Hello there.
Thank you so much for joining me for this reading of a few more of the Grimm's Fairy Tales.
This will be Rapunzel.
And Old Sultan and the old man and his grandson.
This will actually be the last and final Grimm's Fairy Tale readings that I am aiming to do for now.
As perhaps you know,
There were more than 200 different stories collected up.
By the brothers Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm in Germany and printed together as the Grimm's Fairy Tales back in the early 1800s.
There have been countless different editions of the Grimm's Fairy Tales since then.
And in the edition that I have been reading from There were 62 tails included and these three are the final three that I haven't yet read.
I didn't actually necessarily set out to read the entire book of Grimm's Fairy Tales that I've been reading from,
But people do seem to enjoy them,
So here we are.
So before we get into these stories here,
Let's just take a moment to have a nice deep exhale.
Letting go of the day.
Letting go of whichever baggage you might be bringing with us into this moment.
For right now,
There's nowhere else we have to go,
Nothing else we have to be doing.
So we can just relax.
Get ourselves comfortable.
And enjoy!
These final three stories from Grimm's Fairy Tales.
Rapunzel.
There were once a man and a woman who had long in vain wished for a child.
At length.
The woman hoped that God was about to grant her desire.
These people had a little window at the back of their house from which a splendid garden could be seen,
Which was full of the most beautiful flowers and herbs.
It was,
However,
Surrounded by a high wall.
And no one dared to go into it because it belonged to an enchantress who had great power and was dreaded by all the world.
One day the woman was standing by this window and looking down into the garden when she saw a bed which was planted with the most beautiful rampions.
Rapunzel.
And it looked so fresh and green.
That she longed for it.
She quite pined away.
And began to look.
Pale and miserable.
Then her husband was alarmed and asked.
What ails you,
Dear wife?
Wow.
She replied.
If I can't eat some of the rampion.
Which is in the garden behind our house.
I shall die.
The man who loved her.
Thought.
Sooner than let your wife die.
Bring her some of the rampion yourself.
Let it cost what it will.
At twilight,
He clambered down over the wall into the garden of the enchantress.
Hastily clutched a handful of rampion and took it to his wife.
She at once made herself a salad of it and ate it greedily.
It tasted.
So.
Good to her.
So very good.
That the next day she longed for it three times as much as before.
If he was to have any rest.
Her husband must once more descend into the garden.
In the gloom of evening therefore he let himself down again.
When he had clambered down the wall,
He was terribly afraid.
For he saw the enchantress standing before him.
How can you?
DAAAH!
Said she.
With angry looks.
Descend into my garden.
And steal my rampion like a thief.
You shall suffer for it.
Ah,
Answered he,
Let mercy take the place of justice,
I only made up my mind to do it out of necessity.
My wife saw your rampion from the window and.
.
.
I felt such a longing for it.
She would have died if she had not got some to eat.
Then the enchantress allowed her anger to be softened and said to him,
The case be as you say.
I will allow you to take away with you as much rampion as you will.
ONI.
I make one condition.
You must give me the child.
Which your wife will bring into the world.
It shall be well treated.
And I will care for you.
Like a mother.
The man in his terror.
Consented to everything.
And when the woman was brought to bed,
The Enchantress appeared at once.
Gave the child the name of Rapunzel and took it away with her.
Rapunzel grew into the most beautiful child under the sun.
When she was twelve years old,
The Enchantress shut her into a tower,
Which lay in a forest,
And had neither stairs nor door,
But white at the top.
Was a little window.
When the Enchantress wanted to go in,
She placed herself beneath it and cried,
Rapunzel!
Rapunzel!
Let down your hair to me!
Rapunzel had magnificent long hair.
Fine as spun gold.
And when she heard the voice of the enchantress,
She unfastened her braided tresses,
Wound them round one of the hooks of the window above,
And then the hare fell twenty L's down,
And the enchantress climbed up by it.
After a year or two,
It came to pass that the king's son rode through the forest and passed by the tower.
Then he heard a song.
Which was so charming.
But he stood still and listened.
This.
Was Rapunzel.
Who in her solitude passed her time in letting her sweet voice resound.
The king's son wanted to climb up to her and looked for the door of the tower,
But none was to be found.
He rode home.
But the singing.
.
.
That's so true.
Deeply touched his heart.
Every day he went out into the forest and listened to it.
Once,
When he was thus standing behind a tree,
He saw that an enchantress came there.
And he heard how she cried,
Rapunzel,
Rapunzel,
Let down your hair to me.
Then Rapunzel let down the braids of her hair and the enchantress climbed up to her.
If that is the ladder by which one mounts,
I too will try my fortune,
Said he.
And the next day,
When it began to grow dark,
He went to the tower and cried,
Rapunzel!
Rapunzel,
Let down your hair to me.
Immediately,
The hair fell down.
And the king's son climbed up.
At first Rapunzel was terribly frightened.
When a man such as her eyes had never yet beheld came to her.
But.
.
.
The king's son began to talk to her.
Quite like a friend.
And told her that his heart had been so stirred that it had let him have no rest and he had been forced to see her.
Then Rapunzel lost her fear.
And when he asked her if she would take him for her husband,
And she saw that he was young and handsome,
She thought.
E.
Will love me more than old Dame Gothel does.
And she said Yes,
And laid her hand in his.
She said.
I will willingly go away with you.
But.
.
.
I do not know how to get down.
Bring with you a skein of silk every time that you come.
And I will weave a ladder with it.
And when that is ready,
I will descend and You will take me on your horse.
They agreed that until that time,
He should come to her every evening,
For the old woman came by day.
The enchantress remarked,
Nothing of this.
Until once Rapunzel said to her,
Tell me Dame Gothel how it happens that you are so much heavier for me to draw up than the young king's son.
He is with me in a moment.
Ah!
You wicked child!
Cried the enchantress.
What?
Do I hear you say?
I thought I had separated you from all the world.
And yet.
.
.
You have deceived me!
In her anger,
She clutched Rapunzel's beautiful tresses,
Wrapped them twice round her left hand,
Seized a pair of scissors with the right,
And snipped them.
Snap!
They were cut off and the lovely braids lay on the ground.
And she was so pitiless.
That she took poor Rapunzel into a desert.
Where she had to live in great fear.
Grief.
And misery.
On the same day that she cast out Rapunzel,
However,
The enchantress fastened the braids of hair,
Which she had cut off,
To the hook of the window,
And when the king's son came and cried,
Rapunzel,
Rapunzel,
Let down your hair to me,
She let the hair down.
The king's son ascended,
But instead of finding his dearest Rapunzel,
He found the enchantress.
Who gazed at him.
With wicked and venomous looks.
Ah-HA!
She cried mockingly.
You would fetch your dearest,
But the beautiful bird sits no longer singing in the nest.
The cat has got it!
And will scratch out your eyes as well.
Rapunzel is lost to you.
You will never see her again.
The king's son was beside himself with pain.
And in his despair,
He leapt down from the tower.
He escaped with his life,
But the thorns into which he fell pierced his eyes.
Then he wandered quite blind about the forest.
Ate nothing but roots and berries,
And did naught but lament and weep.
Over the loss of his dearest wife.
Thus he roamed about in misery for some years.
And at length.
Came to the desert?
Where Rapunzel,
With the twins to which she had given birth,
A boy and a girl,
Lived in wretchedness.
He heard a voice,
And it seemed so familiar to him that he went towards it,
And when he approached,
Rapunzel knew him and fell on his neck and wept.
Two of her tears wetted his eyes and They grew clear again,
And he could see with them as before.
He led her to his kingdom.
Where he was joyfully received.
And they lived for a long time afterwards.
Happy.
And contented.
Old Sultan.
A shepherd had a faithful dog called Sultan.
Who was grown very old and had lost all his teeth.
And one day,
When the shepherd and his wife were standing together before the house,
The shepherd said,
I will shoot Old Sultan tomorrow morning.
He is of no use now.
But his wife said.
Cray.
Let the poor faithful creature live.
He has served us well a great many years,
And we ought to give him a livelihood for the rest of his days.
But what can we do with him?
Said the shepherd.
He has not a tooth in his head.
And the thieves don't care for him at all.
To be sure,
He has served us,
But then he did it to earn his livelihood.
Tomorrow.
Shall be his last day.
Depend upon it.
Poor Sultan.
Who was lying close by them.
Heard all that the shepherd and his wife said to one another.
And was very much frightened to think tomorrow would be his last day.
So.
.
.
In the evening.
He went to his good friend,
The wolf.
Who lived in the wood.
And told him all his sorrows.
And how his master meant to kill him in the morning.
Make yourself easy,
Said the wolf.
I will give you some good advice.
Your master,
You know,
Goes out every morning,
Very early,
With his wife into the field.
And they take their little child with them and lay it down behind the hedge in the shade while they're at work.
Now!
Do you lie down close by the child and pretend to be watching it?
And I will come out of the wood and run away with it.
You must run after me as fast as you can,
And I will let it drop.
Then you may carry it back and they will think.
.
.
You have saved the child.
And we'll be so thankful to you.
That they will take care of you as long as you live.
The dog liked this plan very well.
And accordingly so,
It was managed.
The wolf ran with the child a little way.
The shepherd and his wife screamed out,
But Sultan soon overtook him and carried the poor little thing back to his master and mistress.
Then the shepherd patted him on the head and said,
Old Sultan has saved our child from the wolf.
And therefore.
.
.
You shall live.
And be well taken care of.
And have plenty to eat.
Bye.
Go home and give him a good dinner.
And let him have my old cushion to sleep on As long as he lives.
So,
From this time forward,
Sultan had all that he could wish for.
Soon afterwards,
The wolf came and wished him joy and said,
Now,
My good fellow,
You must tell no tales,
But turn your head the other way when I want to taste one of the old shepherd's fine,
Fat sheep.
No,
Said the Sultan.
I will be true to my master.
However,
The wolf thought he was in joke.
And came one night to get a dainty morsel.
But Sultan had told his master what the wolf meant to do,
So he laid wait for him behind the barn door,
And when the wolf was busy looking out for a good fat sheep,
He had a stout cudgel laid about his back that combed his locks for him finally.
Then the wolf was very angry.
And called Sultan an old rogue.
And swore he would have his revenge.
So.
The next morning,
The wolf sent the boar to challenge Sultan to come into the wood to fight the matter.
Sultan had nobody he could ask to be his second but the shepherd's old three-legged cat.
So.
.
.
He took her with him.
And as the poor thing limped along with some trouble,
She stuck up her tail straight in the air.
The wolf.
And the wild boar were first on the ground.
And when they espied their enemies coming.
And saw the cat's long tail standing straight in the air.
They thought she was carrying a sword for Sultan to fight with.
And every time she limped,
They thought she was picking up a stone to throw at them.
So.
.
.
They said they should not like this way of fighting.
And the boar lay down behind a bush and the wolf jumped up into a tree.
Sultan and the cat soon came up and looked about and wondered that no one was there.
The boar,
However,
Had not quite hidden himself.
But his ears stuck out of the bush.
And when he shook one of them a little,
The cat,
Seeing something move and thinking it was a mouse,
Sprang upon it and bit and scratched it so that the boar jumped up and grunted and ran away,
Roaring out,
Look up in the trees.
There sits the one who is to blame.
So they looked up.
.
.
And espied the wolves.
Sitting amongst the branches.
And they called him a cowardly rascal.
And would not suffer him to come down till he was heartily ashamed of himself.
And had promised to be good friends again with Old Sultan.
The old man and his grandson.
There was once a very old man.
Whose eyes had become dim,
His ears dull of hearing.
His knees trembled.
And when he sat at table,
He could hardly hold the spoon.
And spilt the broth upon the tablecloth,
Or let it run out of his mouth.
His son.
And his son's wife.
Were disgusted at this.
The old grandfather at last had to sit in the corner behind the stove.
And they gave him his food in an earthenware bowl.
And not even enough of it.
And he used to look towards the table.
With his eyes full of tears.
Once,
Too,
His trembling hands could not hold the bowl,
And it fell to the ground and broke.
The young wife scolded him.
He said nothing.
On the side.
Then they brought him a wooden bowl for a few halfpence,
Out of which he had to eat.
They were once sitting ducks.
When the little grandson of four years old began to gather together some bits of wood upon the ground.
What are you doing there?
Asked the father.
Bye!
I'm making a little trough.
Answer the child,
For father and mother to eat out of when I am big.
The man and his wife looked at each other for a while.
And presently.
Began to cry.
Then,
They took the old grandfather to the table.
And henceforth always let him eat with them.
And likewise said nothing,
If he did spill a little of anything.
