find his father, followed by his brother and sister. The sister receives guidance from an old woman, crosses a river, retrieves a bird and water from a fountain, and frees a prince from a dog's curse. She reunites with her brothers. The king learns the truth through the bird's song, frees the queen, and the false sisters are executed. The daughter marries the prince.
Chapter 102
The Water of Life
A king falls gravely ill, and his three sons seek the Water of Life to cure him. The two eldest sons behave haughtily toward a helpful dwarf and become trapped in a ravine. The youngest son is humble, receives guidance from the dwarf, and successfully retrieves the water from an enchanted castle, also freeing a princess. His brothers betray him, steal the water, and deceive their father, leading to a death sentence for the youngest. The huntsman spares him, and later the truth emerges when grateful kings send gifts. The princess tests the suitors with a golden road; the eldest brothers fail, but the youngest, lost in thought, rides straight up the middle and wins her hand.
Chapter 103
Doctor Knowall
A poor peasant named Crabb, inspired by a doctor's lifestyle, buys an ABC book with a cock on it, becomes 'Doctor Knowall,' and is summoned by a nobleman to find stolen money. Through a series of misunderstandings, the guilty servants confess to him, and he successfully identifies the hidden money, gaining wealth and fame.
Chapter 104
The Spirit in the Bottle
A poor woodcutter sends his son to school, but when the money runs out, the son joins his father in the forest. While exploring, the son finds a glass bottle containing a spirit named Mercurius. He releases the spirit, who threatens to strangle him, but the son tricks the spirit back into the bottle. After a second release, the spirit rewards him with a magical plaster that heals wounds and turns iron into silver. The son uses it to gain wealth, returns to school, and becomes a famous doctor.
Chapter 105
The Devil's Sooty Brother
A disbanded soldier, desperate and hungry, hires himself to the Devil for seven years. He must serve in hell without washing, combing, or cutting his hair or nails. He pokes the fire, sweeps, and peeps into kettles where he sees former officers. After seven years, the Devil gives him a knapsack of sweepings that turn to gold. The soldier loses the gold to a thieving innkeeper but retrieves it with the Devil's help. He then plays music for a king, who promises him his eldest daughter; she refuses, but the youngest agrees, and the soldier eventually inherits the kingdom.
Chapter 106
Bearskin
A brave soldier, dismissed after war and abandoned by his brothers, makes a pact with the Devil: he must remain unwashed, unkempt, and without prayer for seven years in exchange for endless money and a magical coat. Disguised as a monstrous 'Bearskin,' he uses his wealth to help the poor. In the fourth year, he rescues a destitute old man from prison and is promised one of his three daughters in marriage. The eldest two reject him in horror, but the youngest accepts, and they exchange halves of a broken ring. After seven years, the Devil cleanses him, and Bearskin returns as a handsome man. He reveals himself to his faithful bride using the ring, while the jealous sisters meet grim ends, and the Devil claims their souls instead.
Chapter 107
The Willow-Wren and the Bear
The bear insults the young willow-wrens, leading to a war between four-footed animals and birds. The willow-wren's army wins through cunning, and the bear is forced to apologize.
Chapter 108
Sweet Porridge
A poor little girl receives a magical pot from an old woman in the forest that cooks sweet porridge on command. The pot brings relief from hunger until the mother, unaware of the stopping command, causes the porridge to overflow uncontrollably, flooding the town. The girl returns and stops the pot, but the town is left buried in porridge.
Chapter 109
Wise Folks
A peasant warns his wife Trina not to sell their three cows for less than two hundred thalers. When a cattle-dealer offers the price but lacks the money, Trina accepts one cow as security and lets the dealer take the other two. The furious peasant sets out to find someone stupider than his wife to spare her a beating. He encounters a woman who believes he fell from heaven and gives him money for her deceased husband, then her son gives him a horse to retrieve the 'heavenly' man. The peasant returns home with the horse and money, sparing his wife.
Chapter 110
Stories About Snakes
A collection of short tales involving snakes, including a child who shares his food with a snake, a snake that becomes a child's companion and is later killed by the mother, and a snake that brings good fortune to a family.
Chapter 111
First Story
A child shares her milk and bread with a grateful snake, which brings her treasures. When the mother kills the snake, the child falls ill and dies.
Chapter 112
Second Story
An orphan girl spinning on the town walls encounters a snake that brings her a delicate golden crown. When she takes the crown, the snake returns, finds it gone, and dies of grief after striking its head against the wall.
Chapter 113
Third Story
A child calls out to a snake, asking if it has seen her little sister named Red-stockings. The snake replies that it has not, and the child responds that she has not either, declaring they are alike.
Chapter 114
The Poor Miller's Boy and the Cat
A miller promises his mill to whichever of his three apprentices brings him the best horse. The two clever apprentices abandon the third, simple Hans, in a cave. Hans meets a tabby-cat who offers him a horse if he serves her faithfully for seven years. He works for her in an enchanted castle, using silver and gold tools, and after seven years she shows him twelve magnificent horses. She sends him home in his old rags, promising to follow in three days. His fellow apprentices mock him, but the cat, revealed as a princess, arrives with a coach and horses, dresses Hans splendidly, and marries him, making him rich.
Chapter 115
The Two Travellers
A kind-hearted tailor, after being set an impossible task by a king, is helped by a stork to bring a prince from a well and wins the princess. His jealous shoemaker companion blinds him, but the tailor regains his sight using dew from a gallows. Later, the tailor becomes court tailor, and the shoemaker, now court shoemaker, plots against him. The tailor is saved by a duck who retrieves a lost crown from a pond, and later by bees who help him copy the royal palace in wax, ultimately overcoming the shoemaker's schemes.
Chapter 116
Hans the Hedgehog
A childless peasant wishes for a child, even if it is a hedgehog, and his wife gives birth to Hans the Hedgehog, a boy with a hedgehog's upper body. After eight years, Hans acquires bagpipes and a shod cock, then rides into the forest to tend swine and asses. He helps two lost kings in exchange for a promise of whatever first meets them in their courtyards, but the first king tricks him. Hans later forces the first king to honor the promise, marries the second king's daughter, and is transformed into a handsome man when his hedgehog skin is burned. He eventually reconciles with his father.
Chapter 117
The Shroud
A mother mourns the death of her seven-year-old son, weeping day and night. The child's ghost appears, pleading with her to stop crying because her tears wet his shroud and prevent him from resting in his coffin. The mother heeds his words, entrusts her grief to God, and the child finally finds peace in his grave.
Chapter 118
The Jew Among Thorns
A diligent servant works for a miserly master for three years and receives only three farthings. He gives the money to a dwarf, who grants him three wishes: a gun that never misses, a fiddle that makes everyone dance, and the power to have any request granted. The servant later encounters a Jew, shoots a bird into a thornbush, and forces the Jew to dance in the thorns until he gives up a purse of gold. The Jew complains to a judge, who sentences the servant to death. At the gallows, the servant requests to play his fiddle, causing everyone to dance uncontrollably. The judge grants him his life, the Jew confesses to stealing the gold, and the Jew is hanged instead.
Chapter 119
The Skilful Huntsman
A young locksmith's apprentice becomes a huntsman, receives a magical airgun, and uses it to outwit three giants who are trying to capture a princess. After rescuing her, he proves his deeds with tokens, exposes a false captain, and marries the princess, eventually inheriting the kingdom.
Chapter 120
The Flail from Heaven
A countryman's oxen grow enormous horns, leading him to trade them for turnip-seed with a butcher. After losing one seed, it grows into a sky-high tree. The peasant climbs to heaven, watches angels threshing oats, and escapes by making a rope from oat chaff. He uses a hoe to climb out of a deep hole and keeps a flail as proof of his journey.
Chapter 121
The Two Kings' Children
A king's son, fated to be killed by a stag, is instead captured by a giant who sets him three nightly trials with his daughters. With the help of the youngest princess and magical earth-workers, he completes impossible tasks of clearing a forest, building a castle, and cleaning a fishpond. After fleeing together and using transformations to evade the king, the prince forgets her due to a sleeping potion, but she ultimately wins him back through a walnut dress ruse, leading to their wedding and the exile of the false bride.
Chapter 122
The Cunning Little Tailor
A proud princess sets a riddle for suitors, promising marriage to whoever solves it. Three tailors attempt it; the youngest, a seemingly foolish little tailor, correctly guesses that the princess has silver and golden hair. The princess then sets a second task: spending the night with a bear. The tailor outwits the bear by tricking it with pebbles instead of nuts and trapping its claws in a vise, then sleeps safely. The princess is forced to marry him, and the tailor escapes a final attack from the freed bear by bluffing it away.
Chapter 123
The Bright Sun Brings It to Light
A tailor's apprentice, impoverished and desperate, murders a Jew for money, finding only eight farthings. The dying Jew declares, 'The bright sun will bring it to light.' Years later, the tailor marries and has children, but when sunlight reflects on his coffee, he mutters about the sun's inability to reveal his crime. His wife pressures him to confess, and he tells her the secret, swearing her to silence. She tells a friend, and soon the whole town knows. The tailor is tried and condemned, fulfilling the Jew's prophecy.
Chapter 124
The Blue Light
A wounded soldier, dismissed without pay by his king, is forced into servitude by a witch who later betrays him. He discovers a magical blue light that summons a dwarf, who helps him escape, punish the witch, and seek revenge on the king. After a series of tests and a near-execution, the soldier uses the dwarf to defeat the king's forces, forcing the king to surrender his kingdom and daughter.
Chapter 125
The Wilful Child
A willful child who refuses to obey her mother becomes ill and dies, but her arm repeatedly emerges from the grave until her mother strikes it with a rod, finally allowing the child to rest.
Chapter 126
The Three Army-Surgeons
Three army-surgeons, claiming mastery of their art, demonstrate their skill by cutting off their own hand, heart, and eyes, then using a salve to reattach them. A servant girl, distracted by her lover, loses the organs to a cat. The lover replaces them with a thief's hand, cat's eyes, and a pig's heart. The surgeons reattach these, but suffer the consequences: one steals uncontrollably, one sees poorly, and one roots like a pig. They return to the innkeeper, who blames the missing girl, and extort money from him.
Chapter 127
The Seven Swabians
Seven Swabians, led by Master Schulz, set out on a journey to seek adventures and perform great deeds. They carry a single long spear together. Their first encounter with a hornet terrifies them, causing a chaotic retreat. Later, they mistake a sleeping hare for a dragon and, after much fearful deliberation, charge at it only to see it flee. Finally, they attempt to cross the Moselle River, misinterpreting a man's reply as 'wade,' and all drown.
Chapter 128
The Three Apprentices
Three apprentices, having lost their work, agree to travel together but are approached by the Devil disguised as a richly-dressed man. He offers them wealth and success in exchange for obeying a strict rule: each must answer every question with a fixed phrase—'All three of us,' 'For money,' and 'And quite right too!'—and say nothing else. They accept, and their pockets fill with gold. At an inn, a wealthy merchant entrusts his money to the host, who murders him for it. The apprentices are framed for the crime and condemned to death, but the Devil appears as a nobleman at the scaffold, reveals their innocence, and exposes the innkeeper as the true murderer. The innkeeper is executed, the Devil claims the soul he sought, and the apprentices are freed with lifelong wealth.
Chapter 129
The King's Son Who Feared Nothing
A fearless king's son leaves home, encounters a giant, and retrieves an apple from the tree of life using a magical ring. After the giant betrays him and blinds him, his faithful lion saves him and he regains his sight. He then breaks an enchantment on a castle by enduring three nights of torment from devils, freeing a black maiden who becomes a beautiful princess, and they marry.
Chapter 130
Donkey Cabbages
A young huntsman receives a wishing-cloak and a bird's heart from an old crone, granting him wealth and travel. He falls in love with a maiden under a witch's influence, who tricks him out of his treasures. Stranded on a mountain, he is carried by a cloud to a cabbage garden where he discovers a magical salad that transforms people into donkeys. He uses the salad to punish the witch and her servant, but ultimately forgives the maiden, restores her humanity, and marries her.
Chapter 131
The Old Woman in the Wood
A poor servant-girl survives a robbery in the forest and is aided by a white dove that provides her with food, shelter, and clothing. The dove later asks her to retrieve a plain ring from an old woman's house. She succeeds, and the dove reveals itself to be a prince transformed by a witch, whom she marries.
Chapter 132
The Three Brothers
A father with three sons and only a house to leave them devises a contest: each son must learn a trade and return to perform the best masterpiece. The eldest becomes a blacksmith, the second a barber, and the third a fencing-master. They demonstrate their skills—shaving a running hare, shoeing a galloping horse, and remaining dry in a rainstorm with a sword. The father awards the house to the fencing-master, but the brothers, loving each other, live together happily until they die and are buried in the same grave.
Chapter 133
The Devil and His Grandmother
Three soldiers desert the king's army due to poor pay and hide in a cornfield. The Devil, disguised as a dragon, offers them a deal: serve him for seven years in exchange for a magic whip that produces gold. They sign a pact, but the Devil promises freedom if they can solve a riddle at the end of the term. As the seven years end, two soldiers grow anxious, but the third seeks help from the Devil's grandmother. She hides him and learns the riddle's answer from the Devil himself. The soldiers correctly answer the riddle, break the pact, and keep the whip to live happily ever after.
Chapter 134
Ferdinand the Faithful
A poor couple finally has a son, and a beggar godfather gives him a key to a castle. At fourteen, Ferdinand the Faithful finds a white horse there and sets out on a journey. He picks up a pen and saves a fish, receiving a flute in return. He meets Ferdinand the Unfaithful, who uses wicked arts to know his thoughts. An honest girl helps Ferdinand the Faithful become the king's outrider, but the unfaithful one plots against him. The white horse advises him to fetch the king's bride by loading ships with meat and bread to appease giants and birds. He succeeds, then retrieves her writings with the fish's help. The queen, who dislikes the noseless king, marries Ferdinand the Faithful after beheading the king. The white horse transforms into a king's son.
Chapter 135
The Iron Stove
A princess, lost in a forest, promises to free a prince trapped in an iron stove. After failed attempts to substitute other maidens, she scrapes open the stove, freeing the prince. She breaks his rule of speaking only three words to her father, causing the stove to vanish. She then undertakes a perilous journey over a glass mountain, piercing swords, and a great lake, aided by magical toads who give her needles, a plough-wheel, and three nuts. She finds the prince about to marry another, but uses the nuts to obtain beautiful dresses, bargaining for nights in his chamber. On the third night, he recognizes her true identity, and they escape together, disenchanting the toads into royal children and living happily ever after.
Chapter 136
The Lazy Spinner
A lazy wife avoids spinning by tricking her husband with a false prophecy from the forest and a deceptive boiling of tow instead of yarn, ultimately silencing his complaints.
Chapter 137
The Four Skilful Brothers
A poor man sends his four sons into the world to learn trades. They separate at a crossroads, each apprenticing to a master: the eldest becomes a thief, the second an astronomer, the third a huntsman, and the youngest a tailor. After four years, they reunite and demonstrate their skills to their father. Later, they rescue a princess from a dragon using their combined talents, but when the king offers her hand in marriage, they argue over who deserves her. The king resolves the dispute by giving each half a kingdom instead.
Chapter 138
One-Eye, Two-Eyes, and Three-Eyes
Two-Eyes, a girl with two eyes like ordinary people, is mistreated by her mother and sisters, One-Eye and Three-Eyes. A wise woman gives her a magical goat that provides food. After the goat is killed, the wise woman instructs her to bury its entrails, which grow into a tree with silver leaves and golden fruit. Only Two-Eyes can pick the fruit. A knight comes, and after Two-Eyes gives him a branch, he takes her away and marries her. Her sisters later fall into poverty, but Two-Eyes forgives and cares for them.
Chapter 139
Fair Katrinelje and Pif-Paf-Poltrie
Pif-Paf-Poltrie seeks permission to marry fair Katrinelje by asking each family member in turn, finally learning her dowry and revealing his trade as a broom-maker.
Chapter 140
The Fox and the Horse
A peasant abandons his old, faithful horse, telling him he can only stay if he brings back a lion. The fox helps the horse trick the lion into being tied to the horse's tail, and the horse drags the lion to his master's door. The master then takes the horse back and treats him well for the rest of his life.
Chapter 141
The Shoes That Were Danced to Pieces
A king's twelve daughters mysteriously wear out their shoes each night. Many princes fail to discover their secret and are executed. A wounded soldier, aided by an old woman who gives him an invisibility cloak, follows the princesses to an underground castle where they dance with twelve princes. He collects tokens, reveals the truth to the king, and marries the eldest princess.
Chapter 142
The Six Servants
A prince, sick with love for a sorceress queen's beautiful daughter, sets out to win her hand despite the deadly tasks. He gathers six extraordinary servants—a Stout One, a Listener, a Tall One, a Sharp-Eyed One, a Frosty One, and another—who help him complete three impossible challenges. After overcoming the queen's treachery and the princess's pride, the prince reveals his true identity, and the couple is married.
Chapter 143
The White Bride and the Black One
A woman and her daughter are cursed by God for their rudeness, becoming black and ugly, while the kind stepdaughter is blessed with beauty, a never-empty purse, and salvation. The stepdaughter's brother paints her portrait, which the widowed king sees and falls in love with. The stepmother and her daughter trick the brother, steal the bride's clothes, and push her into a river, where she becomes a duck. The black daughter marries the king, but the duck reveals the truth, is transformed back, and the wicked are punished.
Chapter 144
Iron John
A king's son accidentally releases a wild man named Iron John from a forest well. Iron John takes the boy into his care but sets him three trials by a golden well, which the boy fails due to his golden hair falling in. Banished, the boy goes to a city and works as a gardener's assistant. He later calls upon Iron John for help in battle and at a festival, where he catches three golden apples thrown by the princess. His identity is revealed by his golden hair, and he marries the princess. Iron John is freed from his enchantment and gives the couple his treasures.
Chapter 145
The Three Black Princesses
A poor fisherman's son is taken prisoner by an enemy, and his father uses the ransom money to become burgomaster. The son escapes, enters an enchanted black castle, and meets three black princesses who can be delivered if he does not speak to or look at them for a year. He visits his father, is nearly hanged, but is recognized. His mother advises him to use holy water on the princesses, which backfires, causing the castle to sink and the son to break his leg.
Chapter 146
Knoist and His Three Sons
A man named Knoist has three sons—one blind, one lame, and one stark-naked. They go into a field, see a hare, and each contributes to catching it. They then cross a lake in a bottomless boat, enter a forest with a tree containing a chapel, and encounter a beechwood sexton and a boxwood parson who dispense holy-water with cudgels. The chapter ends with a line about the happiness of escaping holy water.
Chapter 147
The Maid of Brakel
A girl from Brakel goes to St. Anne's Chapel to pray for a husband, singing a verse to Saint Anne. The clerk, hidden behind the altar, responds in a gruff voice that she shall not have him. The maiden mistakes the voice for the child Mary and angrily tells her to be quiet and let her mother speak.
Chapter 148
Domestic Servants
A repetitive, rhythmic dialogue between two domestic servants who discover they share identical names for their husband, child, cradle, and drudge, reinforcing their mirrored roles and mundane existence.
Chapter 149
The Lambkin and the Little Fish
A brother and sister, mistreated by their stepmother, are transformed into a fish and a lamb through witchcraft. The lamb is nearly killed for a meal, but the fish's plea reveals their true nature to the cook, who spares them. They are taken to a wise woman who breaks the spell, and the siblings live happily in a forest hut.
Chapter 150
Simeli Mountain
A poor brother discovers a magical mountain that opens to the command 'Semsi mountain, open,' where he finds treasure. He takes only what he needs and lives uprightly. His rich, envious brother tricks him into revealing the secret, then goes to the mountain but forgets the correct name and is trapped and killed by the twelve robbers.
Chapter 151
Going A-Travelling
A poor woman's son wishes to travel but has no money. His mother sends him off, and he adopts a series of phrases to say along the way, each leading to a misunderstanding and a beating. He learns the hard way that words have power and consequences, ultimately returning home and never traveling again.
Chapter 152
The Donkey
A king and queen, long childless, finally have a son who is born as a donkey. Despite the queen's horror, the king accepts him as heir. The donkey grows up merry and musical, learning to play the lute. He leaves home with a faithful companion and arrives at a kingdom where he wins the king's favor and marries the beautiful princess. On their wedding night, he sheds his donkey skin to reveal a handsome youth. The king discovers the truth, burns the skin, and the youth inherits half the kingdom, later the whole, and lives magnificently.
Chapter 153
The Ungrateful Son
A man hides a roasted chicken from his aged father, but when he retrieves it, it transforms into a toad that clings to his face, forcing him to feed it daily as punishment for his ingratitude.
Chapter 154
The Turnip
A poor soldier-turned-farmer grows an enormous turnip and presents it to the King, who rewards him with great wealth. His rich brother, envious, tries to gain even more by giving the King gold and horses, but receives only the giant turnip. In anger, the rich brother plots to kill the poor brother, but the murderers instead trap him in a sack. A passing student is tricked into freeing him and is himself trapped in the sack, while the poor brother escapes on the student's horse.
Chapter 155
The Old Man Made Young Again
The Lord and St. Peter stay at a smith's house, where St. Peter takes pity on an old beggar. The Lord uses the smith's forge to make the old man young again. The smith, observing the process, attempts to rejuvenate his old mother-in-law but fails, causing her great pain. The smith's wife and daughter-in-law, who are pregnant, are so horrified by the sight that they give birth to apes, from whom the race of apes is said to have descended.
Chapter 156
The Lord’s Animals and the Devil’s
The Lord God creates all animals but forgets the goat, so the Devil creates goats with long tails. The goats cause damage, and the Lord's wolves destroy them. The Devil demands damages, but the Lord tricks him by saying payment will come when oak leaves fall, then points to an evergreen oak in Constantinople. The Devil searches in vain, and in anger blinds the remaining goats and gives them his own eyes, explaining why goats have devilish eyes and bitten tails.
Chapter 157
The Beam
An enchanter performs a trick with a cock carrying a heavy beam, but a wise girl sees through the illusion and exposes it as a straw. The enchanter vows revenge and later humiliates her on her wedding day by making her believe she is wading through water when she is actually standing in a field of blue flax, leading to her being ridiculed and chased away.
Chapter 158
The Old Beggar-Woman
An old beggar-woman is invited by a boy to warm herself by the fire, but her rags catch fire and the boy fails to put out the flames, either with water or with his tears.
Chapter 159
The Three Sluggards
A dying king, unable to choose among his three equally beloved sons, devises a contest: the laziest son shall inherit the kingdom. Each son boasts of his extreme idleness, and the third, who would rather be hanged than lift a hand to save himself, wins the crown.
Chapter 160
The Twelve Idle Servants
Twelve servants boast about their extreme laziness, each describing how they avoid work through various excuses and mishaps, from ignoring their master to letting their horse run wild, ultimately celebrating idleness as a virtue.
Chapter 161
The Shepherd Boy
A shepherd boy renowned for his wise answers is summoned by a skeptical king, who promises to adopt him as his own child if he can answer three impossible questions. The boy cleverly responds to each: the number of drops in the ocean, stars in the sky, and seconds in eternity, using ingenious logic. Impressed, the king honors his word and welcomes the boy into his palace.
Chapter 162
The Star-Money
A poor orphan girl, good and pious, gives away her last possessions—bread, hood, jacket, frock, and shirt—to those in need. As she stands with nothing, stars fall from heaven as hard smooth pieces of money, and she finds herself clothed in a fine linen shirt, becoming rich for life.
Chapter 163
The Stolen Farthings
A stranger visiting a family at noon sees a pale child in white enter the room, dig between floorboards, and leave. The family cannot see the child. The stranger describes it, and the mother recognizes it as her child who died a month ago. They find two farthings the child had hidden instead of giving to a poor man. The parents give the money to a poor man, and the child's ghost is never seen again.
Chapter 164
Brides on Their Trial
A young shepherd, unable to choose among three equally pretty sisters, follows his mother's advice to test them by observing how they eat cheese. The first eats the rind, the second wastes good cheese while cutting, and the third peels the rind carefully. Based on this, the mother advises him to marry the third, which he does, and they live happily.
Chapter 165
Odds and Ends
A pretty but lazy maiden throws away knotted flax while spinning, and her industrious servant collects the scraps, spins them into fine thread, and makes a beautiful gown. On the eve of the lazy maiden's wedding, the servant dances in the dress, and the bride's remark reveals her idleness. The bridegroom then abandons her and marries the industrious servant instead.
Chapter 166
The Sparrow and His Four Children
A sparrow reunites with his four fledglings after they were scattered by a storm. He warns each about the specific dangers of the places they have been—gardens, court, highways, and mountains—and the youngest reveals he found safety in a church, learning to trust in God. The father commends his wisdom, emphasizing faith and caution.
Chapter 167
The Story of Schlauraffen Land
A fantastical, absurd tale describing impossible and contradictory sights in the mythical land of Schlauraffen, where objects and animals defy natural laws in a series of increasingly outlandish claims.
Chapter 168
The Ditmarsch Tale of Wonders
A whimsical and absurd collection of impossible events and paradoxical occurrences, presented as a tale of wonders from Ditmarsch.
Chapter 169
A Riddling Tale
Three women are transformed into identical flowers in a field, but one is allowed to return home at night. She tells her husband that if he gathers her in the afternoon, she will be freed. The husband identifies her because she has no dew on her, unlike the other flowers.
Chapter 170
Snow-White and Rose-Red
A poor widow lives with her two kind daughters, Snow-white and Rose-red, in a cottage with two rose trees. One winter night, a bear seeks shelter and becomes a regular visitor. In spring, the bear leaves to guard his treasure from dwarfs. The girls later help a dwarf whose beard is caught in a tree, but he is ungrateful. Eventually, the bear kills the dwarf, transforms into a handsome prince, and marries Snow-white while his brother marries Rose-red. The family lives happily ever after.
Chapter 171
The Wise Servant
A master sends his servant John to find a lost cow, but John instead pursues three blackbirds, claiming he found something better. The master eventually finds John running in a field and learns that the servant has not obeyed his orders, instead following his own wisdom. The tale concludes with a moral advising readers to ignore their masters' orders and do as they please.
Chapter 172
The Glass Coffin
A poor tailor's apprentice, lost in a forest, seeks shelter from a grumpy old man. He witnesses a battle between a bull and a stag, is carried by the stag to a hidden cave, and discovers a glass coffin containing a beautiful maiden. She tells him she is a count's daughter imprisoned by a magician, and with his help, she is freed, her castle restored, and her people revived. The tailor marries her and gains great fortune.
Chapter 173
Lazy Harry
Lazy Harry, tired of tending his goat, marries the equally idle fat Trina so she can tend both their goats. They trade the goats for a beehive to avoid work, but when Harry suspects Trina of eating the honey, they argue about trading it for geese. In her anger, Trina accidentally breaks the honey pot, ending their plans. They console themselves by eating the remaining honey and deciding to rest.
Chapter 174
The Griffin
A peasant's youngest son, Stupid Hans, succeeds where his elder brothers failed by bringing a healing apple to a king's daughter. Through a series of encounters with a little iron man and the Griffin's wife, he learns secrets that allow him to cure a princess, find a lost key, and trick a ferryman. He ultimately marries the king's daughter and becomes king after the king drowns.
Chapter 175
Strong Hans
A young boy, Strong Hans, is kidnapped with his mother by robbers and raised in a cave. At age nine, he demands to know his father's identity and, after a year of waiting, defeats the robbers with a club. He and his mother escape with treasure, reunite with his father, and build a new life. Hans then sets out on a journey, recruiting two strong companions (Fir-twister and Rock-splitter). They encounter a dwarf in a castle, who kidnaps a princess. Hans rescues her, but his companions betray him. Using a magic ring, Hans escapes the dungeon, catches up to them at sea, punishes them, and marries the princess.
Chapter 176
The Peasant in Heaven
A poor pious peasant and a rich lord both arrive at the gates of heaven. Saint Peter lets the rich man in first with great celebration, while the peasant is left waiting. When the peasant is finally admitted, he is welcomed affectionately but without music or singing. He questions the apparent partiality, and Saint Peter explains that poor peasants come to heaven daily, but a rich man appears only once in a century.
Chapter 177
Lean Lisa
Lean Lisa, unlike lazy Harry and fat Trina, works tirelessly from morning till night, burdening her husband Long Laurence with endless labor. Despite her efforts, they remain poor. One night, exhausted but unable to sleep, she shares a plan with her husband: if she can gather four florins, she will buy a young cow. Laurence agrees but hopes for some milk, which Lisa refuses, insisting the calf must drink it all to grow fat for sale. An argument escalates, and Laurence physically subdues her until she falls asleep.
Chapter 178
The Hut in the Forest
A poor woodcutter sends his three daughters, one by one, to bring him dinner in the forest. The two eldest daughters lose their way and come to a hut where an old gray-haired man lives with a hen, a cock, and a brindled cow. They cook for themselves but neglect the animals, and are punished by being locked in the cellar. The youngest daughter, kind and obedient, also loses her way but arrives at the same hut. She feeds the animals before eating herself, and is rewarded. At midnight, the hut transforms into a royal palace, the old man becomes a handsome prince, and the animals become attendants. The prince explains that the spell is broken by her kindness to animals. The youngest daughter marries the prince, and her sisters are sent to serve a charcoal-burner until they learn kindness.
Chapter 179
Sharing Joy and Sorrow
A quarrelsome tailor repeatedly abuses his good, industrious wife, is imprisoned and forced to promise to share joy and sorrow with her, but continues his violent behavior, twisting the promise in court to claim he shares joy when he hits her and sorrow when he misses, for which the judges give him his deserved punishment.
Chapter 180
The Willow-Wren
In a time when sounds had meaning, the birds decide to choose a king by seeing who can fly the highest. A small, nameless bird hides in the eagle's feathers and outflies everyone, then wins a second contest by hiding in a mouse-hole. The other birds, angered by his trickery, imprison him with the owl as guard, but he escapes when the owl falls asleep. Since then, the owl hides by day, and the little bird is mockingly called the 'King of the hedges.'
Chapter 181
The Sole
The fishes, discontented with the disorder in their kingdom, decide to choose a king who can swim fastest and help the weak. They race, and when the herring is declared the winner, the jealous sole, far behind, spitefully calls the herring 'naked.' As punishment, the sole's mouth is twisted to one side.
Chapter 182
The Bittern and the Hoopoe
A man asks an old cowherd where he prefers to feed his flocks, and the cowherd explains that the grass must be neither too rich nor too poor. He then tells a story about the bittern and the hoopoe, who were once shepherds. The bittern pastured his cows on rich meadows, making them wild and unmanageable, while the hoopoe grazed his on barren hills, leaving them weak. Neither could gather their herds at evening, and their calls persist to this day as a lesson about moderation.
Chapter 183
The Owl
Two or three hundred years ago, a great horned owl accidentally enters a barn in a small town. The manservant, master, and eventually the entire town, including senators and the burgomaster, become terrified of the creature. After several armed men fail to confront it, the burgomaster decides to burn down the barn with the owl inside, and the townspeople agree to the plan.
Chapter 184
The Moon
Three travelers from a moonless land steal the moon from a neighboring kingdom and bring it home, where it brings joy until they die and each takes a quarter to the grave, plunging the land back into darkness. In the underworld, the reunited moon revives the dead, who resume their vices, prompting Saint Peter to retrieve the moon and hang it in heaven.
Chapter 185
The Duration of Life
God assigns lifespans to the ass, dog, monkey, and man. Each animal complains and is granted a shorter life, while man finds thirty years too short and receives the animals' discarded years, resulting in a seventy-year lifespan divided into human, ass, dog, and monkey stages.
Chapter 186
Death’s Messengers
A giant defeats Death in a battle, leaving the world without death until a young man revives Death. In gratitude, Death promises to send messengers before taking him. The young man ignores sickness and sorrow as warnings, and when Death finally comes, he realizes the messengers were sent all along.
Chapter 187
Master Pfriem (Master Cobbler's Awl)
Master Pfriem is a perpetually critical and fault-finding shoemaker who cannot resist meddling and criticizing everything around him, from his wife's fire to the work of carpenters and peasants. After a dream in which he goes to heaven and continues his nitpicking, he is expelled by an angel but wakes up to realize that heavenly ways are different from earthly ones, though he remains unrepentant.
Chapter 188
The Goose-Girl at the Well
A young count helps an old woman carry a heavy load through the forest, only to discover she is a wise woman who has been caring for a princess banished by her father for saying she loves him like salt. The princess, who weeps pearls, is reunited with her parents through the count's discovery of an emerald book containing one of her pearls. The old woman reveals her true nature and transforms the humble hut into a palace, and the story hints at a happy marriage between the count and the princess.
Chapter 189
Eve's Various Children
After being expelled from Paradise, Adam and Eve build a house and have many children, both beautiful and ugly. When God announces a visit, Eve hides the ugly children and presents only the beautiful ones, who receive blessings to become kings, princes, and other high-status figures. Eve then brings out the ugly children, and God blesses them to become peasants, fishermen, and other laborers. Eve questions the unequal distribution of gifts, but God explains that all roles are necessary for the world to function, and Eve accepts his divine will.
Chapter 190
The Nix of the Millpond
A miller, facing poverty, promises the nix of the millpond the first newborn in his house in exchange for wealth. His wife gives birth to a son, and the miller lives in fear. The son grows up, becomes a huntsman, marries, and is later dragged into the pond by the nix. His wife seeks help from a wise old woman, who gives her a golden comb, flute, and spinning-wheel to use at the full moon. With each object, the huntsman's body rises further from the water. Finally, he is freed, but a flood separates the couple, transforming them into a toad and a frog. After years as shepherds, they reunite by chance, recognize each other under the full moon, and embrace.
Chapter 191
The Little Folks’ Presents
A tailor and a goldsmith encounter a group of dancing little folk led by an old man, who shaves their heads and directs them to take coals. The coals turn to gold overnight, but the greedy goldsmith returns for more and is punished when his gold reverts to coal and he grows a second hump, while the contented tailor keeps his wealth and marries his sweetheart.
Chapter 192
The Giant and the Tailor
A boastful tailor sets out to see the world and encounters a giant. The giant hires him as a servant, but the tailor's exaggerated boasts frighten the giant, who eventually tricks the tailor into being flung into the air, never to be seen again.
Chapter 193
The Nail
A merchant, eager to return home after a successful fair, ignores warnings about a missing nail in his horse's shoe. Despite two opportunities to fix the problem, he prioritizes speed over caution, leading to the horse's injury and forcing him to carry his heavy trunk home on foot, arriving late at night. He reflects that the neglected nail caused the entire disaster.
Chapter 194
The Poor Boy in the Grave
A poor orphan shepherd-boy is placed with a cruel, greedy farmer who starves and beats him. After a series of mishaps—losing a hen and chickens to a hawk, eating grapes from a delivery to a judge—the farmer threatens him with a beating if he fails to chop straw in five hours. In his haste, the boy accidentally chops his coat along with the straw. Fearing death at the farmer's hands, he consumes what he believes is poison (actually honey) and then drinks what he thinks is fly poison (actually Hungarian wine). Intoxicated, he lies down in a fresh grave in the churchyard and dies from the cold. The farmer, terrified of being blamed, faints; his wife's pan of fat catches fire, burning down their house, and they live the rest of their lives in poverty and guilt.
Chapter 195
The True Sweethearts
A beautiful young girl, mistreated by her stepmother, is helped by a mysterious old woman to complete impossible tasks: picking twelve pounds of feathers, emptying a pond with a hole-ridden spoon, and building a castle in a day. The stepmother dies when a trapdoor falls on her, leaving the girl alone in the magnificent castle. She falls in love with a prince, who promises to return but never does. After years of searching, she becomes a cowherd and eventually attends the prince's wedding to another. Using three magical dresses, she wins back his love, and they marry.
Chapter 196
The Hare and the Hedgehog
A hedgehog, insulted by a haughty hare about his short legs, challenges the hare to a race. Using clever trickery, he and his wife swap places at each end of the field, causing the hare to run himself to death. The story concludes with a moral against arrogance and the importance of marrying someone of equal station.
Chapter 197
The Spindle, the Shuttle, and the Needle
An orphaned girl is raised by her godmother, who teaches her spinning, weaving, and sewing. Upon the godmother's death, she inherits a small house and the tools of her trade. Through her industriousness and virtue, she prospers. A prince seeking a bride who is both poorest and richest discovers her. Through the magical aid of her spindle, shuttle, and needle, she summons the prince, who declares her the poorest and richest, marries her, and treasures her tools in the royal castle.
Chapter 198
The Peasant and the Devil
A cunning peasant outwits the Devil in a bargain over the harvest from his field. The peasant sows turnips first, giving the Devil the above-ground leaves, then sows wheat, giving the Devil only the stubble. The Devil, outraged, leaves the treasure behind, and the peasant claims it.
Chapter 199
The Crumbs on the Table
A countryman persuades his little dogs to eat breadcrumbs from the table while their mistress is away, despite their fears of punishment. The mistress returns unexpectedly, beats them severely, and the dogs flee, leaving the countryman to laugh at their misfortune.
Chapter 200
The Sea-Hare
A haughty princess with twelve all-seeing windows declares she will only marry a man who can hide from her so she cannot find him; those who fail are beheaded. Three brothers attempt the challenge: the eldest two are quickly discovered and killed. The youngest brother, after receiving help from a raven, a fish, and a fox, hides in an egg, then in a fish's stomach, but is discovered both times. On his third attempt, the fox transforms him into a sea-hare, which the princess buys and unknowingly carries in her hair. When she fails to find him, she smashes the windows in anger, discovers the sea-hare, and throws it away. The youth regains his form, marries the princess, and becomes king, keeping his secret helper unknown.
Chapter 201
The Master-Thief
A long-lost son returns to his poor parents as a wealthy master-thief. He boasts of his skills and visits the count, his godfather, who sets him three impossible tasks: steal the count's horse, the countess's sheet and wedding ring, and the parson and clerk from the church. Using clever disguises and tricks, the master-thief succeeds in all three tasks, outwitting the count and his guards.
Chapter 202
The Drummer
A drummer, having rescued a king's daughter from a witch on a glass-mountain, forgets her after kissing his parents on the right cheek. He prepares to marry another maiden chosen by his parents, while the true bride uses a wishing-ring to create three magnificent dresses (sun, moon, stars) and trades each for a night outside his door. On the first two nights, a sleeping draught prevents him from hearing her pleas, but on the third night he pours out the wine, hears her call, and remembers his vow. He then acknowledges her as his true bride, and the real wedding is celebrated.
Chapter 203
The Ear of Corn
In former times, when God walked the earth, corn grew abundantly with ears bearing four to five hundredfold. A woman used the ears to clean her child's dirty frock, angering the Lord, who declared that stalks would no longer bear ears. Bystanders begged for mercy for the sake of innocent birds, and the Lord relented, leaving the ears as they now grow.
Chapter 204
The Grave-Mound
A rich, greedy farmer is confronted by his own conscience and makes a pact with a poor neighbor to watch his grave for three nights after his death. The neighbor, joined by a fearless soldier, faces the Devil on the third night. Through a clever trick involving a boot, the soldier outwits the Devil, saves the rich man's soul, and the gold is shared with the poor.
Chapter 205
Old Rinkrank
A king sets a challenge for suitors to cross a glass mountain to win his daughter's hand. One suitor attempts with the princess, but she falls into the mountain and is trapped. An old man named Old Rinkrank forces her to be his servant. After many years, she tricks him into revealing his ladder, escapes, and returns to her father. The king kills Old Rinkrank, seizes his treasure, and the princess marries her betrothed.
Chapter 206
The Crystal Ball
The third son of an enchantress, fearing transformation into a wild beast, seeks the bewitched King's daughter imprisoned in the Castle of the Golden Sun. After obtaining a wishing-cap from quarreling giants, he arrives at the castle and learns from the princess that he must obtain a crystal ball from a fiery bird to break her curse. With help from his transformed brothers—an eagle and a whale—he secures the crystal ball, defeats the enchanter, restores his brothers' human forms, and marries the princess.
Chapter 207
Maid Maleen
Maid Maleen is imprisoned in a dark tower for seven years by her father for refusing to marry anyone but her beloved prince. After escaping, she finds her kingdom destroyed and wanders to a foreign land where she becomes a scullion. The prince, now betrothed to an ugly bride, unknowingly marries Maid Maleen when the bride forces her to take her place. Through riddles and a necklace, the prince discovers the deception and reunites with Maid Maleen, while the false bride is executed.
Chapter 208
The Boots of Buffalo-Leather
A fearless discharged soldier, wearing buffalo-leather boots, meets a huntsman lost in the forest. They find shelter in a robber's house, where the soldier uses a magical trick to freeze the robbers in place. After feasting, he leads his old comrades to capture the robbers. The huntsman is revealed to be the king in disguise, who rewards the soldier for saving his life.
Chapter 209
The Golden Key
A poor boy gathering wood in winter discovers a tiny gold key in the snow, then digs up an iron chest. After finding a nearly invisible keyhole, he fits the key and turns it once, leaving the contents of the chest a mystery to be revealed later.
Chapter 210
Children's Legends
A collection of moral and cautionary tales for children, emphasizing virtues such as obedience, kindness, and faith, while warning against greed, pride, and disobedience through simple narratives.
Chapter 211
St. Joseph in the Forest
A mother sends her three daughters into the forest, where each encounters St. Joseph. The youngest, pious and generous, is rewarded with a heavy bag of money. The second, somewhat selfish, receives a small sack of money. The eldest, rude and greedy, is punished with a second nose and, after lying to her mother, both are killed by lizards and snakes.
Chapter 212
The Twelve Apostles
A poor mother sends her twelve sons into the world to seek bread. The eldest, Peter, wanders into a forest and, near death, is led by a shining child to a cavern with twelve golden cradles. One by one, each brother is guided there and falls asleep. They sleep for three hundred years until the birth of Christ, then awaken to become the twelve apostles.
Chapter 213
The Rose
A poor woman's youngest daughter, who regularly fetches wood in the forest, is helped by a mysterious strong child who disappears quickly. The child brings home a rose given by the stranger, who promised to return when it blooms. The mother places the rose in water; one morning the daughter is found dead but looking happy, and the rose is in full bloom.
Chapter 214
Poverty and Humility Lead to Heaven
A king's son, yearning for heaven, is told by a poor old man that he must embrace poverty and humility. He exchanges his royal garments for rags, wanders for seven years in misery, and returns unrecognized to his father's palace. Rejected by his family and servants, he lives humbly under the stairs, sustained only by the kindness of one honest servant. He dies after receiving the last sacrament, holding a rose and a lily, and his grave is marked by these flowers.
Chapter 215
God’s Food
A poor widow with five children begs her rich, childless sister for bread but is cruelly turned away. When the rich sister's husband later cuts the loaf, blood flows out, terrifying his wife. He rushes to help the widow, only to find three children already dead and the mother praying with her two youngest, who then die as well, and she dies of a broken heart.
Chapter 216
The Three Green Twigs
A pious hermit, who has faithfully carried water up a mountain for years with the visible aid of an angel, carelessly condemns a poor sinner being led to the gallows. As punishment, God withdraws the angel's presence and food, and the hermit is given a penance: he must carry a dry branch until three green twigs sprout from it, sleep with it under his head, and beg for his bread, never staying more than one night in a house. During his journey, he finds shelter with an old woman whose three sons are robbers. When the sons return, they are moved by the hermit's story of sin and penance, and they repent. The next morning, the hermit is found dead, but three green twigs have sprouted from the dry wood, signifying God's forgiveness.
Chapter 217
Our Lady's Little Glass
A wagoner's cart is stuck fast, and Our Lady asks for a glass of wine in exchange for freeing it. The wagoner has no glass, so she plucks a field bindweed flower that looks like a glass, fills it with wine, drinks, and instantly the cart is freed. The flower is thereafter called Our Lady's Little Glass.
Chapter 218
The Aged Mother
An old woman, having lost her husband, children, and all her relations, sits alone in despair and blames God. She goes to church at dawn and finds it filled with her dead relatives, who show her a vision of her sons as they would have been—one hanged, one broken on the wheel—had they lived. Realizing God spared them from a sinful fate, she thanks Him and dies peacefully three days later.
Chapter 219
The Heavenly Wedding
A poor peasant boy, believing that to enter heaven one must always go straight onward, walks without turning until he reaches a church where he thinks he has found heaven. He refuses to leave, shares his meals with a wooden image of the Virgin Mary and child Jesus, and the image grows strong. After an illness, the image tells him he will attend a wedding next Sunday. The priest asks to come but is refused. The boy receives communion, falls down dead, and goes to the eternal wedding.
Chapter 220
The Hazel-Branch
The Christ-child falls asleep in his cradle, and his mother (Our Lady) goes to the woods to pick strawberries for him. While gathering them, she is threatened by an adder but hides behind a hazel-bush, which protects her. She declares that the hazel-branch shall henceforth protect others, explaining its traditional use as a safeguard against snakes and creeping things.

The Frog-King, or Iron Henry

Cat and Mouse in Partnership

Our Lady's Child

The Story of the Youth Who Went Forth to Learn What Fear Was

The Wolf and the Seven Little Kids

Faithful John

The Good Bargain

The Wonderful Musician

The Twelve Brothers

The Pack of Ragamuffins

Little Brother and Little Sister

Rapunzel

The Three Little Men in the Wood

The Three Spinners

Hänsel and Grethel

The Three Snake-Leaves

The White Snake

The Straw, the Coal, and the Bean

The Fisherman and His Wife

The Valiant Little Tailor

Cinderella

The Riddle

The Mouse, the Bird, and the Sausage

Mother Holle

The Seven Ravens

Little Redcap

The Bremen Town-Musicians

The Singing Bone

The Devil with the Three Golden Hairs

The Louse and the Flea

The Girl Without Hands

Clever Hans

The Three Languages

Clever Elsie

The Tailor in Heaven

The Wishing-Table, the Gold-Ass, and the Cudgel in the Sack

Thumbling

The Wedding of Mrs. Fox

First Story

Second Story

The Elves

First Story

Second Story

Third Story

The Robber Bridegroom

Herr Korbes

The Godfather

Frau Trude

Godfather Death

Thumbling as Journeyman

Fitcher's Bird

The Juniper-Tree

Old Sultan

The Six Swans

Briar-Rose

Fundevogel (Bird-Foundling)

King Thrushbeard

Little Snow-White

The Knapsack, the Hat, and the Horn

Rumpelstiltskin

Sweetheart Roland

The Golden Bird

The Dog and the Sparrow

Frederick and Catherine

The Two Brothers

The Little Peasant

The Queen Bee

The Three Feathers

The Golden Goose

Allerleirauh

The Hare’s Bride

The Twelve Huntsmen

The Thief and His Master

Jorinda and Joringel

The Three Sons of Fortune

How Six Men Got on in the World

The Wolf and the Man

The Wolf and the Fox

The Fox and His Cousin

The Fox and the Cat