I am perfectly smooth, white, and pristine, and when the evil wizard Fitcher puts me into the girl’s hands, he tells her not to drop me or stain me in any way.

She must carry me at all times while she goes about the house. But I will go the way of all the other eggs that the wizard gives to his would-be brides. She will carry me ever-so-carefully until she discovers his secret, and then, in her horror, she will drop me in a blood bath.

The Pristine Egg in Fitcher’s Bird, Grimms. Painting by Hendrick ter Brugghen.