Grimms' Fairy Tales (PDFs) from the Project Gutenberg EBook

Another day Chanticleer and Partlet agreed to go again to the mountains to eat nuts; and it was settled that all the nuts which they found should be shared equally between them. Now Partlet found a very large nut; but she said nothing about it to Chanticleer, and kept it all to herself: however, it was so big that she could not swallow it, and it stuck in her throat. Then she was in a great fright, and cried out to Chanticleer, ’Pray run as fast as you can, and fetch me some water, or I shall be choked.’ Chanticleer ran as fast as he could to the river, and said, ’River, give me some water, for Partlet lies in the mountain, and will be choked by a great nut.’ The river said, ’Run first to the bride, and ask her for a silken cord to draw up the water.’ Chanticleer ran to the bride, and said, ’Bride, you must give me a silken cord, for then the river will give me water, and the water I will carry to Partlet, who lies on the mountain, and will be choked by a great nut.’ But the bride said, ’Run first, and bring me my garland that is hanging on a willow in the garden.’ Then Chanticleer ran to the garden, and took the garland from the bough where it hung, and brought it to the bride; and then the bride gave him the silken cord, and he took the silken cord to the river, and the river gave him water, and he carried the water to Partlet; but in the meantime she was choked by the great nut, and lay quite dead, and never moved any more. http://www.authorama.com/grimms-fairy-tales-15.htmland all the beasts of the wood, came and climbed upon the hearse. So on they went till they came to a rapid stream. ’How shall we get over?’ said Chanticleer. Then said a straw, ’I will lay myself across, and you may pass over upon me.’ But as the mice were going over, the straw slipped away and fell into the water, and the six mice all fell in and were drowned. What was to be done? Then a large log of wood came and said, ’I am big enough; I will lay myself across the stream, and you shall pass over upon me.’ So he laid himself down; but they managed so clumsily, that the log of wood fell in and was carried away by the stream. Then a stone, who saw what had happened, came up and kindly offered to help poor Chanticleer by laying himself across the stream; and this time he got safely to the other side with the hearse, and managed to get Partlet out of it; but the fox and the other mourners, who were sitting behind, were too heavy, and fell back into the water and were all carried away by the stream and drowned. Thus Chanticleer was left alone with his dead Partlet; and having dug a grave for her, he laid her in it, and made a little hillock over her. Then he sat down by the grave, and wept and mourned, till at last he died too; and so all were dead. http://www.authorama.com/grimms-fairy-tales-15.html

Hans worked hard for seven years but wishes to return to see his poor mother. His master pays him his wages which amounts to a lump of gold the size of his head. Hans puts the gold in handkerchief and starts out on his journey jogging but soon becomes tired. He spots a rider on horse back and seeing the ease at which the horse travels he offers to exchange his lump of gold for the horse. Happy with the exchange the man gives him the horse and Hans rides off. The horse bolts and Hans is thrown from the animal. Whereupon he meets a shepherd who convinces Hans to swap his horse for a cow. Telling Hans that a cow can provide milk, cheese and butter and is of more leisurely company. Hans takes up the offer and takes the cow and continues on with his journey only to find that the cow is dry and not producing milk as he had been told. Disgruntled with the cow, Hans meets a butcher who he exchanges his cow for pig. Thanking the butcher for the pig Hans setting off jogging again, hopeful he has now found an ideal travel companion. Alas, Hans meets a countryman who informs him that the pig is owned by the squire and he is in danger of being caught for taking the squire's pig. Hans takes the countryman's goose in exchange for his pig, happy that it will provide a good roast and a supply of goose fat. At the next village Hans sees a scissor-grinder and explains his story to him. The scissor-grinder offers him a grindstone for his goose arguing that a grindstone will provide a source of income. Hans happily exchanges the goose for the grindstone. He continues on his way, but is tired by the grindstone and is short of money for food. Hans stops for a drink on the banks of a river, the grindstone falls into the deep water and is lost. Hans is happy to be rid of the heavy grindstone and being free of all troubles. He walks on to his mother's house and recounts his lucky tale. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hans_in_Luck

A count's son could learn nothing. The count sent him to find a master who could teach him something. One year, he came back saying he knew what dogs said when they barked; the next, what birds said; the third, what frogs said. Infuriated by his uselessness, his father drove him out. He was offered a night's shelter in a tower, but warned that wild dogs barked and howled there, and every night ate a man. He went and came back, saying that the dogs were there to guard a treasure until it was taken, and they had told him how to take it. The lord of the castle asked him to do it, and he came out with a chest of gold, and the lord adopted him as a son. He went to Rome. On the way, listening to frogs made him thoughtful. In Rome, the Pope had died, and they could not choose his successor, and were looking for some marvelous sign. Two doves descended on him, and they chose him as Pope — as the frogs had foretold. The doves persuaded him, and he had to sing Mass, but the doves whispered how to do it in his ear.

An old woman has got some beans that she intends to cook over her fire. Being in a hurry, she grabs some straw to make the fire light faster. She pours the beans in the pot and, being in a hurry, she drops one on the floor which lands next to a piece of straw. Soon the fire is burning nicely and a hot coal jumps out and lands next to the straw and the bean. They talk and realize they have all narrowly escaped the fire; they band together to flee. At a river, the straw lies down to let them cross. The coal, being hot tempered by nature, immediately sets across. But when the coal is halfway across, the water rushes underneath, and the coal becomes terrified of being drowned. So he stops, too afraid to go on. The straw catches on fire from the coal, and splitting in two, the straw and the coal are swept downstream.The bean cannot help but laugh at the misfortune of his comrades, and indeed he laughs so hard that he bursts his side. He is in trouble, but luckily there is a friendly tailor nearby who sews him back up with some black thread, and ever since beans have had a black seam. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Straw,_the_Coal,_and_the_Bean

A certain cat had made the acquaintance of a mouse, and had said so much to her about the great love and friendship she felt for her, that at length the mouse agreed that they should live and keep house together. They decided to look out for each other and find a way to survive the winter. They bought a pot of fat and decided to store it in the church until the winter. Cat developed a sudden urge to occasionally sneak into the church and consume the pot of fat and so he did. He then lies to the mouse in order to get out of the house and cat continued to do this until the pot was completely devoured. The mouse grew suspicious until the day came for them to retrieve the pot of fat. Upon arrival at the church, the mouse's suspicion is proven true and the mouse is eaten by the cat.

Chanticleer and Partlet begin their adventure with a trip to the mountains in search of nuts. They either grew too lazy or too full to travel home on foot so they built a carriage of nutshells. While deciding how to get home a duck accused them of trespassing on her grounds. Chanticleer and the duck began to fight until the duck could no longer handle the pain and agreed to draw their carriage home for them. The adventure continues from there as they encounter different obstacles on their journey back home. Their next adventures consists of a trip to visit Mr. Korbes and the death of Partlet.

Chanticleer and Partlet begin their adventure with a trip to the mountains in search of nuts. They either grew too lazy or too full to travel home on foot so they built a carriage of nutshells. While deciding how to get home a duck accused them of trespassing on her grounds. Chanticleer and the duck began to fight until the duck could no longer handle the pain and agreed to draw their carriage home for them. The adventure continues from there as they encounter different obstacles on their journey back home. Their next adventures consists of a trip to visit Mr. Korbes and the death of Partlet.

A farmer had a horse that had been an excellent faithful servant to him: but he was now grown too old to work; so the farmer would give him nothing more to eat. The farmer decided that the horse was of no use to him any longer so he told the horse to leave and only to return if he grows as strong as a lion. The horse wandered around until he met a fox with a wonderful idea to help him win over his owner. The fox tied a lion to the horse and signaled the horse to head back home. The master was in awe of the sight and allowed the horse to return home.

A shape-shifting witch (or "fairy," depending on the translation) lived alone in a dark castle in the woods. She could lure wild animals and birds to her before killing them; she transfixed anyone who would came near to where she stood, and turn innocent maidens into birds and cage them. Jorinde and Joringel, who had promised to marry each other, went for a walk in the forest. They came too near the witch's lair; she turned Jorinde into a nightingale and fixed Joringel to the ground. Once she had carried away the bird, she freed Joringel. One night Joringel dreamed of a flower, and that it would break all the witch's spells. He sought it for nine days, found it, and carried it back to the castle. He was not frozen to the ground when he approached the castle, and it opened all the doors. He found the witch feeding the birds. She was unable to curse him, and when she tried to take one cage away, he realized it was Jorinde. He touched the witch with the flower, and her evil magic left her forever. He touched Jorinde with the flower and she became a woman again; then he transformed all the other women back. Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jorinde_and_Joringel

A poor shoemaker and his wife need money to pay the rent. He gives away the last pair of shoes he has to a needy lady. He has leather to make one more pair of shoes. Elves come in the night and make a pair of shoes which he sells for more than his asking price the next day. He uses that money to pay the rent, buy food and more shoe leather. He feeds a poor traveller. The elves come the next night and make 2 pairs of shoes with the additional leather. He gives away one pair to a needy person and sells the other pair to a referral from the first customer who is immensely satisfied. He buys leather for 3 shoes, and stays up to find the elves making the shoes. The shoemaker and wife make clothes for the elves the next day, and the elves are pleased to find clothes, and continue making shoes. They all live happily ever after. Wikipedia:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Elves_and_the_Shoemaker

In order to make himself appear more important, a miller lied to a king, telling him that his daughter could spin straw into gold. The king called for the girl, shut her in a tower room with straw and a spinning wheel, and demanded that she spin the straw into gold by morning, for three nights, or be executed (other versions have the king threatening to lock her up in a dungeon forever). She had given up all hope, when an impish creature appeared in the room and spun straw into gold for her in return for her necklace, then again the following night for her ring. On the third night, when she had nothing with which to reward him, the strange creature spun straw into gold for a promise that the girl's first-born child would become his. The king was so impressed that he married the miller's daughter, but when their first child was born, the imp returned to claim his payment: "Now give me what you promised". The queen was frightened and offered him all the wealth she had if she could keep the child. The imp refused but finally agreed to give up his claim to the child if the queen could guess his name in three days. At first she failed, but before the final night, her messenger discovered the imp's remote mountain cottage and, unseen, overheard the imp hopping about his fire and singing the name of the child. Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rumplestiltskin

An old man could not eat neatly, so his son and daughter-in-law made him eat by the stove and, when he broke his bowl, bought him a cheap one. His four-year-old grandson played with wood and said that he was making a trough for his parents to eat from when they were old. After that, they let him eat at the table and did not complain about the spill. Wikipedia:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Old_Man_and_his_Grandson

A forester found a baby in a bird's nest and brought him back to be raised with his daughter Lenchen. They called the child Fundevogel or Foundling-Bird, and he and Lenchen loved each other. One day Lenchen saw the cook carrying many buckets of water to the house and asked what she was doing. The cook told her that the next day, she would boil Fundevogel in it. Lenchen went and told Fundevogel, and they fled. The cook, afraid of what the forester would say about his lost daughter, sent servants after them. Fundevogel transformed into a rosebush and Lenchen a rose on it, and the servants went back empty-handed. When they told the cook they had seen nothing but the rosebush and the rose, she scolded them for not bringing back the rose. They went again, and Fundevogel became a church, and Lenchen a chandelier in it. They returned and told the cook what they had seen, and she scolded them for not bringing back the chandelier. The cook set out herself. Fundevogel turned into a pond and Lenchen a duck on it. The cook knelt down to drink up the pool, but Lenchen caught her head and drew her into the pond to drown. The children went safely home again. Wikipedia:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foundling-Bird

A forester found a baby in a bird's nest and brought him back to be raised with his daughter Lenchen. They called the child Fundevogel or Foundling-Bird, and he and Lenchen loved each other. One day Lenchen saw the cook carrying many buckets of water to the house and asked what she was doing. The cook told her that the next day, she would boil Fundevogel in it. Lenchen went and told Fundevogel, and they fled. The cook, afraid of what the forester would say about his lost daughter, sent servants after them. Fundevogel transformed into a rosebush and Lenchen a rose on it, and the servants went back empty-handed. When they told the cook they had seen nothing but the rosebush and the rose, she scolded them for not bringing back the rose. They went again, and Fundevogel became a church, and Lenchen a chandelier in it. They returned and told the cook what they had seen, and she scolded them for not bringing back the chandelier. The cook set out herself. Fundevogel turned into a pond and Lenchen a duck on it. The cook knelt down to drink up the pool, but Lenchen caught her head and drew her into the pond to drown. The children went safely home again. Wikipedia:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foundling-Bird

When her merchant father goes on a trip, Lily asks him to bring her a rose. When the father picks a rose from the garden of a castle, a lion springs up and threatens to eat him. A bargain is struck. The merchant has to give the lion the first thing that greets him when he goes home. Lily runs to meet her father and has to fulfill the bargain. She meets the lion and finds out that he is an enchanted prince. They marry and are very happy. When the prince goes home with Lily to attend her sister's wedding, a ray of light falls on him and he is turned into a dove. Lily follows the dove but loses her way. The sun, moon and wind help her find the dove. Lily then has to fight an enchanted princess for her husband. The princess seizes the prince and flies off on a griffin. Lily follows and rescues the prince and they lived together happily to the end of their days.

In the basic story a cat and a fox discuss how many tricks and dodges they have. The fox boasts that he has many; the cat confesses to having only one. When hunters arrive with their dogs, the cat quickly climbs a tree, but the fox is caught by the hounds. Wikipedia:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Fox_and_the_Cat_(fable)

The fisherman and his wife live in a hovel by the sea. One day the fisherman catches a golden flounder who claims to be an enchanted prince. The fisherman kindly releases it. When his wife hears the story, she says he ought to have had the flounder grant him a wish. She tells him to go back and ask the flounder to grant her wish for a nice house instead of their hovel. He returns to the shore and is uneasy when he finds the sea seems to be turning dark when it was so clear before. He makes up a rhyme to summon the flounder, and it grants the wife's wish. However, the wife gets greedy and makes increasingly outrageous demands: a castle, to become queen, then become empress, and finally become pope. The fisherman knows this is wrong but there is no reasoning with his wife. The flounder grants the wishes, but the sea grows increasingly stormy every time the fisherman goes to summon it. Eventually the wife goes too far when she wishes to become equal to God. The flounder revokes everything it granted, and the fisherman and his wife are back in their hovel. Wikipedia:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Fisherman_and_His_Wife

A peasant named Crabbe saw how well a doctor ate and asked him how to become one. The doctor told him to buy an ABC book with a rooster up front, sell his oxen and cart to buy doctor's equipment and clothing, and advertise himself as "Doctor Know-all." Shortly after he set himself up, a nobleman asked him to find stolen money. He insisted on bringing his wife. When they sat to eat, he nudged his wife at each course, saying "That's one," "That's two," and "That's three" — meaning three courses, but the servants bringing in the dishes, the thieves, thought he was identifying them. The fourth one brought in a covered tray of crabs, and the nobleman asked him to guess. Pitying himself, he said, "Poor Crabbe!" and the noble was impressed. The servants offered to give him the money and a reward as well if he would not betray them. He agreed, and told the nobleman he had to check his book. He was looking for the picture of the rooster and could not find it. He said, "I know you are in there," and the fifth thief servant, hiding in the stove, panicked and fled. He showed the nobleman where the money was, and received a reward from him, too. Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doctor_Know-all

A mother goat goes to the forest to fetch food for her seven kids. She tells them not to open the door to the wolf. The wolf disguises himself and tried to have the kids let him in. On the third try, the kids let him in and he eats six out of the seven kids. The mother comes home and the one kid left tells her what happened. She searches for the wolf and when she finds him she cuts open his belly. The six kids jumped out unhurt. Stones were then stitched into the wolf's belly. When the wolf went to drink, he fell in the water and drowned. Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wolf_and_the_Seven_Young_Kids

A miller wished to marry his daughter off, and so when a rich suitor appeared, he betrothed her to him. One day the suitor complained that the daughter never visited him, told her that he lived in the forest, and overrode her reluctance by telling her he would leave a trail of ashes so she could find his home. She filled her pockets with peas and lentils and marked the trail with them as she followed the ashes. They led her to a dark and silent house. A bird in a cage called out to warn her that she entered a murderer's house. An old woman in a cellar kitchen told her that the people there would kill and eat her unless the old woman protected her and hid her behind a barrel. A band of robbers arrived with a young woman, and they killed her and prepared to eat her. When one chopped off a finger to get at the golden ring on it, the finger and ring flew through the air and landed in the bodice of the hiding woman. The old woman discouraged them from searching, because neither the finger nor the ring were likely to run away: they'd find it in the morning. The old woman drugged the robbers' wine. As soon as they fell asleep, the two living women fled. Wind had blown the ashes away, but the peas and lentils had sprung up into seedlings: the two followed the path of plants and reached the young woman's home. When the wedding day arrived and the guests were telling stories, the young woman said that she would tell a dream she had had, and told of her visit to the robbers' den, her bridegroom punctuating it with "My darling, you only dreamed this." -- or the robber punctuating with exclamations that it was not so in the Mr. Fox variant -- until she produced the finger of the dead girl and showed it to the company. The robber bridegroom and all his band were put to death. Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Robber_Bridegroom_(fairy_tale)

Twelve princesses, each more beautiful than the last, sleep in twelve beds in the same room; every night their doors are securely locked, but in the morning their shoes are found to be worn through as if they had been dancing all night. The king, perplexed, promises his kingdom and a daughter to any man who can discover the princesses' secret within three days and three nights, but those who fail within the set time limit will be put to death. An old soldier returned from war comes to the king's call after several princes have failed in the endeavour. Whilst traveling through a wood he comes upon an old woman, who gives him an invisibility cloak and tells him not to eat or drink anything given to him in the evening by any of the princesses and to pretend to be fast asleep until after they leave. The soldier is well received at the palace just as the others had been and indeed, in the evening, the eldest princess comes to his chamber and offers him a cup of wine. The soldier, remembering the old woman's advice, throws it away secretly and begins to snore very loudly as if asleep. The princesses, sure that the soldier is asleep, dress themselves in fine clothes and escape from their room by a trap door in the floor. The soldier, seeing this, dons his invisibility cloak and follows them. He steps on the gown of the youngest princess, whose cry of alarm to her sisters is rebuffed by the eldest. The passageway leads them to three groves of trees; the first having leaves of silver, the second of gold, and the third of diamonds. The soldier, wishing for a token, breaks off a twig of each as evidence. They walk on until they come upon a great lake. Twelve boats with twelve princes are waiting. Each princess gets into one, and the soldier steps into the same boat as the youngest. The young prince in the boat rows slowly, unaware that the soldier is causing the boat to be heavy. The youngest princess complains that the prince is not rowing fast enough, not knowing the soldier is in the boat. On the other side of the lake stands a castle, into which all the princesses go and dance the night away. The princesses dance until their shoes are worn through and they are obliged to leave. This strange adventure continues on the second and third nights, and everything happens just as before, except that on the third night the soldier carries away a golden cup as a token of where he has been. When it comes time for him to declare the princesses' secret, he goes before the king with the three branches and the golden cup, and tells the king all he has seen. The princesses know that there is no use in denying the truth, and confess. The soldier chooses the eldest princess as his bride for he is not a very young man, and is made the king's heir. Wikipedia:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Twelve_Dancing_Princesses

Snow-White and Rose-Red tells the story of Snow White and Rose Red, two girls living with their mother, a poor widow, in a small cottage. Both sisters are very good little girls, and they love each other dearly. Their mother is very fond of them. As for their personalities, Rose Red is very outspoken and cheerful, and loves to play outside; on the other hand, her sister Snow-White is more quiet and shy, and prefers doing housework and reading. One winter night, there is a knock at the door. Rose Red opens the door to find a bear. At first she is terrified, but the bear tells her not to be afraid. "I'm half frozen and I merely want to warm up a little at your place," he says. They let the bear in and he lies down in front of the fire. Snow White and Rose Red beat the snow off the bear; they quickly become quite friendly with him. They play with the bear and roll him around playfully. They let the bear spend the night in front of the fire, and in the morning, he leaves, trotting out into the woods. The bear comes back every night for the rest of that winter and the family grows used to him. When summer comes, the bear tells them that he must go away for a while to guard his treasure from a wicked dwarf. During the summer the girls are walking through the forest, when they find a dwarf who has his beard stuck in a tree. The girls rescue him by cutting his beard free, but the dwarf is ungrateful, and yells at the girls for cutting his beautiful beard. The girls encounter the dwarf several times that summer, rescue him from some peril, and each time the dwarf is ungrateful. Then one day they meet the dwarf once again; this time he is terrified because the bear is about to kill him. The dwarf pleads with the bear, begs it to eat the girls instead of him, but the bear pays no heed and kills the dwarf with one swipe of his paw. Then the bear turns into a prince; the dwarf had bewitched the prince by stealing his gold and turning him into a bear, but the curse is broken with the death of the dwarf. Snow White marries the prince and Rose Red marries his brother. Wikipedia:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snow-White_and_Rose-Red