The Brothers Grimm Lunch Break: The Complete Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm

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A few times a week, over my lunch break, I will record, edit, and publish one of the original 250 fairy tales collected by the Brothers Grimm and translated to English by Dr. Jack Zipes.

Eric Wagoner


    • Apr 9, 2013 LATEST EPISODE
    • infrequent NEW EPISODES
    • 10m AVG DURATION
    • 117 EPISODES


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    Latest episodes from The Brothers Grimm Lunch Break: The Complete Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm

    Episode 117: 116. The Blue Light

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 9, 2013 11:12


    A wounded soldier is dismissed by an uncaring king. He finds a magical friend and gets revenge.

    Episode 116: 115. The Bright Sun Will Bring it to Light

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 27, 2013 4:57


    A poor wandering tailer robs and kills a fellow traveller.The victim's last words were "the bright sun will bring it to light". It took many years, but eventually, with the help of the bright sun, the tailor's crime became known. 

    Episode 115: 114. The Clever Little Tailor

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 9, 2013 7:55


    An unassuming little tailor correctly answers a princess's riddle and is then entitled to marry her, but he must first spend a night with a bear.

    clever little tailor
    Episode 114: 113. The Two Kings' Children

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 7, 2013 18:27


    A young prince is kidnapped by foreign king and must pass a series of challenges. If he fails, he will be put to death, but if he succeeds, he will win one of the king's daughters for his bride.

    Episode 113: 112. The Fleshing Flail from Heaven

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 20, 2012 3:42


    A farmer drops a turnip seed and it grows into a tree that reaches all the way up into heaven. So, naturally, he climbs it.

    Episode 112: 111. The Expert Marksman

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 6, 2012 13:47


    With the aid of a magical gun, a huntsman tricks and kills three evil giants. In doing so, he wins the hand of a princess.

    Episode 111: 110. The Jew in the Thornbush

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 16, 2012 11:42


    Warning! This story contains offensive racial stereotypes from another era, and is not suitable for all audiences. A journeyman apprentice is granted magical items and powers after being kind to a dwarf, but he later uses them to toment a jew he meets along the road.

    Episode 110: 109. The Little Shroud

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 26, 2012 3:07


    A beloved boy dies, and returns to tell his mother to stop crying.

    Episode 109: 108. Hans My Hedgehog

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 24, 2012 13:11


    A farmer and his wife give birth to a son who is half boy, and hedgehog. He grows up to play the bagpipes, ride a rooster, and inherit a kingdom.

    Episode 108: 107. The Two Travelers

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 23, 2012 24:55


    Two craftsmen, one a tailor and the other a shoemaker, one good and the other bad, travel together through the country.

    two travelers
    Episode 107: 106. The Poor Miller's Apprentice and the Cat

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 2, 2012 9:42


    A miller is nearing retirement age and has no family to pass his mill down to. He tells his three hired men that whichever goes out into the world and brings back the best horse can have the mill. One of them, a very simple man, finds a magical cat along the way.

    Episode 106: 105. Tales About Toads

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 21, 2012 4:55


    Three very short and sad tales (fragments, really) about toads.

    Episode 105: 104. The Clever People

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 19, 2012 9:37


    Good-hearted but dim-witted people get taken advantage of by greedy people.

    Episode 104: 103. The Sweet Porridge

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 17, 2012 3:07


    A cautionary tale about having a magic item but forgetting how to use it.

    Episode 103: 102. The Wren and the Bear

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 14, 2012 7:02


    A chronicle of the short war between the animals that walk and the animals that fly.

    Episode 102: 101. Bearskin

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 13, 2012 12:38


    A desolate soldier is given a proposition by the devil: live for seven years like a beast and be set for life, or forfeit his soul. The soldier passes the challenge and finds a wife in the process, but the devil also comes out a winner.

    Episode 101: 100. The Devil's Sooty Brother

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 7, 2012 8:34


    A down and out discharged soldier gets hired on to become the Devil's assistant. He serves well enough for seven years, and is well paid for his service.

    Episode 100: 99. The Spirit in the Glass Bottle

    Play Episode Listen Later Aug 31, 2012 10:48


    A student discovers a mean spirit in a glass bottle. He outsmarts the spirit, and once he sets the spirit free, he is rewarded with a magical item that sets him and his poor father up for life.

    Episode 99: 98. Doctor Know-It-All

    Play Episode Listen Later Aug 30, 2012 6:01


    A farmer asks a doctor how he too could become a doctor. The doctor gives him a sarcastic response, but the farmer follows it anyway. He then lucks into fame and fortune.

    Episode 98: 97. The Water of Life

    Play Episode Listen Later Aug 29, 2012 13:49


    A King lies dying, and only the hard to find Water of Life can save him. His three sons, two wicked ones and one younger good one, go out to find it. Along the way, everyone gets what they have coming.

    Episode 97: 96. The Three Little Birds

    Play Episode Listen Later Aug 28, 2012 9:36


    Three sisters marry a king and two of his ministers. The new queen births three children, but her two sisters conspire to throw the babies into the river. They are rescued by a fisherman, and with the help of a magical bird, all is made right.

    Episode 96: 95. Old Hildebrand

    Play Episode Listen Later Aug 23, 2012 8:40


    A farmer's wife and a priest have an affair, and the farmer's neighbor helps him learn the truth.

    Episode 95: 94. The Clever Farmer's Daughter

    Play Episode Listen Later Aug 22, 2012 8:46


    A king is impressed by a farmer's daughter's cleverness.

    Episode 94: 93. The Raven

    Play Episode Listen Later Aug 17, 2012 14:20


    After a princess is accidentally turned into a raven, and woodsman faces many challenges to break her from the spell.

    Episode 93: 92. The King of the Golden Mountain

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 24, 2012 14:46


    A rich merchant loses his riches, but a dwarf offers to restore them in exchange for a mystery item. That item turns out to be the merchant's own son. Instead of becoming a slave to the dwarf, the boy manages to escape and have a number of adventures, including becoming king of a distant kingdom.

    Episode 92: 91. The Gnome

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 11, 2012 10:38


    After eating an apple off their father's favorite tree, three princesses are magically cursed to be deep undreground where they must pick lice off dragons. Three huntsmen brothers, while searching for the princesses, stumble upon a gnome who lives in those same underground caverns. The two wicked eldest brothers try to cheat the youngest out of the reward for rescuing the princesses.

    Episode 91: 90. The Young Giant

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 10, 2012 17:58


    A young farmer's son, who was no bigger than a thumb, suckles at the breast of a giant and becomes a giant himself (and quite a bit ill-mannered, too). He then goes out to make his way in the world.

    Episode 90: 89. The Goose Girl

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 6, 2012 13:18


    A meek princess is usurped by her servant and is forced to tend to the geese in silence. A talking horse witnesses the events and, despite being killed, helps bring the usurper to justice.

    Episode 89: 88. The Singing, Springing Lark

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 26, 2012 14:26


    A story of enchantment with lions, dragons, griffins, talking doves, true love, gifts from the sun, moon, and the four winds, and more.

    Episode 88: 87. The Poor Man and the Rich Man

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 6, 2012 10:36


    The Lord was travelling the world disduised as a simple man, as he often used to do. He was treated very differently by a rich man and a poor man, and each received an appropriate reward.

    Episode 87: 86. The Fox and the Geese

    Play Episode Listen Later May 31, 2012 3:08


    A hungry fox happens upon a meadow full of young, plump geese.

    Episode 86: 85. The Golden Children

    Play Episode Listen Later May 30, 2012 13:16


    This is kind of a greatest hits remix story, involving a talking wish-granting golden fish, golden brothers with matching golden lillies and horses, travels through the wide world, a sudden marriage, and a witch in the woods who can turn men to stone. And they all live happily ever after.

    Episode 85: 84. Hans Gets Married

    Play Episode Listen Later May 24, 2012 4:27


    A poor farmer uses homonyms to convince a rich farmer to let him marry the rich man's daughter.

    Episode 84: 83. Lucky Hans

    Play Episode Listen Later May 22, 2012 12:57


    Hans, who must have been born under a lucky star, starts a journey with a nugget of gold the size of his head and is able to trade along the way until he ends up with what he really wanted most of all.

    Episode 83: 82. Gambling Hans

    Play Episode Listen Later May 21, 2012 7:01


    Hans has such a gambling problem, he continues his habit right into the afterlife.

    Episode 82: 81. Brother Lustig

    Play Episode Listen Later May 18, 2012 24:29


    A discharged soldier impresses St. Peter (who is disguised as a soldier). But as they travel together, St. Peter sours on the man. After having many adventured, the man arrives at heaven to find St. Peter barring the gates to him.

    Episode 81: 80. The Death of the Hen

    Play Episode Listen Later May 16, 2012 5:25


    You can tell from the title that this isn't a happy tale, but it's worse than you think. The last line is "And then, everyone was dead." You have been warned.

    Episode 80: 79. The Water Nixie

    Play Episode Listen Later May 9, 2012 3:30


    A very short tale about children who are captured by, and then escape from, a creature at the bottom of a well.

    Episode 79: 78. The Old Man and His Grandson

    Play Episode Listen Later May 8, 2012 3:17


    A four year old boy must remind his parents to respect their elders.

    Episode 78: 77. Clever Gretel

    Play Episode Listen Later May 4, 2012 6:52


    A fashionable cook, who is also a bit of a lush, eats all of the dinner she was supposed to serve to her master and his guest, so she quickly has to think of a story to cover her deeds.

    Episode 77: 76. The Pink Flower

    Play Episode Listen Later May 3, 2012 11:20


    An evil cook learns what should have been an obvious lesson:don't kidnap a prince who has the power to make his own wishes come true.

    Episode 76: 75. The Fox and the Cat

    Play Episode Listen Later May 2, 2012 3:30


    The fox is extremely rude to the cat, but the cat gets her revenge thanks to a huntsman's dogs.

    Episode 75: 74. The Fox and His Cousin

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 27, 2012 4:08


    The fox continues to vex his cousins, the wolves.

    Episode 74: 73. The Wolf and the Fox

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 26, 2012 5:57


    The wolf bosses the fox around and constantly threatens to eat him. The cunning fox thinks up a few plans to trick the wolf into being caught by humans so he can finally live in peace.

    Episode 73: 72. The Wolf and the Man

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 25, 2012 4:09


    In this very short tale, the wolf disbelieves the fox, and discovers that a man is a very strong creature indeed.

    Episode 72: 71. How Six Made Their Way in the World

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 20, 2012 12:41


    A disgruntled soldier assembles a team of extraodinary characters, who set out to make their way in the world.

    Episode 71: 70. The Three Sons of Fortune

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 19, 2012 7:39


    Three sons go out into the world to earn their fortune, with only a rooster, a scythe, and a cat.

    Episode 70: 69. Jorinda and Joringel

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 18, 2012 7:29


    A witch lures young maidens to her forest castle and changes them into birds, which she keeps in cages. After capturing hundreds of maidens this way, the betrothed of her latest catch dreams of a way to free them all from the spell.

    Episode 69: 68. The Thief and His Master

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 12, 2012 6:17


    A man prays for guidance on a career for his son, receives a sign that he should become a thief, and so apprentices him out to a master thief.

    Episode 68: 67. The Twelve Huntsmen

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 9, 2012 8:07


    A prince fails to keep his promise to marry a princess, instead becoming engaged to another. The spurned princess and eleven lookalikes disguise themselves as huntsmen and try to win him back.

    Episode 67: 66. The Hare's Bride

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 5, 2012 4:30


    A short tale where a hare kidnaps a maiden so he can marry her, she escapes, and he becomes sad.

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