The pig's wife is standing outside her house. Little does she know that my youngest son was killed by her husband, so I turned him into a pig. I put a spell on him that would last three years, and his term is nearly done. She calls me to come and speak with her,...
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Clay Doll
An old man with a beard longer than himself made me. He put clay into a mold and made a doll as large as life. When he was finished, he bored a hole into my breast and put a piece of bread inside, followed by a poisonous snake. Then he took the blood of a girl named...
False Bride Maleen
It was arranged that I should marry the king's son, and he was truly handsome. But I was no match for him. I felt so ugly and wretched, I hid in my room. Then I had an idea. I would get Maleen, the scullery maid, to dress up in my wedding gown. She could go to the...
Maleen
After a desperate search for work, my maid and I were given positions as scullery maids. We worked in the kitchen of a castle where a wedding was taking place. The bride ate her meals in her room, and I brought them to her, so I knew what she looked like. The poor...
Old Man without a Heart
I didn't tell my young bride where I kept my heart. I lied to her. I said that I kept it under the bed cloth. Later I found her embroidering flowers on the quilt. How quaint. I said, "No, my dear, it's not under the bed cloth. It's in the--" "Where, dear husband?" "It...
Goblin’s Mirror
I was made by a goblin who was at the height of his career when he created me. Everything that looks into me, however beautiful—appears ugly, defected and worthless. Pure genius! The demon was so amused by me that he started a goblin school. Goblins spirited me up...
Betraying Waiting Maid
Ha! The princess doesn't see that she has lost the precious handkerchief that holds her mother's blood. I watch it go tumbling downstream. Now I have her in my power! "Don't even think about getting back up on your high horse," I tell her. "Your horse is mine. And...
King’s Equerry
The king has been looking for a wife for some time, and he did not believe that he would ever fall in love until today. We were traveling through the woods when suddenly we heard the most awful shrieking of cats, and then we saw an extraordinary hunt. A lady, mounted...
The Wooden Wife
I came back to life because my husband would not be comforted after my death. He made a life-sized doll in my image, and every night when he came home, he talked to her. So wood turned to flesh, but I warned him not to touch me until we had returned to our people. If...
Rose-Tree
I grew on the grave of the prince's father, and I bloomed once every five years. Everyone looked forward to my blooming, for, though I bore but a single rose, its scent was so sweet that it would make you forget all your troubles. One day, the prince dug me up. I had...
Swineherd Prince
I smeared my face with mud and I went to the palace where I worked as a swineherd. On my time off, I made toys for the princess. She had rejected the natural things I had offered her as a prince. So as a swineherd I made her artificial things, trinkets, and she...
Artificial Nightingale
I came to the emperor in a parcel labeled Nightingale. I am a mechanical bird who looks and sounds exactly like the real one—with several important improvements. Unlike the dull, dun-colored nightingale, I am set all over with diamonds, rubies, and sapphires, and,...
Dying Emperor
I am cold and pale and the halls of the palace are silent. I am dying slowly...too slowly. The monotony is deadening. If only someone would sing to me! Music would drive away the doom that weighs on my chest. Even the moonlight streaming through the window is silent....