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I'm all alone |
in my thoughts |
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Total Votes : 26 |
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Posted: Sat Mar 03, 2012 11:01 am
Thumbling
Thumbling
In the first story, Thumbling, a poor childless peasant couple wishes for a child "no matter how small" aloud. Seven months later the wife has a small child "no longer than a thumb" which they call "Thumbling" and who becomes a "wise and nimble creature." Thumbling as he grows wishes to help his father in the chores so one day asks if he can lead their horse to where his father is working by sitting in the horse's ear and giving it directions. As Thumbling performs this chore, two strange men notice the horse being led by a loud voice, and when they find out the voice belongs to a person sitting in the horse's ear, ask the peasant if they can buy Thumbling to "make a fortune" in exhibiting the little man. Thumbling convinces the peasant to take the money and leaves with the men by sitting on the brim of one of the men's hats. Then after a while Thumbling tricks the men into letting him down and he goes to hide in a mouse hole.
Later in the night Thumbling tries to sleep in a snail shell but is awakened by the sound of robbers plotting to rob a pastor's house. Thumbling yells out to them to take him along and he will help them rob it, by going into the house and handing things out to them. The robbers agree to carry him to the pastor and Thumbling makes a whole lot of noise in the house pretending to help the robbers steal. Thumbling wakes people up by yelling things like "What do you want? Do you want everything...?" making the robbery very obvious. A maid wakes up and scares off the robbers but does not see Thumbling. Thumbling gets a good night sleep in the hay. However in the morning the maid feeds the hay that he was sleeping in to the cow. Thumbling begins to yell from the cow's stomach but the pastor thinks that an "evil spirit" had entered the cow, and has it killed. The cow's stomach is thrown into a dung heap, and before Thumbling climbs all the way out of the stomach, a wolf eats it. Thumbling, now inside of the wolf's stomach, persuades the wolf to take him home to his parents' on pretense of eating everything there. His parents kill the wolf to get Thumbling out and promise never to sell him again, not for "all the riches in the world." They give him food, drink and new clothes. [edit] Thumbling's Travels
In the second story, Thumbling's Travels (alternately translated as Thumbling as Journeyman), there are similarities and differences. In this version he is a thumb-sized son of a tailor, and sometimes called a little tailor. Thumbling sets out into the world to seek his fortune. Before his departure, he is given a darning needle sword by his father and a final meal by his mother. The steam from the cooking pot carries Thumbling up the chimney and away from home. The little man goes to the house of a master craftsman, seeking to apprentice with him, but is displeased by the food there. He taunts the mistress of the house, who proceeds to chase him about the tabletop with a dishcloth seeking to strike or catch him like an insect. She eventually drives him from the house.
In the forest, Thumbling is found by a band of robbers, who recruit him help them rob the king's treasure chamber. Sneaking past the sentries, Thumbling begins to toss coins from the chamber window to the robbers. This perplexes the king and guards, as they cannot find the hidden thief but are certain they are being robbed. Thumbling mocks them as they chase the invisible intruder about the treasure chamber. He eventually rides down with the last of the coins and escapes. The robbers offer to make him their captain but he declines.
Thumbling next hires himself out as a servant at an inn but quickly annoys the maids, for he secretly watches them and reports back to the innkeeper when they steal from the food cellar. To get revenge, a maid mows him up with a patch of grass and feeds it to the cows. Thumbling is (once again) devoured by a cow and befuddles the innkeeper when his voice emanates from within it. The cow is slaughtered and though Thumbling tries to escape from its innards, he ends up being cooked into a black pudding with the meat. The pudding is eventually cut into slices by the mistress of the house and Thumbling once again barely escapes with his life.
Resuming his journey, Thumbling is next snapped up by a fox in the woods but manages to get himself caught in its craw. Thumbling convinces the fox to release him and rides the animal back to his father's house, done exploring the world. His father is so pleased to see him, he allows the fox to eat the chickens in the henhouse, for "he would surely love his child more than the fowls in the yard."
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Posted: Sat Mar 03, 2012 11:02 am
A Tale Of the Tontlawald
No one ventured to Tontlawald. The King of Sweden had ordered the woods chopped down, but no one dared. Some bold souls had ventured into Tontlawald, and reported seeing a ruined house surrounded by beings that looked like men, women, and children. One night a peasant who had wandered farther than most came back with the same tale, adding that an old crone stirred the fire now and again, which sent the children away, shrieking, and an old man had carried a sack into the woods, with women and children weeping and trying to pull down the sack, and a black cat as big as a foal. No one believed him.
A peasant had remarried, and he and his new wife quarreled, and she abused her stepdaughter Elsa. One day, the children were gathering strawberries when a boy realized they were in the Tontlawald; the rest ran off, but Elsa did not think the woods could be worse than her stepmother. She met a little black dog with a silver collar, and a maiden dressed in silk who asked her to stay and be her friend. The maiden brought Elsa back to her mother, who initially resisted allowing Elsa to stay but finally agreed. The maiden took Elsa to the sea and they played there, and came back in the evening. That evening, a man made a copy of Elsa and sent the copy back to the village in her place. Elsa stayed many years and learned many marvels, and grew up as the maiden did not.
Finally, however, the lady there said that Elsa must leave because she had grown up.
Back in the village, the stepmother had beaten the figure until one day a venomous snake came out of its mouth and killed her. Her husband found her, and then that night ate a piece of bread. In the morning, he was as dead as his wife, because it had been in the figure.
The lady turned Elsa into a bird, and she flew home. There, a prince shot her while she was in her bird form. When she fell to the ground, she reassumed her human form. The prince took her home and married her, and in time, she became queen.
No one ever heard of the Tontlawald after that.
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Posted: Sat Mar 03, 2012 11:03 am
To Your Good Health!
Everyone in a king's country had to say "To your good health!" whenever he sneezed, but a shepherd with the staring eyes would not say it. The king summoned him and demanded it, but the shepherd would only say, "To my good health." The chamberlain told him he would be killed if he did not, and the shepherd said that he would say it only if he married the princess. The princess thought him handsome enough to marry, but the king was enraged. He had the shepherd thrown in the white bear's pit, but the shepherd's eyes scared it off. Then he had him thrown into a pit of wild boars, but the shepherd played a pipe and made them dance, so they did not harm him. Then he was to have him thrown into a well of scythes, but the shepherd told the guard to give him a minute to look down the well, he might decide to say it after all, and in that minute, he whipped up a dummy that the soldier threw down instead of him.
Then the king offered him a silver wood, a golden castle, and a diamond lake to say it, but the shepherd still said he would say it only he had the princess to wife. The king married him to the princess. At the wedding feast, he sneezed, and the shepherd said, first of all, "To your good health!" which so delighted the king that he did not mind the marriage.
In time, the shepherd succeeded the king. He did not order his people to wish him well against their wills, but everyone did wish him well because he was a good king.
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Posted: Sat Mar 03, 2012 11:04 am
Tom Thumb
old Thomas of the Mountain, a plowman and a member of the King's Council, wants nothing more than a son, even if he is no bigger than his thumb. He sends his wife to consult with Merlin and in three months time she gives birth to the diminutive Tom Thumb. The "Queene of Fayres" and her attendants act as midwives. She provides Tom with an oak leaf hat, a shirt of cobweb, a doublet of thistledown, stockings of apple rind, and shoes of mouse's skin.
Tom cheats at games with other boys, and, because of his many tricks, the boys will not associate with him. Tom retaliates by using magic to hang his mother's pots and glasses from a sunbeam, and, when his fellows try the same, their pots and glasses fall and are broken. Thereafter, Tom stays home under his mother's supervision. At Christmas, she makes puddings, but Tom falls into the batter, and is boiled into one of them. When a tinker comes begging, Tom's mother inadvertently gives him the pudding containing her son. The tinker farts while crossing a stile but Tom calls out about the farting and the frightened tinker drops the pudding. Tom eats himself free and returns home to tell his mother and father of his adventure.
His mother thereafter keeps a closer watch upon him, but one day he accompanies her to the field to milk the cows. He sits under a thistle but a red cow swallows him. The cow is given a laxative and Tom passes from her in a "cowturd". He is taken home and cleaned. Another day, he accompanies his father for the seed sowing and rides in the horse's ear. Tom is set down in the field to play the scarecrow but a raven carries him away. His parents search for him but are unable to find him.
The raven drops Tom at the castle of a giant. The cruel giant swallows the tiny boy like a pill. Tom thrashes about so much in the giant's stomach that he is vomited into the sea. There, he is eaten once more, this time by a fish, which is caught for King Arthur's supper. The cook is astonished to see the little man emerge from the fish. Tom then becomes King Arthur's Dwarf.
Tom becomes a favourite at court, especially among the ladies. There is revelry; Tom joins the jousting and dances in the palm of a Maid of Honour. He goes home briefly to see his parents, taking some money from the treasury with the king's permission, then returns to court. The Queene of Fayres finds him asleep on a rose and leaves him several gifts: an enchanted hat of knowledge, a ring of invisibility, a shape-changing girdle, and shoes to take him anywhere in a moment.
Tom falls seriously ill when a lady blows her nose, but is cured by the physician to King Twaddell of the Pygmies. He takes a rides in his walnut shell coach and meets Garagantua. Each boasts of his many powers, but when Garagantua threatens to harm Tom, he is cast under an enchantment and Tom hurries home to safety. King Arthur listens with amazement to Tom's many adventures. Richard Johnson's 1621 narrative ends here but he promised his readers a sequel that has never been found, if published at all. In 1630 a metrical version in three parts was published that continues Tom's adventures.
Other versions paint a different picture to Tom's end. Dinah Mulock continued the tale and noted that Tom exhausted himself with jousting but recovered in Fairyland. When he returned to Arthur's court, he accidentally landed in a bowl of the king's frumenty. Tom enrages the cook and is threatened with beheading. He seeks refuge in the mouth of a passing slack-jawed miller. Sensing tiny voices and movements within him, the man believes he is possessed. He yawns and Tom emerges but the Miller is so angry he tosses Tom into a river where he is swallowed by a salmon. The fish is caught, taken to the King's kitchen, and Tom is found and kept in a mousetrap until the king forgives him. Tom Thumb rides a butterfly
The court goes hunting and Tom joins them upon his steed, a mouse. A cat catches the mouse and Tom is injured. He is carried to Fairyland where he recovers and dwells for several years. When he returns to court, King Thunston now reigns. Charmed by the little man, the king gives Tom a tiny coach pulled by six mice. This makes the queen jealous, as she received no such gifts, and she frames Tom with being insolent to her. Tom attempts to escape on a passing butterfly but is caught and imprisoned in a mousetrap. He is freed by a curious cat and once more wins back the favour of his king. Sadly, he does not live to enjoy it as he is killed by a spider bite. Tom is laid to rest beneath rosebush and a marble monument is raised to his memory with the epitaph:
Here lies Tom Thumb, King Arthur’s knight, Who died by a spider’s cruel bite. He was well known in Arthur’s court, Where he afforded gallant sport; He rode at tilt and tournament, And on a mouse a-hunting went; Alive he fill’d the court with mirth, His death to sorrow soon gave birth. Wipe, wipe your eyes, and shake your head, And cry, ‘Alas! Tom Thumb is dead.
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Posted: Sat Mar 03, 2012 11:05 am
Town Musicians of Bremen
In the story a donkey, a dog, a cat, and a rooster, all past their prime years in life and usefulness on their respective farms, were soon to be discarded or mistreated by their masters. One by one they leave their homes and set out together. They decide to go to Bremen, known for its freedom, to live without owners and become musicians there.
On the way to Bremen, they see a lighted cottage; they look inside and see four robbers enjoying their ill-gotten gains. Standing on each other's backs, they decide to perform for the men in hope of gaining food. Their 'music' has an unanticipated effect; the men run for their lives, not knowing what the strange sound is. The animals take possession of the house, eat a good meal, and settle in for the evening.
Later that night, the robbers return and send one of their members in to investigate. He sees the Cat's eyes shining in the darkness and thinks he is seeing the coals of the fire. He reaches over to light his candle. Things happen in quick succession; the Cat scratches his face with her claws, the Dog bites him on the leg, the Donkey kicks him and the Rooster crows and chases him out the door, screaming. He tells his companions that he was beset by a horrible witch who scratched him with her long fingers (the Cat), an ogre with a knife (the Dog), a giant who had hit him with his club (the Donkey), and worst of all, the judge who screamed in his voice from the rooftop (the Rooster). The robbers abandon the cottage to the strange creatures who have taken it, where the animals live happily for the rest of their days.
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Posted: Sat Mar 03, 2012 11:06 am
Tritill, Litill, and the Birds
A king's beautiful daughter vanished without a trace. The king proclaimed that whoever returned with her could marry her.
Near, a peasant couple had three sons; the older two were indulged, and the youngest always had to give way to his brothers. The oldest set out to seek his fortune. He refused food to two beggars and threw stones at birds that looked for crumbs. He went to sleep in a cave, but an ogress returned. She agreed to let him stay only if he would do a task in the morning, and then she set him to sweep out the cave. The dirt would not move, and the ogress hit him over the head, killing him. And the second brother followed and met the same fate.
The parents continued to mistreat their youngest, so he also set out. He gave some food to the first beggar, who told him to call his name, Tritill, if he needed help, and the same with the second, Litill, and he crumbed some of his bread for the birds, who also told him to call for help. He found the same cave and realized from bones and scraps of cloth that it was an ogress's lair, but remained. When she set him to sweep the floor, he called on Tritill, who did it for him.
The next day, the ogress set him to spread the feathers from her pillows to dry them and put them all back. He spread them out, a breeze carried them off, and he called on Tritill, Litill, and the birds. They put the feathers back.
The next day, the ogress set him to slaughter one of her fifty oxen, but she would not tell him which one. He called on Tritill and Litill, who slaughtered one and told him to ask for what lay on the bed, the chest at her bed's foot, and what lay under the cave's side. These proved to be the princess, a chest filled with gold and jewels, and a magical ship that moved over land and sea. He brought this all to the king, who agreed to the marriage.
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Posted: Sat Mar 03, 2012 11:07 am
The Troll's Daughter
A youth got a place with a stranger, who offered him six bushels of money to serve him three years, obeying him in everything. He took him to a home on a bank in a great forest, because the stranger was a troll. The first day, the troll had him feed all the wild animals in the forest, which it had tied up. The next, the troll turned him into a hare and set him wild to run the year long. Every hunter tried to get him, as the only animal in the forest, but no dog could catch him and no gun shoot him.
The troll summoned him back, like any other animal, turned him back into a man, and asked how he liked it. The youth answered that he had never been able to run like that before; he liked it. He fed the wild animals again, and for the next year was a raven. When the troll turned him back, he told him he liked rising so high. He fed the wild animals again and for the next year was a fish. Deep in the sea, he found a palace where a beautiful maiden lived. He tried to remember the words the troll had said, and turned himself into a man in that palace. He spent time with her; she quickly got over her fright and was glad not to be alone. But she told him the time was near and he had to become a fish again. She also told him she was the troll's daughter, and he imprisoned her here. All the kings about were in debt to the troll. If they were to see each other again, he must enter the service of a king who owed the troll six bushels of coins. Then he should offer to pay the king's debts in return for coming; once he came, he would make trouble for the troll until it demanded the king answer three questions for his life. They would be where his daughter was, and then to pick her out, and then to find the troll's heart, which was in a fish.
He went back to the troll and refused to stay in his service. He served the king and did as the troll's daughter had said. When he got to the troll's castle with the king, he broke all sorts of glass things. Then he answered the troll's questions. When he picked out his daughter, the maiden appeared and stayed by him; when he picked out the fish the maiden indicated, he cut it open and killed the troll. This destroyed all the bonds the troll had from the kings in debt to him, and freed all the wild animals.
The youth married the maiden. All the kings he had freed from the troll took him as their emperor.
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Posted: Sat Mar 03, 2012 11:07 am
True and Untrue
Two brothers were known as True and Untrue for their natures. They set out to seek their fortunes. Untrue persuaded True to let them both eat his food first, and when that was eaten, refused him any of his. True said that it showed Untrue's nature, and Untrue gouged his brother's eyes out.
True fumbled along through the woods until he came to a lime tree. He decided to spend the night in it for fear of wild animals. A bear, wolf, fox, and hare met under it, because it was St. John's Eve. The bear said that the dew on the lime tree would cure the sight of the king, who was going blind; the wolf said that the king's daughter was deaf and dumb because when she went to communion, she let a crumb fall, but if they caught the toad that had swallowed it, she would be cured; the fox told how the king could find a spring in his courtyard; and the hare told how a golden chain buried about the king's orchard kept it from bearing fruit.
At dawn, True rubbed his eyes with the dew, and regained his sight. He went to serve the king and put to use everything the animals had said, ending with restoring the princess's speech and hearing, at which the king married him to the princess and gave him half his kingdom.
At the wedding, a beggar came: Untrue. True gave him some food and told him to go sit in the lime tree, but when the animals came, they knew that someone had overheard all they said, so this year, they did not do more than say good night and part.
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Posted: Sat Mar 03, 2012 11:08 am
The True Bride
A beautiful young girl was made to work hard by her wicked stepmother. One day, the stepmother set her to pick twelve pounds of feathers before night and promised a beating if she failed. The girl cried. An old woman asked about her troubles; she told them, and the old woman promised all would be well and told her to lie down. The girl slept, and the old woman picked the feathers.
The next day, the stepmother set her to empty a pond with a spoon. The old woman had her sleep in a thicket and touched the pool with the spoon, which turned the pool to vapor.
The third day, the stepmother ordered her to build a castle in a rocky valley. The old woman had her sleep in the shade and moved the rocks to form a castle. The stepmother inspected every inch of it, promising a beating if it were not all as it should be; she went to check that the cellar was filled, and the cellar door fell on her, killing her.
The girl lived in the castle alone. It was filled with riches, and stories of her beauty and wealth spread. Many wooers came to her. At last, a king's son won her heart. He went to get his father's consent. She kissed him, told him not to let anyone else kiss him on that cheek, and sat under a lime tree to await him. On the fourth day without his return, she packed up three dresses, embroidered with suns, moons, and stars, and set out to seek him. She was unable to find him, whoever she asked, and finally took a job as a cowherd and buried her jewels and dresses under a rock. She made a pet of a little calf and sang to it of her being abandoned.
After a few years, she heard that the king's daughter was to marry, and saw that the bridegroom was her prince. She sang to her calf as the prince rode by, and he looked at her, but he did not remember her. When three days' fesitivies were held to celebrate the marriage, she dressed herself in her gown with suns and went to the first ball. She so enchanted the prince that he forgot his new bride. The second night, she wore the gown with moons and enchanted him again; she had to promise to come the third night to get away. The third night, she wore the gown with stars, and when she kissed him, he remembered her. They went back to her castle and married there.
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Posted: Sat Mar 03, 2012 11:09 am
Trusty John
In some variants, a king on his deathbed orders his servant, Trusty John, not to let his son see a certain room, which holds a portrait of a princess.
In all variants, when the new king comes to power, he forces his way into the room. Instantly, he falls in love with the princess. In Joseph Jacobs's version, her country had been at war with his, and the portrait stems from betrothal negotiations that had fallen through; but in all versions, the king does not know how to win her. Trusty John tells him to prepare a ship with all manner of rich treasure, and then either sails with it himself, or has the king sail with him, to her country. The princess is lured aboard by the goods, and the ship sets sail, carrying her off.
While they travel, John hears three ravens. One says that as soon as they reach shore, a horse will come; if the king mounts it, it will carry him off or dash him and the princess to pieces. The solution is for someone to kill the horse, but anyone who reveals this by stating it out loud would have his legs turn to stone up to the knees. The second raven says (with variations in different tellings) that the king would be killed by wine at the wedding feast if it were not dashed to the ground, or that he would be burned up by a wedding garment if it was not burned, etc.; in all variants, whoever says so would turn to stone to his waist. The third raven says, again in different variants, that the princess would faint and die unless someone draws three drops of blood from her right breast; or a dragon would attack their bridal chamber and unless driven off, kill them. True to form, whoever states this would turn entirely to stone.
John prevents all three fates. For the first two, the king trusts that John has acted in his service; but for the third, the king decides to execute him. At the place of execution, John tells the story of the ravens and turns progressively to stone.
In time, the queen bears twin sons. The king and queen learn that if they kill the boys and rub John's statue with their blood, he would come to life again. When the queen agrees to the sacrifice, Faithful John immediately comes back to life, the curse broken, and as a reward for the king's loyalty, the two children are restored to life as well. The king and queen live happily until their deaths.
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Posted: Sat Mar 03, 2012 11:10 am
Tsarevitch Ivan, the Fire Bird and the Gray Wolf
A king's apple tree bore golden apples, but every night, one was stolen. Guards reported that the Firebird stole them. The king told his two oldest sons that the one who caught the bird would receive half his kingdom and be his heir. They drew lots to see who would be first, but both fell asleep; they tried to claim it had not come, but it had stolen an apple. Finally Ivan Tsarevich, the youngest son, asked to try; his father was reluctant because of his youth but consented. Ivan remained awake the entire time, and upon seeing the bird, tried to catch it by the tail. Unfortunately, Ivan only managed to grasp one feather. The Firebird did not return, but the king longed for the bird. He said that still, whoever caught it would have half his kingdom and be his heir. The Knight at the Crossroads by Viktor Vasnetsov
The older brothers set out. They came to a stone that said whoever took one road would know hunger and cold; whoever took the second would live, though his horse would die; and whoever took the third would die, though his horse would live. They did not know which way to take, and so took up an idle life. Ivan Tsarevich riding the Gray Wolf by Viktor Vasnetsov
Ivan begged to be allowed to go until his father yielded. He took the second road, and a wolf ate his horse. He walked until he was exhausted, and the wolf offered to carry him. It brought him to the garden where the firebird was and told him to take it out without its golden cage. The prince went in, but thought it was a great pity not to take the cage, but when he touched it, bells rang, waking everyone, and he was captured. He told his story, and the First King said he could have had it for the asking, but he could be spared now only if he could present the king with the Horse with the Golden Mane.
He met the wolf and admitted to his disobedience. It carried him to the kingdom and stables where he could get the horse and warned him against the golden bridle. Its beauty tempted him, and he touched it, and instruments of brass sounded. He was captured, and the Second King told him that if he had come with the word, he would have given him the horse, but now he would be spared only if he brought him Helen the Beautiful to be his wife.
Ivan went back to the wolf, confessed, and was brought to her castle. The wolf carried her off, but Ivan was able to assuage her fears. Ivan brought her back to the Second King, but wept because they had come to love each other. The wolf turned itself into the form of the princess and had Ivan exchange it for the Horse with the Golden Mane. Ivan and Helen rode off on the Horse. The wolf escaped the king. It reached Ivan and Helen, and Helen rode the horse and Ivan the wolf. Ivan asked the wolf to become like the horse and let him exchange it for the Firebird, so that he could keep the horse as well. The wolf agreed, the exchange was done, and Ivan returned to his own kingdom with Helen, the horse, and the Firebird.
The wolf said its service was done when they returned to where it had eaten Ivan's horse. Ivan dismounted and lamented their parting. They went on for a time and slept. His older brothers found them, killed Ivan, sliced his body to pieces, and told Helen that they would kill her if she would not say that they had fairly won the horse, the firebird, and her. They brought them to their father, and the second son received half the kingdom, and the oldest was to marry Helen.
The Grey Wolf found Ivan's body and caught two fledgling crows that would have eaten it. Their mother pleaded for them, and the wolf sent her to fetch the water of death, which restored the body, and the water of life, which revived him. The wolf carried him to the wedding in time to stop it; the older brothers were made servants or killed by the wolf, but Ivan married Helen and lived happily with her.
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Posted: Sat Mar 03, 2012 11:11 am
The Turnip
Two brothers, one rich, one poor, served as soldiers, but the poor one had to become a farmer to escape his poverty. One of his turnips grew to an enormous size, and he gave it to the king. The king gave him rich presents in return. The rich brother gave the king many great presents, and the king gave him the turnip in return. Angry, the rich brother hired murderers and lured his brother on a path, but when the murderers were going to hang the poor brother, they heard someone singing, and they threw the poor brother into a sack and hanged it, before running off. The poor brother worked a hole in the sack and saw the man, who was a student. He told him that it was the Sack of Knowledge, and he was learning marvelous things in it. The student asked to change places with him. The poor brother agreed and hefted him up, telling him that he was learning something already, but after an hour, he sent someone to let the student down.
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Posted: Sat Mar 03, 2012 11:11 am
The Twelve Dancing Princesses
Twelve princesses, each more beautiful than the last, sleep in twelve beds in the same room; every night their doors are securely locked, but in the morning their shoes are found to be worn through as if they had been dancing all night. The king, perplexed, promises his kingdom and a daughter to any man who can discover the princesses' secret within three days and three nights, but those who fail within the set time limit will be put to death.
An old soldier returned from war comes to the king's call after several princes have failed in the endeavour. Whilst traveling through a wood he comes upon an old woman, who gives him an invisibility cloak and tells him not to eat or drink anything given to him in the evening by any of the princesses and to pretend to be fast asleep until after they leave.
The soldier is well received at the palace just as the others had been and indeed, in the evening, the eldest princess comes to his chamber and offers him a cup of wine. The soldier, remembering the old woman's advice, throws it away secretly and begins to snore very loudly as if asleep.
The princesses, sure that the soldier is asleep, dress themselves in fine clothes and escape from their room by a trap door in the floor. The soldier, seeing this, dons his invisibility cloak and follows them. He steps on the gown of the youngest princess, whose cry of alarm to her sisters is rebuffed by the eldest. The passageway leads them to three groves of trees; the first having leaves of silver, the second of gold, and the third of diamonds. The soldier, wishing for a token, breaks off a twig of each as evidence. They walk on until they come upon a great lake. Twelve boats with twelve princes are waiting. Each princess gets into one, and the soldier steps into the same boat as the youngest. The young prince in the boat rows slowly, unaware that the soldier is causing the boat to be heavy. The youngest princess complains that the prince is not rowing fast enough, not knowing the soldier is in the boat. On the other side of the lake stands a castle, into which all the princesses go and dance the night away.
The princesses dance until their shoes are worn through and they are obliged to leave. This strange adventure continues on the second and third nights, and everything happens just as before, except that on the third night the soldier carries away a golden cup as a token of where he has been. When it comes time for him to declare the princesses' secret, he goes before the king with the three branches and the golden cup, and tells the king all he has seen. The princesses know that there is no use in denying the truth, and confess. The soldier chooses the eldest princess as his bride for he is not a very young man, and is made the king's heir.
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Posted: Sat Mar 03, 2012 11:12 am
The Twelve Huntsmen
A prince was betrothed to a maiden he loved. He was summoned back to his father's deathbed and was so grief-stricken that he promised to marry as his father wished, to a neighboring princess. Then, as king, he felt bound by his promise. His fiancee heard of it and asked her father for eleven maidens who looked exactly like her. They dressed as huntsmen and went to court.
The king had a lion who knew everything. It told him that the huntsmen were women, and to test them by putting down peas: a man's firm step would crush them, while a woman's would make them roll. The maiden heard this and warned her companions to step firmly. Then the lion said that he should put spinning wheels in the room, and their interest would betray them, but the maiden learned of it and warned her companions.
One day, the new bride approached. The maiden fainted. The king, fearing a faithful servant had fallen ill, came to her aid and found the ring he had given her. He dismissed the new bride and married the old one, and restored the lion to favor because it had seen the truth.
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Posted: Sat Mar 03, 2012 11:13 am
The Twelve Months
A young and beautiful girl is sent into the cold forest in the winter to perform impossible tasks. She must get violets and apples in midwinter. She meets the 12 months personified who help her. The step mother and sister take the items, without a word of thanks. When the evil stepsister comes and is rude, they disappear, taking their fire, and leaving the stepsister cold and hungry.
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