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)

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Adventure of Flight

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Adventure of Flight

Week 12 Storytelling: Queen of Hearts

A procession of guards, children and others made their way over the hill. Alice had never seen such a crowd. Down the line, Alice could see two figures that stood out. They were dressed like royalty and were the only ones who weren't walking like the rest. It was the King and Queen of Hearts. After approaching Alice, the Queen made it clear immediately the type of person she was. She seemed harsh, rude and tyrannical. If someone did something she didn't like she would scream, "Off with his head!" Alice was irritated with the Queen, but also fearful that she would lose her head if she did something the Queen didn't like. The Queen eventually asked Alice if she could play croquet, Alice  reluctantly said that she could and joined the procession as the Queen instructed her to.

Along the way Alice carefully examined the Queen. She read her body language and just tried to get a better sense of who she was. One thing Alice had learned at a young age is that you don't judge a book by its cover. Sometimes people put up a front that is completely different than who they actually are. After a while, Alice thought to introduce herself and see if she could get to know the real Queen of Hearts.

Alice: My name is Alice! It's very nice to meet you! I'm not from this place, so I don't really know or understand everything yet. I hope that we can become good friends. What's your name?

Queen: My name is of no importance to you. You may address me as your Queen and that is that.

Alice: I'm just trying to be friendly. Why do you have to be so rude?

Queen: How dare you! OFF WITH HER......

Alice: Yeah, yeah. I know. Off with my head. That's all you say. When someone says something you don't like or do, you just behead them. That's not a very good way to make friends. Didn't your mother ever teach you that?

Queen: Well, uhh, you see....I never really had a mother when I was a child.

Alice: I'm so sorry to hear that! I don't know what I would do without my mother! Why didn't you have a mother?

Queen: Alice is it? Well, when I was very young both of my parents were killed. I don't really remember them. I was raised by my aunt, who assumed the throne when they passed away.

Alice: How tragic! I bet you are thankful your aunt was there to raise you after your parents died!

Queen: I wouldn't say that I was thankful. My aunt was an evil old lady. When she found out my parents had died, she cheered and said she was glad they were gone. She knew that there was nothing in the way of her and the throne. She ordered me to spend my days living in the attic and to be her own personal slave. I was required to do anything and everything she asked, and if my work wasn't to her standards I would end up in the dungeon for a week. It was awful, and the only thing I had to look forward to was my eighteenth birthday. I knew when I was eighteen I would be free from her forever!

Alice: What happened when you turned eighteen?

Queen: Well, the week before my birthday I was gathering up everything I could think of that I wanted to take with me. I didn't have much, but a few keepsakes of my parents and a change of clothes. I was ecstatic the whole week, and my aunt could tell. She would say and do anything to bring me down, but it didn't work. Nothing could bring me down because I knew by the end of the week I would be free, or so I thought.

Alice: Oh no, what did your aunt do?

Queen: On the day of my birthday, I woke up at daybreak. When I walked downstairs my aunt was sitting in the main room, waiting for me. She said, "Well you're up early. Oh right, it's your birthday today isn't it? I'm afraid we'll have to celebrate later. I need you to get down to the barn. My riding instructor is coming this morning and we can't have a barn full of feces when he gets here." I then reminded her, "You're going to have to find someone else to do your dirty work from now on. Today is my eighteenth birthday and I'm out of here!" I turned to leave and a guard stepped between me and the door. She said, "Oh honey, you didn't think that I would let you leave that easily did you? You have no money, no family and nowhere to go. You're staying here with me and there's nothing you can do about it!"

Alice: What did you do?!

Queen: I stayed. She was right. I didn't have anywhere to go and if I did leave she would've done everything in her power to make sure I was homeless and miserable. After that day though, something changed in me. I knew what I had to do. If I wanted to be free, I would have to get rid of my aunt. It was actually pretty simple. My aunt wasn't the sharpest thorn on the rose bush, so I just snuck something in her breakfast one morning and that was the end of her. The doctor ruled it a heart attack and I took my rightful place as Queen.

Alice: You killed your aunt.....but......that just makes you as bad as her, maybe even worse.

Queen: Listen little girl, you don't know what I went through. You don't know what its like to live like that. I did what I had to. Now go on and get your mallet, your holding up the game!

Author's Note: This week I read the readings from Alice in Wonderland. I've seen the animated movie and heard the story as a kid, but I didn't really remember it in much detail. For my story I decided to add in a little piece and kind of give a back story on one of the other characters. When Alice finally gets into the small door where the garden is in Wonderland, she ends up meeting the Queen of Hearts. All that we ever really learn about that Queen is that she is pretty malicious and continuously calls for the beheading of people. So, I thought I would add in a personal discussion between Alice and the Queen on the walk to the croquet ground. My story gives a small taste of the Queen's childhood and how that contributed to the way she is today.

(illustration by Arthur Rackham)

Bibliography: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll (1865).

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