The Brothers Grimm Lunch Break: The Complete Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm

A wounded soldier is dismissed by an uncaring king. He finds a magical friend and gets revenge.

A poor wandering tailer robs and kills a fellow traveller.The victim's last words were "the bright sun will bring it to light". It took many years, but eventually, with the help of the bright sun, the tailor's crime became known. 

An unassuming little tailor correctly answers a princess's riddle and is then entitled to marry her, but he must first spend a night with a bear.

A young prince is kidnapped by foreign king and must pass a series of challenges. If he fails, he will be put to death, but if he succeeds, he will win one of the king's daughters for his bride.

A farmer drops a turnip seed and it grows into a tree that reaches all the way up into heaven. So, naturally, he climbs it.

With the aid of a magical gun, a huntsman tricks and kills three evil giants. In doing so, he wins the hand of a princess.

Warning! This story contains offensive racial stereotypes from another era, and is not suitable for all audiences. A journeyman apprentice is granted magical items and powers after being kind to a dwarf, but he later uses them to toment a jew he meets along the road.

A beloved boy dies, and returns to tell his mother to stop crying.

A farmer and his wife give birth to a son who is half boy, and hedgehog. He grows up to play the bagpipes, ride a rooster, and inherit a kingdom.

Two craftsmen, one a tailor and the other a shoemaker, one good and the other bad, travel together through the country.

A miller is nearing retirement age and has no family to pass his mill down to. He tells his three hired men that whichever goes out into the world and brings back the best horse can have the mill. One of them, a very simple man, finds a magical cat along the way.

Three very short and sad tales (fragments, really) about toads.

Good-hearted but dim-witted people get taken advantage of by greedy people.

A cautionary tale about having a magic item but forgetting how to use it.

A chronicle of the short war between the animals that walk and the animals that fly.

A desolate soldier is given a proposition by the devil: live for seven years like a beast and be set for life, or forfeit his soul. The soldier passes the challenge and finds a wife in the process, but the devil also comes out a winner.

A down and out discharged soldier gets hired on to become the Devil's assistant. He serves well enough for seven years, and is well paid for his service.

A student discovers a mean spirit in a glass bottle. He outsmarts the spirit, and once he sets the spirit free, he is rewarded with a magical item that sets him and his poor father up for life.

A farmer asks a doctor how he too could become a doctor. The doctor gives him a sarcastic response, but the farmer follows it anyway. He then lucks into fame and fortune.

A King lies dying, and only the hard to find Water of Life can save him. His three sons, two wicked ones and one younger good one, go out to find it. Along the way, everyone gets what they have coming.

Three sisters marry a king and two of his ministers. The new queen births three children, but her two sisters conspire to throw the babies into the river. They are rescued by a fisherman, and with the help of a magical bird, all is made right.

A farmer's wife and a priest have an affair, and the farmer's neighbor helps him learn the truth.

A king is impressed by a farmer's daughter's cleverness.

After a princess is accidentally turned into a raven, and woodsman faces many challenges to break her from the spell.

A rich merchant loses his riches, but a dwarf offers to restore them in exchange for a mystery item. That item turns out to be the merchant's own son. Instead of becoming a slave to the dwarf, the boy manages to escape and have a number of adventures, including becoming king of a distant kingdom.

After eating an apple off their father's favorite tree, three princesses are magically cursed to be deep undreground where they must pick lice off dragons. Three huntsmen brothers, while searching for the princesses, stumble upon a gnome who lives in those same underground caverns. The two wicked eldest brothers try to cheat the youngest out of the reward for rescuing the princesses.

A young farmer's son, who was no bigger than a thumb, suckles at the breast of a giant and becomes a giant himself (and quite a bit ill-mannered, too). He then goes out to make his way in the world.

A meek princess is usurped by her servant and is forced to tend to the geese in silence. A talking horse witnesses the events and, despite being killed, helps bring the usurper to justice.

A story of enchantment with lions, dragons, griffins, talking doves, true love, gifts from the sun, moon, and the four winds, and more.

The Lord was travelling the world disduised as a simple man, as he often used to do. He was treated very differently by a rich man and a poor man, and each received an appropriate reward.

A hungry fox happens upon a meadow full of young, plump geese.

A poor farmer uses homonyms to convince a rich farmer to let him marry the rich man's daughter.

Hans, who must have been born under a lucky star, starts a journey with a nugget of gold the size of his head and is able to trade along the way until he ends up with what he really wanted most of all.

Hans has such a gambling problem, he continues his habit right into the afterlife.

A discharged soldier impresses St. Peter (who is disguised as a soldier). But as they travel together, St. Peter sours on the man. After having many adventured, the man arrives at heaven to find St. Peter barring the gates to him.

You can tell from the title that this isn't a happy tale, but it's worse than you think. The last line is "And then, everyone was dead." You have been warned.

A very short tale about children who are captured by, and then escape from, a creature at the bottom of a well.

A four year old boy must remind his parents to respect their elders.

A fashionable cook, who is also a bit of a lush, eats all of the dinner she was supposed to serve to her master and his guest, so she quickly has to think of a story to cover her deeds.

An evil cook learns what should have been an obvious lesson:don't kidnap a prince who has the power to make his own wishes come true.

The fox is extremely rude to the cat, but the cat gets her revenge thanks to a huntsman's dogs.

The fox continues to vex his cousins, the wolves.

The wolf bosses the fox around and constantly threatens to eat him. The cunning fox thinks up a few plans to trick the wolf into being caught by humans so he can finally live in peace.

In this very short tale, the wolf disbelieves the fox, and discovers that a man is a very strong creature indeed.

A disgruntled soldier assembles a team of extraodinary characters, who set out to make their way in the world.

Three sons go out into the world to earn their fortune, with only a rooster, a scythe, and a cat.

A witch lures young maidens to her forest castle and changes them into birds, which she keeps in cages. After capturing hundreds of maidens this way, the betrothed of her latest catch dreams of a way to free them all from the spell.

A man prays for guidance on a career for his son, receives a sign that he should become a thief, and so apprentices him out to a master thief.

A prince fails to keep his promise to marry a princess, instead becoming engaged to another. The spurned princess and eleven lookalikes disguise themselves as huntsmen and try to win him back.

A short tale where a hare kidnaps a maiden so he can marry her, she escapes, and he becomes sad.

In his grief over losing his beautiful wife, a king sets to marry his beautiful daughter, who reminds him of the wife he lost. She escapes, disguises herself, and hides in another king's castle. Before long, she is discovered by that king, who makes her his queen.

Unlike his clever brothers, a simple fellow is nice to a dwarf. His kindness gets repaid many times over, and he eventually becomes a king.

Three princes, the youngest a simpleton, are given a contest by their father to see who would become the next king. The two older brothers dismiss the youngest, but with the help of a magical toad, he wins the contest.

After a simple prince keeps his two older brothers from harming ants, ducks, and bees, the animals re-pay his kindness when they find a kingdom where everyone has been turned to stone.

The poorest farmer in the village becomes the town's richest, and only, resident.

This is the longest fairy tale in the collection. Two young twin brothers eat the magical heart and liver of a golden bird, which bestows upon them the gift of a gold coin under their pillow each monring. Their father believes it to be the work of the devil, so he abandons them in the forest. A huntsman finds them, adopts them as his own, and teches them to be huntsmen as well. When they set out as young adults to make their way in the world, they collect a menageria of talking animals. Eventually, they go their separate ways, splitting their animals among them. One brother makes his way to a kingdom emperiled by a seven-headed dragon. The kingdom is down to its last virgin, the king's daughter, to appease the dragon. The king promises his daughter and the kingdom to whoever can slay the dragon. The brother and his animals do this, but the king's marshal kills the young huntsman and takes credit for the victory. The brother is resurected with the help of his animals (though his head is temporarily put on backwards). The brother exposes the lie and takes his rightful place as the prince of the kingdom. One day, while out hunting, the brother and his animals are set upon by a witch, who turns them all to stone. The other brother wanders by at this time, and is able to rescue the first brother and his animals, revive them, and kill the witch. And everyone lives happily ever after.

A young groom is vexed by the not-so-bright actions of his wife. This is essentially a longer version of the tale presented in Episode 34: Clever Else.

A merchant runs over a dog in the road, and the dog's friend, a sparrow, gets revenge.

A young prince manages to, despite ignoring almost all of the consistently correct advice given by a talking fox, obtain a golden bird, a golden horse, a beautiful princess, and a kingdom.

A beutiful maiden barely escapes with her life and her sweetheart from her stepmother, who is a real witch. They must outwit her several times thereafter, but along the way the maiden nearly loses everything she holds dear.

A miller's daughter is locked in rooms full of straw by a greedy king after her father brags that she can spin straw into gold. She can't, of course, but along comes a strangely named little man who can.

A down on his luck traveller finds a magical tablecloth. He uses that to trick three others and steal a knapsack, a hat, and a horn. All three have magical military powers. He uses them to overthrow a king and seize the kingdom for himself.

The classic story of a witch queen's jeolousy of her beautiful step daughter princess. Also, seven dwarfs.

A princess is overly critical and disrespectful of all of her potential suitors. In a fit of anger, her father marries her off to the first beggar who comes along, a travelling minstrel. The minstrel teaches her humility.

A wood cutter finds a child lost in the woods, and raises him as his own.

An offended witch curses a young princess to die from pricking her finger on a spindle on her 15th birthday. A good witch blunts the curse by instead having her fall asleep for 100 years.

A king is tricked by a witch into losing his six sons and his daughter. Through the witch's magic, the boys are turned into swans. The young princess sets out to undo the magic, though it takes seven years and nearly costs her her life.

A farmer decides his old dog is too useless to keep around any longer. The dog, along with his frind the wolf, come up with a plan to convince him otherwise. The pair later get into a feud, and at a duel, a bear and a cat are their seconds.

An evil stepmother kills her step-son, cooks him into a stew, and serves the stew to the boy's father. Her daughter witnesses the whole thing, and buries the boy's bones beneath a juniper tree. The boy returns as an enchanted bird, and the stepmother finds justice.

A little man, no bigger than a thumb, goes out into the wide world.

A man chooses Death to be godfather of his 13th child. When he grows older, Death grants the child the power to heal the sick, under certain conditions. Trouble happens when those conditions are broken.

A young girl disobeys her parents' instructions not to go visit the home of an evil witch, and comes to a bad end.

A mysterious man grants a poor man the power to heal the sick or tell when their death is inevitable.

A hen and a rooster go visit Herr Korbes. Along the way, they're joined by several other animals and ordinarily inanimate objects who also want to go visit the man.

A miller promises his daughter to the first semmingly nice man who come courting, but he turns out to be a robber and murderer. The bride to be is able to escape the terrible plans he has in store.

Three short stories of the elves interacting with our world, including the story of elves helping the poor shoemaker while he sleeps.

Two tales of Mrs. Fox remarrying after her beloved Mr. Fox passes away. The first time, though, he was only pretending to have died.

A farmer and his wife have a son perfect in every way, but no bigger than a thumb.

A tailor's three sons go out into the world and acquire three useful magical items. The main story is bookended with another story about an ornery goat.

A tailor bluffs his way into heaven, where he causes trouble.

A husband and wife have a clever daughter who must prove how smart she is before her suitor will marry her.

A count's son has trouble learning anything of use, but he does learn how to talk to dogs, frogs, and birds. Those skills end up coming in handy for the fellow.

A young man loses his bride by being not that bright.

A maiden loses her hands when her father bargained her away to the devil. The girl escapes the devil and evenually marries a king. The devil continues to cause her trouble, but she eventually lives happily ever after.

A louse and a flea set up a happy home together, but things very quickly go terribly wrong one day while they are brewing beer.

A boy is born as fortune's favorite, destined to marry the king's daughter. The king didn't care for the idea, and did what he could to prevent it. The boy ends up going to hell and back to fulfill his destiny.

A murdered man's bones sing the story of his betrayal.

A donkey, a dog, a cat, and a rooster are no longer appreciated by their human owners, so they all run off to make a new life for themselves as musicians in the town of Bremen. Along the way, they encounter a band of theives.

A girl known for wearing her little red hat takes a basket of treats to her grandmother's house, though the woods. A big bad wolf has other plans.

In a fit of anger, a father curses his seven sons and they turn into ravens. Their younger sister travels to the end of the earth to lift the curse.

A widow spoils her daughter, and makes her stepdaughter do all the work. The stepdaughter falls down a well and discovers the home of Mother Holle (who rules the weather). While their, her industriousness earns her a reward of gold. After returning home, the other daughter tries to follow in her step-sister's footsteps, but her idle nature earns her nothing but pitch.

A mouse, a bird, and a sausage meet and set up house. Everything is happy until the bird gets convinced he's being taken advantage of. He tries for a different arrangement with disasterous results.

A prince travels the world, and along the way defeats a witch and a band of muderers. He uses the experience to win the hand of a princess via a riddle contest.

The familiar story of a girl marrying a prince, despite her evil step-sisters doing their best to keep her down. This original version is a bit more bloody than the one you may know, however.

A little tailor kills seven flies with one blow, and milks the feat for all it's worth. And then some.

A fisherman catches a wish-granting flounder, and his wife wishes for more and more outlandish things.

A peice of straw, a smoldering coal, and a bean escape from a poor old woman's house and head off for a foreign country. Along the way, we learn why beans to this day have a black seam.

A servant secretly tastes the king's food, and is given the power to talk to animals.

A young man makes a name for himself, and is able to marry a king's beautiful daughter. An illness takes her, but a snake provides three miraculous leaves that he uses to bring her back to life. Unfortunately, she returns a changed woman, and conspires to kill her husband. His servant uses the same leaves to bring him back to life, and she meets justice.

A poor woodcutter can afford to feed his children, so he abandons them in the forest. They find an edible house, but the witch who lives inside ensnares them and want to cook them. They escape, and live happily ever after.

A lazy girl doesn't want to spin flax, but her mother's lie to the queen finds her in the middle of three rooms full of the stuff. Three women with odd features happen by and agree to spin the flax for her. They do, and the girl never has to spin again.

A good girl is tortured by her evil stepmother and stepsister, but thanks to the gifts bestowed by three gnomes in the forest, everything works out for the good girl and her tormentors come to a terrible end.

The classic story of a maiden with long hair locked in a tower, but maybe a bit darker than you remember. Still, she and her prince live happily ever after.

A brother (who gets turned into a deer) and a sister (who becomes a ghost) get tormented by their evil stepmother (who is also a witch). But in the end, they live happily ever after.

A rooster and hen, along with a duck, a pin, and a needle, don't make for the best houseguests.

Twelve princes lose everything after their father has a strange prophesy regarding their young sister. They stew in the forest for a while and eventually reconcile with her, only to be turned into ravens. Their young sister then endures extreme hardship to save them.

The Marvelous Minstrel: A bored minstrel walking through the forest wants a companion. Beasts need not apply.

A dumb farmer is outsmarted by frogs and dogs, but still manages to strike a good bargain with a soldier and a Jew. (Yeah, I know. But for this podcast, I'll be reading *all* the Grimm's stories.)

A dying King, a young king, their servant who is faithful to the end, a kidnapped princess, talking ravens, and beheaded princes, who all manage to live happily ever after.

A wolf eats the mother goat's kids, but ends up with a belly full of stones.

A simple boy who just wants to be frightened.

The Virgin Mary adopts a child who lies, grows up, lies again, repents, and is forgiven.

A mouse lives with a cat, and the cat eats all the fat.

A princess loses her ball down a well, a frog retrieves it, and a servant's heart grows three sizes.

This is the introductory episode of "The Brothers Grimm Lunch Break". Over the next year or so, hopefully several times a week, during my lunch break I will record, edit, and publish one of the original 250 storyies colelcted by the Brothers Grimm in the 1800s and translated into English by Dr. Jack Zipes. Welcome!