The Queen Bee
Encyclopedia
The Queen Bee is a German fairy tale
collected by the Brothers Grimm
, tale number 62. It is Aarne-Thompson type 554, the grateful animals.
, Simpleton, went out to find them, but they mocked him. They traveled on, and Simpleton prevented his brothers from destroying an ant hill, killing some ducks, and suffocating a bee hive with smoke. Then they came to a castle with stone horses in the stable, and no sign of anyone. They hunted through the castle and found a room with a little gray man, who showed them to dinner. In the morning, he showed the oldest son a stone table, on which were written three tasks. Whoever performed them would free the castle.
The first was to collect the princess's thousand pearls, scattered in the woods. Whoever tried and failed would be turned to stone. The older brothers tried and failed. For the youngest, however, the ants collected the pearls. The second was to fetch the key to the princess's bedchamber from the lake, which the ducks did for him. The third was to pick out the youngest princess from the three sleeping princesses; they looked exactly alike, and the only difference was that the oldest had eaten a bit of sugar before they slept, the second a little syrup, and the youngest some honey. The queen bee picked out the youngest.
This woke the castle, and restored all those who had been turned to stone. The youngest son married the youngest princess, and his two brothers, the other princesses.
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 62. It is Aarne-Thompson type 554, the grateful animals.
Synopsis
Two king's sons went out to seek their fortune, but fell into disorderly ways. The youngestYoungest son
The youngest son is a stock character in fairy tales, where he features as the hero. He is usually the third son, but sometimes there are more brothers, and sometimes he has only one; usually, they have no sisters....
, Simpleton, went out to find them, but they mocked him. They traveled on, and Simpleton prevented his brothers from destroying an ant hill, killing some ducks, and suffocating a bee hive with smoke. Then they came to a castle with stone horses in the stable, and no sign of anyone. They hunted through the castle and found a room with a little gray man, who showed them to dinner. In the morning, he showed the oldest son a stone table, on which were written three tasks. Whoever performed them would free the castle.
The first was to collect the princess's thousand pearls, scattered in the woods. Whoever tried and failed would be turned to stone. The older brothers tried and failed. For the youngest, however, the ants collected the pearls. The second was to fetch the key to the princess's bedchamber from the lake, which the ducks did for him. The third was to pick out the youngest princess from the three sleeping princesses; they looked exactly alike, and the only difference was that the oldest had eaten a bit of sugar before they slept, the second a little syrup, and the youngest some honey. The queen bee picked out the youngest.
This woke the castle, and restored all those who had been turned to stone. The youngest son married the youngest princess, and his two brothers, the other princesses.
See also
- The Grateful BeastsThe Grateful BeastsThe Grateful Beasts is a Hungarian fairy tale collected by Hermann Kletke. Andrew Lang included it in The Yellow Fairy Book.-Synopsis:Three sons set out to seek their fortune...
- The Glass CoffinThe Glass CoffinThe Glass Coffin is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm, tale number 163. Andrew Lang included it in The Green Fairy Book as The Crystal Coffin.It is Aarne-Thompson type 410, Sleeping Beauty. Another variant is The Young Slave....
- 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:...
- Sleeping BeautySleeping BeautySleeping Beauty by Charles Perrault or Little Briar Rose by the Brothers Grimm is a classic fairytale involving a beautiful princess, enchantment, and a handsome prince...
- Ferdinand the Faithful and Ferdinand the UnfaithfulFerdinand the Faithful and Ferdinand the UnfaithfulFerdinand the Faithful and Ferdinand the Unfaithful is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm, tale number 126.It is Aarne-Thompson type 531. Other tales of this type include The Firebird and Princess Vasilisa, Corvetto, King Fortunatus's Golden Wig, and The Mermaid and the Boy...