Week 14 Storytelling: The Miner

When I was a young man, my wife and I could barely get by. She stayed at home to cook and take care of the house, and I was a miner in the local mine. My job was tough and took its toll on my body. Some days the air would be so thick with dust and dirt, I could barely breathe. I'll never forget the time when I found something interesting down in the mines. I was working alone one afternoon, when my pickaxe struck something that wasn't rock. I stopped and got down on my knees to take a closer look. There was something shining through the rock. I took my smaller hand-pick and tried to chip away at the edges without hitting the object. It took me awhile, but I finally recovered it. It was a small, gold bottle.

I started to rub the bottle with my handkerchief to get the dust off of it. All of a sudden, a voice came from the bottle. I stood there for a minute trying to comprehend what I had just witnessed. A few minutes later, and I heard the voice again. It asked if I could put the bottle somewhere safe where no one could find it. I proceeded to ask why, but the only answer I got was the same question again. I decided I would sneak the bottle out at the end of my shift and hide it in the nearby forest.

When I returned home from work that night, I told my wife what had happened.

Miner: You won't believe what I found down in the mines today! I was chipping away and I came across a gold bottle. When I picked it up and dusted it off, it began to talk! It asked me to put it somewhere safe where no one could find it.

Wife: So, what did you do with it?!

Miner: Well, I snuck it out to the forest and hid it there.

Wife: Did you not make your wish?

Miner: No? Was I supposed to?

Wife: You fool! Do you know what that was?

Miner: ......

Wife: That was a magic golden bottle! Everyone knows that it has to grant any wish you ask, or at least most people know. You need to go back this instant and ask the bottle for a cottage! I'm tired of this small, drafty shack!

Miner: If you say so..

Even though I didn't really want to ask for an entire new house, I did because I knew it would make my wife happy. I went back to the bottle and began to shine it with my handkerchief. After awhile, i heard the voice again. I told the voice that my wife wanted a cottage, and it told me to return home and I would find my wife in our new home. I did, and when I got back I couldn't believe my eyes! Right there, where our old shack used to be, stood a new cottage. I entered and found my wife sitting near the fireplace, she was most content!

Wife: Do you see this?! I told you that was a magic golden bottle!

Miner: I can't believe it! This is beautiful! We'll be happy forever here!

Wife: We'll see about that.

Before I knew it, my wife asked me to return to the bottle and ask for a castle. She said the cottage was much too small for us now. I hesitated but eventually did as she wished. After I made my trip, I came home to find my wife on the steps of our castle. It didn't end there though. She then told me she wanted to be King, then Emperor, then Pope! Each time I returned to the bottle I was reluctant to ask for something else. We had already asked for so much and I didn't want to make whoever was granting these wishes mad. Each time though, the wish was granted. Until, my wife sent me to tell the bottle she wanted control over the sun and moon. As soon as I asked, the voice was as clear as ever, "Return home, and find your wife in your old shack." I headed home and just as the voice had promised, my wife was sitting on the porch of our shack with her head in her hands. To this day, we still live in that old shack.

Author's Note: This week I read some more stories from the Brothers Grimm unit. This story is based off the story The Fisherman and His Wife. In the original story a fisherman comes across a fish one day that claims to be a prince and asks the fisherman to release him. When he returns home that day, he tells his wife what had happened and she explained to him that he needed to return and ask for a wish from the fish. He does as she requests over and over. It all started with a cottage, then a castle, then she wanted to be king, then emperor, and then pope. Finally, she wanted control over the sun and moon and when he asked the fish for that, the fish sent him home and told him to find his wife in their old hovel. I re-wrote this story with a different profession. Instead of a fisherman, it was a miner. This was to show that the moral of the story is universal. No matter who you are, or what you do, don't be greedy!

(illustration by Walter Crane)

Bibliography: Household Stories by the Brothers Grimm, translated by Lucy Crane and illustrated by Walter Crane (1886).