folktale quiz 4

Cupid and Psyche

here were once a king and queen,[10] rulers of an unnamed city, who had three daughters of conspicuous beauty. The youngest and most beautiful was Psyche, whose admirers, neglecting the proper worship of the love goddess Venus, instead prayed and made offerings to her. It was rumored that she was the second coming of Venus, or the daughter of Venus from an unseemly union between the goddess and a mortal. Venus is offended, and commissions Cupid to work her revenge. Cupid is sent to shoot Psyche with an arrow so that she may fall in love with something hideous. He instead scratches himself with his own dart, which makes any living thing fall in love with the first thing it sees. Consequently, he falls deeply in love with Psyche and disobeys his mother's order. Although her two humanly beautiful sisters have married, the idolized Psyche has yet to find love. Her father suspects that they have incurred the wrath of the gods, and consults the oracle of Apollo. The response is unsettling: the king is to expect no human son-in-law, but rather a dragon-like creature who harasses the world with fire and iron and is feared by even Jupiter and the inhabitants of the underworld. Psyche is arrayed in funeral attire, conveyed by a procession to the peak of a rocky crag, and exposed. Marriage and death are merged into a single rite of passage, a "transition to the unknown".[11] Zephyr the West Wind bears her up to meet her fated match, and deposits her in a lovely meadow (locus amoenus), where she promptly falls asleep. The transported girl awakes to find herself at the edge of a cultivated grove (lucus). Exploring, she finds a marvelous house with golden columns, a carved ceiling of citrus wood and ivory, silver walls embossed with wild and domesticated animals, and jeweled mosaic floors. A disembodied voice tells her to make herself comfortable, and she is entertained at a feast that serves itself and by singing to an invisible lyre. Although fearful and without the proper experience, she allows herself to be guided to a bedroom, where in the darkness a being she cannot see has sex with her. She gradually learns to look forward to his visits, though he always departs before sunrise and forbids her to look upon him. Soon, she becomes pregnant.

The Flying Ship (Ukraine)

A couple had three sons, and the youngest was a fool. One day, the Tsar declared that whoever made him a ship that could sail through the air would marry his daughter. The older two set out, with everything their parents could give them; then the youngest set out as well, despite their ridicule and being given less fine food. He met a little man and, when the man asked to share, he hesitated only because it was not fit. But when he opened it, the food had become fine. The man told him how to strike a tree with an axe; then, he was not to look at it but fall to his knees. When he was lifted up, he would find the tree had been turned into a boat, and could fly it to the Tsar's palace, but he should give anyone who asked a lift. He obeyed. On the way, he met and gave a lift to a man who was listening to everything in the world, a man who hopped on one leg so that he would not reach the end of the world in one bound, a man who could shoot a bird at a hundred miles, a man who needed a great basket of bread for his breakfast, a man whose thirst could not be sated by a lake, a man with a bundle of wood that would become soldiers, and a man with straw that would make everything cold. At the Tsar's place, the Tsar did not want to marry the princess to a peasant. He decided to send him to the end of the world to get healing water, before the Tsar finished his dinner. But the man who could hear heard him and told the youngest son, who lamented his fate. The fleet-footed man went after it. He fell asleep by the spring, and the huntsman shot the tree he was leaning against to wake him up, and he brought back the water in time. The Tsar then ordered him to eat twelve oxen and twelve tons of bread, but the glutton ate them all. The Tsar then ordered him to drink forty casks of wine, with forty gallons each, but the thirsty man drank them all. The Tsar said that the betrothal would be announced after the youngest son bathed, and went to have him stifled in the bath by heat. The straw cooled it, saving him. The King demanded that he present him with an army on the spot, and with the wood, the youngest son had it and threatened to attack if the Tsar did not agree. The Tsar had him dressed in fine clothing, and the princess fell in love with him on sight. They were married, and even the glutton and the thirsty man had enough to eat and drink at the feast.

Tatterhood

A king and queen had no children, which grieved the queen greatly. To alleviate the queen's loneliness, they adopted a girl to raise as their own. One day, when the queen saw her adopted daughter playing with a beggar girl, she scolded her adopted daughter and tried to drive the other girl off. However, the beggar girl mentioned that her mother knows a way for the queen to become pregnant. When the queen approached the beggar woman, the woman denies having such knowledge. The queen treated the woman to as much wine as the woman pleased until the woman is drunk. When the queen asked the drunk beggar woman how she could get a child of her own, the beggar woman told her to wash herself in two pails of water before going to bed, and afterward pour the water under the bed. The next morning, two flowers will have sprung up from under the bed: one fair and one rare. The beggar tells the queen that she must eat the beautiful one, but not to eat the hideous one no matter what. The queen followed this advice, and the next morning under the bed were two flowers. One was bright and lovely, and the other was black and foul. The queen ate the beautiful flower at once, but it tasted so sweet that she craved the other and ate it as well. Not long afterward, the queen bore a child. She gave birth to a girl who carried a wooden spoon in her hand and rode upon a goat. She was very ugly and loud from the moment she was born. The queen despairs having such a daughter until the girl tells her mother that her next child will be fair and agreeable. As the girl promised, the queen gave birth to a second daughter, one who was born fair and sweet, which pleased the queen very much. The sisters were as different as they could be, but they were very fond of each other. The elder daughter was named Tatterhood, because she wore a tattered hood over her unruly hair. One Christmas Eve, when the girls were half grown, there was great noise in the gallery outside the queen's rooms. When Tatterhood demanded to know what was causing the noise, the queen reluctantly reveals that it was a pack of trolls (in some versions, witches) who come to the palace every seven years. Tatterhood, being headstrong, decides to drive the trolls off and instructs her mother keep the door tightly shut. Worried about Tatterhood, Tatterhood's younger sister opens one of the doors during the battle with the trolls. Her head is instantly snatched off by a troll and replaced with a calf's head, after which the trolls flee from the castle. To restore her sister's head, Tatterhood sets off in a ship with no crew or company aside from her own sister. They arrive at the isle of the trolls and Tatterhood battles the trolls and successfully regain her sister's head. The sisters escape and arrive in a distant kingdom. The king, a widower with one son, fell in love with the younger sister at first sight. However, she declared she will not marry until Tatterhood does. The king begged his son to marry Tatterhood, and eventually he reluctantly agreed. The two sisters were to be married to their grooms on the same day. The king, his young princess bride, and the king's son were regally adorned, while Tatterhood refused to dress up and happily wore her rags. As the couples rode to church to be married, Tatterhood asked her bridegroom why he did not ask why she rides a goat, and when he duly asked, she answered that she rode a grand horse, which it promptly becomes. She asked the prince why he does not ask why she carries a wooden spoon, which he asks, and she declares it to be a fan (or in some versions a wand), which it turns into. This is repeated with the tattered hood, which is turned into a golden crown, and with Tatterhood herself, whose beauty she declares to surpass her sister's, which it then does. The prince now understands that she chooses to appear ragged, and that her beauty matters not. He now is glad to be married to her.

The Little Donkey

A king and queen long lamented their childlessness until the queen gave birth to a son who was a donkey. The queen was upset, but the king had him raised as a donkey. He was very fond of music and insisted on learning to play the lute, at which he grew skilled. One day, he saw his own reflection in a pool and grew so disturbed that he wandered the world. He tried to stay at the castle of a king with a single daughter. When they would not let him in, he played outside until the king heard his music and let him in. He insisted that his proper seat was with the king. After a time, he grew sad. The king questioned him about this until he learned that the donkey wished to marry his daughter. The king agreed, they married, and in the night, the king set a servant to watch the couple, to ensure the donkey would behave well. When the donkey went in the bedroom, he took off his donkey-skin and changed into a handsome youth. Even though he put on his skin again in the morning, the daughter assured her father that she was well pleased with her bridegroom. The servant told the king what had happened. The next night, the king stayed up and when the couple were asleep, he burned the donkey skin. This distressed the donkey, but the king persuaded him to stay by offering him half his kingdom. When the king died, he had the whole kingdom, and when his own father died, he had two kingdoms.

Irons Hans (Grimm)

A king sends a huntsman into a forest nearby and the huntsman never returns. The King sends more men into the forest where they each meet with the same fate. The King sends all his remaining huntsmen out as a group, but again, none return. The king proclaims the woods as dangerous and off-limits to all. Some years later, a wandering explorer accompanied by a dog hears of these dangerous woods and asks permission to hunt in the forest, claiming that he might be able to discover the fate of the other hunters. The man and his dog are allowed to enter. As they come to a lake in the middle of the forest, the dog is dragged under water by a giant arm. The hunter returns to the forest the next day with a group of men to empty the lake. They find a naked man with iron-like skin and long shaggy hair all over his body. They capture him and he is locked in a cagein the courtyard as a curiosity. No one is allowed to set the wild man free or they will face the penalty of death. Years later, the young prince is playing with a ball in the courtyard. He accidentally rolls it into the cage where the wild iron-skinned man picks it up and will only return it if he is set free. He states further that the only key to the cage is hidden beneath the queen's pillow. Though the prince hesitates at first, he eventually builds up the courage to sneak into his mother's room and steal the key. He releases the wild iron-skinned man who reveals his name to be Iron John (or Iron Hans depending on the translation). The prince fears he will be killed for setting Iron John free, so Iron John agrees to take the prince with him into the forest. As it turns out, Iron John is a powerful being and has many treasures that he guards. He sets the prince to watch over his well, but warns him not to let anything touch it or fall in because it will turn instantly to gold. The prince obeys at first, but begins to play in the well, eventually turning all his hair into gold. Disappointed in the boy's failure, Iron John sends him away to experience poverty and struggle. Iron John also tells the prince that if he ever needs anything, simply to call the name of Iron John three times. The prince travels to a distant land and offers his services to its king. Since he is ashamed of his golden hair, he refuses to remove his cap before the king and is sent to assist the gardener. When war comes to the kingdom, the prince sees his chance to make a name for himself. He calls upon Iron John who gives him a horse, armor, and a legion of iron warriors to fight alongside him. The prince successfully defends his new homeland, but returns all that he borrowed to Iron John before returning to his former position. In celebration, the king announces a banquet and offers his daughter's hand in marriage to any one of the knights who can catch a golden apple that will be thrown into their midst. The king hopes that the mysterious knight who saved the kingdom will show himself for such a prize. Again the prince asks Iron John for help, and again Iron John disguises the prince as the mysterious knight. Though the prince catches the golden apple and escapes, and does so again on two more occasions, he is eventually found. The prince is returned to his former station, marries the princess, and is happily reunited with his parents. Iron John too comes to the wedding. This time, he is seen without the shaggy hair or iron skin that made him frightening. Iron John reveals he was under enchantment until he found someone worthy and pure of heart to set him free.

The Blue Light

A soldier has been discharged from the king's service because of his wounds. The soldier leaves the castle and, as night falls, he requires somewhere to stay. Encountering the home of a witch, he asks her for lodging. The witch agrees on condition that he spade her garden the next day. This takes so long that he must stay another night, and in return she asks him to chop her wood. Once again, he must stay another night. The following day, she requests that he go into a well and retrieve her blue light for her. He is in the process of doing so, but realizes he is being tricked and will be trapped in the well as soon as he gives it to her. He keeps the light for himself, not knowing what it is, but she leaves him in the well. He decides to smoke one last time and lights his pipe with the blue light. A dwarf comes to grant him whatever he wishes. He first asks to be led out of the well, then for the witch to be taken to jail and hanged. The soldier is still upset about the king, so he asks that the dwarf bring the princess so he may sleep with her, just to anger the king. When she wakes up, the princess tells her mother of her strange "dream", which the queen believes could have actually happened. She has the princess fill her pocket with peas and put a little hole in it so that if she actually is carried away they will be able to follow the path. The dwarf, however, notices, and spreads peas all over the city so that the peas lead to everywhere and cannot pin it on the soldier. The next night, she plans on hiding her shoe in the home to which she is taken. The dwarf warns against this to the soldier, but he does not heed it. The next day, the princess's shoe is found in his quarters and he is taken to jail. He sends his friend to get the blue light and as his final request asks for a last smoke of his pipe. The dwarf appears and kills the henchmen; the soldier also demands the king's life, but spares him after he begs for mercy. The soldier marries the princess and takes the throne.

The Mermaid Wife (Shetland Islands)

A story is told of an inhabitant of Unst, who, in walking on the sandy margin of a voe [a deep inlet], saw a number of mermen and mermaids dancing by moonlight, and several sealskins strewed beside them on the ground. At his approach they immediately fled to secure their garbs, and, taking upon themselves the form of seals, plunged immediately into the sea. But as the Shetlander perceived that one skin lay close to his feet, he snatched it up, bore it swiftly away, and placed it in concealment. On returning to the shore he met the fairest damsel that was ever gazed upon by mortal eyes, lamenting the robbery, by which she had become an exile from her submarine friends, and a tenant of the upper world. Vainly she implored the restitution of her property. The man had drunk deeply of love, and was inexorable; but he offered her protection beneath his roof as his betrothed spouse. The merlady, perceiving that she must become an inhabitant of the earth, found that she could not do better than accept of the offer. This strange attachment subsisted for many years, and the couple had several children. The Shetlander's love for his merwife was unbounded, but his affection was coldly returned. The lady would often steal alone to the desert strand, and, on a signal being given, a large seal would make his appearance, with whom she would hold, in an unknown tongue, an anxious conference. Years had thus glided away, when it happened that one of the children, in the course of his play, found concealed beneath a stack of corn a seal's skin; and, delighted with the prize, he ran with it to his mother. Her eyes glistened with rapture -- she gazed upon it as her own -- as the means by which she could pass through the ocean that led to her native home. She burst forth into an ecstasy of joy, which was only moderated when she beheld her children, whom she was now about to leave; and, after hastily embracing them, she fled with all speed towards the seaside. The husband immediately returned, learned the discovery that had taken place, ran to overtake his wife, but only arrived in time to see her transformation of shape completed -- to see her, in the form of a seal, bound from the ledge of a rock into the sea. The large animal of the same kind with whom she had held a secret converse soon appeared, and evidently congratulated her, in the most tender manner, on her escape. But before she dived to unknown depths, she cast a parting glance at the wretched Shetlander, whose despairing looks excited in her breast a few transient feelings of commiseration. "Farewell!" said she to him "and may all good attend you. I loved you very well when I resided upon earth, but I always loved my first husband much better."

Hans My Hedgehog

A wealthy but childless merchant wishes he had a child, even a hedgehog. He comes home to find that his wife has given birth to a baby boy that is a hedgehog from the waist up. They then name him "Hans My Hedgehog". After eight years, Hans leaves his family riding a shod cockerel (Hahn, 'cock, rooster'; Göckelhahn, 'a (mature) cock'[8]) to seek his fortune. He goes off into the woods and watches over his donkeys and pigs. A few years later, a lost king stumbles upon Hans after hearing him play beautifully on the bagpipes. Hans makes a deal with the king: he will show him the way home if the king promises to sign over whatever first comes to meet him upon his return. However, the king thinks Hans is illiterate, and decides to trick him by writing an order that Hans should receive nothing. When they arrive at the kingdom, the king's daughter runs to greet him. The king tells her about the deal Hans has tried to make and how he has tricked him. Unconcerned by the betrayal, Hans continues to tend to his animals in the forest. A second lost king stumbles upon Hans and agrees to his deal. Upon his return, the second king's only daughter rushes out to greet him, and in doing so becomes the property of Hans. For the sake of her father, the princess happily agrees to Hans' deal. In time, Hans My Hedgehog goes to claim his promises. The first king attempts to withhold his daughter, but Hans forces him to give her up. Hans then makes her take off her clothes, pierces her with his prickles until she is bloody all over, and sends her back to the kingdom in disgrace. The second king agrees to the marriage; the princess holds herself bound by her promise and Hans My Hedgehog marries her. On their wedding night, he tells the king to build a fire and to post guards at his door. Hans removes his hedgehog skin and instructs the guards to throw the skin in the fire and watch it until it is completely consumed. Hans appears black, as if he has been burned. After physicians clean him he is shown to be a handsome young gentleman. After several years Hans returns home to collect his father and they live together in the kingdom.[9]

The Swan Maidens (John Jacobs)

A young, unmarried man steals a magic robe made of swan feathers from a swan maiden so that she will not fly away, and marries her. Usually she bears his children. When the children are older they sing a song about where their father has hidden their mother's robe, or one asks why the mother always weeps, and finds the cloak for her, or they otherwise betray the secret. The swan maiden immediately gets her robe and disappears to where she came from. Although the children may grieve her, she does not take them with her. If the husband is able to find her again, it is an arduous quest, and often the impossibility is clear enough so that he does not even try.

Sun Moon and Talia (Basile)

After the birth of a great lord's daughter Talia, wise men and astrologers cast the child's horoscope and predicted that Talia would be endangered by a splinter of flax. To protect his daughter, the father commands that no flax would ever be brought into his house. Years later, Talia sees an old woman spinning flax on a spindle. She asks the woman if she can stretch the flax herself, but as soon as she begins to spin, a splinter of flax goes under her fingernail, and she drops to the ground, apparently dead. Unable to stand the thought of burying his child, Talia's father puts his daughter in one of his country estates. Some time later, a king who is out hunting in the nearby woods, follows his falcon[2] into the house. He finds Talia; overcome by her beauty, he tries unsuccessfully to wake her, and then "Crying aloud, he beheld her charms and felt his blood course hotly through his veins. He lifted her in his arms, and carried her to a bed, where he gathered the first fruits of love." [3] Afterwards, he leaves the girl on the bed and returns to his own city. Still deep in sleep, Talia gives birth to twins (a boy and a girl). One day, the girl cannot find her mother's breast; instead she begins to suck on Talia's finger and draws the flax splinter out. Talia awakens immediately. She names her children "Sun" and "Moon" and lives with them in the house. The king returns and finds Talia is awake - and a mother of twins. However, he is already married. He calls out the names of Talia, Sun and Moon in his sleep, and his wife, the queen, hears him. She forces the king's secretary to tell her everything, and then, using a forged message, has Talia's children brought to court. She orders the cook to kill the children and serve them to the king. But the cook hides them, and cooks two lambs instead. The queen taunts the king while he eats. Then the queen has Talia brought to court. She commands that a huge fire be lit in the courtyard, and that Talia be thrown into the flames. Talia asks to take off her fine garments first. The queen agrees. Talia undresses and utters screams of grief with each piece of clothing. The king hears Talia's screams. His wife tells him that Talia would be burned and that he had unknowingly eaten his own children. The king commands that his wife, his secretary, and the cook be thrown into the fire instead. The cook explains how he had saved Sun and Moon. Talia and the king marry, and the cook is rewarded with the title of royal chamberlain.

Beauty and The Beast

Beaumont greatly pared down the cast of characters and simplified the tale to an almost archetypal simplicity.[7] The story begins in much the same way, although now the merchant has only six children: three sons and three daughters of which Beauty is one. The circumstances leading to her arrival at the Beast's castle unfolds in a similar manner and on this arrival she is informed that she is mistress there and he will obey her. Beaumont strips most of the detail and lavish descriptions present on Beauty's exploration of the palace in Villeneuve's versions and quickly jumps to her return home. She is given leave to remain there for a week and when she arrives her sisters plot to feign fondness for her to entice her to remain another week in hopes that the Beast will devour her in his anger. Again, she returns to him dying and restores him to life. They then marry and live happily ever after and this ends Beaumont's tale as she omits the background information given on both the Prince and his family and Beauty and hers.

Little Briar Rose (Grimm)

Having waited a long time to bear a child, a king and queen are despondent over their inability to have children. A frog visits the queen during her bath and tells her that she will have a daughter within the year. When the prediction comes true, the rulers are overjoyed. The king arranges a feast, inviting many people, including the magical Wise Women of the kingdom. There were 13 Wise Women, but the king only invited 12 because he had only 12 golden plates to serve them with and he did not want to insult one of them. At the feast the Wise Women each bestow a magical gift upon the girl. She is given great beauty, virtue, and more. Before the final gift is given, the uninvited Wise Woman appears and curses the girl: "When the daughter of the king turns fifteen, she will prick her finger on a spindle and fall dead." The final Wise Woman, unable to break the curse, moderates the spell: "The princess will not die, but she will fall into a deep sleep that will last for a hundred years." The king reacts by having every spindle in the realm destroyed. The girl grows to be beautiful and virtuous, as the Wise Women had promised. On her 15th birthday, she wanders the castle and finds an old woman spinning flax up in a room in the tower. Having never seen a spindle, the girl curiously touches it and instantly falls into a deep sleep. In fact, the sleep spreads to the whole castle, putting the king and queen, the court, the servants, the animals, and even the cooking fires to sleep. A thick hedge of briars grows over the castle, completely blocking the path and hiding the castle. In the following years the legend of the hidden castle and the princess known as Briar Rose spreads, and many young princes try to find the beautiful sleeping princess. But the briar catches and kills each suitor who approaches. Finally, 100 years have passed, and new a prince hears the story. He goes to the castle, heedless of the warnings. To his surprise, the hedge parts and allows him entry. The prince passes the sleeping servants and courtiers, eventually finding Briar Rose. Taken by her beauty, the prince kisses the princess, and she awakens. The whole castle awakens too. Soon the two are married in a magnificent ceremony and they live happily together.

The Blood Brothers

Once upon a time a fisherman caught a fish that said to him, "If you will set me free, I will grant you any wish." Now more than anything else, the fisherman wanted to have a child with his wife, so he made this wish, and turned the fish loose. Before swimming away, the fish said, "Cast your net again, and give your next catch to your wife to eat." The fisherman did as he was told. His next cast netted him one little fish, which he took home with him. His wife ate the flesh. His dog ate the insides. And his horse ate the bones. Some time later his wife gave birth to twin boys; the dog had a litter of two pups; and the horse foaled with two colts. The twin boys gave their parents much pleasure, but with time the older brother became restless, and wanted to seek his fortune abroad. He left a bottle of clear white wine with his younger twin, saying, "All will be well with me as long as the wine is white. But if it ever turns red, I will be in need of your help." With that he took leave of his brother and of his parents, mounted the older twin horse, and, accompanied by the older twin dog, set forth into the world. After a long journey he came to a kingdom that was being ravished by a terrible dragon. The king had promised his daughter's hand in marriage to whatever man succeeded in killing the dragon. The twin tracked the dragon to its lair, then engaged him in battle. The fight was long and hard, but the brave twin finally prevailed, and the dragon lay dead at his feat. As proof that he had killed the beast, he cut out its tongue, then set out for the castle to claim the princess as his reward. Now the king had a steward who happened to come upon the dead dragon soon after the twin left. He decided to claim the kill for himself, cut off the dragon's head, and took a shortcut to the castle. The king was delighted to see the dragon's head, and he arranged for the wedding between the steward and the princess to take place immediately. The twin arrived just as the festivities were starting. Seeing that another man was unfairly claiming his prize, he said, "It is a strange dragon that has no tongue." "Of course the dragon has a tongue," said the steward, opening the dragon's mouth. But the tongue was not there. "The dragon had a tongue when I killed it," answered the twin, "and here it is." With this he produced the dragon's tongue. The king now saw that the steward had lied, and had him cast into a dark dungeon. The festivities continued, but this time with the twin as hero and bridegroom. The twin and the princess lived happily for some time, but after a while he became restless again. He announced that he wanted to go hunting in a nearby forest, named the Forest of No Return. His young wife asked him not to go, but his spirit of adventure prevailed. Soon after entering the Forest of No Return, the twin met an old woman, who, unknown to him, was a wicked witch. "Good day, young sir," she said. He began to return the greeting, but had scarcely opened his mouth when she cast a spell on him, turning him to stone. Meanwhile, back at the fisherman's cottage, the younger twin examined the bottle of wine every day. Its clear white color let him know that his older brother was well. One day, however, the wine turned blood red, and the younger brother knew that his twin was in need. He took leave of his parents, mounted the younger twin horse, and, accompanied by the younger twin dog, set forth into the world to find his older brother. After a long journey he came to the kingdom where his twin brother had killed the dragon. Everyone thought that he was their new prince, and he was escorted to the castle with honor. "I thought that you would never come back from the Forest of No Return," said the princess tenderly. However, to her dismay and surprise, instead of returning her love, that night he laid his sword between them in their bed. Early the next morning the younger twin set forth for the Forest of No Return. Soon after entering this forest, he met the old witch. "Good day, young sir," she said. Sensing her evil design, he said not a word, but leaped on her and pinned her to the ground. Holding his sword to her neck, he shouted, "lead me to my brother, or die at once!" The witch, fearing for her life, led the young twin to his petrified brother. She anointed the stone with salve, and he returned to life. Overjoyed, the two brothers made they way back toward the castle. On their way, each one told the other of his adventures. When it was the younger brother's turn to speak, he told of how the white wine had turned to blood red, how he had found his way to the castle, how he had slept with the princess.... He was not able finish his sentence. The older twin, hearing that his brother had slept with his wife, drew his sword and cut off his head. When the older twin arrived at the castle, he was received by his wife with love. "At last you are yourself!" she said. "Not like the last time you were here, when you put a sword between us in bed." The older twin now knew that he had unjustly killed his brother. He rushed back to the place where his body lay. Fortunately, he still had some of the witch's salve, and with it he anointed the dead man's wounds, placed the head back on the body, and brought his brother back to life. Together they returned to the castle, where they lived happily ever after.

Rapunzel (Grimm)

Once upon a time, a young, married couple waited for their child to be born. They lived in a beautiful house near a garden in which all sorts of fruit and vegetables grew. The woman often watched the garden through the window in a desire to taste the Rampion (Rapunzel plant). Sometimes she would tell her husband that he doesn't know what it's like to be pregnant, and she asked him to go and get her some of the rampions. The owner of the garden was an evil Witch, so he didn't dare to ask her for some. He didn't want to confront her, so he decided to steal some rampion but as soon as he stepped into the garden he heard a noise. The Witch yelled at him and asked him how he dares to steal from her garden. He fell down on his knees and asked her to spare him because he just wanted some rampions for his wife. The Witch was so evil that she told him he will get the rampion only if he gives her his firstborn child or she will turn him into a pig. The husband felt he didn't have a choice, so he agreed. The woman gave birth to a little girl, and the Witch took her away. She named her Rapunzel. The days passed by and Rapunzel became a long, blond haired beauty. Nobody knew what happened to her because the Witch had her locked away in a tower. Nobody could reach the top room where Rapunzel was because there were no stairs. There was only a small window on the top of the tower, and the beautiful girl would appear on it now and then. The Witch would call her every day to let down her hair, and she would climb to her. Time passed, and Rapunzel only knew about the Witch. She never saw anybody else. Since she loved to sing a Prince that passed through the woods heard her. He hid in the bushes nearby and enjoyed her singing until the Witch called her to let down her hair. The prince thought he could do the same thing, so he called Rapunzel to let her hair down. He climbed to her room, and when Rapunzel saw him, she got scared. Until then she only knew the Witch, and now she saw a beautiful prince. She calmed down, and he explained to her she shouldn't be frightened, and they fell in love. They saw each other secretly because they didn't want the Witch to know about them. She still came to Rapunzel's every day, but she didn't notice anything strange. One morning Rapunzel accidentally told her she is much heavier than the prince and that it's harder to pull her up. The Witch was furious, and she started yelling at Rapunzel. She told her she was an ungrateful brat and reprimanded her that after everything she did for her this was how she paid her back. The Witch grabbed her by the hair and cut it off. The long hair was lying on the floor, and Rapunzel was sentenced to a lifetime of loneliness and misery in the tower. Rapunzel was the loneliest person alive. The Witch didn't only get her revenge with Rapunzel. She also decided to attack the prince. She waited for him to call for Rapunzel to let her hair down and then she threw the cut-off hair, and he started climbing. When he came up high the tower, the evil Witch was looking at him. He saw her and got scared because of her ugliness. She let go the hair. He fell into the thorny bushes and became blind, sad and miserable. He searched for his Rapunzel from city to city, village to village but she was nowhere to be found. He fed on berries and drank the water from the rivers. His misery was growing by the day as he pictured his beautiful Rapunzel and her voice. He wondered for years when he came to a forest where he sat under a tree and cried. His Rapunzel used to live there before and since he was exhausted, he thought it would be best to give up the search. As soon as that thought crossed his mind, he heard a well-known voice. It was his Rapunzel. He gathered the last atoms of his strength and moved towards that beautiful voice. He held on for trees, stumbled and got stuck in the bushes while he was calling for his Rapunzel. He managed to come to her and as soon as she spotted him she ran to his arms. It was true love. Rapunzel started crying, and her tears healed his eyes. They went to his castle where they got married and had many kids. They loved each other and lived happily ever after. And the Witch? Well, who cares about her when the newlyweds were so happy.

Puss in Boots

One day, the king decides to take a drive with his daughter. The cat persuades his master to remove his clothes and enter the river which their carriage passes. The cat disposes of his master's clothing beneath a rock. As the royal coach nears, the cat begins calling for help in great distress. When the king stops to investigate, the cat tells him that his master the Marquis has been bathing in the river and robbed of his clothing. The king has the young man brought from the river, dressed in a splendid suit of clothes, and seated in the coach with his daughter, who falls in love with him at once. The cat hurries ahead of the coach, ordering the country folk along the road to tell the king that the land belongs to the "Marquis of Carabas", saying that if they do not he will cut them into mincemeat. The cat then happens upon a castle inhabited by an ogre who is capable of transforming himself into a number of creatures. The ogre displays his ability by changing into a lion, frightening the cat, who then tricks the ogre into changing into a mouse. The cat then pounces upon the mouse and devours it. The king arrives at the castle that formerly belonged to the ogre, and, impressed with the bogus Marquis and his estate, gives the lad the princess in marriage. Thereafter, the cat enjoys life as a great lord who runs after mice only for his own amusement.[7] The tale is followed immediately by two morals: "one stresses the importance of possessing industrie and savoir faire while the other extols the virtues of dress, countenance, and youth to win the heart of a princess."[8] The Italian translation by Carlo Collodi notes that the tale gives useful advice if you happen to be a cat or a Marquis of Carabas. This is the theme in France, but other versions of this theme exist in Asia, Africa, and South America.[9]

East of the Sun and West of the Moon

The White Bear approaches a poor peasant and asks if he will give him his prettiest and youngest daughter; in return, the bear will make the man rich. The girl is reluctant, so the peasant asks the bear to return, and in the meantime, persuades her. The White Bear takes her off to a rich and enchanted castle. At night, he takes off his bear form in order to come to her bed as a man, although the lack of light means that she never sees him. When she grows homesick, the bear agrees that she might go home as long as she agrees that she will never speak with her mother alone, but only when other people are about. At home, they welcome her, and her mother makes persistent attempts to speak with her alone, finally succeeding and persuading her to tell the whole tale. Hearing it, her mother insists that the White Bear must really be a troll, gives her some candles, and tells her to light them at night, to see what is sharing her bed. The youngest daughter obeys, and finds he is a highly attractive prince, but she spills three drops of the melted tallow on him, waking him. He tells her that if she held out a year, he would have been free, but now he must go to his wicked stepmother, who enchanted him into this shape and lives in a castle east of the Sun and west of the Moon, and marry her hideous daughter, a troll princess. In the morning, the youngest daughter finds that the palace has vanished. She sets out in search of him. Coming to a great mountain, she finds an old woman playing with a golden apple. The youngest daughter asks if she knows the way to the castle east of the Sun and west of the Moon. The old woman cannot tell her, but lends the youngest daughter a horse to reach a neighbor who might know, and gives her the apple. The neighbor is sitting outside another mountain, with a golden carding comb. She, also, does not know the way to the castle east of the Sun and west of the Moon, but lends the youngest daughter a horse to reach a neighbor who might know, and gives her the carding-comb. The third neighbor has a golden spinning wheel. She, also, does not know the way to the castle east of the Sun and west of the Moon, but lends the youngest daughter a horse to reach the East Wind and gives her the spinning wheel. The East Wind has never been to the castle east of the Sun and west of the Moon, but his brother the West Wind might have, being stronger. He takes her to the West Wind. The West Wind does the same, bringing her to the South Wind; the South Wind does the same, bringing her to the North Wind. The North Wind reports that he once blew an aspen leaf there, and was exhausted after, but he will take her if she really wants to go. The youngest daughter does wish to go, and so he takes her there. The next morning, the youngest daughter takes out the golden apple. The troll princess who was to marry the prince sees it and wants to buy it. The girl agrees, if she can spend the night with the prince. The troll princess agrees but gives the prince a sleeping drink, so that the youngest daughter cannot wake him. The same thing happens the next night, after the youngest daughter pays the troll princess with the gold carding-combs. During the girl's attempts to wake the prince, her weeping and calling to him is overheard by some imprisoned townspeople in the castle, who tell the prince of it. On the third night, in return for the golden spinning wheel, the troll princess brings the drink, but the prince does not drink it, and so is awake for the youngest daughter's visit. The prince tells her how she can save him: He will declare that he will marry anyone who can wash the tallow drops from his shirt since trolls, such as his stepmother and her daughter, the troll princess, cannot do it. So instead, he will call in the youngest daughter, and she will be able to do it, so she will marry him. The plan works, and the trolls, in a rage, burst. The prince and his bride free the prisoners captive in the castle, take the gold and silver within, and leave the castle east of the Sun and west of the Moon.

The Frog's Skin (Georgia)

The king (or an old peasant woman, in Lang's version) wants his three sons to marry. To accomplish this, he creates a test to help them find brides. The king tells each prince to shoot an arrow. According to the King's rules, each prince will find his bride where the arrow lands. The youngest son's arrow is picked up by a frog. The king assigns his three prospective daughters-in-law various tasks, such as spinning cloth and baking bread. In every task, the frog far outperforms the two other lazy brides-to-be. In some versions, the frog uses magic to accomplish the tasks, and though the other brides attempt to emulate the frog, they cannot perform the magic. Still, the young prince is ashamed of his frog bride until she is magically transformed into a human princess. In Calvino's version, the princes use slings rather than bows and arrows. In the Greek version, the princes set out to find their brides one by one; the older two are already married by the time the youngest prince starts his quest. Another variation involves the sons chopping down trees and heading in the direction pointed by them in order to find their brides.[8] Illustration to The Frog Tsarevna by Ivan Bilibin In the Russian versions of the story, Prince Ivan and his two older brothers shoot arrows in different directions to find brides. The other brothers' arrows land in the houses of the daughters of an aristocratic and wealthy merchant. Ivan's arrow lands in the mouth of a frog in a swamp, who turns into a princess at night. The Frog Princess, named Vasilisa the Wise, is a beautiful, intelligent, friendly, skilled girl who was forced to spend 3 years in a frog's skin for disobeying Koschei. Her final test may be to dance at the king's banquet. The Frog Princess sheds her skin, and the prince then burns it, to her dismay. Had the prince been patient, the Frog Princess would have been freed but instead he loses her. He then sets out to find her again and meets with Baba Yaga, whom he impresses with his spirit, asking why she has not offered him hospitality. She tells him that Koschei is holding his bride captive and explains how to find the magic needle needed to rescue his bride. In another version, the prince's bride flies into Baba Yaga's hut as a bird. The prince catches her, she turns into a lizard, and he cannot hold on. Baba Yaga rebukes him and sends him to her sister, where he fails again. However, when he is sent to the third sister, he catches her and no transformations can break her free again. In some versions of the story, the Frog Princess' transformation is a reward for her good nature. In one version, she is transformed by witches for their amusement. In yet another version, she is revealed to have been an enchanted princess all along.

Zelinda and the Monster

Zelinda agreed to marry the monster, hoping to save her father's life. As soon as she agreed to marry him, the monster turned into a handsome man, who explained to her that he was a king, and that a witch had turned him into a horrible monsteruntil a beautiful girl agreed to be his wife.

Rumpelstiltskin

a dwarf in one of the fairy stories of the brothers Grimm; tells a woman he will not hold her to a promise if she can guess his name and when she discovers it he is so furious that he destroys himself

The Rabbit Herd

daughter would not laugh hans plays the flute and it makes her laugh rabbits assembled to his feet and only he can bring him

The False Gandmother (France)

girl walking through the woods and sees a wolf ate grandmother up and only left a pitcher of blood ate her grandmothers flesh makes her go to bed w her runs to the privy

Little Red Riding Hood (Charles Perrault)

goes to visit grandma ate the grandma notice how weird grandma looked ate her up too

The Frog Prince Grimm

n the tale, a spoiled princess reluctantly befriends the Frog Prince, whom she met after dropping a gold ball into a pond, and he retrieves it for her in exchange for her friendship. The Frog Prince magically transforms into a handsome prince. In the original Grimm version of the story, the frog's spell was broken when the princess threw it against the wall, while in modern versions the transformation is triggered by the princess kissing the frog.[4] In other early versions, it was sufficient for the frog to spend the night on the princess' pillow.[citation needed] The frog prince also has a loyal servant named Henry (or Harry) who had three iron bands affixed around his heart to prevent it from breaking in his sadness over his master's curse. When the frog prince transforms into his human form Henry's overwhelming happiness causes all three bands to break, freeing his heart from its bonds.

Jack and the Beanstalk

poor family sold cow for beans climbs up bean stalk figures out castle is his song?

The Princess and the Pea (Anderson)

prince is picky about his women pee and how princesses are sensitive

Little Red Cap (Grimm)

talks to wolf distracts little red cap ate grandma girl is kinda scared but noticed ate her up huntsman cuts open stomach and frees eveyrone and filles stomach w rocks

The Swineherd Who Married a Princess

taught a pig how to dance princess sees it ask the princess to lift skirt birthmark false prince and swineherd sleep together and swineherd poisons prince and they poop on the floor and one is chocolate both eat it

The Three Spinning Women (Grimm)

wanted flax spun king leaves and wants a box filled of spun flax replaced w ugly girls and king got scared and never again

The Shoe That Were Danced to Pieces (Grimm)

welve princesses, each more beautiful than the last, sleep in twelve beds in the same room. Every night, their doors are securely locked by their father. But in the morning, their dancing shoes are found to be worn through as if they had been dancing all night. The king, perplexed, asks his daughters to explain, but they refuse. The king then promises his kingdom and each daughter to any man who can discover the princesses' midnight secret within three days and three nights, but those who fail within the set time limit will be sentenced to death. An old soldier returned from war comes to the king's call after several princes have failed in the attempt. Whilst traveling through a wood he comes upon an old woman, who gives him an enchanted cloak that he can use to observe the king's unaware daughters 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 they leave. The soldier is well received at the palace just as the others had been and indeed, in the evening, the princess royal (the eldest daughter) comes to his chamber and offers him a cup of wine. The soldier, remembering the old woman's advice, secretly throws it away and begins to snore loudly as if asleep. Illustration by Arthur Rackham The twelve princesses, assured that the soldier is asleep, dress themselves in fine dancing gowns and escape from their room by a trap door in the floor. The soldier, seeing this, dons his magic 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 glittering diamonds. The soldier, wishing for a token, breaks off a twig of each as evidence. They walk on until they come upon a great clear lake. Twelve boats, with twelve princes, appear where the twelve princesses are waiting. Each princess gets into one, and the soldier steps into the same boat with the twelfth and youngest princess. 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 twelve princesses happily dance all night until their shoes are worn through and they are obliged to leave. The 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 about all he has seen. The princesses know that there is no use in denying the truth, and confess. The soldier chooses the first and eldest princess as his bride for he is not a very young man, and is made the King's heir. The twelve princes are put under a curse for as many nights as they danced with the princesses.