Household Tales · Chapter
The Glass Coffin explained
A poor tailor's apprentice, lost in a forest, seeks shelter from a grumpy old man.
What happens
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.
Themes in this chapter
Transformation and Redemption
The brother is transformed into a stag and later redeemed back to human form; the maiden is freed from her glass prison.
Virtue Rewarded and Vice Punished
The virtuous tailor is rewarded with wealth and marriage, while the evil magician is killed.
Magic and the Supernatural
The stag, glass coffin, magical smoke that turns into people, and the enchanted castle all involve supernatural elements.
Characters to notice
- the tailor
A poor tailor's apprentice who becomes the hero, freeing the maiden and marrying her.
- the maiden
A beautiful count's daughter imprisoned in a glass coffin by a magician.
- the brother
The maiden's elder brother who was transformed into a stag and later returns to human form.
- the magician
The antagonist who imprisoned the maiden and transformed her brother into a stag; killed in bull form by the stag.
- the old man
A grumpy but ultimately kind hermit who gives the tailor shelter for the night.
Key passages
“Let no one ever say that a poor tailor cannot do great things and win high honors; all that is needed is that he should go to the right smithy, and what is of most consequence, that he should have good luck.”
A poor tailor can achieve greatness and honor if he finds the right opportunity and has good fortune.
Opening moral of the story emphasizing the potential of humble individuals.
“I am the daughter of a rich count. My parents died when I was still in my tender youth, and recommended me in their last will to my elder brother, by whom I was brought up.”
The maiden explains she is a count's daughter, orphaned young and raised by her brother.
Reveals the maiden's noble background and family situation.