Grimm's Fairy Tales. Jacob Grimm

TWO-EYES, AND THREE-EYES

       THE GOOSE-GIRL AT THE WELL

       The Old Witch

       The Gray Mask

       The Goose-Girl

       THE SHOES THAT WERE DANCED TO PIECES

       THE NIX OF THE MILL-POND

       THE LITTLE HOUSE IN THE WOOD

       MAID MALEEN

      FOREWORD

       Table of Contents

      To our American boys and girls is offered this volume which is really Grimm’s Fairy Tales, not an abridgment superficial and colorless, nor an insipid retelling of the stories.

      This edition is based on the Hunt version, with an introduction by the folk-lorist, Andrew Lang. The Hunt version is considered a most accurate English translation.

      From the full collection, fifty-one stories suitable for children have been selected. Among these are famous tales as well as many delightful ones not usually included in children’s volumes.

      Where the Hunt wording is too stilted, the text of the Hausmärchen itself has been followed. The very long sentences have been subdivided. While that quaint old-fashioned translation, illustrated with woodcuts by Wehnert, has contributed its bit of folk phraseology. The Editor’s desire is to restore to the children as large a collection as possible of Grimm’s Fairy Tales unmutilated in their literary perfection.

      The illustrations are by the well-known Dutch artist, Mrs. Rie Cramer. Some of Rie Cramer’s other fairy tale pictures published in England, are said by admiring critics there, to be very charming, of exceptional merit, and to have high artistic merit of their own.

      Her illustrations for Grimm are particularly harmonious in color, while their quaint charm grows on one more and more as one lives with them. They are fanciful or humorous. They have the quality, rare in fairy tales, of actually illustrating their text. This will mean added pleasure to the children. Rie Cramer’s little black and white headings are particularly pretty and graceful in outline.

      The tales are presented here in their original form, with nothing left out of child-heartedness, humor, poetic feeling, and delicate sentiment and fancy. Indeed, it is all here—the poesy and purity which those profound and child-loving scholars, the Brothers Grimm, retained in the old folk-tales which, with so much pains, they gathered largely from among the peasant-folk themselves.

      And the Brothers explained, in their preface, that they had planned the volume as an educational book as well as one for scholars; for which reason they had eliminated everything which they feared might harm the children. But since the Brothers issued their book, about a hundred years ago, educational requirements of what is ethically best for children have materially advanced. Therefore, in this book, a few other parts unsuitable for children have been omitted.

      So now this volume of Grimm’s Fairy Tales is offered to our American boys and girls; and may they have continued delight in the beautiful old folk-fictions, which have come down to us from the fresh and sparkling meadows and woods of ancient days.

      Fathers and mothers, too, will enjoy reading the tales aloud and sharing with the children the humor and the deep but simple ethical truths so tenderly and poetically set forth therein.

       Teachers and story-tellers, also, may find in this sincere version, rich material for kindling the imagination and feeding the poetic fancy of their pupils.

      The Editor,

       Frances Jenkins Olcott.

      ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

       Table of Contents

      The Editor’s acknowledgments are due to the following texts:

      Kinder und Hausmärchen, following the last edition authorized by William Grimm with the Grimm Introduction on the origin and educational use of the tales.

      Household Stories, illustrated by Wehnert, first published in London, 1853.

      But most especially to Household Tales, with the Author’s notes, translated by Margaret Hunt, introduction by Andrew Lang, Bohn Library.

      For the use of the Hunt text the Editor gratefully acknowledges the gracious permission of Messrs. Harcourt, Brace and Company, American Publishers of the Bohn Library.

      ILLUSTRATIONS

       Table of Contents

	PAGE
He Said, “Little Table Set Thyself!”	Frontispiece
The Little Kids Cried, “First Show Us Your Paws”	20
The King Said, “Will You Be My Dear Wife?”	35
“Yes,” Said She, “Now I Am Emperor”	48
There Lay the Gold Ring in the Shell	57
Each Star Sat on Its Own Little Chair	71
The Elves Began to Stitch, Sew, and Hammer	84
The King’s Daughter Pulled Off His Hat, and His Golden Hair Rolled Down	111
The Princess Went Out and Gathered Star-Flowers	130
“Well,” She Laughed, “He Has a Chin Like a Thrush’s Beak”	146
The Maiden Said, “I Will Be True to You, Your Life Long”	155
“Perhaps,” Said She, “Your Name is Rumpelstiltskin?”	174
In the Moonlight He Saw a Bird Whose Feathers Were Shining with Gold	188
A Heavy Shower of Gold-Rain Fell	210
The Eldest Got the Merry Tailor for a Husband	227
The Head Answered, “Alas! Young Queen How Ill You Fare”	244
The First Servant Came With a Dish of Delicate Fare	258
When the Corn Was Ripe, They Shot It Down	273
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