Household Tales · Chapter
The Griffin explained
A peasant's youngest son, Stupid Hans, succeeds where his elder brothers failed by bringing a healing apple to a king's daughter.
What happens
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.
Themes in this chapter
Virtue Rewarded and Vice Punished
Hans's honesty and persistence are rewarded with marriage and kingship, while his deceitful brothers are punished and the greedy king drowns.
Promises and Their Consequences
The king's promise to marry his daughter to the apple-bringer drives the plot, and the ferryman's curse is broken by following the Griffin's advice.
Magic and the Supernatural
The little iron man's enchantments, the Griffin's prophetic knowledge, and the magical whistle that controls hares all underscore the supernatural elements.
Characters to notice
- the Griffin
The mythical creature whose tail feather Hans must obtain; reveals secrets in his sleep that Hans uses to solve problems.
- the girl
The king's daughter who is cured by eating an apple and later marries Hans.
- the King
The ruler who promises his daughter's hand to whoever brings a healing apple; later drowns in the lake.
- the servant
The ferryman who carries people across the lake; learns from Hans how to end his labor.
Key passages
“There was once upon a time a King, but where he reigned and what he was called, I do not know.”
A king whose name and kingdom are unknown had an only daughter who was always ill.
Opening establishes the fairy-tale setting with a vague, timeless king.
“Then it was foretold to the King that his daughter should eat herself well with an apple.”
A prophecy said the princess would be cured by eating an apple.
Sets up the central quest and the king's reward.
“Hans, however, did not care about that, and did not let it spoil his pleasure, but as it was then night, he thought he might as well wait until the morrow, for he could not get to court that day.”
Hans ignored his father's mockery and decided to wait until morning to set out.
Shows Hans's determination and simple-minded optimism.
“The key lies in the wood-house under a log of wood behind the door.”
The lost key is hidden under a log in the woodshed behind the door.
One of the secrets Hans overhears from the Griffin.
“Under the cellar-steps a toad has made its nest of her hair, and if she got her hair back she would be well.”
A toad's nest made from the princess's hair under the cellar steps is causing her illness; returning the hair will cure her.
Another secret revealed by the Griffin.
“If he only put one man down in the middle, he would never have to carry another across.”
The ferryman can end his task by leaving one person stranded in the middle of the lake.
The solution to the ferryman's curse.