Week 13 Storytelling: The Cottage in the Woods

A man by the name of Hans and his wife, Gretchen, had just moved to Storybrook. They were staying at the local hotel, but were quickly trying to find a new home so they could get settled. Hans picked up the Storybook Gazette on his way home from work so they could begin browsing the listings.

Gretchen: How was your first day, honey?

Hans: It was great! I think we made a really good decision moving here. The people are so welcoming and Storybrook has that small town charm!

Gretchen: I also noticed how friendly the people were today. All we need now is a place to call home, and we'll be set!

Hans: I picked up the local newspaper to search for listings. Let's take a look.

They browsed for a minute or two. Then, they stumbled across a listing that caught both of their eyes.

Gretchen: Look! There's a small single family cottage just outside of town, and look at the price! That can't be right!

Hans: Hmm. That must be a misprint. There's no way a house with that much land could be that cheap. I'll give the real estate office a call in the morning.

The next morning Hans phoned the local real estate office and set up a viewing for that afternoon. He couldn't wait to surprise Gretchen!

Gretchen: Well, you're home early from work! Is everything alright?

Hans: Everything is great! I got off a little early so I could surprise you! I called the real estate office this morning and set up a viewing for the cottage in the woods. Now hurry and get your shoes on, we're going to be late!

......

Sandra: Hello there, my name is Sandra. I'm with Storybrook Realty! Are we ready to see this wonderful property?

Hans: Hello, I'm Hans and this is my wife, Gretchen, we can't wait to see the house!

Sandra: Great! Follow me! First things first, this isn't your typical cottage. As you're probably already noticing, the house is not made out of the usual materials. Why is this you ask? It's a very interesting story actually. A few years back, two young siblings got lost in the woods. They had been gone for weeks before they finally found their way back home. When they returned they had quite the story to tell. They claimed that they came across a house made of sweet breads and cakes, and windows of sugar. They said the house saved their lives, because they had gone days without food. It sounds absurd right? Well it just so happened they were telling the truth! They led the sheriff back here to this very spot and sure enough, the cottage they spoke of stands here to this day. It's been on the market ever since.

Hans: Is there a reason that no one has purchased the house? Is it.........haunted?

Sandra: Haunted? No, no, nothing of the sort. The reason no one has purchased it is because the children also claimed that a witch lived here when they stumbled upon the cabin. They said they were trapped here for weeks, until one day the younger sibling burnt the witch alive and freed her brother at last. Now, there is no proof that this is true or that witches are even real for that matter, but that's the rumor that has been going around for years.

Gretchen: Sandra, could we have a moment to discuss?

Sandra: Sure! Take all the time you need!

Gretchen: Honey, this house is perfect! It's super cheap and it's one of a kind! A house made of sweet breads and cakes? We'll become famous once we get the word out that we own this place!

Hans: You're right sweetheart. Sandra, we'll take it!

Sandra: Great! I'll have the paperwork drawn up and you two can move in immediately!

A few weeks had passed. Hans and Gretchen were slowly getting settled into their new home. After the first week Gretchen began noticing strange occurrences while she was home alone during the day. Doors began opening themselves, dishes started falling from the cabinets, and the most recent, the oven kept turning itself on. She decided that it was probably nothing and to keep it to herself.

One moonless night, Hans and Gretchen were suddenly awoken by a blood curdling scream. Hans immediately grabbed a bat and ran downstairs to see what was making the noise. When he got to the kitchen, he found the oven with flames bursting out of the cracks, and what seemed to be an old woman's face, screaming through the flames. He grabbed the water faucet from the kitchen sink and began to put the fire out, but it only made matters worse. The screams got louder and the flames more intense. He ran upstairs, grabbed Gretchen, and fled the cottage in the woods. They never returned, and never spoke a word of what happened in that house.

Author's Note: This week I read one of the Brothers Grimm units. This story is based off of Hansel and Grethel. In the original story, when Hansel and Grethel were lost in the woods they come across a cabin made of sweet breads, cakes and sugar. They were famished and began eating the house when the owner approached them. It was an old lady who tricked them into coming inside and then held them hostage so that she could fatten them up and eat them. She was a witch. One day Grethel tricked the witch into getting in the oven and burnt her alive. Grethel and her brother escaped and returned home. The story never mentions the house or the witch again, so I thought I would create a spin-off story that tells what happens to the cottage. Also, I thought I would incorporate the witch as well. Did Grethel actually kill the witch, or did she just think she did? Maybe she did kill the witch, but the ghost of the witch will haunt the cottage forever? You decide.

(illustration by Otto Ubbelohde)

Bibliography: Margaret Hunt's Household Tales by Jacob Grimm and Wilhelm Grimm (1884).

Week 13 Reading Diary: Brothers Grimm (Hunt)

Margaret Hunt's Household Tales by Jacob Grimm and Wilhelm Grimm (1884).

Hansel and Grethel

• A father and his wife discussed what to do because they were out of food
• The wife, step-mother, said to take the kids, Hansel and Grethel, into the woods and leave them
• The father said he couldn't, but he did
• Luckily, Hansel and Grethel were awake and heard the conversation
• Hansel collected white pebbles that shone in the moonlight for the next day
• The next day, the parents took the kids into the forest and left them
• Hansel had secretly dropped Pebbles the whole time they were walking
• Hansel grabbed Grethel by the hand when the moon came up and followed the trail back home
• When they arrived the step-mother scolded them, but their father cheered and his heart was heavy for leaving them
• The food supply again was scarce, so the mother decided to take them farther into the forest this time
• Hansel tried to sneak out and collect pebbles again, but their mother had locked the door and he couldn't get out
• So the next day he crumbled the small piece of bread he was given in his pocket, and spears the crumbs the whole walk
• The parents again built them a fire and left them
• When the moon came out Hansel took Grethel by the hand and told her he had dropped bread crumbs the whole path home and they could follow them in the moonlight
• They couldn't find the crumbs, the birds along the way had eaten them all
• They walked all night and all the next day until they grew too fatigued to continue
• They finally sat down under a tree and went to sleep
• Three days later and they only got farther into the forest
• They came upon a bird that sang beautifully and followed it to a house that was made out of bread, cakes and windows of sugar
• They began to feast when they heard someone ask who was eating the house
• Finally a very old woman on crutches came out of the house
• She told them to come in and they would be safe, she fed them and made them up beds
• She deceived them though and was actually a witch that lures children in and eats them
• Early in the morning she awoke before the children and drug Hansel to the barn and locked him up
• She made Grethel collect water and feed her brother to fatten him up so she could eat him
• Grethel got nothing to eat
• After weeks, the day finally came, and the witch had decided to cook Hansel and eat him
• The witch was heating up the oven and asked Grethel to get inside and see if it was warm yet, she planned to lock her in to cook and eat her too
• Grethel realized this and told the witch she didn't know how
• The witch put her head in the oven as a demonstration and Grethel gave her a shove, shut the iron door and locked it
• She witch miserably burnt to death
• Grethel ran to Hansel and released him, they rejoiced
• They went back into the house and collected as many jewels and pearls as they could, the house was covered in them
• They then decided to get out of the witches forest
• After two hours they came across a river with no bridge
• They called upon a duck nearby and asked it to carry them one at a time across the river
• After they crossed the forest became more familiar and they soon saw their fathers house in the distance
• They ran in and jumped into their father's arms and began emptying their pockets of all the jewels they collected
• Their father was sad every day they were gone
• Their step-mother was dead
• They lived together in perfect happiness

Thumbling

• There was peasant who discussed with his wife of how nice it would be to have children
• The wife agreed, and said even if they only had one and it were small, even as small as a thumb they would be satisfied
• The wife soon became ill and gave birth seven months later to a perfect son, the only thing was he was no longer than a thumb
• They loved him and acknowledged their wish had come true, they named him Thumbling
• One day the peasant was getting ready to go cut wood in the forest when he told himself that he wished he had someone to bring the cart to him
• Thumbling offered, but his father told him it was not possible for him to lead the horse by his reins
• Thumbling told his father that if his mother would put the harness on the horse, he would ride in the horses ear and guide him
• His father agreed to try it just this once
• On his way with the cart, two men saw the horse and heard someone leading him but saw no one
• They were intrigued, so they followed the horse and cart
• The cart arrived where it was supposed to and Thumbling's father got him out and set him down
• The two men decided to buy Thumbling when they saw him, they thought they could make money showing him off in town
• The father told them no, but Thumbling whispered in his ear to let them buy him and he would be back soon
• Thumbling rode on one of the man's hat to see the countryside
• When it started to get dark Thumbling asked to get down
• He slipped in a mouse-hole and told the gentlemen good evening, and to continue on without him
• They stuck their sticks in the mouse-hole to force Thumbling out, but he was useless
• It finally got too dark, and the men had to leave without him
• When Thumbling saw they had left, he decided to head home
• He decided it was not safe to travel at night and found a snail shell to sleep in
• Just before he went to sleep he heard two men asking each other how they would rob the rich pastor
• He told them he could help so they picked him up and took him along
• When they got there Thumbling snuck in and began yelling as loud as he could asking them if they wanted everything
• This eventually woke the maid and the thieves fled
• Thumbling found a pile of hay and decided to sleep there until morning
• In the morning he was sleeping so soundly that he didn't realize the maid was feeding the exact hay he was sleeping in to the cows
• When he awoke he was in the cows mouth, and out of fear of being dismembered by the cows teeth he slid down into the cows stomach
• The space grew smaller as more and more hay came pouring in
• Finally Thumbling began to cry out, bring me no more fodder
• The maid was milking the cow and the shouting frightened her, so she fell off her stool and spilt the milk
• She ran into her master and told him about the cow speaking
• When the pastor heard the noise coming from the cow he ordered the cow to be killed, thinking she was possessed
• She was dismembered and just as Thumbling was about to make his way out of the stomach, a wolf swallowed the stomach whole
• Thumbling told the wolf he knew of a house where the wolf could sneak in and eat a feast
• Thumbling tricked the wolf into sneaking into his parents house and he did so
• The wolf ate so much that he couldn't fit through the hole in which he snuck in
• Thumbling began making loud noises until his parents awoke and saw the wolf in the house
• Just as his father was coming with his axe, Thumbling yelled for him and told him he was in the wolf's stomach
• The father killed the wolf and they cut Thumbling out
• They embraced each other and told Thumbling they would never sell him again

Allerleirauh

• There was a king who had the most beautiful wife with golden hair, so beautiful that no one else in the world could compare
• She fell ill one day and knew she would die, she made her husband promise to never marry someone as beautiful as her or someone that had golden hair such as hers
• He promised and she died
• Later on, his council decided that he needed a wife to rule the kingdom again
• They began to search but could not find anyone as beautiful as his late wife
• One day the king looked upon his grown up daughter, who had golden hair such as his wife's and was very beautiful, and fell madly in love with her
• He told his council his intentions and they were shocked, this could not happen, it was wrong
• When he told his daughter, she was even more shocked, she decided to make stipulations she thought were impossible
• She asked for a dress as golden as the sun, a dress as silvery as the moon, and a dress as bright as the stars
• She also asked for a mantle of a thousand different kinds of fur and hair, each animal in the kingdom had to give a piece of its skin for the mantle
• Her father did these things and placed them in front of her and told her the wedding was tomorrow
• She decided to sneak out in the middle of the night and take three things with her; a golden ring, a golden spinning-wheel and a golden reel; the three dresses in a nut shell; and wrapped herself in the mantle of a thousand different furs and put soot on her hands and face
• She walked the whole night until she reached a great forest, found a hollow tree, and went to sleep inside
• She continued to sleep through the following day and the king that resided over the forest was hunting
• The dogs surrounded the hollowed tree and began barking
• The king ordered his men to fetch what was in the tree
• When the men did, the girl awoke and began screaming and telling them she was an abandoned child
• They name her Allerleirauh and told her she could come with them and work in the kitchen
• They gave her a closet under the stairs and she did all of the dirty work in the kitchen
• One day there was a feast in the palace and she asked to go upstairs for awhile
• The cook gave her permission and told her to be back in half an hour
• She went upstairs and washed her face and hands and put on her golden sun dress
• She went to the party and danced with the king and no one knew who she was but they all were so intrigued by her
• After the dance she vanished and the king had his guards search for her with no success
• She took her dress off and covered her face and hands again with soot
• She returned to the kitchen and the cook asked her to make the King's soup and not to get any hairs into it
• She did and she put her golden ring in the bottom of the King's soup bowl
• The King thought it was the best soup he had ever tasted and then found the gold ring in the bottom
• He called for the cook and the cook feared she had gotten hair in his soup
• The King asked who made the soup and the cook replied that he had
• The King knew it was a lie because the soup tasted better than before and was made differently
• The cook finally admitted it was made by the rough animal and the King sent the cook after the animal
• This happened again except she wore the silvery dress this time and put the golden spinning-wheel in the King's soup bowl
• It happened a third time and she wore the bright dress, and put the golden reel in the King's bowl
• This time though she was late and put on her fur mantle over her bright dress and didn't cover her face and hands as well as before
• The King had also slipped the ring on one of her fingers without her knowing and this finger remained white
• When he summoned her this time he noticed her finger and grabbed her, her fur mantle opened a little and her dress shone through
• Her golden hair was revealed and her beauty the she washed her face and hands
• She was the most beautiful woman anyone had ever seen on earth
• He declared they would be wed and they lived happily until death

(Hansel and Grethel)