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Grimm’s Complete Fairy Tales: Clever Gretel
“There was once a cook called Gretel, who wore shoes with red heels, and when she went out in them she gave herself great airs, and thought herself very fine indeed.”
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Grimm’s Complete Fairy Tales: King Thrushbeard
“A king had a daughter who was beautiful beyond measure, but so proud and overbearing that none of her suitors were good enough for her; she not only refused one after the other, but made a laughing-stock of them.” I enjoyed reading this fairy tale because it’s the type of story that comes to mind when I think of fairy tales – a character learns a lesson through certain trials and ends up becoming a better person because of it.
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Grimm’s Complete Fairy Tales: The Jew Among Thorns
“There was once a rich man who had a servant who served him diligently and honestly.” The title of this fairy tale gave me an uneasy feeling when I first read it, and that uneasiness was justified in the tale itself. The first line I typed above does not mention the character from the title, so before I get into the anti-Semitic details I’ll share with you how the story progresses, in case you have not read (and/or do not plan to read) this fairy tale.
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Grimm’s Complete Fairy Tales: The Old Beggar-Woman
“There was once an old woman, but thou hast surely seen an old woman go a-begging before now?”
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Grimm’s Complete Fairy Tales: Fair Katrinelje and Pif-Paf-Poltrie
“‘Good-day, Father Hollenthe.’ ‘Many thanks, Pif-paf-poltrie.’ ‘May I be allowed to have your daughter?’ ‘Oh, yes, if Mother Malcho (Milch-cow), Brother High-and-Mighty, Sister Käsetraut, and fair Katrinelje are willing, you can have her.’ ‘Where is Mother Malcho, then?’ “She is in the cow-house, milking the cow.'”
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Grimm’s Complete Fairy Tales: The Elves
“There was once a shoemaker, who, through no fault of his own, became so poor that at last he had nothing left but just enough leather to make one pair of shoes.” This fairy tale – Die Wichtelmänner is the original German title – has three parts: the latter two are shorter than the first, which is the only one out of the three I’m familiar with (I’ve always known it as The Elves and the Shoemaker). The fact that I had no knowledge of the two other parts is not really a surprise to me, because I became familiar with the first part in my childhood, and the other…
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