Tuesday Tales time again. In The Clever Little Tailor, the Brothers Grimm introduce a persnickety princess and her suitors.
The princess posed a riddle to her suitors and found that none of them could answer it. She sent them away. Three tailors came to replace the suitors. Two were smart and skilled and the third was known to be useless. The first two tailors scoffed at the little tailor and told him not to bother wooing the princess. The little tailor went anyway. The princess asked them what two colors were her hairs. The 1st said black and white. The 2nd said brown and red. The 3rd said gold and silver. The 3rd tailor was correct.
The princess then demanded that the tailor spend the night with a bear in hopes of it ending his life so she didn't have to marry him. While sitting with the bear, the tailor cracked nuts. He gave the bear pebbles instead of nuts and the bear couldn't crack them. The tailor then took the pebbles back and snuck a nut into the group and cracked it. He then began to play a fiddle and the bear danced. He offered to teach the bear how to play the fiddle but insisted on cutting his nails first. Once the bear was trapped for his "nail trim", the tailor left.
Only then did the princess agree to marry the tailor. The other tailors freed the bear and it hunted the tailor down to the wedding carriage. The tailor tricked the bear once more by sticking his legs out the window and claiming to have another trap to capture him. The bear ran away and the two were married without interruption.
So I didn't get the riddle either. I think we can take away from here that optimism and some plain old ingenuity can help accomplish difficult tasks. I'm striking 0:2 on these Grimm Tales so far this month.
Love is love, no matter the back story. <3 DS
Love is love, no matter the back story. <3 DS
2 comments:
I really did not realize that the Grimm brothers were into hallucinogenic drugs until I started reading your posts on their stories. Clearly they were having mushrooms for breakfast!
From what I read, the Brothers Grimm didn't write many or any original stories. They collected their tales from local folk lore during their travels and probably elaborated on the stories a bit.
But, I think your mushrooms comment still stands. Or more likely Opium which was the drug of choice in the 19th century. They were twisted men though.
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