The Gold-Children
Encyclopedia
The Gold-Children is a German fairy tale
collected by the Brothers Grimm
, tale number 85. It is Aarne-Thompson type 555, the fisherman and his wife, followed by type 303, blood brothers.
When they were grown, the gold children left home, telling their father that the lilies would wither if they were ill and die if they were dead. People mocked them because of their golden appearance, and one child went back to his father, but the other went on, through a forest filled with robbers. He covered himself with bearskins to hide the gold from the thieves, and wooed a maiden. They fell in love and soon married. Her father then came home and believed his son-in-law was a beggar because he was covered with bearskins. However, the next morning, he was relieved when he saw the gold skin of the young man who was no longer wearing the skins.
The gold man went out to hunt a stag and asked a witch about it. The witch told him that she knew of the stag, but her dog barked at him. When he threatened to shoot it, the witch transformed him into stone. Back home, his brother saw that the lily had withered and realized his brother was in trouble. He went to help him, but did not approach the witch closely enough to be transformed. Then he threatened to shoot her if she did not restore his brother. The witch did so, and one brother went back to his bride and the other returned to their father.
Fairy tale
A fairy tale is a type of short story that typically features such folkloric characters, such as fairies, goblins, elves, trolls, dwarves, giants or gnomes, and usually magic or enchantments. However, only a small number of the stories refer to fairies...
collected by the Brothers Grimm
Brothers Grimm
The Brothers Grimm , Jacob Grimm and Wilhelm Grimm , were German academics, linguists, cultural researchers, and authors who collected folklore and published several collections of it as Grimm's Fairy Tales, which became very popular...
, tale number 85. It is Aarne-Thompson type 555, the fisherman and his wife, followed by type 303, blood brothers.
Synopsis
A fisherman caught a golden fish, who gave him and his wife a rich castle on the condition that he will not tell anyone how he had gotten it. His wife badgered the knowledge from him, but he caught the fish again and regained the castle, and when she badgered the truth out of him again, he caught the fish a third time. The fish saw it was fated to fall into the fisherman's hand and told him to take it home and cut it into six pieces, giving two to his wife and two to his horse. He had to bury the last two pieces in the ground. When he did, his wife gave birth to twins of gold, the horse gave birth to two foals of gold, and two golden lilies sprouted from the earth.When they were grown, the gold children left home, telling their father that the lilies would wither if they were ill and die if they were dead. People mocked them because of their golden appearance, and one child went back to his father, but the other went on, through a forest filled with robbers. He covered himself with bearskins to hide the gold from the thieves, and wooed a maiden. They fell in love and soon married. Her father then came home and believed his son-in-law was a beggar because he was covered with bearskins. However, the next morning, he was relieved when he saw the gold skin of the young man who was no longer wearing the skins.
The gold man went out to hunt a stag and asked a witch about it. The witch told him that she knew of the stag, but her dog barked at him. When he threatened to shoot it, the witch transformed him into stone. Back home, his brother saw that the lily had withered and realized his brother was in trouble. He went to help him, but did not approach the witch closely enough to be transformed. Then he threatened to shoot her if she did not restore his brother. The witch did so, and one brother went back to his bride and the other returned to their father.
See also
- The Knights of the FishThe Knights of the FishThe Knights of the Fish is a Spanish fairy tale collected by Fernan Caballaro in Cuentos. Oraciones y Adivinas.Andrew Lang included it in The Brown Fairy Book....
- The Fisherman and His WifeThe Fisherman and His WifeThe Fisherman and His Wife is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm, tale no. 19. It is Aarne-Thompson type 555, the fisherman and his wife. Its theme was used in The Tale of the Fisherman and the Fish, a 1835 poem by Aleksandr Pushkin. Mrs Ramsey reads the story to James, her son in...
- The Two BrothersThe Two BrothersThe Two Brothers is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm, tale number 60. It is Aarne-Thompson type 567A, the magic bird heart, and type 303, the blood brothers.-Synopsis:...
- The Three Princes and their BeastsThe Three Princes and their BeastsThe Three Princes and their Beasts is a Lithuanian fairy tale. Andrew Lang included it in The Violet Fairy Book.-Synopsis:Three princes had a stepsister. They all set out one day, hunting, and were going to shoot a wolf when it offered to give each of the princes a cub if they did not. The same...
- The Enchanted DoeThe Enchanted DoeThe Enchanted Doe is an Italian literary fairy tale written by Giambattista Basile in his 1634 work, the Pentamerone.-Synopsis:A king wished for a child; to incline the gods toward him, he was charitable to beggars. When he had spent all his money this way without having a child, he shut himself...