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The tinder-box
H.C. Andersen →

The best fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm

The brothers Grimm - The 40 best fairy tales: 1 - 20

There was once a rich man whose wife lay sick, and when she felt her end drawing near she called to her only daughter to come near her bed, and said, Dear child, be pious and good, and God will always take care of you, and I will look down upon you from heaven, and will be with you. And then she closed her eyes and expired.Read the story →

2Hansel and Gretel

Near a great forest there lived a poor woodcutter and his wife, and his two children; the boy's name was Hansel and the girl's Grethel. They had very little to bite or to sup, and once, when there was great dearth in the land, the man could not even gain the daily bread.Read the story →

3Little Red Riding Hood

Once upon a time there was a sweet little girl. Everyone who saw her liked her, but most of all her grandmother, who did not know what to give the child next. Once she gave her a little cap made of red velvet. Because it suited her so well, and she wanted to wear it all the time, she came to be known as Little Red Riding Hood. One day her mother said to her: Come Little Red Riding Hood.Read the story →

There once lived a man and his wife, who had long wished for a child, but in vain. Now there was at the back of their house a little window which overlooked a beautiful garden full of the finest vegetables and flowers; but there was a high wall all round it, and no one ventured into it, for it belonged to a witch of great might, and of whom all the world was afraid.Read the story →

5Rumpelstiltskin

There was once a miller who was poor, but he had one beautiful daughter. It happened one day that he came to speak with the king, and, to give himself consequence, he told him that he had a daughter who could spin gold out of straw.Read the story →

6Sleeping Beauty (Little Briar Rose)

In times past there lived a king and queen, who said to each other every day of their lives, Would that we had a child! and yet they had none. But it happened once that when the queen was bathing, there came a frog out of the water, and he squatted on the ground, and said to her: Thy wish shall be fulfilled; before a year has gone by, thou shalt bring a daughter into the world.Read the story →

7The seven ravens

There was once a man who had seven sons, and still he had no daughter, however much he wished for one. At length his wife again gave him hope of a child, and when it came into the world it was a girl. The joy was great, but the child was sickly and small, and had to be privately baptized on account of its weakness.Read the story →

It was the middle of winter, and the snow-flakes were falling like feathers from the sky, and a queen sat at her window working, and her embroidery-frame was of ebony. And as she worked, gazing at times out on the snow, she pricked her finger, and there fell from it three drops of blood on the snow.Read the story →

9The frog king or Iron Henry

In the old times, when it was still of some use to wish for the thing one wanted, there lived a King whose daughters were all handsome, but the youngest was so beautiful that the sun himself, who has seen so much, wondered each time he shone over her because of her beauty.Read the story →

10Godfather Death

A poor man had twelve children and had to work day and night in order just to feed them. Thus when the thirteenth came into the world, not knowing what to do in his need, he ran out into the highway, intending to ask the first person whom he met to be the godfather.Read the story →

11The Bremen town musicians

There was once an ass whose master had made him carry sacks to the mill for many a long year, but whose strength began at last to fail, so that each day as it came found him less capable of work.Read the story →

12The story of the youth who went forth to learn what fear was

A certain father had two sons, the elder of whom was smart and sensible, and could do everything, but the younger was stupid and could neither learn nor understand anything, and when people saw him they said, There's a fellow who will give his father some trouble! When anything had to be done, it was always the elder who was forced to do it; but if his father bade him fetch anything when it was laRead the story →

13The golden key

In the winter time, when deep snow lay on the ground, a poor boy was forced to go out on a sledge to fetch wood. When he had gathered it together, and packed it, he wished, as he was so frozen with cold, not to go home at once, but to light a fire and warm himself a little. So he scraped away the snow, and as he was thus clearing the ground, he found a tiny, gold key.Read the story →

There was once a poor countryman who used to sit in the chimney-corner all evening and poke the fire, while his wife sat at her spinning-wheel.Read the story →

15The star-money

There was once on a time a little girl whose father and mother were dead, and she was so poor that she no longer had any little room to live in, or bed to sleep in, and at last she had nothing else but the clothes she was wearing and a little bit of bread in her hand which some charitable soul had given her. She was, however, good and pious.Read the story →

16The wonderful musician

There was once a wonderful musician, who went quite alone through a forest and thought of all manner of things, and when nothing was left for him to think about, he said to himself, Time is beginning to pass heavily with me here in the forest, I will fetch hither a good companion for myself. Then he took his fiddle from his back, and played so that it echoed through the trees.Read the story →

17The queen bee

Two king's sons once started to seek adventures, and fell into a wild, reckless way of living, and gave up all thoughts of going home again.Read the story →

There was once a King who had a son who asked in marriage the daughter of a mighty King; she was called Maid Maleen, and was very beautiful. As her father wished to give her to another, the prince was rejected; but as they both loved each other with all their hearts, they would not give each other up, and Maid Maleen said to her father, I can and will take no other for my husband.Read the story →

19The almond tree

Long time ago, perhaps as much as two thousand years, there was a rich man, and he had a beautiful and pious wife, and they loved each other very much, and they had no children, though they wished greatly for some, and the wife prayed for one day and night.Read the story →

20The three languages

An aged count once lived in Switzerland, who had an only son, but he was stupid, and could learn nothing. Then said the father, Hark thee, my son, I can get nothing into thy head, let me try as I will. Thou must go from hence, I will give thee into the care of a celebrated master, who shall see what he can do with thee.Read the story →

The elderbush
H.C. Andersen →

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